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This one pot ground chicken fajita pasta is the perfect busy weeknight rush dinner. Ground chicken paired with warm spices, onions, peppers, creamy sour cream, and of course – CHEESE!
Comfort food comes in all forms, and, surprisingly for me, it took moving to New York to realize that pasta is the ultimate comfort food.
I grew up in a household where my dad wasn’t a big pasta fan, so we never ate it.
This dish is literally comfort in a bowl. It is packed full of Tex-Mex flavor, made with ground chicken, vegetables, pasta, homemade fajita sauce, spices, and just a touch of cheese.
Trust me, if you’re looking for the perfect ONE POT pasta dish, this is the recipe you need.
And if you love all these flavors but crave something lower-carb, try my stuffed Ground Chicken Fajita Spaghetti Squash, which has the same flavors but is made with spaghetti squash.
My Pro Tips
Ground Chicken Fajita Pasta Recipe Tips
Prep your ingredients ahead of time. This will allow you to focus on the food as it’s cooking and not become overwhelmed by trying to do too much at once.
When making one-pot pasta, you want a pan with high sides so you can add all your ingredients without worrying about anything spilling over. My favorites are my Le Creuset braiser or my deep 12-inch non-stick casserole pan from American Kitchen.
To keep it simple, I added cheese at the end and let the pasta’s heat melt it. However, if you love crunchy cheese toppings, pop them under the broiler.
If you don’t like cilantro, you can opt to leave it out. However, I think it brightens up the dish for you cilantro lovers!
Substitutions and Adaptations
Here are a few ideas for changing the flavor while keeping the method the same.
- Switch up the ground meat to bring in a different flavor – ground turkey, beef, or pork are all great substitutes.
- Instead of canned tomato sauce, you could easily use 15 ounces of store-bought enchilada sauce to add even more flavor.
- For a vegetarian experience, double the vegetables, use vegetable broth, use non-dairy cheese, and add vegan meat crumbles.
FAQ’s
More ground chicken recipes
One Pot Ground Chicken Fajita Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground lean chicken
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 1-1/4 cup chicken stock
- 8 ounces dried pasta
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro
- 1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
Instructions
- In a large 12 inch high sided skillet add 1 tablespoon olive oil and set over medium heat.
- When the oil is hot add in the ground chicken, yellow onion, bell peppers, garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Cook until the meat is fully cooked and no longer pink and the vegetables have started to soften.
- Pour in the tomato sauce, chicken stock, and the dried pasta. Stir to combine.
- Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes or until the past is fully cooked. If the mixture cooks down too much before the pasta is fully cooked add a little more stock.
- After the pasta is fully cooked the mixture should be creamy but thick. Stir in the sour cream and cilantro.
- Top with cheese and let the warmth of the pasta melt the cheese.
- Optional – Melt the cheese under an oven broiler if in an oven safe dish.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Curious if this freezes well?
Hi Nancy! I have never frozen it before but if you give it a try let me know how it turns out.
This was super tasty even though I had to substitute some things I didn’t have. Thank you for the recipe!
What type of pasta did you use? In some photos it looks like shells and in others, angel hair?
Hi Courtney! I used orecchiette pasta but you can really use whatever pasta shape you like best. I think shapes like orecchiette, penne, bowtie, shells, or rotini work well here.
Loved this recipe! Definitely will make again. I love that it feels so hearty but you can adjust the amount of cheese or sour cream, it has a lot of veggies + lean protein, and I even used Banza pasta for more nutrition from the pasta itself. If anyone was wondering it came out great with the Banza (I used shells but other shapes would probably work).
This was incredible! My husband could not stop complimenting it with each bite. I cook 5 nights a week and 3-4 of those nights it’s usually a new recipe, so we don’t often eat repeats. This recipe will be added into the repeat rotation. SO good and even better the next day! I used bow tie pasta because it’s what I had. The only change I made was adding more liquid while cooking. The pasta was taking a long time to cook and I was afraid it would dry out so I added a can of enchilada sauce half way through the cooking instead of water, which probably deepened the flavors more. I am so happy I tried this recipe!
How much cilantro it only says 1/4 is it 1/4 cup?
SO YUMMY!! I added zucchini for the last minute of cooking, and red pepper flakes for a spicy kick! It was such a hit that I’m making it again for dinner tonight!
Could you freeze this meal?
Hi, just wanted to thank you for sharing this delicious and easy recipe. My kids loved it, even the picky eater.
Was wondering about the 8oz of pasta… is it weighed to 8oz or 8oz as in 1 cup?
Yes, go by weight for this as pasta is measured in weight and a measuring cup, while it can hold 8 ounces, might not be 8 ounces in weight for the pasta.