Remember that Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta that we all love because it’s so easy and delicious? Well, the other day when I was craving a creamy-pasta-comfort-food dinner, I decided to morph that recipe with another recipe that we all love so much, Easy Oven Fajitas. When the two recipes come together, a real winner is born: Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta.
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Use Store Bought or Homemade Fajita Seasoning
This Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta is a fast fix that really doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. If you don’t have a well stocked spice cabinet yet, you can simply purchase a pre-mixed packet of fajita spices and use that in place of the individual spices listed below.
Make it EXTRA Cheesy!
If you want to take this recipe one step further and make it EXTRA indulgent, I suggest sprinkling pepper jack (or Monterrey jack) cheese on top.
Can I Use Chicken Thighs?
I was lucky enough to get boneless, skinless chicken breast on a super good sale again, but if you can’t get the same amazing price that I did, chicken thighs would be my next choice. They’re usually quite a bit less expensive and are great because they stay nice and tender when cooked.
What Size Skillet Should I Use?
I used my 10-inch Lodge cast iron skillet for this, but it was really full and difficult to stir without spillage. A 12-inch skillet would probably be a better fit.
Love creamy chicken pasta recipes? Check out my One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta!
Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
FAJITA SPICE MIX
- 2 tsp chili powder* ($0.20)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp cumin ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp sugar ($0.01)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
CHICKEN PASTA
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 0.75 lb.) ($1.30)
- 1 bell pepper ($0.88)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.34)
- 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes ($1.29)
- 4 oz cream cheese ($1.00)
- 8 oz pasta (any shape) ($0.83)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.17)
Instructions
- Combine the spices for the fajita spice mix in a bowl and set aside. Dice the onion and bell pepper, and cut the chicken breast into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until tender (7-10 minutes, or according to the package directions). Drain the pasta in a colander and set it aside until ready to use.
- While waiting for the pasta to cook, heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the cubed chicken and the fajita spice mix. Sauté the chicken and spices until the chicken is cooked through and slightly browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet to a clean bowl.
- Add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and continue to sauté over medium heat just until they begin to soften slightly on the edges and have a little brown color. Add the canned tomatoes (with juices) and the cream cheese. Stir the mixture over medium heat until the cream cheese melts in and forms a creamy sauce with the tomatoes.
- Finally, add the cooked and drained pasta and cooked chicken back to the skillet. Stir until everything is evenly combined and coated in creamy sauce. Top with sliced green onions and serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Chicken Fajita Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preparing the fajita spice mix. In a small bowl, stir together 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt.
This is the “chili powder” I use. It’s a mild blend of spices with NO heat to it. The heat in the fajita spice mix comes from the cayenne, so if you want it more spicy add more cayenne, or if you want the pasta to be 100% mild, just leave the cayenne out. :) With the 1/8 tsp cayenne that I used the pasta just has a slight kick, but nothing too spicy.
Next, dice one yellow onion and one bell pepper.
And cut one boneless, skinless chicken breast into 1/2-inch cubes. This was a fairly large chicken breast, at about 3/4 lb. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs if that’s what you have available.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add 8oz. pasta and cook according to the package directions. I wanted to include a photo of this package because every time I use these “flowers” someone asks what the name of the shape is. This brand is the only one that I’ve seen that makes these cute little pasta flowers.
Once the pasta is cooked through, drain it in a colander and set it aside until ready to use. But while the pasta is cooking you can start the rest of the dish…
While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the diced chicken and the prepared fajita spice mix. Sauté the chicken and spices until the chicken is slightly browned and cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet and place it in a clean bowl.
Add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and sauté for about 5 minutes, or just until the edges soften and begin to turn brown.
Add one 15oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (with the juices) and 4oz. of cream cheese (cut into chunks) to the skillet.
Stir and cook over medium heat until the cream cheese melts in and creates a creamy sauce with the tomatoes.
Finally, add drained pasta and cooked chicken back to the skillet and stir until everything is coated in the creamy sauce. Top with sliced green onions, then serve.
That’s one big skillet of goodness…. I mean Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta.
Dig in!
My suggestion for anyone making this the first time, bump up the cumin to 1/2 tsp, add a little black pepper. If you remove the cayenne, add a little more smoked paprika. You can also add a little oregano if you like.
I actually prefer to make this recipe following the directions for another very similar recipe here, the one pot creamy cajun chicken. I use the spices from this recipe, and brown the chicken first (not worry about cooking all the way), then add the bell pepper (I use yellow in this case) and onion (I use white onions because yellow onions are far too large to use a whole one to me, wish the website gave weights for this). I removed the chicken while cooking the pepper and onion then add back in with the uncooked pasta, fire roasted tomatoes, and chicken stock from the cajun recipe and cooked according to that. Mind you, I don’t use any of the dairy in either of these recipes, but I find cooking the pasta with at least some broth has a far better result, just pick your preferred spice mix of the two and follow the cajun steps instead lol.
Hi Beth, Recipe is really good and fast. I made it just as per your recipe except I used half red and half green peppers for color.
I’m not sure where you live or shop, but the prices you quote are 2 to 3 times higher where I live for things like chicken breasts and cream cheese.
This recipe is from 2016, so the prices are definitely a bit different. Unfortunately, because food prices change on a day to day basis, it’s impossible to have all of the recipes reflect current prices. Rather than looking at the total or individual prices, it can be helpful to look at the ratio of the prices. Which ingredients add the most to the total cost and which are the least costly (but most bulky). That helps you recognize which ingredients you can cut back on or increase in your recipes to adjust the volume and price to make them more budget-friendly, no matter what the current prices are. :)
This was great! I’d love to try and do it all in one pan like the cream Cajun chicken pasta – any tips for that? I’d worry about the onions and peppers getting too mushy but maybe I’d do those first, take them out, add everything else (and broth for cooking noodles) and put the peppers and onions back in with the cream cheese?
I think your intuition is spot on! Take the peppers and onions out and add them back in toward the end. :)
This was good. Used leftover chicken fajita; didn’t have cream cheese or roasted tomatoes (google said I could use sour cream and any canned tomatoes with smoke paprika…). Added more spices in this recipe and siracha cuz the pasta and tomatoes dulled the flavour.
My husband and I love this pasta and it’s a regular in our meal rotation. Today I turned it into a soup…left out the pasta, added black beans and frozen corn, then added 32oz of chicken broth and doubled the cream cheese. It’s everything you could dream of and more. Oh and I added some cilantro and lime when serving.
The first time I made this, the cayenne made it a bit spicy for my kids. I made it tonight without the cayenne, using boneless chicken thighs and regular diced tomatoes. The kids and I loved it. I’m doing keto, so I put the pasta in last, and put my portion of the chicken on a bed of lettuce and mixed it up, rather than on pasta. Excellent that way.
This was a miss for us. The flavor was just bland, overall. It lacked depth. The tomatoes still had their bright/raw flavor and that detracted from the intended warmth of the spices.
I ended up adding some additional sour cream and cheese to dry and bring up the flavor, in addition to some prepared salsa after I’d tasted it and didn’t like it. We’ve got a ton of leftovers and those will get so,e additional treatment upon reheat.
Just a question how much is 8 oz of dry pasta in grams, do I really only use 100 grams of pasta?
When I enter it into an ounce to grams calculator I get 8 oz. = 227 grams.
Dude this is so good! I added two bell peppers (green and red) and a diced jalapeño. I also used diced tomatoes with jalapeños instead of fire roasted bc that’s what I had. I increased the seasoning a bit since I had a lot more veggies and I probably will increase it a little more next time. But it is so so good.
Made this for the 507,000th time today, and it’s still delicious. It’s also forgiving—I add half a can of leftover corn, and it was still perfect. I like to add some chopped cilantro, when I have it. This recipe is a gift for all of us who keep a stocked pantry and appreciate a delicious weeknight meal. Thanks, Beth!
Hey how many servings is this total?
I get about four servings out of this, but your servings will vary depending on how much you tend to eat.
Wow, this was delicious, I just made this with things I had in the house, so I changed it a tiny bit. I had small mixed bell peppers so I used a mix of red, orange and yellow. I did not use as much cream cheese as I find it to be sweet and added some sour cream with about half the amount of cream cheese. I used Penzey’s spices fajita and some chopped garlic to the veggie mix. I finished some white rice I had and this came out fantastic.
Hi-would love to add mushrooms to this recipe. Would I need to change anything in the process since they emit a bit of moisture when sautéed? Thanks for your input!
I don’t think you’ll need to do much different. :) I’d sauté them in the skillet after the chicken but before the onion and bell pepper. Just sauté until all that moisture is released from the mushrooms and then evaporates from the skillet, and then you can proceed as written.
This is a new family favorite. My husband said that he would marry this pasta if he wasn’t already married to me. LOL Made it a couple of weeks ago as written. Last night for Cinco de Mayo, I was looking for something Mexican to make with what I had on hand. I used ground beef and pinto beans rather than chicken since that’s all I had. It was good, but not as good as the chicken for sure. Still, all but the pickiest eaters in my house were happy.
Had to make a few modifications due to pantry/budgetary restrictions, so I can advise that: you can substitute a frozen vegetable medley with onions and peppers no problem (though texture would likely have been better with fresh), and yes, you can use regular diced tomatoes instead of fire roasted ones, but this is one case where the spice on the meat doesn’t do enough to “mask” the un-roasted tomatoes … probably worth spending the extra cash on the specialty tomatoes! That said, the meal is still really flavourful and filling, and definitely reminds me of fajitas :)
Thank you so much for sharing these tips Catherine. I think it will be helpful for a lot of folks to read too!
I’m not a fan of chicken, do you th I in beef would taste good in this dish instead?
Hmm, it might be okay, but I think that would just be a personal call. Personally, I would stick to chicken.
My husband made this for dinner tonight, we loved it! We couldn’t find the fire roasted diced tomatoes so just used a can of regular. Very creamy and delicious, we will definitely be making this again :)
That works too! Try with the fire roasted if you can find them next time!
This was delicious and very easy. I added a can of black beans with the tomatoes and a small handful of fresh cilantro with the green onions. I will definitely make this again!
This sounds delicious. Do you think it could be turned into a one pot meal with precooked chicken and 2 cups of chicken broth after the bell pepper and onions are cooked and everything else added? Hope that makes sense:). Thanks for all the great recipes!
Yes, I would saute the onion and bell pepper first, then add the seasoning and saute a minute or so more, then add the rest of the ingredients. :)
Thank you so much for this and all of your recipes! I have no idea how I’d be feeding myself in college without. This pasta is so good and so easy to make vegetarian. I didn’t miss the chicken at all.
Could tofu be substituted and still be yummy? What other vegetarian friendly substitutes would you recommend?
I think tempeh would be a much better texture for this dish than tofu.
I never would have thought to combine pasta and fajitas. So good. I added a bit more cayenne and a bit of black pepper.
This is incredible! My kids all loved it, I had to keep swatting their hands away from the chicken while I finished the sauce. Making it again less that a week later.
Oh my gosh! Tried this tonight and it was amazing! I didn’t use onions cause hubby can’t have them. I added corn to the bell pepper mixture and doubled the batch! We have yummy leftovers for days! Thank you so much!
What could be served on the side with this do you think? Thanks!
I would normally consider this a “one dish” meal, where everything needed for a full recipes is in one dish, but perhaps you could add some buttery garlic bread on the side?
Love this recipe! I make it all the time for me and my husband (who loves it too).
Forgot to rate it!
Made this tonight. Extremely good… couldn’t find roasted tomatoes so we settled for the plain ol’ diced. No biggie, but it was missing that punch of flavor. We live in Europe and was really fun to see the budget was exact counting for exchange rate (wasn’t really trying to measure ingredients at the store either). This is my new favorite site!!!
It’s pretty good. I meal-prepped using 4x the ingredients listed here so I’m gonna have diarrhea for at least a week.
I admit I was Leary. Something about pasta and fajita seasoning sounded awful😳 But we’ve made this multiple times now and it’s a hit for everyone. Half the family is vegetarian, so I do cook the meat separately and add most of the spices to the veggies instead. We didn’t really dig the cream cheese the first time we made this – so now we add about a cup of shredded cheddar and some sour cream to creamy is up. This is amazing topped with diced avocado too!
Your recipies are simply amaaaazing!! Please keep them coming! I’m newly married so always on the hunt for hearty and delicious meals :).
Am I the only one whose pasta sucked up all the cream cheese? when i initially stirred it in, it was all melty and it was good, but then after mixing it with the pasta ( I didn’t have too much pasta in case you were wondering) after a few minutes it all was completely absorbed and I was left with basically sauceless pasta. I followed the recipe exactly too. I did enjoy the spice for the chicken though, that was great
I had to almost double the canned tomatoes and cream cheese.
Easy and delicious! Made this for dinner tonight. My husband and I loved it.
Just made this tonight. I added in a can of corn to add extra veg. So delicious! Love it.
Oooo! Corn is a great idea!!
I love this recipe, it’s always really great. One piece of advice, this can easily be converted into a one pot meal by adding 1.5-2 cups of stock. I follow the directions as written, but when you add the tomatoes you also add the stock and uncooked pasta. Once the pasta is cooked add the cream cheese. When I figured this out, it made a awesome recipe even better.
This turned out deliciously! Will definitely make more chicken than was recommended next time; that was about the only complaint I heard from the family! They loved it.
We tried this the other night and it was amazing! We made a few minor tweaks (used a fajita spice packet) and eyeballed the cream cheese (used alil less than the recipe calls for) and it was amazing! We are definitely going to eat it again. We though jalapenos or another type of pepper would add another kick to it, so going to try that next time :D Red pepper flakes or even sriracha might be good!
Wow this was HOT! My poor hubby couldn’t even eat this. However our 12yo LOVED it! Didn’t add the fire roasted tomatoes as we don’t have them in Australia but our chilli powder is quite hot so next time I will have to reduce the heat so we can all eat it! lol…I love hot foods anyway, but it was hot for me too! Just need to balance the ingredients as what is used in the US compared to Australia. It was a very nice dish. Thanks for the recipe.
I applied your suggestion of topping with shredded cheese before reheating the leftovers for lunch today and have since scribbled SHREDDED CHEESE!! in big block letters on the printed recipe page.
Is it possible to substitute the fire roasted tomatoes for a can of Rotel?
Yep, that would be quite good (and spicy)! :)
Hi! I was wondering if I’m using a packet of fajita seasoning do I just use the whole thing? Also do you think it would be good to melt the cheese into the sauce? Thanks!
Yes, I would use the entire fajita seasoning packet. …and I don’t think melting cheese into the sauce could ever be a bad thing. ;)
Holy cow!!! This is SOOOO GOOD. One of my new favorite things to cook.
Very good and easy to prepare. I had pressure cooked some chicken earlier so used it and added cilantro instead of green onions. My son and I think it could be spicier so may use Ro-Tel MILD tomatoes since my husband doesn’t want it any spicier. Will be making this again but will use sour cream instead of cream cheese since I always have that on hand.
Really great weeknight dinner! This comes together as quickly as you said, and it’s great.
Made this last night. My little guy ate 3rds!!! Definite winner
This is very, very similar to a crock pot recipe I have, which includes beans and corn (and no pasta). I did add corn too (per children request) and it was a hit! Great easy recipe. I also used the frozen precut peppers and onions (1/2 bag) for ease.
I have a jar of fajita sauce and spices would that work instead of a jar of tomatoes and would I then leave out the cream cheese?
Hmm, I guess it would depend on the fajita sauce. I’ve never used a store bought fajita sauce before so I’m not sure what the consistency and flavor are like.
My inner Midwesterner thinks this might make a good casserole.
Delicious! If you haven’t made it yet go ahead and double it to use the full box of cream cheese and the whole pound of pasta you’ll be glad you did because it’s good leftover
Do you have the calorie counts for any of your recipes?
No, I’m sorry, I don’t.
I use MyFitnessPal to figure out the nutritional information of recipes. It takes a little time, but it is easy. : )
I put all of her recipes that I’ve loved on the app “Lose It!” And it gives me the calorie count.
Side note, I’ve lost 10 lbs with only cooking from her website (and of course exercising) and I’m just so thankful for Beth’s awesome blog!
I’ve been meal prepping for the last nine months or so, and your blog has been an amazing resource for me. Your Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta is a frequent treat (with a few modifications like neufchâtel cheese and the addition of ground turkey or turkey sausage). I also absolutely LOVE how easy your Oven Fajitas recipe is. I frequently will make a huge batch, like 4-5 lbs of chicken and 5-6 peppers, and use it for work lunches for both me and my husband. A couple of weeks ago I paired the fajitas with your Weeknight Bean and Cheese Enchiladas and those lunches had us anxiously looking at the clock each day as we waited for lunch time. So good! My coworkers are constantly asking me where I get my recipes, and at least 80% of the time the answer is: “BudgetBytes.com, with a ‘Y’ like computer ‘bytes’.” I say all that because when doing my weekly meal prep plan this morning I saw you had posted this recipe. And I instantly knew it would be incorporated. In fact, I just finished making a double batch for 8 hearty-sized lunches. I didn’t make any changes other than doubling all of the ingredients. Ahhmazing! Approximately 440 cals, 34g protein, 12g fat, 50g carbs (according to the brands I used). Next time I’ll probably split it into 10 portions so they’re a bit smaller and add a small side salad or some veggies. Thanks!
Wow, thank YOU! :D
How do you think it would work to substitute sour cream for the cream cheese?
I think it would be pretty good and another commenter said they did just that and loved it! :)
Quick, easy, and tasty! The entire family loved this dish, and I loved how easy it was to make!
One of those that comes out so good I’m not sure I actually made it. I used “Gemelli” pasta and chicken thighs I had frozen and wanted to get rid of. Perfect spice combo – and got to love only using 2 pots/pans.
I have rotisserie chicken to use. How could I use that in this recipe instead of the raw chicken?
Hmm, I think I would add the spices to the onion and bell pepper when those are sautéed, then add the cooked chicken and the rest of the ingredients.
I really loved this recipe…very good flavors and cream cheese goodness. I love that your recipes include ingredients that are easy to get and/or I already have on hand.
I made this the day it was posted…LOVED IT….Beth, you have such a great pallet- your spice combos are always spot on- it had so much flavor-
Hi Beth! Just wanted to let you know that this pasta shape is called ‘campanelle’ which means ‘little bells’ or ‘bell flowers’ which I guess is where the name this company uses comes from. I know that Barilla does make them but most stores don’t carry them. I’ve found them only at a couple stores, one of which was a Walmart, surprisingly enough. Cheers!
Hey Beth. This looks yummy. Wanna try it out tonight but don’t have cream cheese. What do you suggest I could substitute it with? Thanks 😊
I usually substitute real cream for recipes like this where the cream cheese melts. It would just be a bit thinner of a sauce but still taste good.
A little sour cream might be nice. It has the creaminess and tanginess that cream cheese has. It will be a touch thinner, but it might work.
Can confirm that this works. I made improvised fajita pasta a while ago which was VERY similar to this one (just different spices and added beans and corn), but didn’t think to add any creamy ingredient. Turned out lackluster so added sour cream which I often have in the fridge. Worked perfectly!
Just got done making this, AMAZING! It’s 102 in Northern California, nice to have oven fajitas for dinner, minus the oven.
Ok so this blog is soo cool! I love the prices on the side. The food is super yummy.
Yum! I love the idea of adding these flavors to pasta with veggies! That cut of pasta looks so delicious too. All around lovely dish.
http://www.sprinklesandsaturdays.com
Fantastic dish! Really unique change of pace in the pasta arena imo.
we made this last night and it was ok.. not going to lie the fajitas were much better.
I’m definitely going to make this pasta dish for dinner this week!!! :-)
Going on the menu this week…looks so good! I think this pasta shape is called ‘campanelle’ by some of the brands I’ve seen :)
This is great! Thx for sharing, everything in the recipe is awesome but I´d prefer to use Barilla´s pastas! they´re delicious, and thas has led for me to also check the Barilla Restaurants´ website with pizza, pasta and salad cool and easy recipes :) Have you seen those? http://www.barillarestaurants.com/menu
I haven’t! I’ll have to check them out for ideas. ;)