Southwest Chicken Alfredo – Creamy and delicious southwest style chicken pasta is the perfect easy dinner recipe. Made with seasoned pan seared chicken, onions, garlic and penne pasta tossed in a mouthwatering southwest style cream sauce.
Oh. My. Gosh. This pasta is cheesy, creamy and absolutely knock your socks off delicious! The best part? It’s super easy to make. Southwest Chicken Alfredo is the perfect pasta for the whole family.
We served ours with a side of toasty garlic bread. I’ll link a few of my favorite easy bread recipes that pair perfectly with this pasta for you below. I am so excited to share this recipe with you!
This pasta serves about 4 people giving each person a generous portion. You can easily store leftovers completely cooled in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or on the stove over low heat. Let’s get cooking!
Ingredients you need to make Creamy Southwest Chicken Alfredo:
Chicken Breasts – You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs. You’ll need about one pound.
Penne Pasta – Any short cut pasta will do- rotini, ziti, farfalle, etc.
Diced Tomatoes – One 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes.
Heavy Cream – For a rich creamy sauce.
Cheddar Cheese – You can use sharp cheddar, mild cheddar or a Mexican cheese blend.
Onion – I used yellow onion in this recipe but you can also use white or sweet onion as well.
Garlic Cloves – Fresh garlic is best in this recipe.
Honey – Any honey you have on hand.
Cilantro – Fresh chopped cilantro adds a delicious fresh flavor to the pasta. This is used as a garnish.
Olive Oil – To sear the chicken in. You can use olive, avocado or canola oil.
Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter.
Chili Powder + Cumin + Oregano + Paprika + Black Pepper + Salt + Cayenne – Southwest style seasoning blend.
**Full measurements and instructions are listed below.
Tools to have on hand:
- Large Skillet + Large Saucepan – To boil your pasta and for cooking chicken/pasta sauce.
- Measuring Cups + Spoons – To properly measure all of your ingredients.
- Cutting Board + Chef Knife – For prepping the veggies and chicken.
How to make the best Southwest Chicken Alfredo Pasta:
In a small bowl, mix the southwest seasoning blend together.
Add cut chicken to a large bowl and drizzle in honey and half of the seasonings. Toss to combine.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook penne pasta according to package instructions for al dente. When done, drain and set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add seasoned chicken and cook for a few minutes on each side until cooked through. When nice and golden, transfer chicken to a plate.
Add diced onion and butter to the same skillet you cooked the chicken in over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until tender. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add diced tomatoes and the remaining seasoning and bring to a low simmer.
Slowly pour in heavy cream while stirring until fully incorporated. Bring to a nice simmer. Add chicken back to the skillet. Sprinkle in cheddar cheese and stir to combine. Add penne pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. Remove pasta from heat and let sit a few minutes.
When done, stir pasta again to fully coat in sauce and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
Bread recipes that pair perfectly with pasta:
Rustic French Bread – Dutch oven bread recipe you can easily make in the comfort of your home! There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread. Serve homemade french bread sliced with warm butter or use as sandwich bread and more!
Easy Homemade Garlic Bread – Classic garlic bread recipe with one secret ingredient that places this garlic bread above the rest. Serve warm with your favorite pastas, salads and soups.
Texas Toast Garlic Bread – Warm, buttery and delicious thick cut garlic bread with a secret ingredient toasted to golden perfection. Serve hot with pastas, as a side dish, and more.
Buttery Garlic Breadsticks – These breadsticks are soft, chewy, mouthwatering good! The dough is made from scratch then lathered in fresh garlic butter and baked to golden perfection.
More pasta recipes I think you’ll love:
One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta – Easy flavor-packed one pot chicken parmesan pasta made simply with fresh herbs and melty mozzarella cheese. The best part about this comfort meal is that it is budget friendly, kid friendly and is so easy to make.
Creamy Chipotle Chicken Pasta – Fettuccine tossed in a creamy chipotle sauce with chicken, corn, diced tomatoes and a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.
Creamy Chicken & Sausage Pasta – Penne pasta with shredded chicken and sausage tossed in a delicious creamy parmesan sauce.
Meatball Pasta Bake – The ultimate ziti pasta bake made with homemade meatballs in a delicious tomato sauce with parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Melt your mouth baked ziti with meatballs is the ultimate comfort food your entire family is going to love!
Southwest Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. Penne Pasta
- 1 lb. Chicken Breasts cut into 1" strips
- 1 (15 oz.) can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese shredded
- 1 cup Onion chopped
- 4 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp Cilantro chopped
Southwest Seasoning:
- 1 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Cayenne
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the southwest seasoning blend together.
- Add cut chicken to a large bowl and drizzle in honey and half of the seasonings. Toss to combine.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook penne pasta according to package instructions for al dente. When done, drain and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add seasoned chicken and cook for a few minutes on each side until cooked through. When nice and golden, transfer chicken to a plate.
- Add diced onion and butter to the same skillet you cooked the chicken in over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until tender. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add diced tomatoes and the remaining seasoning and bring to a low simmer.
- Slowly pour in heavy cream while stirring until fully incorporated. Bring to a nice simmer. Add chicken back to the skillet. Sprinkle in cheddar cheese and stir to combine. Add penne pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. Remove pasta from heat and let sit a few minutes.
- When done, stir pasta again to fully coat in sauce and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
I had leftover pollo Asada and used that cooked chicken instead of cooking chicken as part of the recipe. I made half the seasoning to use with the sauce and used leftover Mexican cheese. This was so good, so easy and such a great way to use the last of our pollo Asada!
Easy to make amd came out great. Thank you for the recipe
Hi Dave! Thanks for the nice review! :)Amanda
This was great, much lighter then expected and one my husband requested to put in rotation.
Hi Erica! Thank you so much! I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed it. :)Amanda
Can I put all this together and cook in a crockpot?-the pasta and cook that on the side?
That’s a good idea. I’ll have to try it out. This recipe was a hit with my family and will be one they’ll want over the cold months.
Hi Nikole, I have not tried this recipe in a slow cooker yet – I’ll have to try that and get back to you!! :)Amanda
This was delish! I made a double measure for my family of six. My kids don’t like “hunks of tomatoes,” so I strained the diced tomatoes and saved the “hunks” for something else. I added a small extra can of tomato sauce to make up for the liquid/flavor I would miss by not adding the tomatoes. This was perfect for a cold night!!
Hello Dianna! Thank you so much for the kind review. It makes me so happy to know you and your family enjoyed this recipe! :)Amanda
This was so amazing!! I messed up splitting the dry ingredients and put it all in the chicken to marinate but I don’t think it made a difference. I made 3lbs of pasta and used 6 lbs of chicken thighs so it was quite a bit! We cook for the single soldiers here at Fort Polk that attend our church so I always make plenty and they tore it up! I had one little Tupperware small one with the leftovers. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Hi Sandra, Thank you so much for your kind review! :)Amanda
I knew my husband would love this, but so did both of my super picky kids that never like to eat the same thing! I’m always finding myself making 3 variations of dinner and my whole family loved this. Will be making again 🙂
Hi Halie, Thank you so much for your review! I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this pasta :)Amanda
Husband ate 3 helpings, think we found a new staple and it’s pretty simple! However I had veggies leftover that needed to be used up so instead of canned, I used fresh tomatoes and added some bell pepper. Fresh ziti rigate from our little local Italian market and voila! Delicious & thank you for the share!
By far, the best meal I’ve cooked in a while. My family approves too! Very easy to make, and really tasty!
Hi Lauren, I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe :)Amanda
This recipe is a hit in our household! So delicious and amazing flavors. Thanks so much for sharing. Will be using again and again. 😀
Hi Melissa! Thank you so much for the kind review! :)Amanda
5-stars!! My wife and loved this meal. We watched a movie and ate, but silly me, I spilled all over our carpet in front of me. My wife was obviously not impressed. I called a carpet cleaner in our hometown of Edmond. My wife came home to clean carpets, and while I messed up, she was proud of me for “cleaning” up. Love your meals! We are eating in the kitchen tonight.
Great quick dinner the whole family loved it! I accidentally burnt the chicken and it actually added even more flavor!! I had to double the recipe for my large family. All and all it was a hit!!
Excellent! Quick and easy and very delicious. I omitted cumin and added roasted red pepper mix, smoked paprika and red Chilli flakes.
Great meal, made it for the firat time. Thanks!
This is apsolutely delicious I made it for the first time and it definitely won’t be the last. Thanx for sharing!