Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake
with Fajita-Spiced Bell Pepper & Onion
- Milk
- Wheat
Get ready for a crowd-pleasing family style dinner that everyone (even the kiddos) will love. It’s a magnificent mashup only our chefs could dream up: enchilada pasta! We replace the tortillas with tender penne, season the chicken, onion, and bell peppers with our bold blend of fajita-style spices, then coat everything in a creamy Tex-Mex-style tomato sauce with a blend of Mexican cheeses subbing in for mozzarella. Bake it up, savor the aroma of all those flavors mingling in the oven, then straight to the table it goes with a final flourish of crisp, zippy scallion greens. This recipe is double the typical servings, providing 4 servings and 8 servings for a 2 person and 4 person box respectively.
Ingredients
1 unit
Green Bell Pepper
20 ounce
Chopped Chicken Breast
1 unit
Onion
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
14 ounce
Diced Tomatoes
8 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
12 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
2 tablespoon
Fajita Spice Blend
2 unit
Scallions
1 unit
Tex-Mex Paste
1.5 cup
Mexican Cheese Blend
(Contains: Milk)
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to middle position (top and middle positions for 8 servings) and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot (two large pots for 8) of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion. Halve, core, and thinly slice bell pepper. • Generously coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (two 9-by-13-inch baking dishes for 8) with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• Once water is boiling, add penne to pot (for 8 servings, divide between two large pots or cook in batches). Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water (1 cup for 8), then drain.
• Meanwhile, open package of chicken* and drain off any excess liquid. Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over high heat. Add chicken, scallion whites, onion, and bell pepper in a single layer; season with Fajita Spice Blend, salt, and pepper. • Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is browned and cooked through and onion is tender, 4-6 minutes. TIP: Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to work in batches, adding another drizzle of oil for each batch. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan for even browning!
• In a large bowl, whisk together cream sauce base, diced tomatoes, stock concentrate, half the Tex-Mex paste, and two packets of Mexican cheese blend (all the Tex-Mex paste and four packets of Mexican cheese blend for 8 servings).
• Transfer drained penne and chicken mixture to bowl with sauce; stir to thoroughly combine. TIP: If sauce seems too thick, add splashes of reserved pasta cooking water until everything is thoroughly coated. • Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish (divide between two prepared baking dishes for 8 servings). • Cover baking dish tightly with foil; set on top of a foil-lined baking sheet (two baking sheets for 8). (The sheet will help protect your oven from any sauce that may bubble over!)
• Bake on middle rack until bubbly, 30 minutes (bake on top and middle racks for 8 servings). TIP: Lift the foil carefully to check on the pasta bake— there might be some steam! • Remove sheet with baking dish from oven. Carefully remove and discard foil from baking dish; stir pasta bake. Sprinkle with remaining Mexican cheese blend; return sheet with baking dish to oven and bake, uncovered, until cheese melts, 3-5 minutes more.
• Let pasta bake rest at least 5 minutes before serving. • Garnish with scallion greens and serve family style directly from baking dish.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the dish, but some found it bland; adding extra spices, hot sauce, or green chiles boosted flavor.
- Ease of prep: Clear instructions and pre-measured ingredients made it easy, though some noted longer prep time than expected.
- Suggestions: Consider using whole chicken breasts instead of strips, and add more sauce for extra moisture.
- Portions: Generous servings provided ample leftovers; some wished for smaller portion options 🍲.
- Reheating: Leftovers reheated well, with some finding it even more delicious the next day.
Reviews from our home cooks
Super yummy! I kind of loved the pasta aspect of enchilada flavor, I was a bit timid about it at first. Super easy to make and had PLENTY of food!
This was fantastic!! I think it could be even better with the poblano pepper instead of an ordinary bell pepper. (It was amazing reheated, too - especially with pepper Jack cheese)
This was our fav meal out of ALL the meals we have had! We went back for thirds! Big portion and super flavorful! I wish all hello fresh meals had bigger portions!
This recipe made 2 9x13 pans for us. We had so much and it was really good. Now I know only to order the family portions for special occasions.
Delicious, easy to make! I added some ground cayenne pepper and has a salad on the side.
Honestly a huge meal, we had left overs for the next few days and it was just as delicious every time! So worth it
Had enough for lunches the next day and easy to make. My son wants it again
This was so delicious and we were able to use leftovers as sides for a few meals after!
This was not an enchilada bake. At best it was a fajita bake. Also it was not flavorful. I had to add my own taco seasoning to the leftovers to make it palatable. It was also quite a lot of work in terms of number of dishes needed to prepare it. Very disappointing.
This is a good base, but really needs something to make it pop. The entire time we ate it, it was just missing something. I did add hot sauce to it later and that helped. I think a can of green chiles would really help this dish.
