This easy vegan buffalo chicken pasta needs just 7 ingredients and can be prepped in minutes. People will be begging you for the recipe!
Buffalo chicken dip is a must for game days and get togethers (get our vegan buffalo chicken dip recipe) but this vegan buffalo chicken pasta is a must for dinners!
So this recipe was sort of like a happy accident. What had happened was we had some of our vegan buffalo chicken dip leftover awhile ago from a get together and I had wanted to use up the leftovers. For lunch one day I had the idea to just mix it into some pasta and voila, it transformed into a new dish.
This recipe is for a full batch of pasta and sauce, but you can totally just do a little pasta if you happen to just have the dip and you are looking for what to do with leftover vegan buffalo chicken dip.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
What brands do you recommend for this vegan buffalo chicken pasta with jackfruit?
We absolutely love our homemade ranch dressing.
However, If you don’t want to make that we tested this recipe using Wayfare’s vegan ranch and their cream cheese.
We know Wayfare can still be hard to find but they do offer shipping. We would secondly recommend Trader Joe’s cream cheese.
We also tried making this dish with Follow Your Heart and Violife cheese and didn’t notice a huge difference so we’d recommend one of those.
We purchase our canned jackfruit from Trader Joe’s.
Can this be Top 8 Allergen Free Vegan Buffalo Chicken Pasta?
Yes it can be.
The way our recipe is written the biggest concerns are wheat and coconut. It is in a few of the recommended ingredients we say to use for this recipe, but there are ways around.
The for pasta which contains gluten, the easiest thing is to just swap with a gluten free pasta of your choice.
Specifically use our homemade ranch dressing instead of buying one and make sure to pick vegan cream cheese and vegan cheese without coconut. For the vegan cream cheese you can make our vegan nut free soy free cream cheese and use vegan butter instead of coconut oil.
HOW DO I SHRED JACKFRUIT?
We have only ever worked with jackfruit from a can, so we cannot speak to using fresh at this time. If we do in the future, this post will be updated.
Open your can of jackfruit (we get ours at Trader Joes) and drain and rinse the liquid from the pieces. With a knife, cut off the harden part at the bottom. The part is usually harder than the rest.
Then, begin to shred the remaining piece of the jackfruit, like you would do if it was pulled pork or chicken.
There are seeds (look like small round pods) inside the jackfruit that you want to discard for this recipe or look up ways to use them as they are edible.
What you should be left with are small pieces of what resembles shredded meat similar to the photo above.
Can I prep this vegan buffalo chicken pasta ahead of time?
It’s really really delicious right away. However, it does heat up well.
It does get thick, so we recommend adding a splash or two of milk and then heating in the microwave or back on the stove top.
Store any leftovers in an air tight container.
WHAT SIDES TO SERVE WITH THIS VEGAN CREAMY PASTA DISH?
There are endless possibilities but a side salad and some bread are great starting points.
Here’s some bread ideas:
- Vegan Italian Cheesy Bread Rolls
- Vegan Garlic Bread
- Easy Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Vegan Garlic Knots (photo shown above)
What other vegan pasta ideas could I make?
Who doesn’t love pasta? Especially in colder months, it can be a total comfort food.
Here’s some more delicious vegan pasta dishes:
- Vegan One Pot Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- One Pot Vegan Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Vegan Mac and Cheese Pasta
- Vegan Pumpkin Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach
- The Best Vegan Lasagna
- Vegan Alfredo
- Vegan Cheesy Hamburger Helper Skillet
- The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Spinach and Walnut Pesto Pasta
- Vegan Carbonara
- Vegan Creamy Broccoli and Chickpea Pasta
Pin this vegan buffalo chicken pasta for later:
Vegan Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta (we use rotini in the photos but any pasta works – use GF if needed)
- 1 tbsp vegan butter or neutral oil
- 20oz can jackfruit in water or brine, drained
- 8 oz vegan cream cheese, softened (we use Wayfare)
- 1/2 cup vegan ranch (click link for homemade or we used Wayfare)
- 1/3 cup buffalo sauce (more to taste)
- 1 cup vegan cheddar cheese,
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk (we prefer oat)
Optional, What to Serve With
- vegan garlic knots
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions.
- While cooking pasta, cut hard stems from jackfruit, remove seeds, and shred jackfruit (see post if you need more details). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the softened vegan cream cheese, ranch and buffalo sauce and mix until very well combined. *Make sure that the cream cheese has been combined well.
- In a skillet, melt vegan butter over medium heat.
- Add the jackfruit and saute for 3-4 minutes or until some browning has occurred, stirring often.
- Add in the cream cheese mixture and cheese and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add 1/4 cup of the dairy free milk and stir together. Turn off heat.
- Drain pasta and add pasta to the skillet, stir around until well combined.
- If you need the additional 1/4 cup milk for consistency you may add it now.
- Serve warm with vegan garlic knots or garlic bread.
Notes
Let’s see your creations!
Share to Instagram and tag us @makeitdairyfree so we can see and share it!
This was a delicious recipe. The sauce was slightly spicy, but my kids were still willing to eat it. We are not vegan, so we used chicken, but are a dairy-free household. It is so nice to find tasty recipes that are a dairy-free option.
We’re glad that you enjoyed the recipe. You could add a few extra splashes of DF milk and a little less buffalo sauce to tame down the spice if you’d prefer.