One Pot Creamy Jalapeño Popper Chicken Pasta combines your favorite jalapeño popper flavors in one creamy and delicious meal! Cooked in only one pot, this easy weeknight dinner is perfect for the entire family.
Another one pot pasta dinner is long overdue here on Spoonful of Flavor. One Pot Creamy Jalapeño Popper Chicken Pasta is well worth the wait! Combining only a few simply ingredients, this pasta dinner is a meal that the entire family will love. My secret ingredient in almost all of my one pot pasta dinners is cream cheese. The cream cheese creates the most creamy texture and rich flavor. Add some chopped bacon on top and serve. It’s that easy! You can even adapt to fit your tastes, adding more or less jalapeños, as desired.
How to make One Pot Jalapeño Popper Chicken Pasta
Everything for this dish cooks in one pot. Season the chicken with chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook in the skillet until brown on both sides. The chicken does not have to be cooked all the way through as it will continue cooking in the skillet. Stir in the garlic. Add the uncooked pasta (yes, the pasta cooks in the pan with the other ingredients), chicken broth, water and sliced peppers. Bring everything to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 22 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until all of the liquid is absorbed. Finally, stir in the cream cheese and shredded cheese until the cheese is completely melted. Top with the chopped bacon, jalapeno slices and parsley.
Cooking Pasta in One Pot
Yes, you read that right! The entire meal cooks in one pot including the pasta. Cooking pasta in one pot makes dinner easy and results in the creamiest pasta. After you add all of the ingredients to the pot and stir, the pasta will be almost covered by the liquid. Once covered with the lid of the pan, the liquid cooks the pasta with the other ingredients. You do not need to cook the pasta separately, simply add the uncooked pasta to the pan when indicated in the recipe instructions.
Tips for making creamy pasta
Two things make this pasta creamy – cooking the pasta in one pot and the cream cheese. The cream cheese is the secret ingredient to make this pasta creamy. It adds a cheesy flavor and creamy texture. You can add more shredded cheese for an even creamier pasta.
Do you love chicken pasta? Check out a few of my other favorite chicken pasta dinners. All of these recipes are great ideas for what to make for dinner using pasta.
Tips for making this one pot pasta dinner
- Use an additional jalapeño if you want a spicier pasta.
- For a cheesier pasta, add an additional 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
- You can omit the bacon, if desired.
- Serve this meal on it’s own or with a simple side salad.
Other One Pot Chicken Pasta Dinners
- One Pot Lemon Chicken, Spinach and Asparagus Orzo – packed with so much flavor plus added nutrients from the spinach and asparagus!
- Chicken Fajita Pasta – Who doesn’t love chicken fajitas? Try this chicken fajita recipe in pasta form!
- One Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta with Chicken and Spinach – Do you love creamy tomato pasta? This recipe is made with a classic creamy tomato sauce, chicken and fresh spinach.
- Salsa Verde Chicken Pasta – This pasta is made with salsa verde but the heat is balanced with a creamy sauce.
Also, here is a round up we created with some of our favorite one pot meals!
You can’t go wrong with one pot meals. Everything cooks in one pot to make clean up easy. Imagine coming home from work and cooking an easy meal in one pot for the entire family. It makes weeknights easy and your family happy. Go ahead, make this one pot creamy jalapeno popper chicken pasta for dinner tonight and then leave a review below!
One Pot Creamy Jalapeño Popper Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast,, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/3 cup water
- 2-3 jalapeño peppers, minced
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Colby Jack cheese
- 4 slices cooked bacon
- Sliced jalapeño,, for garnish
- Freshly chopped Italian flat leaf parsley,, for garnish
Instructions
- Season chicken with chili powder; set aside.
- In a 12” pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and stir until soft, about 3 minutes. Add chicken to pan and cook until brown on both sides. Stir in garlic and cook one additional minute. Add uncooked pasta, chicken broth, water and sliced peppers. Stir then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 22 minutes. Uncover and cook until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 additional minutes. Remove from heat, stir in cream cheese and shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Garnish with bacon, sliced jalapeños and fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Kitchen tools needed to make this one pot pasta
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This post first appeared on The Slow Roasted Italian website. This post contains affiliate links.
This was delicious! I had foot surgery, and was looking for something easy. My hubby is trying, but gets overwhelmed.! I didn’t have exact ingredients, but we have a bounty of jalapeños. We had rotini pasta, garden garlic, Neufchâtel cheese, and sharp cheddar, and naturally chicken, onion, broth, etc. my hubby can’t take too much heat, so I removed most seeds from the peppers. We both loved it! It was so easy, even having to make it with one knee on a knee scooter. It’s a new favorite! Thank you!
We are currently doing a Whole30, so I left out the pasta, cream cheese, and cheese. I just cooked the chicken, onion, garlic, chili powder, and jalapeños together and it was delicious. Can’t wait to try the full recipe with all ingredients soon – I’m sure it will be amazing!
This is one of the best chicken recipies I’ve made. It had simple ingrediants I had in my kitchen but the way it was cooked made all the difference ( in one pot to absorb all the flavors). I love how I could tweak it based on preferences like add or omit bacon,and add more jalepeno. My mom tried some and loved it so much that she made the recipie herself for the whole family! Most mac and cheese recipies I noticed required some type of refridgeration time, long time in the oven, or whisking together a homemade cheese sauce. This recipie was so much simpler but did not lack on taste. it also looked very presentable and the appearance was very appetizing which makes it a great dish to make when having guests over! It made me feel like I could provide my husband with something generally healthy, but not lacking in flavor, and provide him with something that has the taste of an”special” meal that seems like it would have taken hours to achieve that flavor, but really it only took me a short time to make!
So glad you and your family loved it. Thanks for the feedback!