This Chicken Fajita Pasta is fresh, bold and flavorful, and made in just one pan! Everything you love about fajitas, transformed into a delicious pasta dish.
I love traditional fajitas so much that I’ve also revamped them into sheet pan fajitas, foil packet fajitas and even fajita soup! Don’t miss all my other favorite Mexican-inspired recipes.
I’ve been in a comfort mood lately, but wanting something that’s not overly heavy in calories, but still give that warm, comfort-food feeling. This pasta hits the mark, made with fresh veggies and bold flavors from the easy homemade fajita seasoning combined with some whole wheat penne noodles.
How to make Chicken Fajita Pasta:
- In a small bowl combine the fajita marinade ingredients.
- Place the chopped chicken in one large ziplock bag, and the veggies in another large ziplock bag. Pour half of the marinade into each bag and toss them to coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, or up to a few hours.
- When ready to cook, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken (discard any remaining marinade), and cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip chicken to cook on the other side and move to one side of the pan. Add veggies and garlic to the other side (discard excess marinade) and sauté for several minutes, until chicken is cooked through (about 165 degrees F). Remove everything to a plate and cover with aluminum foil.
- In the same skillet, add the broth, milk, diced tomatoes, uncooked pasta, and salt.
- Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 13-15 minutes or until pasta is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Add the chicken and veggies back into the skillet and stir to combine until heated through.
- Serve immediately, topped with salsa and sour cream, if desired.
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Recipe
Chicken Fajita Pasta
Ingredients
For the fajita marinade:
- 2 Tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1-2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- pinch of salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For the pasta:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves or tenders
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 whole onion chopped
- 1 green bell pepper , chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup milk
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes , undrained
- 8 ounces Penne Pastas , regular or whole wheat
- ½ teaspoon salt
- salsa and sour cream , for topping, if desired
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the fajita marinade ingredients.
- Place the chopped chicken in one large ziplock bag, and the veggies in another large ziplock bag. Pour half of the marinade into each bag and toss them to coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, or up to a few hours.
- When ready to cook, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken (discard any remaining marinade), and cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip chicken to cook on the other side until cooked through (about 165 degrees F). Remove to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Add veggies and garlic to the pan and sauté for a few minutes, until tender. Remove to the plate with the chicken.
- In the same skillet, add the broth, milk, diced tomatoes, uncooked pasta, and salt.
- Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 13-15 minutes or until pasta is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Add the chicken and veggies back into the skillet and stir to combine until heated through.
- Serve immediately, topped with salsa and sour cream, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe February 2016. Updated July 2020 with process photos and a video.
I haven’t made this recipe yet. Sounds wonderful. Can I make it ahead and freeze?
I made this last night and my husband and I loved it. Easy to make, easy to clean up and delicious.
Very flavorful and I loved it!
I recommend cutting your chicken up into pieces before marinating
I also recommend making sure you use the right size can of diced tomatoes, as I think mine was too large and I was left with a LOT of liquid after and had to use some cornstarch to thicken it.
The marinade was absolutely delicious and you can taste it on the chicken and veg despite my mistakes. I absolutely recommend this recipe and will be making again FOR SURE!
I was wondering if I can replace the can of diced tomatoes for tomato sauce. My son as something of a problem with diced tomatoes. Waiting for your answer as I really want to make this recipe. Thank you in advance.
That would be fine, but I’d only add a little. Otherwise it would be fine to just omit them.
I’ve been loving cooking through these recipes recently, thank you Lauren for your meal plans. I had never considered fajita flavouring to mix well with penne, but it did. Although don’t do what I did and accidentally add twice as much penne as the recipe says! My bad. But the flavouring was still great, and I enjoyed the many leftovers I was left with due to my error, almost better than the day I had made it!
Absolutely amazing dish! I made this dish tonight hubby loved it said it smelled Wonderful when he walked in the house after working all day it makes enough for two meals eating leftovers again tomorrow. Thanks for this recipe will make again a new all time favorite for us.
This was sooo good! Great recipe with lots of flavour!
I made this in the crockpot….of course, I tweaked it just a bit, but it turned out awesome! Thank you!
Ultimately, this recipe is disappointing. I was confused whether onions were included in the veggie marinade or not. I included them, but since it was cooked together with peppers that made my peppers undercooked while my onions were nearly burnt. I was confused about when to chop the chicken as well. I chopped before marination. I drained as much marinade as I could before cooking, but a significant amount made it into the pan, meaning my chicken boiled instead of being properly browned. And lastly, bringing a pot to a boil with pasta submerged then letting it simmer cooked my pasta to death! This recipe had potential but the method and process ruined the dish. Cooking every ingredient separately and then combining them would have yielded better results.
When do you cut up the chicken into pieces like the photo? Before cooking or after? I didn’t see it in the recipe. Thank you!
Either way would work–depending on your type of grill (cut pieces may fall through the grates).