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This easy one pot Chicken Enchilada Pasta is made with a few basic ingredients and is ready in less than 30 minutes! This dinner recipe cooks in one pan to make both prep and clean up easy.
One pot dinners make dinnertime easy. When they are made with only a few ingredients, they are even better. Chicken Enchilada Pasta is an easy, cheesy and delicious meal for anyone. It tastes great as leftovers and comes together quickly.
Why You’ll Love It
This easy dinner recipe is packed with everything you love about enchiladas plus comforting pasta. Features of this recipe include the following.
- Made with easy to find ingredients.
- Cooks in one pan.
- Easy to adapt with your favorite toppings.
- Tastes great as leftovers.
Ingredients You Need
This recipe comes together with a few basic ingredients. You probably already have most of these in your pantry.
- Cooked Chicken: Rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken breasts work great.
- Penne Pasta: You can substitute with another large noodle pasta like Rigatoni or Fusilli.
- Diced Tomatoes: Use diced tomatoes with green chilies for extra flavor, but regular diced tomatoes work fine too.
- Enchilada Sauce: Use store-bought or homemade enchilada sauce.
- Black Beans: You can omit the beans or substitute for another type of bean, if desired.
- Corn: Use frozen or fresh corn kernels.
- Taco Seasoning: Use store-bought or homemade taco seasoning.
- Cheese: Mild cheddar cheese tastes the best but shredded Mexican cheese works too.
- Toppings: Use your favorite enchilada toppings like cilantro, chives, avocado or sour cream.
Steps to Make Chicken Enchilada Pasta
This recipe comes together in four easy steps!
- Combine the pasta, tomatoes, enchilada and water in a large skillet over high heat.
- Heat the mixture to a boil, then reduce the temperature to medium heat.
- Add cooked chicken, black beans, corn and taco seasoning. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pasta should be tender and cooked through. You can slightly adapt the cooking time to achieve the perfect pasta texture.
- Stir in the cheese until melted.
Expert Tip: Stir the pasta occasionally while cooking. This helps prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan and allows the pasta to cook evenly.
Additional Toppings
Serve the pasta with your favorite enchilada toppings.
- Avocado
- Sour Cream
- Cilantro
- Chives
- Olives
- Crumbled Cotija
- Salsa
After you make this chicken enchilada pasta once, you will want to add it to your dinner rotation regularly. Dinner is on the table in less than 30 minutes and it tastes amazing.
Try this recipe and let us know what you think by leaving a comment and review below!
Easy One Pot Pasta Recipes
- One Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- One Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Tomato Basil Tortellini Skillet
- One Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo
One Pot Chicken Enchilada Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups penne pasta
- 10 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chilis
- 10 ounce can of enchilada sauce
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
- 15 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 3/4 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded
- cilantro, chives, avocado and sour cream for topping, as desired
Instructions
- In a large skillet over high heat, combine the pasta, tomatoes, enchilada sauce and water.
- Heat to a boil then reduce temperature to medium heat.
- Add chicken, black beans, corn and taco seasoning. Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until pasta is tender and cooked through.
- Stir in cheese and add additional toppings, as desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in 2014, as adapted from Chelsea’s Messy Apron. It was updated in January 2021 with new photos and tips.
Can’t wait to try this, I know it’s going to be a hit!
Lovely recipe. I can’t wait to give this a try. I’m such a huge fan of Mexican cuisine but love pasta too.
This recipe is amazing! Pasta fan…check. Enchilada fan…check check! I could not think of a better combination! Thanks so much for a fabulous recipe!
Made this last week and it was awesome. If I wanted to do this in a slow cooker, how long do you think to cook penne ? Thanks!
I’m so glad to hear you loved this recipe! I haven’t tested this recipe in a slow cooker so I can’t promise any results, but I would add everything including the penne (uncooked).