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Creamy Chipotle Chicken Pasta

creamy chipotle chicken pasta in a cast iron skillet
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5 from 1 review

The combination of creamy cheese sauce and smoky chipotle peppers is a haunting one. It’s one of those that is so good, you will be already be thinking about when you can eat it next before you’ve even finished your meal.

  • Author: Becky Schmieg
  • Prep Time: 25
  • Cook Time: 25
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
  • Category: main
  • Cuisine: american

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 16 oz box of dry ziti or rigatoni pasta
  • 3 tbsp salted butter
  • 1 lb chicken tenderloins, see notes about seasoning the chicken
  • 1 large poblano pepper, chopped
  • 1 sm/med yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 2 cups half & half
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced
  • 2 tbsp adobo sauce
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Place a large pot of water over high heat, covered. Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions, but toss a palmful of salt into the water right before adding the pasta.
  2. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add 2 tbsp salted butter. Once melted, add the chicken tenders, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. Until golden and an internal temp of 165F is reached. Use a meat thermometer for this. Set the chicken aside on a plate (or just a piece of foil for easy clean up!).
  3. Return the skillet back to medium heat and add remaining 1 tbsp of butter. Add the onion and chopped poblano pepper. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Turn heat down just a touch and add the minced garlic, stir and cook about 1 minute. Add the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce and stir.
  4. Add the half & half and honey, return heat back to medium, stir and cook until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble.
  5. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and both cheeses.
  6. Return skillet to low heat. Chop the chicken into pieces, add it along with the peas to the sauce and stir. Add the pasta and stir until pasta is fully coated. Taste and add more salt if desired.
  7. Top with chopped cilantro and cracked black pepper and enjoy!

Notes

  • Chicken: to get the most tender & flavorful chicken possible, sprinkle it with salt up to 24 hours ahead of time. Even if all you can do is sprinkle with salt while you prep the other ingredients, it will help!
  • Swaps: as mentioned in the post, you can add in asparagus if you want to make it closer to the cheesecake factory version. You can also use bell pepper instead of poblano.

Find it online: https://www.figjar.com/creamy-chipotle-chicken-pasta/