Buffalo Chicken Ravioli with Blue Cheese Sauce
These buffalo chicken ravioli look like just a simple ravioli in a creamy sauce, but when you cut into them there is a surprise inside! The spicy and tart red buffalo sauce comes exploding out of the ravioli and onto the plate for the most delicious combination of exciting flavors you can find in a ravioli! The chicken thighs are super tender and shredded inside the pasta and goes great with the crunchy garlicy breadcrumbs. The idea behind the breadcrumbs, is to replace the crunch you would normally get eating a chicken wing or tender. The spicy chicken starts mingling with the creamy blue cheese to create a classic combination of flavors served in a totally new way.
Inspiration for this recipe
My friend Kim and I went to the Sleigh Bells show in Boston last week. Since Sleigh Bells is a super intense band, we needed an intense meal to eat before hand! Kim and her sister (my roommate) are big buffalo chicken fans, so I always find myself re-hashing the buffalo flavors into different meals for them.
The actual idea for these came when I ate them at a fast food pasta place that has a few locations in the Boston area. They were ok, but annoyed me because the buffalo flavor was just strewn about the plate, inside and outside of the ravioli. Why even bother with ravioli at that point? Just make buffalo chicken pasta. My version hides all the buffalo goodness inside the ravioli, and leaves the blue cheese on the outside.
Making the buffalo chicken filling
Cook some chicken thighs to brown, then add in a few simple ingredients to create a buffalo sauce. The chicken simmers in the sauce until it is basically falling apart.
Ingredients in the sauce-
- butter
- cayenne hot sauce
- honey
- mustard
- bbq sauce
- smoked paprika
Things to think about when making this buffalo chicken and sauce- It is important to have the fatty chicken thighs and butter so that this mixture is solidified when cold and can easily be put into the ravioli. For the flavors, I often switch up the ingredients I used in buffalo sauce. As long as you have butter and cayenne sauce, you will be in good shape! Adding the honey, mustard, and bbq sauce helps round it out and add some sweetness. Adding the paprika bumps up the color a bit. Some other good things you could add would be cumin, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne seasoning, or maple syrup! just remember it needs to stay thick and fatty to go into the ravioli!
Making the buffalo chicken ravioli
Start by mixing the flour and eggs and forming the dough.
After the dough comes together, allow it to rest for about 20 minutes before rolling it out. I don’t knead the dough much because I let the pasta roller do the kneading! Roll it out and fold it over on itself several times until it starts rolling smooth.
After you roll out the dough, add about 2 tablespoon sized clumps onto the dough. Brush with water, then add the other sheet of pasta on top and seal it up!
Make the blue cheese sauce
I like to eat carrots and celery with my buffalo chicken, so I added them to the sauce. Cook them down in some butter, but not too much so they retain some crunch! Then add flour and cream.
Then add the blue cheese, stir it up, and add in the cooked ravioli
Making the garlicky breadcrumbs
When you eat buffalo chicken it is usually crispy, so I needed something crispy to complete the dish. I toasted up some breadcrumbs with butter, parsley, and garlic to add that crunch!
I could snack on these breadcrumbs all day.
Serving the buffalo chicken ravioli with blue cheese sauce
Add the ravioli to the plate with plenty of sauce, then top with those crispy breadcrumbs!
I am obsessed with this combo of flavors! High end and low end mixed together on a plate! Classy and trashy holding hands in every bite! Like I mentioned, one of my favorite parts was that it just looks like a classic Italian dish when you serve it, but when you cut into the ravioli, the bright red chicken comes out.
So good!
Variations on buffalo chicken ravioli
You all know what I am going to say here. RANCH! A ranch sauce would also be great! If I wanted to do this with a ranch sauce, I would add dill, parsley, and chives instead of blue cheese. And a lot of them! Then when you serve it, finish with some lemon. Just don’t add the lemon too early or the sauce might separate.
If you want to check out some more of my interesting ravioli mash-ups, these are my favorites- Cincinnati chili ravioli, chicken pot pie ravioli, beef wellington ravioli, clam chowder ravioli, and everything bagel ravioli!
Buffalo Chicken Ravioli with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken Filling
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup cayenne hot sauce (like franks or crystal)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon bbq sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pasta
- 3 cups AP Flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Breadcrumb topping
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1/4 cup minced parsley
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 1/4 cup minced celery
- 1/4 cup minced carrot
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 3 cloves garlic sliced thin
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (buy a wedge and crumble it yourself)
Instructions
Make the chicken filling
- Preheat a frying pan with the peanut oil over high heat and add in the chicken thighs. Cook on high to brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes per side.
- Turn heat to low and add in the butter, hot sauce, honey, mustard, bbq sauce, and paprika. Stir to combine and allow to simmer on low for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is just about falling apart.
- Remove from heat and add to a bowl. Use a wooden spoon to smash up the chicken so that it becomes chopped and shredded. I prefer to use the edge of the spoon so it chops as well as shreds.
- Taste and add more of any of the sauces as desired to get to the right flavor you like. Cover and allow to cool fully before using.
Make the ravioli
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt. Stir to combine, but it should be a very thick mixture. Pour out onto a clean work surface and knead it a little until it comes together. Wrap with plastic and set aside in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Set up your pasta maker and set it to the widest setting. Split the dough in half and start running one half through the pasta maker. It will be hard to work with and not smooth at all, ripping as it goes through the machine. Continue to fold the dough onto itself and running it through again and again until it becomes smooth.
- Split the dough again and run the sheet through the pasta roller on the next thinner setting, and repeat, getting thinner, until you reach the second or third thinnest – The ideal setting will depend on your machine. Repeat with the other sheet.
- Lay the two pasta sheets out on the surface and add about 2 tablespoon sized clumps of the chicken mixture every few inches on the sheet of pasta. Brush the whole sheet with some water, then lay the other sheet on top. Work from one end to the other, sealing the filling inside the pasta and trying to press as much air out from the middle as possible.
- Use your ravioli cutter, or just a knife, to cut out each round ravioli, collecting the scraps.
- Dust the ravioli with excess flour on all sides and allow to dry on a kitchen towel as you continue with the rest.
- Repeat with the remaining dough, incorporating the scraps back into the dough, until you have used all the dough or filling. This should make about 16-20 large ravioli, enough for 4 people.
Make the Topping
- Add the butter to a small frying pan and add in the breadcrumbs. Cook to toast, stirring and tossing often.
- When the breadcrumbs are golden brown, add in the garlic paste and parsley, and continue to cook and stir for another 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, they can stay in the frying pan, or in a bowl, until you are ready to use them
Make the sauce
- Bring a large salted pot of water to a simmer.
- In a large frying pan over medium low heat, add the butter to melt. Add in the minced veggies and cook to soften, about 5 minutes
- Add in the garlic and flour and stir to combine until there are no lumps. Cook 2 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and bring to a simmer. Cook until it has thickened slightly. Remove from heat.
- Add in the blue cheese and stir until the cheese is mostly melted into the sauce.
- Drop the ravioli into the boiling water and cook for a few minutes until the ravioli start to float.
- Strain the ravioli and add right into the sauce, along with about 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Toss to combine, returning the pan to low heat breifly if needed.
- Serve the ravioli with the breadcrumb topping.
These look so creamy and delicious. Tangy on the outside and spicy on the inside.
YUM!! These came out SOOO good. I can’t wait to make them on my own.
This is so going to be my dinner tonight! They look awesome!
Wheres the recipe? These look amazing!
These sound good but the photos are just horrid. Truly, it looks like absolute vomit.