Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake - time-saving dinner idea with tons of flavor! Your favorite Mexican dish in a pasta bake form. You will love how easy and cheesy it is!
This past Tuesday I took a break from our Italian style pasta dishes and made this slightly spicy Mexican themed pasta bake.
Long story short - I think my break from the creamy spinach pasta will be a little bit longer. This Cheesy Enchilada Pasta Bake is crazy good! It's packed with chicken, black beans, corn and penne rigatte pasta and spiced up with enchilada sauce and a little bit of taco seasoning. It's covered with a nice layer of cheddar cheese that melts all over the pasta during baking.
Mexican food at it's best!
My Hubby and I love love love Mexican food! These Quinoa Enchiladas are one of our favorite dishes to make at home. But sometimes, there are days when there is just no time for rolling up the tortillas. So I decided to make a spicy version of my pasta bakes. Enchilada style!
I used my favorite pasta, penne rigate, and added all the things we love in our enchiladas: shredded chicken tossed in taco seasoning, corn, black beans and tomatoes and tossed it all in enchilada sauce. So much deliciousness! The last thing we did, was covering the whole dish with shredded cheddar. When serving, you can top a piece of this pasta bake with a dollop of sour cream and chopped green onions.
I highly recommend using my 5-Minute Blender Enchilada Sauce in this recipe. It's truly the best!
I hope you will give this dish a try, when you have a craving for delicious spicy food yet easy to throw together. This dish freezes perfectly too!
Enjoy!
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Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 15 oz can whole kernel corn drained
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1.5 cup shredded cooked chicken I used oven roasted; you can use rotisserie chicken
- 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning
- 10 oz enchilada sauce
- 2 cups penne rigate pasta uncooked
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Grease a 13" by 9"casserole dish.
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain and place in a large heat proof bowl.
- Add chicken. Sprinkle taco seasoning over the chicken.
- Add corn, black beans and diced tomatoes.
- Add onion and garlic.
- Stir everything together.
- Place in the prepared dish.
- At this point you can cover the dish and chill overnight or freeze (make sure the dish is not warm before placing in the fridge or freezer). Let the dish stand in room temperature while the oven is preheating, then bake (add 10 more minutes to the total time).
- Before baking, sprinkle cheese over the top.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. You can place the dish under the broiler set on low for 2 to 3 minutes to brown up the cheese.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
- Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 2 days.
Notes
Nutrition
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
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Jennifer says
Bake for 15 mins? Or 25?
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Jennifer! If the dish was refrigerated/frozen - bake for 25 min. Hope this helps! Thank you!
Kelly says
That melty cheese situation up above is making it really hard not to lick my screen right now! This dish looks incredible!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Haha! I love it! Thanks, Kelly!
Jennifer says
What a delicious idea! We love pasta and we love Mexican food, so this is going to get made very soon!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Let me know if you make it, Jennifer! Thank you!
Diana says
Anything with the words cheesy and enchilada has got to be YUM
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
I agree! Thanks, Diana!
Catalina says
I think its so cool that you used pasta, usually thats what I have on hand, flour tortillas aren't always in my pantry. Love all the flavors.
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Same here! I always have pasta in my pantry! Thanks, Catalina!
Mary Beth says
I could eat this for dinner, lunch AND breakfast!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Me too! Thank you, Mary Beth!
Melanie says
Amazing! And I love easy it looks to put it together. That's all I need for a dinner dish. Delish and simple.
Pinned.
Have a beautiful weekend!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Thank you so much, Melanie!
Rachel says
Mmmm I'm so ready to dive right in, even at 7am 😉
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Thanks, Rachel!
Lauren Kelly Nutrition says
This looks incredible! I can't wait to make this!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Thanks, Lauren!