I was already planning to make this Mexican Chicken Pasta Skillet and post the recipe this week, and then Katie announced that she was hosting a skillet recipe “The Meals that Hamburger Helper was Trying to Imitate” carnival and I knew that this fit in perfectly. I really like that this recipe has a Mexican twist on what is traditionally an Italian type meal.
Mexican Chicken Pasta Skillet
Ingredients:
- 2 cups penne or rotini pasta (we’ve been using brown rice pasta)
- 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite size chunks (I just use one large breast and it is enough)
- 1-2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups salsa
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped colored peppers (optional)
- 2 cups cooked kidney or black beans, or 1 can drained and rinsed
- onion salt, garlic powder and paprika to taste (about 1/8 tsp. each)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
• Cook pasta according to directions on package.
• While pasta is cooking, melt 1-2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil to a large skillet. Add chicken and cook and stir for 2 minutes, until outside of chicken is mostly cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for cheese, and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and cover, simmering for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
• Drain pasta. Add to skillet with chicken mixture. Stir to combine and top with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Cover and allow cheese to melt. Stir and serve topped with remainder of cheese sprinkled on top.
A few notes:
- Obviously, this is not quite a one dish meal. If you had a super large skillet you could probably add the pasta and some extra water to the skillet and cook it that way too.
- I sometimes add colored peppers and sometimes not, depending what I have on hand, this time I used some red pepper I had in the freezer along with the green pepper.
- Use cooked dried beans, it’s MUCH cheaper!!
- A little pre-prep work makes this a snap to throw together at dinner time, just pull everything out of the freezer to thaw – chicken cut into bite-sized chunks, diced pepper, cooked dried beans, corn – and you’re ready to go!
- You could also use real onion and garlic instead of powder. We don’t handle much onion in our house, but as I was writing this I thought, Why didn’t I put fresh garlic in there instead of powder?
- My hubby said, “This is really good.” I have a great husband, but he is not a big encourager in the cooking/food department. He usually just eats what’s in front of him without a lot of comment, good or bad. So, the fact that he made a positive comment about this means something, at least to me. 🙂
- As this is a pretty complete meal-in-one, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to serve with it. It looks so lonely on the plate all by itself. Any ideas for me?
Enjoy! And be sure to Pin this recipe to save it for later!
And Baking Day. I told you on Monday that I was planning baking/food prep days for today and tomorrow. Well, I did a lot of baking and cooking today, it didn’t go exactly as planned, but that’s okay. I accomplished about half the things on my list, but also had to make a grocery run in the middle of the day. So, I’m pretty happy with myself and plan to finish stuff up tomorrow, although it may be a little tougher with a certain 2 year old around. I’m planning to post more about my kitchen adventures tomorrow, so be sure to check back!
Please visit Kitchen Stewardship for more One Skillet Recipes that are husband-approved.
And Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge
*Disclosure – There are affiliate links in this post. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I’ll receive a small commission. Thanks for supporting Live Renewed!
I just recently found your blog, so I’m a little behind reading this. I think your Mex. Chick. Pasta sounds wonderful. I too try to cook mostly from scratch. Will try it tonight. I think if you want just a touch more, add a FEW tortilla chips, like a garnish, along side for a little bit of crunch. If you add some kind of fresh fruit or fruit salad it is certainly a complete meal. My biggest time saver routine is to cook far more meat than I need and freeze half. It’s already seasoned and on those days when I know I’m pressed for time around the evening, I reach for one of those meat packets from the freezer in the morning and put it in the frig to start thawing. A tablespoon of water to the pan and the cover steams it the rest of the way in the evening and then I add whatever else needs adding. Cooking vegetables can be done in a jiff. It’s the meat that seems to take the longest.