New Recipe: Buffalo Chicken & Potato Casserole

I didn't think I was going to get in my two new recipes for this month. But I managed to pull them both off this week (I will try to post the second one tomorrow). Monday night I decided it was time for something different. I had been eyeing a recipe for Buffalo Chicken & Potato Casserole that I figured Husband would love and I decided it was time to make it. I'm not a huge fan of spicy food but I figured I could handle this one. In the interest of trying something new I kept an open mind.

Looks yummy, doesn't it?

I'm going to be honest: I didn't like it at all. And it had nothing to do with the hot sauce, that part actually wasn't bad or too hot for me. I felt like the casserole was just missing something. It does have quite a bit of ranch in it and I'm not a lover of ranch so that could be part of my problem with it. Why post the recipe, you ask? Well, I did challenge myself to try two new recipes each month - and post about my findings whether they be good or bad. But also - Husband loved it. He literally ate 3/4 of the casserole dish and said he'd eat it again if I made it. And he brought the leftovers to work and a co-worker of his gobbled it up and said it was great. So perhaps, I'm just overly picky.

Buffalo Chicken & Potato Casserole

•  1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1/3 c. Franks buffalo sauce
• 6 c. potatoes, grated w/ box grater
• 1 c. light ranch dressing
• 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together chicken strips and buffalo sauce. Spoon into baking dish in a single layer.
3. In the same bowl, stir together potatoes, dressing, cheese, and soup. Spread over chicken. Sprinkle panko evenly over the top.
4. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when center of thickest pieces are cut.

Recipe source: Holy Cannoli Recipes

Notes/Suggestions:

•  For some reason the potatoes didn't cook completely for me. I did exactly as the recipe said and I grated fresh potatoes. If I try it again I may use frozen hash browns. The fresh ones were very wet and I felt like they made the potato mixture very soupy.
• I thought the light ranch made for a bad taste. Or maybe I needed to use a name brand ranch instead because I bought the store brand. I try not be a store brand snob because most of the time I find no difference in the store brand versus name brand but in some cases it does make a difference.
• This recipe could use more chicken. I used exactly the amount of chicken called for and it cooked just fine. But underneath all those potatoes it did seem to turn into a game of Find the Chicken.
• I firmly believe that this recipe needs bleu cheese. Somewhere. Crumbled or in dressing form. But it is a "buffalo chicken" recipe and it's begging for some bleu cheese.

I'd love to hear the results if anyone out there decides to try this!