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.

Chicken Fajita Pasta served in a skillet with a scoop of salsa on top.

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.

Two process photos of a skillet cooking veggies and chicken, then cooking penne pasta in liquid with diced tomatoes.

  • 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.

A bowl with a serving of chicken fajita pasta in it.

If you love One Pan Meals, try one of these favorites:

One Pan Jambalaya

Skillet Lasagna

Shrimp Creole

Paella

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Recipe

Chicken Fajita Pasta served in a skillet with a scoop of salsa on top.
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 40 minutes
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Ingredients
  

For the fajita marinade:

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

Vegetarian Fajita Pasta: Omit chicken and add additional vegetables.

Nutrition

Calories: 428kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 24gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 419mgPotassium: 689mgFiber: 6gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1228IUVitamin C: 77mgCalcium: 82mgIron: 2mg

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I originally shared this recipe February 2016. Updated July 2020 with process photos and a video.

Chicken Fajita Pasta - everything you love about fajitas, transformed into a bold and delicious pasta dish! | Tastes Better From Scratch

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. 1 star
    This ended up a mushy flavorless mess in the end. The step about cool until the liquid reduces left is with mushy noodles and boiled chicken and veggies.

  2. 5 stars
    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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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!

  5. 5 stars
    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.

  6. 1 star
    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.

  7. 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!

    1. Either way would work–depending on your type of grill (cut pieces may fall through the grates).

  8. 5 stars
    Made this tonight – my first of your recipes – and I’m looking forward to trying many more! I chose it simply because it was the first one I saw that I could manage with stuff already in my house, and I did have to change up a couple things, like using rotini instead of penne, and only green peppers instead of green and red. I also wound up topping it with crumbled bacon because I was lucky enough to have some left over from breakfast. It was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed every bite! Can’t wait to try more!

  9. 5 stars
    Made this tonight for dinner and we loved it! It was a nice take on a new kind of pasta, instead of just an Italian recipe. I made the full amount so I could eat it for left overs. I used a bit more chicken because my husband is very carnivorous.

  10. To reduce calories and/or WWpoints, I cut the oil to 1 tsp. for the marinade and just Pamming the frying pan when I went to stir-fry the chicken. Then, I also cut the dry pasta down to 4 oz. instead of 8 oz. The result for the marinade: with only a tsp of oil: it was more like a paste than a loose dressing, but it still flavored the meat and (tremendous volume of )veggies well, although one could tell there wasn’t much oil in it. In addition, the ample amount of liquids from the canned tomatoes, milk and broth cooked the 4 oz. of pasta properly, and a serving (1/5 of the batch) was still almost too much for me to eat at once…and it tasted good. One snafu: I mistakenly combined both the garlic powder and the minced garlic when making the marinade instead of adding the minced garlic at the end of the cooking…I’ll be reading the “how to” instructions first, next time around.

  11. 5 stars
    Really easy and yummy recipe. Like the balance between healthy and comfort food. My kids loved it too.

  12. I made this for family and friends last night and it tasted so fresh and delicious! Just like fajitas!

    I was wondering if the marinade could be mixed up ahead and stored in the fridge overnight in order to reduce prep time on busy nights?

    1. Hi Michelle, thanks for your comment–I’m so happy you liked them! Yes, the marinade could absolutely be made ahead of time!