Mac & Cheesy Chipotle Chicken and Frito Lay Giveaway

I have recently been invited to enter Frito Lay’s Taste of Home recipe contest. The rules are real simple; submit a recipe that reminds you of home or a recipe that was inspired by one of the new Frito Lay Regional Flavors. I decided to take my favorite dish that reminds me of home and give it a makeover with the inspiration from a flavor of Regional Flavors chips. This blog post is my entry for the contest, I hope you enjoy!

My favorite dish that reminds me of home is my Grandma’s Macaroni & Cheese. So ooey and gooey and warm and bubbly. Pretty much perfect. The Frito Lay Regional Flavor that stood out the most to me was Chipotle Ranch. Oh, I was inspired alright – and excited about what was coming together in my head. :)

The final result; Mac & Cheesy Chipotle Chicken. Flavors from the Southwest meet Grandma’s Macaroni & Cheese! The recipe calls for Chipotle Chicken, if you don't have a recipe I found a great one at Epicurious.com. If you love cheese and chicken, you should love this – but of course, I make no promises… you will just have to be the judge. ;)

Mac & Cheesy Chipotle Chicken
Ingredients

• 1.5 cups dry Ditalini pasta


• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped


• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped


• 3 garlic cloves, minced


• 3 tablespoons cooked bacon, chopped


• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped


• ½ teaspoon paprika


• 1 teaspoon chili powder


• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin


• 1/2 cup frozen corn


• 2 cups chipotle chicken, shredded (recipe)


• 2 tablespoon butter


• 2 tablespoon flour


• 2 cups milk


• 2 cups grated colby cheese


• 1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese


• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package, rinse with cold water


2. Sauté bell pepper, onion, garlic, bacon, cilantro, paprika, chili powder, ground cumin and frozen corn until bell peppers are soft, about 5 minutes. Add noodles and chicken. Mix thoroughly.


3. On med-high heat melt butter in saucepan, add flour while constantly whisking stir to make a roux. Slowly stir in milk, heat for 2 minutes. Add your cheeses, cooking on med-low until cheese is melted and cheese sauce is formed. Stir occasionally to avoid cheese from sticking to bottom of pan.


4. Stir cheese sauce into pasta mixture, blend thoroughly.


5. Put your Chipotle Chicken Mac & Cheese into oven safe bowls, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes, or until bread crumbs are golden.


6. Enjoy!

Ok, back to the chips! In case you have not heard about Frito Lay Regional Flavors, let me tell you a little something about them. :) They were not only inspired by the region each flavor represents, but they are only available in that area! Here are the flavors and where they are available:

Northeastern U.S. – Lay’s Honey Mustard

Midwestern U.S. – Lay’s Creamy Garden Ranch

Northwestern U.S. – Lay’s Balsamic Sweet Onion

Southwestern U.S. – Lay’s Chipotle Ranch

Southeastern U.S. – Lay’s Cajun Herb & Spice

• All of the Lay's Regional Flavored potato chips are made with all natural ingredients and cooked in healthier oils, like corn and sunflower oils, which contain 80% or more of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat - the "good fats." They also contain 0 grams of trans fats per serving!


• There’s also less sodium in them than you might think – a 1-oz serving of our Lay’s Regional Flavored potato chips contains less salt than a plain bagel!

Ok, so there are the facts – now the giveaway! Frito Lay is offering one of Hungry Harps readers a Frito Lay Regional Flavors Variety Pack. Sounds good huh? Sounds good to me too. :)

TO ENTER GIVEAWAY
All you need to do is comment which Frito Lay Regional Flavor you want to try. Hands down, I want to try Chipotle Ranch and Cajun Herb & Spice – they both sound awesome!

Additional & Optional Entries: (Make sure to leave a separate comment for each additional entry)

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Giveaway ends on Thursday, August 20th at 11:59 p.m. PST
Open to those in the US only. Winner will be chosen using Random.org. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email before another winner is chosen.

The winner is Lynda! Congratulations and thanks for entering!