Chicken Fajita Pasta

This Chicken Fajita Pasta is a spin on your classic Mexican fajitas. It’s a comfort food dish the entire family will love! Crisp veggies, moist spicy chicken pieces and pasta all in a zesty sauce. Winner winner chicken dinner!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

There’s so many things to LOVE about this dish, it’s frankly hard to pinpoint just one thing. Is it the crisp bell peppers and onions, the juicy white meat chicken that’s spiced just perfectly or the smooth, rich and creamy flavor-bomb sauce? You make it and you decide!

It’s a comfort food dish that’s perfect for any time of year.

Mexican inspired dishes are always a hit.

First, you’ll want to make your spice blend which is just handful of ingredients. You’ll use some to flavor the chicken pieces and some to add to the creamy sauce.

You should definitely brine your chicken in a kosher salt and water mixture to guarantee it stays nice and moist. It only takes 30 minutes and it’s so worth it. Nothing worse than serving a delicious pasta dish with an over-the-top flavorful sauce, but the chicken turns out dry.

Once the chicken is done brining you’ll drain it and pat the chicken dry, cut it into cubes and then add it to a bowl. You’ll sprinkle all but two teaspoons of the seasoning over the chicken, tossing it to coat and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, you’ll sauté up your peppers and onions in some butter and olive oil for about 5 minutes over medium heat. I don’t like my veggies to get too soft. I enjoy them crisp. You can sauté them to your liking.

Once the veggies are done you’ll add some garlic and cook for an additional minute before removing to a bowl and then adding the chicken. You’ll cook the chicken until it’s no longer pink inside and then remove to the bowl with the veggies.

Then it’s time to make the rich and smooth sauce with some butter, flour chicken broth, heavy cream and remaining seasoning, kosher salt and pepper. The sauce will need to simmer for about 8 minutes until it begins to thicken before you add back in your veggies and chicken and cooked pasta.

I think you folks absolutely need to give the recipe a go, especially if you enjoy Mexican food. It’s a comfort food favorite that’s got over-the-top flavor!

Chicken Fajita Pasta

Author: MaryAnn Dwyer

Servings: 6 servings

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This Chicken Fajita Pasta is a spin on your classic Mexican fajitas. It's a comfort food dish the entire family will love! Crisp veggies, moist spicy chicken pieces and pasta all in a zesty sauce. Winner winner chicken dinner!

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Ingredients  

Brine

• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts
• 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 6 cups cold water

Mexican Spice Blend

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Fajita Pasta

• 3 cups medium pasta shells, uncooked
• 7 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium orange bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, if desired
• crumbled Cotija cheese, for serving, if desired

Instructions 

Brine

• Fill a bowl with 6 cups cold water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Add chicken pieces. Mix well. Let chicken sit in brine for 30 minutes.

Mexican Spice Blend

• In a small bowl, mix chili powder, garlic and onion powders, cumin, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes until well blended. Set aside.
• Drain the brine from the bowl and pat the chicken dry and cut into 1 1/2-2-inch pieces. Add chicken pieces to a large bowl. Sprinkle chicken with the Mexican spice mix. Pour the lime juice over the chicken and with a rubber spatula, toss the chicken pieces until well coated. 

Fajita Pasta

• Add two tablespoons of butter to a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers and onions to the skillet and cook for four minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and continue to cook for one minute, stirring often. Remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon to a large bowl and set aside.
• Add another tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add the chicken and cook over medium heat, stirring often until no longer pink inside. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl with the veggies. Set aside.
• Cook the pasta in a pot of salted water al dente according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in the skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Whisk in the chicken broth until smooth. Add the heavy cream, kosher salt, pepper, remaining two teaspoons of Mexican seasoning and red pepper flakes and continue whisking until the sauce begins to thicken, about 8-9 minutes.
• Add the veggies, chicken and the drained pasta. Toss until well combined. Serve immediately with crumbled Cotija cheese, if desired.

Notes

I used a combination of four different colors peppers. You can use any color you prefer. The dish just looks so pretty with all four colors.

I like to cook my onions and peppers just for about 5 minutes over medium heat so they're still a bit crunchy.

You can use any small/medium-ish size pasta for this recipe. I used medium shells.

Keyword: bell peppers, Comfort Food, fajitas, onions, Pasta

Cuisine: Mexican

Course: Main Dish