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.
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!
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!