A great Chicken Fajita Pasta Bake with all of the flavours of your favourite fajitas, but in a tasty, cheesy, pasta bake. This dish is sure to become a family favourite!
Pasta Bake for dinner is always a hit and this one certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s easy to prepare and cook, and contains lots of veggies, which will help you hit your five-a-day!
This easy chicken fajita pasta is super easy to prepare and make, so it’s great for weeknight dinner.
Just add your favourite side dishes, try; garden salad, buttery corn cobs or homemade ranch coleslaw and tuck in!
Plus… we don’t just give you the fajita pasta bake recipe, we give you loads of ways to mix things up differently using alternative ingredients, but still getting a delicious dinner!
And, we’ll run you through loads of side dishes, and ways to use up leftovers. Making the most out of every mouthful!
Equipment Needed
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Tablespoon
- 2 saucepans – one for the pasta, one for the sauce
- Casserole dish – or any dish or platter you can use under a grill.
- Teaspoon
- Grater
Chicken Fajita Pasta Bake Ingredients
All the ingredients we use to make our healthy chicken pasta bake are readily available or easily substituted – so everything is easy to find and buy
- 1 tbsp olive oil – you can swap this for rapeseed oil or sunflower oil if you prefer.
- 1 red onion – chunkily diced
- 400g chicken breast – cut into small bitesized pieces
- 1 red pepper – cut into chunks
- 1 yellow pepper – cut into chunks
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp fajita seasoning
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes
- 350g dried penne pasta
- 200g Cheddar cheese – grated
- Pinch salt
- Pinch black pepper
You could swap the garlic powder, fajita seasoning and oregano for a pack of fajita seasoning if you prefer.
Get more chicken dinner recipes here.
How To Make Chicken Fajita Pasta Bake
You’ll just LOVE how simple our fajita pasta bake is to prepare and cook. Super easy!
Step One – make the chicken fajita pasta sauce
- Add the olive oil to a skillet pan or large saucepan and gently fry the onions for 5 minutes.
- Then tip in the chicken breast pieces and fry them until they turn white on the outsides.
- Next add in the chopped peppers, garlic powder, fajita seasoning and oregano. Season with salt and black pepper and continue to fry for a few minutes to soften the peppers.
- Pour in the tinned tomatoes, I know it’ll seem a little too saucy BUT, when you’re making a lovely tomato chicken pasta bake, then too much sauce is a good thing. Nobody wants dry pasta bake!
- Cover the pan with a lid and bring the fajita pasta sauce to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked through properly)
Step Two – cook the pasta
Whilst the chicken fajita pasta sauce is cooking it’s time to get the pasta on, you’re aiming to have them both finished cooking around the same time.
- Cook the penne as per the packet instructions. Usually around 10-12 minutes in boiling salted water. Then drain and put to one side.
Step Three – put together the chicken fajita pasta bake
- Toss the cooked pasta through the spicy chicken pasta sauce, mix so it coats everything.
- Preheat the grill to high.
- Tip the chicken fajita pasta bake into an oven proof dish, then sprinkle the top with cheese.
- Put the fajita chicken pasta bake under the grill until the cheese is melted, bubbling and browning on top.
Step Four – serve the fajita chicken pasta bake
Serve up your delicious spicy chicken pasta bake with all your favourite side dishes and dig in!
Get more kid friendly recipes here
What To Serve With Chicken Fajita Pasta Bake
This great pasta bake idea is perfect served with a whole range of side dishes – just choose your favourites from the list below!
- Garlic bread – we love these quick and easy garlic brioche here.
- Garden salad
- Buttery sweetcorn
- Guacamole and cheesy nachos
Chicken Fajita Pasta Bake Recipe Variations
You can take this easy pasta bake idea and give it your own twist – add in some extra ingredients or swap some altogether. We’ve popped some tasty pasta bake ideas below for you to try out!
Make creamy chicken fajita pasta bake
Stir a couple of tablespoons of sour cream through the tomato chicken pasta sauce for a creamy pasta bake.
Make spicy chicken pasta bake
Love your food with a kick of heat? Add in some freshly chopped chillies, some chilli powder or even a scattering of candied jalapeño for some extra chilli flavour.
Make veggie fajita pasta bake
Skip the chicken and swap for a can or two of kidney beans for an easy, cheesy pasta bake idea.
Pasta Bakes Ideas
When you’re feeding a family, you just can’t go wrong with a lovely big pasta bake. Grab our tastiest ones below!
How To Use Up Leftover Pasta Bake
First up, be sure to cool and store your leftover pasta quickly. It needs to be cooled within 90 minutes of being cooked. And stored in an air tight container in the fridge.
- Leftover pasta bake can be reheated the next day – just ping in the microwave for around 4-5 minutes. Be sure that it’s heated through properly to a minimum core temperature of 82C.
- Leftover pasta bake tastes AMAZING stuffed into crusty bread rolls the next day with a squirt of spicy mayonnaise…. trust us on this!
Are You Looking For Some Tasty Family Meal Ideas?
Check out our meal planning here – it’s filled with recipes, meal planning tips and pre-filled printable meal plans weekly or seasonally. We’ve got hundreds of the BEST family recipes your whole family will LOVE!
You might just LOVE our yummy halloumi fajitas recipe here!
Chicken Fajita Pasta Bake
A super easy and delicious chicken fajita pasta bake - great for weeknight dinner with the kids.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion - diced
- 400g chicken breast - diced
- 1 red pepper - diced
- 1 yellow pepper - diced
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp fajita seasoning
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 800g chopped tomatoes
- 350g penne pasta
- 200g cheddar cheese
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a skillet pan or large saucepan and gently fry the onions for 5 minutes.
- Then tip in the chicken pieces and fry them until they turn white on the outsides.
- Next add in the chopped peppers, garlic powder, fajita seasoning and oregano. Season with salt and black pepper and continue to fry for a few minutes to soften the peppers.
- Pour in the tinned tomatoes.
- Cover the pan with a lid and bring the fajita pasta sauce to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked through properly)
- Whilst the chicken fajita pasta sauce is cooking it’s time to get the pasta on, you’re aiming to have them both finished cooking around the same time - cook the penne as per the packet instructions. Usually around 10-12 minutes in boiling salted water. Then drain and put to one side.
- Toss the cooked pasta through the spicy chicken pasta sauce, mix so it coats everything.
- Preheat the grill to high.
- Tip the chicken fajita pasta bake into an oven proof dish, then sprinkle the top with cheese.
- Put the fajita chicken pasta bake under the grill until the cheese is melted, bubbling and browning on top.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 609Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 550mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 5gSugar: 9gProtein: 51g
Nutritional content will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use and how careful you are with measuring - this nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate - you should always calculate your own nutritional information especially if you have specific dietary requirements.
Get more delicious meal ideas and easy recipes here