Buffalo Chicken Casserole with Potatoes

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This Buffalo Chicken Casserole is an outrageously flavorful, yet simple casserole, made with chicken, potatoes, bacon, and cheese. Served with bleu cheese or ranch dressing, this Buffalo Chicken Potato Casserole is an all-time family-favorite dinner recipe.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Casserole in white dish topped with ranch and chives.

Not many things beat the flavor of buffalo chicken.

From Buffalo Chicken Pizza to Buffalo Chicken Tacos to Buffalo Chicken Salad, to this Buffalo Chicken Potato Casserole, I LOVE the flavor that buffalo sauce imparts to chicken.

Tender potatoes, juicy chicken, sharp cheese, and salty bacon are tossed in a combination of seasonings and hot sauce to flavor each bite with the classic notes of Buffalo sauce. This chicken and potato casserole is hearty, flavorful, and delicious!

Not to mention it is extremely easy to make and budget-friendly to boot.

Notes on Ingredients

Ingredients for buffalo chicken bake labeled on counter.

Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders.
Potatoes: Any variety of starchy potatoes work well, such as red potatoes, russet potatoes, or Yukon Gold potatoes.
Hot Sauce: This recipe is flavorful enough, so there is no need to use or make buffalo sauce. You only need a cayenne hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot Sauce.
Cheese: Sharp cheddar is my preferred cheese in this easy Buffalo Chicken Bake, but mozzarella, Colby, or provolone all work. Remember freshly shredded cheese will melt best.

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Casserole

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Mix the potatoes with oil and seasonings in a large bowl.

potatoes with buffalo seasonings in a clear bowl.

Pour potatoes into a large casserole dish and spread them out into an even layer so that potatoes can get crispy, and not steam while they bake. Set mixing bowl aside to use for the chicken.

Seasoned potaotes spread out in a white casserole dish.

Bake the potatoes until just fork-tender at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows these potatoes to get crispy, like roasted red potatoes.
While the potatoes are baking, add the cubed chicken to the same dish you mixed the potatoes with the seasonings. Add additional spices and hot sauce and toss to coat, incorporating any leftover spices from the potatoes into the chicken.

Cubed chicken breasts tossed with hot sauce in clear bowl.

Remove the partially baked potatoes from the oven and layer the chicken onto the potatoes.
Sprinkle the dish evenly with bacon and cheese.

Side by side pictures of chicken and potatoes with and without bacon and cheese topping.

Return to the oven for 15 minutes to cook the chicken and bacon and melt the cheese.

Potatoes, chicken, and cheese baked in white casserole dish.

Serve with blue cheese or homemade ranch dressing.

Bowl of potato, chicken, cheese, and bacon casserole topped with ranch dressing.

Speed It Up

While this casserole is not difficult to prepare from start to finish, it is also a great way to use up leftovers AND speed up the process of cooking dinner.

Using Leftover Red Potatoes: If you have leftover roasted red potatoes on hand, you can simply toss them with hot sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, and a pinch of salt. Skip the step of pre-roasting them. The leftover potatoes should heat up in the time it takes for the chicken to cook.
Use Leftover Baked Potatoes: Dice cold leftover Instant Pot Baked Potatoes or Air Fryer Baked Potatoes into cubes. Toss them with hot sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, and a pinch of salt. Skip the step of pre-roasting them. The leftover potatoes should heat up in the time it takes for the chicken to cook.
Using Leftover Cooked Bacon: If you happen to have leftover baked bacon, simply crumble it up and sprinkle it over the chicken when you add the cheese. It will get super crispy and be perfect!
Using Leftover Rotisserie Chicken: In place of using raw, cubed chicken, you can toss cooked shredded chicken with the seasonings as directed. Decrease the baking time from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

Storage Instructions

Allow the leftover Buffalo Chicken Casserole to cool to room temperature and then transfer it into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 3 days. To reheat, place leftovers onto a sheet pan and broil until warm or microwave individual servings for 45 seconds to 1 minute. I don't recommend freezing leftovers, as the texture of the potatoes will change.

Recipe FAQs

Is this dish spicy?

I would classify this dish as mild-medium spice level. To keep the spice level lower, cut the amount of hot sauce in half. Alternatively, omit the hot sauce and use BBQ sauce instead for a delicious, mild BBQ chicken and potato casserole.

Does the bacon get crispy?

The bacon will cook through, and the fat from the bacon will render into the chicken, adding flavor and keeping the chicken super moist. But the bacon does not get super crispy. If you like crispy bacon, par-bake the bacon until just cooked before adding the casserole (I recommend doing this while the potatoes bake). Then chop up the bacon and add it to the casserole as directed. The result will be crispy bacon.

Is the bacon necessary?

No! While the bacon adds flavor to this dish, feel free to omit it.

More Family Favorite Casseroles

If you enjoyed this Buffalo Chicken Bake, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.

This post was originally published in 2015 but was updated in 2021 with new pictures and a new video.

Comments

4.95 from 20 votes (10 ratings without comment)