My husband has a deep and abiding love for barbecue sauce. His favorite pizza? Barbecue chicken. His favorite salad? Barbecue chicken with romaine, black beans and corn. His favorite burger? Barbecue ranch with bacon. His favorite sandwich? Barbecue beef. His favorite ice cream? Barbecue tracks. Ok, just kidding on that one. Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.
After the success of the homemade barbecue sauce and knowing the above details, I thought to myself, why not make all his dreams come true and transfer the barbecue passion to pasta. Behold, the almighty Barbecue Chicken Pasta invention.
A one skillet meal (have I mentioned I love skillet meals??), this dish was a huge success with my little family. Simple, quick and packed with delicious smoky barbecue flavors, tender pasta and creamy, melted cheese, I’m hoping that if you ask my husband what his favorite pasta is…he’ll stay with the barbecue theme and give you this meal for an answer.
One Year Ago: Skillet Chicken with Broccoli, Pasta, and Parmesan
Two Years Ago: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
Skillet BBQ Chicken Pasta
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks
1 red onion, diced
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces penne pasta
2/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS:
In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat (you could also use a large pot if you don’t have a skillet this big). When hot, add the chicken and onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken and onions to a plate and set aside.
In the same skillet, add the water, chicken broth, penne and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until the liquid is almost absorbed, the pasta is tender and the mixture is thick and syrupy. Stir in the barbecue sauce and sour cream. Once mixed, add in the reserved chicken, onions and shredded cheese. Stir to combine and cook until everything is heated through.
Serve immediately and garnish with additional red or green onions and shredded cheese.
Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe
{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
How funny. Last night I made BBQ Chicken Linguine based on a recipe in a book. It was quite similar to your recipe. I could take it or leave it, but my husband enjoyed it and my 6yo couldn't get enough of it!
Yay – another skillet recipe! Thank you! I'm not such a BBQ fan, but hubby and kids love it, so I'm going to give it a whirl.You have such good/inspiring recipes and ideas. Thank you for making them "real". [Using normal ingredients and having your family eat them]. I appreciate it!
Your husband and I would be great friends! I love BBQ sauce. This pasta is such a great idea. I get sick of always having to have a marinara sauce with pasta. Looking forward to making this.
I make a barbecue pasta dish with ground beef that is my husband's absolute favorite. I think he would enjoy this dish as well, sounds delicious.
Oh that sounds so good! I love bbq chicken pizza so why not bbq chicken pasta! That is brilliant!
In my opinion, store bought BBQ sauce ranks right there with store bought ranch dressing–bleeeck!!I can't wait to try yours. I have a feeling my hubby will love this pasta as well.Your pictures are fantastic!
What a fun creation- sounds awesome. We are a household of BBQ lovers. I love making homemade BBQ sauce and I am very picky about store bought but if you are in a pinch, I think that Sweet Baby Rays is fantastic!
Funny post! That guy sure likes his BBQ!And this must have made him a happy man!Your photos are making me drool. It's too close to lunch!
like your hubby, i'm guilty of slathering barbecue sauce on pretty much everything. one thing i haven't tried? pasta. right on!
Yummy! My kids will eat anything with BBQ sauce, I'll have to try this. I always like to sprinkle a little bit of smoked Gouda on my BBQ chicken pizza, I wonder if it would be good in the pasta as well?
Earlier today, as I was dipping my childrens leftover chicken nuggets in BBQ sauce, I was thinking I needed to make something BBQ-y for dinner! How did you know? Can't wait to try this one!!
This looks amazingly good. Can't wait to try it.Mary
A clever and delicious twist for pasta! Ooooh, just imagining the big flavor in this! Thank you for sharing!
We will have to try this! Thanks!
Just made this for dinner ~ with a few twists (I used leftover turkey breast, instead of chicken). It was pretty good, I would definitely make it again. However, I just thought I would suggest adding some diced/chopped green peppers, at the same time you cook the chicken and onion. It would add another veggie, as well as adding some color to the dish:) Thanks again for the great recipes!
YUM this was good! Such a fun variation from a typical pasta dish. I liked it alot! (Notice how everyone cooks to feed their families, I just try all your recipes for my own pleasure haha
Hey Mel – I'm glad you cook for your own pleasure – then you don't have anyone else to be disappointed if it doesn't work out. Glad you liked this one!
Tracey – great suggestion! I'm glad you liked this meal…thanks for letting me know!
lol..you had me going with the ice cream flavor!!! lol
I made this last night for dinner – it was different but very yummy. Plus, I shredded up some Hoffman’s sharp cheddar – can’t go wrong with that stuff. Thanks for the great recipe
What a great idea for a pasta dish! I just discovered your blog, and I am a fan already. I will be back as time permits to check out what’s cooking here. Thanks for sharing all these fantastic recipes with all of us.
Steph – thanks for letting me know that you liked this dish. I agree, can’t go wrong with some good cheese!
Steph – glad you liked this! And I agree that you can’t go wrong with a great sharp cheddar cheese.
Great dish!! We also love BBQ sauce in our house, so this is a keeper for us!!!
Thanks, Sharon….glad this is a keeper!
This looks SO good! I can’t wait to make it soon!
Mel, this will be about 7th recipe that I am trying from your blog. I am looking forward to making this tonight! It looks great!
Jocelyn – I hope it doesn’t disappoint! Let me know how it turns out.
Another home run! This is fantastic. I didn’t have any sour cream on hand ( I don’t know how that happened!) so I substituted ranch dressing. It worked perfectly. The hubby & the kids loved it! Thanks so much for another keeper!
Thanks, Gia! Glad your family loved this meal…I actually think the substitution of ranch dressing sounds fantastic!
Made this for dinner last night and it turned out good. I didn’t know what to serve with it so we had a salad. LOL – Tonight I’m trying your taco recipe. Wish me luck!!!
Thanks, Kina – I think it sounds delicious with a salad!
I stumbled across this recipe hunting for something to make with what little I had on hand. I LOVE California Pizza Kitchen Barbeque Chicken Pizza, but my partner is restricted to a gluten-free diet, so I thought this would make an awesome alternative. I used a gluten-free penne and grilled the chicken and the red onion and it was SO DELICIOUS! Thanks for this great idea!
Bladen – thank you so much for your comment! I think the idea of grilling the chicken is brilliant and I’m glad you were able to adapt this for your partner’s gluten-free diet!
Made this again tonight. The kids LOVE it. Even my picky one… LOL I used up he last of the BBQ sauce, though, so I’ll need to make another batch. You are my go-to site for dinner inspiration! Thanks for keeping the goodness coming!
Your Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls are on the agenda for the weekend…
Thanks, Karen!
I made this tonight. I liked it. I didn’t have penne on hand, so I used the elbow macaroni I had. It was fine, but I want to try it with penne next time for sure. My sons ate it, which is really saying something.
What I love about it is that it’s very easy to make. It comes together very quickly. I steamed some broccoli and mixed it in with the pasta on my plate because I just like to walk on the wild side every once in a while.
Thanks for another quick weeknight meal.
queenann – your wild side comment made me laugh. Thanks. Glad you liked this one. I’ll have to get wild and crazy and throw some steamed broccoli in next time I make it. I bet it adds a great freshness.
how do you cook the noodles that long without them getting soggy? mine were practially mush.
Lindsay – sounds like you may need to just cut back on the cooking time. Sorry it didn’t work out!
I made this tonight and LOVED it! Used the ranch suggestion because I didnt have any sour cream and it turned out great. Thanks!
Mmm!! This was great. I did a little ranch and a little sour cream. I think next time I’ll add more chicken.
I was in a major bind to come up with a dinner tonight and remembered this yummy recipe from months past. I had some Costco Jack Daniels Shredded BBQ Chicken in my fridge and decided to make this recipe even easier by subbing the pre-done BBQ chicken and adapting the recipe to make it work. It turned out just as good! So if you are really in a hurry to make dinner one night, try using this already shredded chicken and it’s a snap!
I also had to substitute elbow macaroni, and mine seems to be turning really mushy in just a few minutes of boiling! I’m going to have to throw it away and go to the store and get some other pasta. Kind of embarrassing (I’m not the greatest cook…) but it looks like I just cooked a solid gooey mass of pasta!
Aaron – I’m not sure why this happened. Sorry! The elbow macaroni must need quite a bit less cooking time.
I make a similar dish, but I add a can of rinsed black beans. So yummy!!!
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