Good Morning Gang!
I’m bringing you a new pasta recipe that’s perfect for dinner and packs well as a leftover! If you have a smaller family like me you may be able to get dinner and a smaller lunch out of this recipe… we did 😉
I wanted to create something that I felt was a “restaurant worthy” meal. It’s been a WHILE since my family and I have had the opportunity to sit down in a restaurant and order a nice dinner. This was my way of making that happen. I also have a DIY Hibachi recipe coming soon so stay tuned for that!
A couple of notes on the recipe:
Garnish:
I wanted this to feel like a full on fajita situation so I garnished it with fresh avocado (in place of guacamole), diced tomato, cilantro, sour cream, additional shredded Mexican cheese, and fajita peppers & onions. Also a squeeze of lime juice never hurt anybody. You can totally keep it simple BUT trust me all those flavors work so well together in this pasta!
Monterey Jack Sauce:
I chose to start with a base of butter and flour. I used this as my thickening agent. I tested this recipe the first time I made it using just heavy cream and milk as the base but didn’t not like the texture I got once all the cheese was added.
Seasoning:
I added the fajita seasoning to the sauce as well as bouillon cubes. I used two cubes in the recipe but you can use up to three. It really depends on your taste for salt. There’s also salt in the fajita seasoning so if I were you I would take it easy on the salt until the sauce is done and add additional salt at the end. You can always add salt later but you can’t take it away.
I only used a teaspoon in the of salt in the fajita seasoning so you also choose to opt out of salt all together if that’s your thing. (I still suggest some salt though because it’s the right thing to do 😉)
Pasta:
I used penne but I guess you could totally use whatever you have on hand. It’s totally up to you! My motto is to keep things simple whenever you can.
Spice:
I have a child who is finicky about spice so I used 1 minced chipotle pepper in my sauce but you can add 2-3 peppers along with the sauce into your marinade and monterey jack sauce.
Ok enough yapping check out the recipe below. To see more dinner recipes click here!
Chipotle Chicken Fajita Pasta
Ingredients
Fajita seasoning
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 2 tsp Ground Cumin
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Pepper
- 2 tsp Oregano
- 2 tsp Paprika
Marinade
- About half of the Homemade Fajita Season
- 1-3 Canned Chipotles (depending on spice level)
- 3 tbsp of Olive Oil
Monterey Jack Cream Sauce
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp Flour
- 2-3 Bouillon Cubes
- 2 1/4 cup Milk
- 3/4 cup Heavy cream
- 2 tbsp Sour Cream
- 3 tsp Fajita Seasoning
- 3 tsp Chipotle Juice or 1 Chipotle Minced (Canned)
- 8 oz Monterey Cheese Cubed
- 8 oz Mexican Cheese
Additional Ingredients
- 1.5-2 lbs Chicken Breast
- 2 cups of Sliced Bell Pepper Strips and Onion
- 5-6 cups of Pasta Cooked (penne)
- I would use your best judgement on the pasta. I had a 16 oz box of pasta and used about half.
Garnish w/
- Grilled Peppers & Onions
- Mexican Cheese
- Sliced Chicken
- Sour Cream
- Fresh Tomatoes
- Fresh Cilantro
- Addition
Instructions
Homemade Fajita Seasoning
- In a small bowl combine Chili Powder, Ground Cumin, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Oregano, and Paprika. Give it a good mix until everything is combined.
- In a large bowl add chicken breast, olive oil, minced chipotle peppers, and fajita seasoning. Mix until chicken is completely covered.
- Cover with plastic wrap or foil and place in the refrigerator to marinate. Minimum of 30 minutes.
Garnish Prep
- Slice Peppers and Onions and set aside until its time to cook.
- Once you are ready to cook add oil to a hot skillet and cook peppers and onions until tender.
- Dice fresh tomato, cilantro, and avocado I wouldn’t slice the avocado until you are ready to serve
Pasta
- Cook pasta of choice and set aside.
Chipotle Chicken
- Remove chicken from refrigerator and allow to meat to become room temperature before cooking.
- Heat a large skillet and add cooking oil. You could also cook this chicken on the grill.
- Add chicken to hot pan and allow to blacken on both sides before cutting heat to low.
- Allow chicken to continue cooking until fully cooked through.
- Remove from heat and let rest before slicing.
Monterey Jack Cream Sauce
- In a sauce pan add butter and allow to melt a little before adding your flour.
- Stir the flour and butter mixture until well combined. Allow mixture to cook on medium heat for about 1 minute to cook off some of that flour.
- Slowly begin to add heavy cream and milk. Make sure to whisk the entire time to prevent lumps. I start with a little of the milk mixture and then continue adding a little more at a time until all the milk is incorporated.
- Add bouillon cubes at this time and make sure they dissolve.
- Bump heat to medium high and allow the milk to thicken and come to a slight boil. Make sure to watch the saucepan because it may boil over if it gets too hot. If this happens just cut the heat down to low At this point you should be ready to add your cheese.
- Add your cheese and stir until all the cheese is melted. Sauce will reach desired thickness at this point. You can definitely cut the heat to low at this point.
- Next add your fajita seasoning and chipotle peppers. Mix until well combined. Cut the heat off and add your cooked drained pasta.
- Mix sauce and pasta until pasta is completed coated with sauce.
- Slice your chicken and set on top (for presentation purposes) you could also just mix it in.
- Add your garnishes of choice.
- Enjoy!
