One Pot Mexican Pasta Skillet

You may know by this point that I’m slightly obsessed with one pot meals. They are just so practical and awesome! There aren’t a million pots/pans to deal with, and you can clean up the kitchen while your dinner is simmering away. IT’S SO SATISFYING.

I get a little bit too excited when I find a delicious one pot meal recipe…liiikkkeeee this one!

Mmmmm…Mexican food. I love Mexican food because you can pack a huge punch of flavor into your dish and exert minimal effort…it’s all in the seasonings ??.

That was a double thumbs up…..in case you missed it…????.

The key to this yummy one pot meal is the layers and layers of flavor achieved by a SUPA simple homemade Mexican seasoning.

The layers of flavor:

• Layer number one: Our chicken is liberally seasoned with delicious Mexican flavors (chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika ?) and seared in a pan before being removed to a plate to sit and wait patiently for a few delicious minutes.
• Layer number two: Our veggies are thrown into the same pot, picking up all the yummy bits the chicken left on the bottom of the pan and are also liberally seasoned with our flavor-bomb mixture.
• Layer number three: Our pasta and chicken stock are added in with the veggies along with a third hefty helping of our seasoning…all of that goodness simmers together to make a delicious One Pot Mexican Skillet.

Making flavorful, easy dishes is so satisfying, isn’t it?

Your answer should be YAAASSSSSSSSSS.

So last week was pretty awesome. We had a snow day on Monday…say whaaaaaattt?!? A snow day! Well, really it was an “ice” day…there was barely any snow. After driving a looooooong time over Thanksgiving break, that unexpected day off on Monday was ah-may-zing. With a capital A.

And then to top it off, we had Friday off as well for this big annual basketball tournament! A three day week, woop woop! I will say, however, that the carefree-ness of this long weekend was marred by my attempt to keep score for a few hours each day at the basketball tournament. I’m not complaining – it actually ended up being pretty fun, and I loved getting to watch my students play, but OH MY GOSH RUNNING THE SCORE AT BASKETBALL GAMES IS SO STRESSFUL!

I seriously think I shaved ten years off my life and sprouted a few gray hairs. First of all…I know zero about basketball. I never played it, and didn’t watch much of it when I was in school. Second of all…when you run the scoreboard in basketball, you have to keep track of score, fouls, which player got the foul and how many he/she has had so far, and TIME!! I don’t know how much you know about basketball, but you have to start and stop the clock each time the ref blows the whistle…which is constantly.

My teacher friend and I teamed up, though. She did the time and I did the score or vice versa. It ended up being pretty fun, but OH MY GOSH! So much pressure. I was yelled at several times by various people when I forgot to start/stop the clock…whoops ?.

It’s okay…I consoled myself with a small heaping bowl of this goodness when I got home ?.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!

5.0 from 1 reviews

One Pot Mexican Pasta Skillet

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Annie Chesson

Serves: 5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1½ teaspoons paprika
• 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
• 1½ teaspoons onion powder
• 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into chunks (about 1-2 inches)
• 1 bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow), diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, minced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups whole wheat rotini pasta (any other pasta would work as well)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• ½ cup shredded Mexican cheese
• Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. To make the Mexican seasoning, stir the chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder together in a small bowl and set aside
2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with some olive oil
3. Season your chicken chunks with 1 tablespoon of the Mexican seasoning and some salt and pepper
4. Cook in the hot skillet until browned and just cooked through - it won't take very long!
5. Remove the chicken to a plate, and add your vegetables to the same pot (add more olive oil if the pan gets dry) along with 1 more tablespoon of Mexican seasoning and a little salt and pepper
6. Saute your vegetables until they have softened slightly, about 5 minutes
7. Add your pasta in with the vegetables along with your chicken stock and 2 more tablespoons of Mexican seasoning. Season with salt
8. Bring this mixture to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes (or until the pasta is al dente), stirring every few minutes
9. Remove from the heat, add your cheese, add the chicken back in, and stir everything together
10. Top with cilantro (optional) and serve!

3.5.3208

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more yummy one pot meals? Check these out:

Pumpkin Chili

“One Sheet” Brown Sugar Dijon Chicken

Easy Chicken Pot Pie Soup