Chicken Enchilada Pasta Recipe

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Published: March 11, 2021Updated: March 22, 2021Author: Elyse Ellis
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This Chicken Enchilada Pasta is quick, simple, and full of Mexican cuisine flavor. Whether you like Mexican food or not, you are going to love this pasta. All my picky eaters asked for seconds, so I consider this recipe a win.
Chicken Enchilada Pasta Recipe

We LOVED this Chicken Enchilada Pasta Recipe!  The sauce is so flavorful and it makes some fabulous leftovers too.

My kids that are not Mexican food lovers even loved this one. It’s simple, quick, delicious, and the perfect meal for a busy night.

How to make Chicken Enchilada Pasta:

  1. Boil pasta according to package directions. While it’s cooking, chop onions and red pepper – that’s probably the most time-consuming part of this whole recipe!
  2. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add cooked chicken (this is a great recipe for using shredded rotisserie chicken), green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, and enchilada sauces. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
  4. Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Add the sour cream, but DO NOT bring to a boil! Cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through.
  5. Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well. Serve and garnish with your favorite toppings (these are our favorite pasta bowls). We love avocado, chopped olives, chopped cilantro, tomato, diced green onions, or a dollop of sour cream.
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What could I replace the sour cream in the pasta with?

You can’t really taste the sour cream in this recipe, but if you want to replace it, we would recommend using plain Greek yogurt. It is full of protein and fat free.

If you don’t want to use greek yogurt, you could also use buttermilk or heavy cream.

Serves: 6

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Recipe

This Chicken Enchilada Pasta is quick, simple, and full of Mexican cuisine flavor. Whether you like Mexican food or not, you are going to love this pasta. All my picky eaters asked for seconds, so I consider this recipe a win.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Print Pin

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces penne pasta
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded
  • 4 ounces diced green chilis 1 can
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 20 ounces green enchilada sauce 2 (10 ounce cans)
  • ⅔ cup red enchilada sauce
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 avocados diced, optional topping
  • 2 tomatoes diced, optional topping
  • 3 green onions sliced, optional topping
  • ½ cup sour cream optional topping

Instructions

  • Boil pasta according to package directions. While it's cooking, chop onions and red pepper.
  • Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
  • Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, and enchilada sauces. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
  • Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Add the sour cream, but DO NOT bring to a boil. Cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through.
  • Drain pasta and return to pot.  Pour sauce over pasta and mix well. 
  • Serve and garnish with your favorite toppings.
  • We love avocado, tomato, green onion, and sour cream.

Notes

This pasta tastes really great with a fresh green salad or a few of our other Mexican-inspired dishes.

Nutrition

Calories: 691 kcal · Carbohydrates: 52 g · Protein: 32 g · Fat: 41 g · Saturated Fat: 17 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 106 mg · Sodium: 1596 mg · Potassium: 963 mg · Fiber: 10 g · Sugar: 14 g · Vitamin A: 2836 IU · Vitamin C: 50 mg · Calcium: 382 mg · Iron: 3 mg

Equipment

  • Knife
  • Deep Skillet
  • strainer

Recipe Details

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Chicken Enchilada Pasta

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  1. Mindie Hilton says:
    September 28, 2011
    Wow looks really good and creative. Sorry I missed out on the wreath give away, beautiful, thanks for sharing at Bacon Time.
    Reply
  2. Lark (SparkyLarky)@ Lark's Country Heart says:
    September 28, 2011
    Oh My Flipping Heck...this looks DANG good!
    Reply
  3. Jennifer says:
    October 4, 2011
    Mmm!! Sounds yummy!!
    Thanks for linking up to Show & Share!!
    Reply
  4. Jenn Erickson says:
    October 10, 2011
    Mmmm....my tummy is officially rumbling now. I love pasta and love enchiladas -- this is like a dream hybrid recipe!

    Thank you so much for sharing your tummy rumbling treats at Rook No. 17!

    Jenn
    Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    November 29, 2011
    This sounds really good!! Gonna try this one for sure. This will make a great dish over the holidays when we are sick of turkey and ham!
    Reply
  6. teacherjanet says:
    January 2, 2012
    Yummy! Do you know about how many servings this makes?
    Reply
  7. The Ellis' says:
    January 3, 2012
    @teacherjanet,

    This makes 4-5 servings. Thanks!
    Reply
  8. Carrie B says:
    April 24, 2012
    Made this tonight, it was a hit with my picky hubby and the kids loved it as well! Thanks for the recipe!
    Reply
  9. stephanie says:
    May 2, 2012
    Sounds fabulous! I don't like sour cream, can I skip it?
    Stephanie
    Reply
    • Six Sisters says:
      May 8, 2012
      Hi Stephanie!

      I have never tried it without sour cream. I couldn't really taste it in the sauce, but if you were to take it out I would replace it with some sort of cream so you end up with the right texture. You could even use a little milk so your sauce turns nice and creamy. Let us know how it goes!
      Reply
  10. Jennifer says:
    March 5, 2013
    going to try to today!
    Reply
    • Jennifer says:
      March 5, 2013
      ooppss Try IT TODAY...typing too fast!
      Reply
  11. Jennifer says:
    March 12, 2021
    What is 2/5 cup of red enchilada sauce? I’m not sure how to accurately measure that. Is it a typo?
    Reply
    • Momma Cyd says:
      March 22, 2021
      Thanks for catching that. It should be 2/3 cup. We corrected the recipe.
      Reply
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