Chicken and pasta cooked in a garlic tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella & parmesan cheese cooked in just 15 minutes and will become your new favorite weeknight meal!
Today I’m going to share a quick and easy family recipe that’s cheesy and delicious. It’s perfect for the weeknights when you are looking for a “quick” meal to serve the family. It’s almost a skillet meal except for the part of boiling the pasta in another pot. Aside from that, it’s all in one pan.
Kids love this recipe because it doesn’t have any “veggies” and I love it because of it quick and easy. It’s loaded with a ton of cheese which is like my biggest weakness! I dare you to look at the cheese and not want to dig right in!
The trick to making the pasta in a jiffy is to put the water to boil first before doing anything else. This will cut cooking time significantly and allow the pasta to cook while you work on the rest of the recipe.
While the pasta is cooking, saute the chicken breasts with garlic and onion, and bell pepper. One thing I love about cooking with chicken breast is that they cook incredibly fast! 10 minutes max and you’re done!
After I sauteed the chicken for a good 5 minutes I added the pasta sauce and let it simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes, after that, I added the cooked pasta some cheese on top and watched it melt!
At this point, you can go ahead and eat the pasta as is or you can place your pan under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese until it’s bubbly and begins to turn golden.
Quick and Easy 15 minute Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cut in strips
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH salt, pepper, & garlic powder
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, optional
- 3 cups cooked pasta, 1.5 cups dry pasta
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of salted water to boil, pour 1.5 cups of uncooked pasta and 1 tsp salt into the water. Cover and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
- While the pasta is cooking, cut chicken breasts and, onion and bell peppers. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy-duty pan or pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute for 1-2 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and sautee 30 seconds or until lightly golden. Add the chicken, salt, pepper, & garlic powder and saute until the chicken is browned and almost cooked through.
- Add the marinara sauce and allow to simmer for 5 minutes while the pan is covered. After 5 minutes, drain the water from the pasta and pour pasta on the chicken mixture. Mix well, add the cheese and turn off. The cheese will melt from the heat of the pan. If desired, broil the cheese under the broiler in the oven until bubbly.
- Top with Parmesan and enjoy!
Video
Made this dish tonight and it was super easy and super good. I doubled the cheese and sauce, as I love both. Next time I might put the cheese on top and broil. I may also add some mushrooms and sausage. This is a recipe that you can customize. Thanks!
Is there nutrition information available?
Following for nutritional values
This was so easy and quick! Tastes really good! I will probably add a little more chicken and veggies and a little less pasta next time (I didn’t really measure pasta lol)
This recipe sounds fantastic. I’m looking forward to making it. First though I have to figure out the nutritional values. I’m a diabetic and I keep a close watch on my carbs. Can you in the future include the nutritional values for your recipes. It would be most helpful.
Donna
I make this with a tonne more veggies and diced kale. I put whatever veggies I have on hand to make the dish healthier. Pasta and cheese with only a tiny bit of veg is definitely not the healthiest, but this dish can be so much more!
Please make your recipes printable!! You post some amazing recipes, but if you don’t start making them printable, I will cancel these emails!!
Loved this. I made this for work lunches and it is on the list to make again.
It freezes well, tastes fantastic and is quick and easy as it says. I make a double batch to make it go further.
Delicious, easy and quick! Great weeknight chicken dish in a pinch! Toddlers and hubby loved it too!
It is soooo good 😍😍 it is so creamy and THICK 😏😏 the red sauce is THE BOM
What color bell pepper are you supposed to use? Red?
You can use any color you’d like!
I was wondering how many grams of pasta does this recipe need?
What changes would I have to make if I left out all cheese? We don’t eat cheese.
A different recipe?! X
Any recommendations for extra seasonings? Maybe dried oregano, basil, or Italian seasoning? Haven’t made it yet but can’t wait!