It's the weekend after Memorial Day, and the weather is mostly summer-like here; the days are getting into the 90s, but we're still getting some rain, which in most years stops around mid-May and doesn't come back in force until around mid-September. This is the time when I flip all the ceiling fans from "winter" to "summer" mode (i.e. blowing air down instead of pulling it up), and I start to look for dishes that can be cooked without getting the kitchen overly heated. That usually means either using a slow cooker, an Instant Pot, or grilling (which unfortunately is rare for me these days).

When you see the title of this recipe, it sounds at first like someone smashed two different dishes together, doesn't it? Usually people have buffalo chicken with mac and cheese as a side dish, but not this time. The result is an almost one-pot meal (you do have to cook the macaroni separately) that's mostly hands-off and your kitchen doesn't get too warm in the process. I did make one change in the type of cheese called for; somehow I just didn't see Mozzarella and buffalo sauce getting along, and the switch I made gave the result an excellent flavor. Speaking of that, the buffalo flavor in this is mild enough for most folks, but I'll leave a couple of suggestions in the notes if you want to amp up the heat a bit.

Adapted from Slow Cooker Meals