This Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta with salsa and bell peppers is a delicious one pot pasta idea. Just dump all your ingredients and serve – it's all ready in under 30 minutes!
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INGREDIENTS IN CHICKEN FAJITA PASTA
This chicken fajita pasta is one of my absolute favourite pasta recipes of ALL TIME, and you don't need a ton of ingredients to make this absolutely delicious dinner idea. Here's what you need below:
- chicken breasts
- taco seasoning
- garlic
- onion
- chicken broth
- fresh salsa (I use the Garden Fresh Gourmet brand; regular jarred salsa or canned diced tomatoes will also work)
- large pasta shells
- red, green and yellow pepper
- cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- fresh cilantro
- avocado
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT PASTA
This Instant Pot pasta recipe is SUPER simple to make – mostly, you'll just dump your ingredients in and then stir in the cheese and sour cream after it's done cooking. Here are the full instructions:
- Add olive oil, chicken, taco seasoning, garlic, onion, chicken broth, salsa and shells to the Instant Pot in that order.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
- Remove lid and stir in bell peppers, sour cream and cheddar cheese, stirring well. Replace lid and let sit for five minutes so the bell peppers can become tender (they will get mushy if you pressure cook them, but letting them sit with the hot ingredients will steam cook them).
- Remove lid again and stir in cilantro, then serve among 6 bowls, topping with avocado. Serve and enjoy!
MAKING THIS PASTA ON THE STOVETOP
You can easily make this chicken fajita pasta on the stovetop in just a regular pot! Here are the instructions to do it this way:
- Add olive oil to a large pot, cooking chicken, taco seasoning, garlic and onion over medium-high heat. Add in chicken broth, salsa and shells, stirring well.
- Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until pasta is cooked through and has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Remove lid and stir in bell peppers, sour cream and cheddar cheese, stirring well. Cook another 2 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
- Serve among 6 bowls, topping with avocado. Enjoy!
INGREDIENT SUBSTITUTIONS
Here are the substitutions and changes you can make to this chicken fajita pasta.
Chicken – Instead of chicken, you can make this recipe vegetarian and just leave it out! You'll still get plenty of flavour and protein from the cheese and pasta. However, you can also saute some ground beef or ground turkey and add it in if you'd like to use a different protein.
Taco seasoning – You can just use 1 tbsp chili powder and 1 tsp cumin if you don't have taco seasoning on hand.
Pasta shells – Rotini, fusili, penne and other large pasta shapes work well for this recipe. DO NOT use smaller pastas like macaroni with this recipe.
Cheese – The cheese at the end is actually optional, so you don't need to add it. However, it does make it that much more delicious so I recommend leaving it in. You can also cut it in half if you're worried about calories.
Sour cream – You will need to use either sour cream or Greek yogurt to get the creaminess with this pasta.
Bell peppers – Leave them out if you'd like, but they pack a ton of flavour and extra nutrition.
MORE TOPPING IDEAS
I stir in cilantro with this pasta and top with diced avocado, but you can use a number of other different toppings with this recipe! Here are some more ideas:
- Green onions
- Jalapenos
- Olives
- Corn
- Tortilla strips
- Fresh tomatoes
- Red onions
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING
You don't have to buy store bought taco seasoning – one of my fave meal prep tricks is to make your own at home! This way you don't get any extra sodium, and you can control what you put in it. I typically make a big giant batch of taco seasoning then store it in an airtight container along with my other spices.
Here's what you need to make your own taco seasoning:
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp chili flakes
STORING & REHEATING
You can store this recipe in the fridge up to 5 days, and reheat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Be sure to sprinkle some water overtop so the pasta doesn't dry out – this is the key to reviving pasta perfectly every time so that it tastes just like new! There are 6 servings with this recipe so you will want to divide all the pasta into 6 portions. I prefer to use glass meal prep containers because you can reheat directly in the container itself, and ensure you are getting the proper portion size.
FREEZING THIS RECIPE
You can freeze this pasta too! It will keep up to 3 months in the freezer. To reheat from frozen, simply sprinkle some water overtop and microwave for 7-9 minutes, stirring halfway through. You can also let the pasta defrost in the fridge up to 24 hours and then reheat as directed above.
MORE INSTANT POT PASTA RECIPES
- Instant Pot Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
- Instant Pot Chili Mac
- Instant Pot Hamburger Helper
- Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
TOOLS TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60
is the version I use in this recipe. - Get your square glass meal prep bowls here to store your leftovers
- These are similar to the pasta shells I used
- And of course I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box
is the version I use in this recipe.MEAL PREP CHALLENGE
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Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium-sized chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups fresh salsa (I use the Jack's Fresh brand, or canned diced tomatoes will work)
- 1 lb large pasta shells
- 1 each red, green and yellow pepper, finely diced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado, diced
Instructions
- Add olive oil, chicken, taco seasoning, garlic, onion, chicken broth, salsa and shells to the Instant Pot in that order, making sure to leave the shells sitting on the top of all the other ingredients.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to preheat, then pressure cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove lid when safe to do so and stir in bell peppers, sour cream and cheddar cheese, stirring well. Replace lid and let sit for five minutes.
- Remove lid again and stir in cilantro, then serve among 6 bowls, topping with avocado. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Patricia says
Hi
This was my first recipe in my new instapot. It’s delicous. I had similar problem with some of the pasta not cooking completely. Other than that it was delicious!
Can you tell me how to substitute black beans for pasta? What would the differences be in cooking time. I’m new so I don’t have the instapot knowledge yet.
Thank you!
Patricia
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Taylor Stinson says
Hey Patricia – unfortunately I wouldn’t know how to make that kind of substitution. There would be a big difference in ratios of liquids to pasta and the cooking time would likely change. It’s too big a modification for me to be able to guess off the top of my head. Sorry about that! As for signing up, there is a newsletter box on the right hand side of the website where you can put in your email, I’d love to have you as a subscriber 🙂
Sheela Farooque says
Did you recipe mention the amount of salt to add?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Sheela – there is no salt listed here because you’re already adding chicken broth, salsa, taco seasoning and cheese which all have added sodium. The ingredients used in this recipe all have a savoury, salty flavour so you don’t really need to add salt. If you’d like to add extra salt in though, you can try adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp depending on your taste.
Amalia says
If using canned tomatoes, add all the juice or drain?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Amalia! Add with the juice 🙂
Andrea Quiroga says
Hey! I have the dual plus mini 3 qt… what size instant pot is this recipe for? I’m afraid that maybe it won’t fit in the small one…
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Andrea – the 6 or 8 quart are the only ones that would work here unfortunately. You could try cutting the recipe in half though!
Nicole says
I have made this a number of times- it’s the regular request from my partner and I’m always happy to oblige! Makes excellent lunch leftovers for the week too. THANK YOU for this fabulous recipe!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you love it Nicole!!! It’s definitely one of my favourites too, I think I’ve made it 5 or 6 times for my roommate and I now since it’s great for leftovers. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing with me <3
Amy says
Hi! I also found that this was delicious but that the pasta was a bit undercooked. How would you suggest resolving this for next time? Pressure cook a minute longer or perhaps let the pressure naturally release for a couple of mins? Was also wondering about making sure the noodles are submerged in the liquid before pressure cooking? What would you suggest? Thanks! Live your site!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Amy! I would suggest pushing some of the pasta under the liquid a little bit more – sometimes pasta does cook a teensy bit unevenly in the Instant Pot but if you let it sit for a few minutes with the lid closed after you’ve stirred it all around, that usually does the trick in cooking the undercooked pasta a bit more. Hope that helps and thanks for the kind words 🙂
Cheryl says
I use my instant pot daily. I use Pinterest recipes exclusively. THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE EVER. We can’t stop eating it!
I didn’t have green peppers, I used red, orange and yellow. I used Presidents Choice Black Bean and Corn Salsa. I didn’t have avocados but I just topped my bowl with guacamole.
This is, again, the very best yet!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you loved it Cheryl!!! 🙂
JP De La Rosa says
SO GOOD Can you freeze any of this?
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much!! You can freeze up to 3 months 🙂 To reheat from frozen, sprinkle some water overtop and microwave for 5-7 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Tina says
This was delicious, thank you! Our whole family liked it (mom, dad, 2 teen boys). It took me a bit longer than 30 minutes, but it was simple, and most of the time was just waiting for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure, etc. The only thing I changed was that I sauteed the peppers while I was waiting for the instant pot to do its thing, just because we like that caramelized flavor. I don’t think it was necessarily needed, but it was tasty. The video was helpful because I was worried about the pasta not being submerged, but watched the speed-video, and saw that mine looked like yours, so I was good! And it was! It made enough for the four of us for dinner, and we have one “lunch-size” leftover. Thank you!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed Tina! Love the idea of sauteeing the peppers as well! Thank you for sharing your results 🙂
Andrea says
What is serving size for the nutritional information??
Taylor Stinson says
I don’t provide servings by weight/cup unfortunately! You will need to take the number of servings listed and divide into portions. Each portion is a serving.