This Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta with salsa and bell peppers is a delicious one pot meal. Just dump in all your ingredients and serve!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Chicken breasts – make this recipe vegetarian or substitute the chicken for some sautéed ground beef or turkey.
- Taco seasoning – use 1 tbsp. chili powder and 1 tsp. cumin instead or make your own taco seasoning.
- Garlic – use freshly minced garlic or jarred minced garlic in a pinch.
- Yellow onion – white onion, shallots or red onion would also be good in this recipe.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth is the best substitute here.
- Fresh salsa – use a jarred variety or canned diced tomatoes instead.
- Pasta shells – rotini, fusilli, penne and another large pasta shape would work well for this recipe.
- Bell peppers – use another combination of bell peppers or leave them out altogether.
- Cheddar cheese – cut it in half or leave the cheese out altogether. You can also use another cheese like Tex Mex or Monterey Jack.
- Sour cream – low-fat sour cream or even Greek yogurt would help add that amazing creaminess to your pasta.
- Cilantro – leave this out altogether if you’re not a fan of cilantro.
- Avocado – you could also swap out for some fresh guacamole or leave the avocado out.
How to make chicken fajita pasta
- Add the first 8 ingredients to the Instant Pot in order.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Stir in the peppers, sour cream and cheese.
- Let it sit with the lid on for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cilantro, top with avocado and serve!
Making it on the stovetop
You can easily make this Instant Pot chicken fajita pasta on the stovetop in just a regular pot! Here are the instructions:
- Add olive oil to a large pot and cook the chicken, taco seasoning, garlic and onion over medium-high heat.
- Add in the chicken broth, salsa and shells, stirring well.
- Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the pasta is cooked through and has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Remove the lid and stir in bell peppers, sour cream and cheddar cheese.
- Cook for another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
- Top with avocado, serve and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Chicken fajita pasta combines two of your favourite dishes: chicken fajitas and pasta! It’s a super easy dinner idea and is ready in a flash thanks to the Instant Pot. Feel free to add on more of your favourite toppings to this Instant Pot fajita chicken pasta like green onions, jalapenos, corn, tomatoes and red onions.
You don't have to use 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. Just mix together chili powder, cumin, paprika, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder and chili flakes.
This Instant Pot chicken fajita pasta recipe has 521 calories per serving. If you want to cut down on the calorie count, use low-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt and cut the amount of cheese in half (or leave it out altogether). Making your own taco seasoning is another great way of keeping this recipe healthy since you won’t be using as much sodium.
Storing and reheating
You can store this Instant Pot chicken fajita pasta recipe in the fridge for up to 5 days and reheat it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. Be sure to sprinkle some water over top so the pasta doesn't dry out – this is the key to reviving pasta perfectly every time so that it tastes just like new! 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 Instant Pot fajita chicken pasta too! It will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat from frozen, simply sprinkle some water over top and microwave for 7-9 minutes, stirring halfway through. You can also let the pasta defrost in the fridge for up to 24 hours and then reheat as directed above.
Make healthy eating easy! Join our Dinner Prep Pro app.
- ZERO ADS on over 450 recipes
- Customizable weekly meal plans
- Grocery and meal prep checklists
- Bonus resource library and community
More Instant Pot pasta recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- 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.
- **Get my full list of tools here**
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 medium pasta shells or macaroni, penne or rotini
- 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!
Comments & Reviews
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.
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 🙂
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.
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!!! 🙂
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 🙂
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
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!
Amalia says
If using canned tomatoes, add all the juice or drain?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Amalia! Add with the juice 🙂
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.
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
How do I follow you? By signing up here is this to follow you?
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 🙂