Blackened Chicken Penne
with Charred Poblano & Monterey Jack Cheese
- Wheat
- Milk
This pasta may break the rules, but it does so deliciously: Instead of going the traditional Italian route, our chefs opted to mix things up with a jumble of Southwestern flavors. Chicken breast strips are seasoned with blackening spices and tossed in the pan until they’re perfectly smoky and savory. Poblano pepper and diced tomato add texture and more unconventional flair, while the Monterey Jack cheese sauce brings supreme creaminess to the penne.
Ingredients
1 unit
Poblano Pepper
1 unit
Yellow Onion
1 clove
Garlic
1 unit
Roma Tomato
10 ounce
Chicken Breast Strips
1 tablespoon
Blackening Spice
6 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
4 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
¼ cup
Monterey Jack Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
1 teaspoon
Hot Sauce
Not included in your delivery
1 tablespoon
Olive Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Core, deseed, and dice poblano into ½-inch pieces. Halve, peel, and finely dice half the onion (all for 4 servings). Peel and thinly slice garlic. Finely chop tomato.
• In a large bowl, combine a large drizzle of olive oil, Blackening Spice, and a few big pinches of salt. • Pat chicken* dry with paper towels; add to bowl and turn to coat.
• Once water is boiling, add penne to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water (1 cup for 4 servings), then drain and set aside.
• While pasta cooks, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add poblano and a pinch of salt. Cook, undisturbed, until lightly charred, 3-4 minutes. • Add chicken in a single layer and diced onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Stir in garlic. Cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. • Stir in half the tomato and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat under pan to medium low.
• Stir cream cheese and 1⁄3 cup reserved pasta cooking water (2⁄3 cup for 4 servings) into pan with chicken and veggie mixture. • Add drained penne and cook, stirring, until thoroughly combined, 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat. • Add Monterey Jack, stock concentrate, 2 TBSP butter (3 TBSP for 4), and as much hot sauce as you like; stir until butter melts. Season with salt and pepper. TIP: If needed, stir in more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce.
• Divide pasta between bowls or plates. Garnish with remaining tomato. Drizzle with any remaining hot sauce if desired and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the bold, spicy flavors, though some found it milder than expected; adjusting seasoning to taste is recommended.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make for most, though some found prep time longer than stated.
- Suggestions: Consider adding extra vegetables like broccoli or zucchini; some preferred more sauce or cheese for creaminess.
- Portions: Generous servings with plenty of leftovers for many; a few wanted more chicken relative to pasta.
- Spice level: Heat varied widely; some found it perfectly spicy while others wanted more kick 🌶️.
Reviews from our home cooks
This is easily the best recipe I have had from HelloFresh yet. The combination of blackening spice, Monterey Jack cheese, and butter creates a creamy, yet strong mouth-watering taste that's hard to forget. Personally I find it tastes better with chicken than with the salmon alternative, but either way this is a great recipe that I will definitely be ordering again in the future.
I find I don't need to add extra salt to parts of the recipes where there are broth concentrates and other pastes being used. With both recipes that I've tried that included green beans, the beans could have been a little fresher, and sometimes the sweet potatoes are a little iffy, otherwise, we've been very pleased. Was pleasantly surprised by the blackened chicken penne. Also wondered if the serving sizes would be big enough, and they've been more than generous. Overall, very pleased.
Though delicious, I made some minor tweaks to this recipe, and it came out more flavorful than the first time I prepared it. It is better to sautee the minced garlic and scallions prior to adding the blackened chicken to the skillet, for it provides a stronger, tastier flavor for the cream sauce.
Fantastic. Love penne with just about anything but the blackened chicken is awesome. Has a good flavor without being super hot. Really enjoy!
Blackening spice with Poblano and Monterey Jack cheese was an excellent combination, very aromatic. Will definitely be trying again.
This was actually delicious! However, for my first menu, I was a little disappointed for two reasons: half the pepper was rotten/molded and the Monterey jack cheese was missing from the bag. There could have been a little more chicken.
This dish is good. I would not hesitate to order it again if I needed to order something to fill my cart, but it's not something I would seek out. The flavors are there, and it may be just that I order dishes that seem to have a lot of the same flavors. There just was not that wow factor with this dish. It was good, but it wasn't something that left me speechless. I do enjoy poblano peppers and tomato, the blackened seasoning was a little bland in my opinion. The directions and ingredients were all there and accurate.
Delicious mix of flavors and large portion. Loved the addition of poblano peppers and cheese. This was one of my husband's all time favorite meals from Hellofresh so far.
Pasta was good, but not very spicy even after adding the two packets of hot sauce. I expected a bit more of a Cajun spice kick. Overall dish was very good and easy to make. There should probably be a warning not to cut the poblano with out gloves, I accidentally made the mistake of scratching my eyebrow because i forgot it burned your skin.
Great! I had some trouble with the recipe card being off. came with ingredients not listed on the front. said to add 1/2 the tomato, but not what to do with the other 1/2. I cook alot but have never peeled a poblano. I had to google how to do that step, as it wasn't included in instructions. Despite these minor set backs - all 4 of us gave this a thumbs up!
