Here are TWO great recipes for spicy chicken pasta! Both of these recipes are easy, warm comforting and most importantly they are yummy. I got this first recipe from my friend Katrina who is an amazing cook. She throws great parties and always serves delicious food! I knew we would be good friends when I first met her and saw that she owned several of my favorite cookbooks. In many ways her and I are opposite. She is neat & tidy…and I am a mess. She is a planner & always get’s things done way in advance…and while I am a planner I tend to do some things at the last minute. She is organized…and I am disorganized! But we just click. We get each other. We are good for each other. She took me in like a sister when I moved to Fresno. I was lonely and pregnant with Paige and I did not know a soul. Honestly, if she had not pursued me & checked in on me in those difficult, early months of living there I may have crumbled. She was God’s hand in my life in the most tangible way and I will always be so, so grateful!
And…she fed me. When Aaron was working long hours…she fed me. During holidays away from our families…she fed me. She always feeds me. Good food. My kind of food. She is my kind of friend…and I just love her {oh and I love her little family too}. Thank you sweet friend for being you and for this recipe!
Number 1- Katrina’s Spicy Chicken Pasta:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4-1/2 T crushed red pepper (depending on how hot you want it)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 T chopped garlic
6 oz chicken, sliced
3/4 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup alfredo sauce (you can substitute plain Greek yogurt or sour cream)
2 T butter
1/4 cup peas
1lb rigatoni or penne {I used gluten-free penne}
Directions:
Cook pasta as usual…
Saute oil over medium heat. Add crushed red peppers, salt, pepper and garlic. Saute just long enough for garlic to caramelize and red pepper to release flavor into oil. Add sliced chicken and sauté briefly to coat in spices and garlic.
Add Marinara sauce first. Then add alfredo sauce. Cool until sauce thickens and chicken is thoroughly cooked. Turn off flame and add butter and peas to sauce.
Mix sauce and pasta and garnish with red pepper flakes (just be careful, it gets hot quick)
*Bell Peppers: to add veggies just cook some sliced bell peppers with the chicken
*More veggies: mini-asparagus is also in the Cheesecake Factory recipe. These could be easily added in the end to the sauce or boiled during the last few minutes with the pasta- if bought frozen.
*Chipotle: to give it a chipotle flavor I added some ground chipotle pepper seasoning {about 1 tsp at a time}. I always have it in my pantry…sprinkle, taste and add more if you like a good chipotle kick
*Crunch: I also love to crumble a few tortilla chips on the top of my serving {that’s what I love about the Cheesecake factory dish}
I hope you can appreciate this yummy recipe that my friend Katrina sent my way years ago!
Number 2- Chicken Chipotle Pasta (Copy-Cat Recipe from Cheesecake Factory):
Also, I really love the Cheesecake Factory copycat recipe, so here are a few other people who’ve done a great job with it
HERE and
HERE. If I decide to try one of these recipes I’ll let you know how it turns out.
We don’t eat out at Cheesecake Factory very often, but when we do I get this dish! I love it’s smoky, spicy, crunchy flavor.~
This recipe was originally posted on May 27th, 2013
and has been updated and revised for clarity.
