Monterey BBQ Chicken Pasta {One Pot Dinner!}
There is so much to love about this one-pot Monterey BBQ chicken pasta! It is simple, fast, and out of this world delicious!
If one-pot wonders get you as excited as they get me, you are going to love this recipe.
Made start to finish in a pot (or deep skillet), this Monterey BBQ chicken pasta is loaded with a million of my favorite flavors.
Tender chicken and bacon. Tangy BBQ sauce and melty cheese. Juicy tomatoes and hearty pasta.
Do you see what I mean? There’s so much to love here.
It reminds me a little bit of this old recipe for BBQ chicken pasta that’s been on my site forever.
But in terms of overall flavor and delicious wow factor, this Monterey BBQ chicken pasta version is the winner.
My family requested this go on the regular meal rotation ASAP.
Until I gently reminded them that we don’t really have a regular meal rotation around here.
Largely because they have a mother who is obsessed with trying new recipes and the idea of eating the same thing over and over makes her want to cry.
Poor kids. Sometimes I can tell the new recipes for dinner streak (not all of them home runs, I’m afraid) has gone on too long. The bleak, wary look in their eyes lets me know it better be a spaghetti night.
But I did agree with them that the deliciousness of this one-pot pasta was pretty high up on even my “meals to love” list and promised we’d see it again soon.
Really, it might be one of my top favorite pasta recipes. The flavors just speak to me!
If you love this grilled Monterey chicken recipe (oh my gosh, so good), I think this pasta version, although slightly different thanks to the BBQ sauce and a few other flavors, is going to become a fast favorite.
I’m heading out of town for the next 10 days, and so it will be a little quiet around here (thanks for your patience in advance as I won’t be checking in much, but my trusty virtual assistant, Emily, will be answering comments for me and tackling any issues while I’m gone).
I was feeling kind of guilty about leaving for so long (especially since I’ll be lazing around on my first-ever cruise – to Alaska!), until I realized this was the recipe I was leaving you with.
It’s worthy of being abandoned for a week. Make it and report back! I can’t wait to hear what you think!
One Year Ago: Super Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies {Egg-Free!}
Two Years Ago: One-Bowl Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
Three Years Ago: Glazed Orange Zucchini Bread
Four Years Ago: Good Morning Power Muffins {Full of Whole Grains and Superfoods!}
Five Years Ago: Salted Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies
Monterey BBQ Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 6-7 slices bacon, chopped
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth, I use low-sodium
- 2 cans (10-ounces each) rotel tomatoes, undrained
- 16 ounces rotini pasta, or similar shape
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup BBQ sauce (see note)
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Chopped chives or green onions, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a 12-inch deep skillet (at least 2 to 3 inch sides) or a 5- or 6-quart pot, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Pat the chicken pieces dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add them to the pot in a single layer and cook until golden and cooked through, stirring occasionally. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add the chopped bacon to the pot and cook until crisp. Drain any excess grease and scrape the bacon onto the same plate as the chicken.
- Keeping the pot over medium heat, add the broth, deglazing the pan and scraping up any browned bits with a cooking spoon or spatula.
- Add the rotel tomatoes, pasta and salt. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring often and moderating the heat to prevent sticking, until the pasta is al dente (about 10-12 minutes, but check package instructions as each brand may vary).
- Stir in the BBQ sauce, cooked chicken and bacon and heat through. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, cover, and let the pasta rest off the heat until the cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes. Garnish with chives or green onions and serve warm, drizzling with extra BBQ sauce, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by this recipe at Budget Bytes (changed up all the quantities and added some varying ingredients)
I wanted so badly to like this. If cooking for children, it’s pretty spicy. Maybe sub for plain old diced tomatoes. Two recipes let me down this week, and I’m bummed about it. Hard time to waste food. Plenty of great recipes, but have to watch out for the spice level.
I love almost all of Mel’s recipe including her Monterey chicken but this recipe wasn’t by favorite. A little too sweet a little too “tomato-y”.
This was a quick and delicious dinner! I used precooked bacon from Costco and heated it with the chicken instead of cooking separately. The Rotel was yummy, just the right level of spiciness. As the pasta cooked I needed to add a bit more water, because it kept cooking dry. Next time I’ll put the lid on the pan for the last 5 minutes.
My kids won’t eat Rotel unless I blend it up in my vitamix – do you think that would work or would it make it too soupy?
It’s worth a try – you might try draining excess liquid if needed.
I really want to make this, but can’t find Rotel tomatoes around here. Any ideas?
You could try using petite diced tomatoes (or regular diced tomatoes) and a small can of green chiles.
Loved this. Thanks for another great recipe.
Best pasta I have ever eaten in my whole life!
Best pasta I have ever eaten in my whole life.
I made this recipe for my family and they loved it so much. this is now our favorite meal!
I only had Ziti on hand but this was DELICIOUS! I did double the cheese AND the bacon and had to cook the pasta a little longer than I should have in order to get rid of all the excess liquid but it was so good. I also used one can of mild rotel and one can of diced tomatoes after reading the reviews. So maybe that’s why it was juicier? I’ll drain the cans first next time for sure. Can’t wait to make it again! Thank you!
Thanks, Amanda!
I plan my weekly menu from your site and swear by the recipes. This one, however, not our favorite. I don’t know if I should’ve added more cheese or bbq sauce but I probably won’t make it again. Considering we love 99.5% of all recipes, I won’t bat an eye at one we didn’t.
Thanks for all the Amazing recipes. My friends and I simply refer to you as “Mel” when speaking about our dinner recipes!
My 11yo son wanted to make dinner and found this recipe. Thankfully, I already had on hand a pint of home canned chicken breast, precooked and frozen bacon slices, bacon fat in the fridge, and Mel’s hm BBQ sauce. With that, it was so simple to assemble on a weeknight, and OH SO TASTY! I had a hard time sharing. Thanks for this good one, Mel!
I subbed the bacon fat in for the oil and blended the flavors of the chicken, bacon, salt, and pepper in the pan. Juices from the canned chicken contributed to the broth. The rest was simple. 🙂
Thanks, Jennifer! Glad this one was a hit…sorry that soup recipe was kind of a disaster!
I have made this twice. The first time I did it as written with 2 cans of regular rotel. Holy Moly! The spiciness was intense. I don’t mind making my children cry at dinner but I prefer it to be when I am forcing them to eat green beans before they have a brownie instead of when I am knocking them out of the way to soothe my flaming taste buds with their water. Despite the intensity of round one the flavors were delicious so I had to try again. The second time I used one can of mild rotel and one can of diced tomatoes. The result was a much milder and very delicious dinner. So if you have ever doubted the fortitude of your own tastebuds I would encourage you to foster that doubt here, go for the mild. Mel is never wrong, my tastes are just clearly not as refined.
Thanks for the review and feedback, Angela! 🙂
This is the very first time I have ever left a comment on a recipe. I thought this recipe was great in fact since I found it a week ago I’ve made it twice. I did not however realize that the Rotel tomatoes should be with green . I used Red Gold tomatoes and it worked fine – not as spicy. I will next time try it with spicier can tomatoe. I have a tendency to make new meals and have very good friends to be my tasters. They have gladly cooperated and enjoyed some pretty good meals. Thank you again. I look forward to finding more recipes on your site.
Thanks for the feedback, Elin!
Hi Mel,
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I had a question about cooking the chicken. Every time I cook chicken while in small pieces, they seem to get super chewy. I figure I’m overcooking them but I also worry that they won’t cook all the way through. Any tips on how to avoid this? I’m am definitely not a great cook but feel like it most days when following your recipes! Thanks!
Yeah it’s probably due to overcooking but it can also depend on what brand of chicken you use. Some brands are just more tender and taste better…but trying not to overcook is also important.
So for a recipe like this, if the pieces are about an inch in size, they won’t need more than 4-5 minutes of cooking on medium heat. Cutting one in half to check helps and then if it’s white all the way through, you know you’re golden!
Tiff, I’ve realized just in the last year or two the difference in cutting chicken against the grain (so, perpendicular to the lines in the chicken breast). It has really transformed my chicken from chewy to fall-apart tender.
This was crazy good! And so super easy. Next time, I might add some beans too. Loved it, thanks Mel. You seriously never let me down!
Thanks, Cyndi! I love the idea of throwing some beans in there.
I don’t think I’ll make this again. I used homemade BBQ which I know could alter flavors, but it was just too many flavor combinations for me. My husband said it was good but he wasn’t sure what cuisine he was eating. Thankfully the kiddos gobbled it up! It could be my pregnancy taste buds, but I just couldn’t eat much of this.
There are a lot of flavors going on, that’s true!
This recipe is a winner all around! Even my super picky 3 year old ate it up. I might try a different bbq sauce next time (used sweet baby rays)…but it’s delicious!
Thanks for the review, Caitlin!
We loved this! I used mild Ro Tel tomatoes, and the spiciness was perfect for us. Thanks so much for another terrific dish.
This was sooo good! I little spicy for me, so I would use one can of Rotel and one can of diced tomatoes. The flavor was amazing, and, even though I made it last week, I’m making it again next week!
Well that was tasty! Went with the mild Rotel and really glad I did since it was plenty spicy (lightweight here). Gotta love the one pot. Will make again! Thanks!
Thanks for the delicious recipe! Great week night dinner! The BBQ sauce was good, but I think we might try a different sauce next time. I thought about trying something creamy like buffalo ranch.
We made this last night! I used rotisserie chicken that I had,
but other than that, followed the recipe. It was great, my kids loved it.
Quick, easy and delicious! And the bonus? Only one pot to wash. Of note to any other Canadians who can’t find RoTel tomatoes, I used Aylmer petite cut tomatoes with spicy red peppers and it worked out perfectly. Thanks for another winner, Mel!
Thanks for the feedback, Megan!
Hi Mel, my family LOVES your recipes!!! I live in Germany and we can’t buy Rotel here (I did smuggle a few cans in my suitcase though!). Do you have any suggestions for when my Rotel supply is depleted?
Can you get diced tomatoes, Tracy? That should work pretty well, especially if you add a can of green chiles (but if not, diced tomatoes will work ok on their own).
Hi Mel!
Made this last night my 7 year old turned up her nose when I told her what we were having dinner. And I told her what’s not to love pasta bacon cheese tomatoes and barbecue sauce? After about four bites she said I actually really do like this! My four year old twins liked it too! It will make another appearance on our dinner table only thing I would change is the rotel tomatoes I would use the mild ones, it was a little on the spicy side for the kids but they still gobbled it up. Thanks again for a delicious and easy meal with little clean up too!
Glad the kiddos liked this one pretty well, Alyssa! Thanks for letting me know!
How would you make this in an instant pot? Just wondering about liquid amounts.
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure – you might use this IP spaghetti recipe as a starting point: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/instant-pot-spaghetti/
This was a little too spicy for my family (due to the Rotel tomatoes w/green chiles). But, my neighbors who were recipients of the leftovers were likely very happy. 😉
We found this a bit too spicy for the kiddos with store (Aldi) brand tomatoes with chilies and Sweet Baby Ray’s orginal BBQ sauce. But we loved the flavors in it and I will definitely make this again with modification! I will probably try 1 can of tomatoes with chilies and 1 can of plain diced tomatoes next time. I also threw in some corn cut off the cob that I had left from the night before and I would do that again. I was very excited for a pasta recipe that doesn’t absolutely *need* lots of cheese and milk because we have some dairy-free eaters at our house. Thanks, Mel!
This was so good! I switched the order of the chicken and bacon so I could sear the chicken pieces in some of the bacon fat 🙂
This reminds me a lot of one of my other favorite meals – http://www.kevinandamanda.com/spicy-sausage-pasta/
Amazing flavor! We like to make “fancy” variations of mac-n-cheese…definitely adding this one to our list of frequently made recipes!
Glad you loved it Melanie, thank you!
We loved this! Faked Rotel from an internet site who said to add some fresh salsa with cumin and chili powder to plain diced tomatoes to attempt to replicate the chilis and ‘special spices’ in Rotel? We have never tasted Rotel as we are in Canada – but was fabulous! Also doubled the cheese and added the crispy bacon on top with the green onions as was recommended here – this was amazing! Thanks Mel!
Yum! you can never go wrong with doubled cheese :).
By Rotel tomatoes, do you mean diced tomatoes with green chilies? And Rotel has a bunch of different flavors–which one do you generally use?
Yes, the diced tomatoes with the chilies, and just the standard, basic Rotel. You could certainly experiment with different flavors if you had one you really loved though.
I did shrimp instead of chicken (less thawing time) and it was delicious!
Yum!
This was one delicious dinner. Usually my husband is slightly picky when it comes to meals that aren’t really Ukrainian (that’s our culture), but the combo of ingredients in this recipe definitely satisfied his cravings 🙂 . I snapped a photo to my mom and sisters and they asked for recipe right away. Thank you for such yummy dinner 🙂
I’m so glad it was a hit!
This tasted incredible! WOW! My husband said it’s a keeper, for sure. I used our favorite BBQ sauce – Famous Dave’s Sweet & Zesty.
I’m so glad it was a hit in your house! And that BBQ sauce is delicious.
OMG – this was an amazing dish! Just made it for dinner tonight. My hubby thought the recipe was a strange combination of Mexican Rotel, Italian pasta, and American BBQ sauce, but the combination is incredible together – everyone should try it! We both loved it! Thanks for another great recipe – I turn to your site so very often for a new dish (and many old favs too)! I’m telling lots of friends about this recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it!
This was really good. Although next time we make it (my husband loves BBQ so repeating this dish is basically a given), I’ll make these changes:
– Drain the rotel and maybe lower the amount of broth (the end dish was a bit soupy, not like the pictures. And I used 16 oz of pasta that had a 10-11 minute cook time so I’m not sure why it turned out like a thickish broth than a sauce)
-Double the cheese (I ended up doing this for this time and I highly recommend it)
-Sprinkle the bacon on top at the very end (stirring it in earlier with the chicken made it lose its crispness and unique flavor. Having some crispness would pair great with all the other soft textures in the dish)
Those changes sound delicious.
That looks so good!!! Alaska was my first (and best ever) cruise also. Have a great time, you deserve it!
Thanks so much, Cyndi!
Have a wonderful time on your cruise. Don’t worry, we’ll be here when you get back!
Thanks, Michele!
Rotel is a hit or miss with my family…I usually have to downgrade to mild. How spicy does this dish turn out? I’d think with the pasta, cheese, and other ingredients that the regular stuff should be just fine?
Yay for vacation! I hope you have an amazing time and that we get a full report when you get home!
A follow-up…I wasn’t going to say anything because everyone else here seems to have loved it, but Mel asked for the good, bad, and ugly! 😉 I made it just as it called for (regular Rotel and all). The spice level was just fine, but this just wasn’t a winner at our house. I was sure it’d be an instant hit here because nearly everything Mel posts is! And we love all the ingredients! I guess the flavor combo just wasn’t something that spoke to any of us. It’s okay though…we filled up on Peaches and Cream Sensation! 🙂
Thanks, Mel. This looks great. One question: What size are the cans of tomatoes? 15 oz or 28 oz?
I had to laugh about your family feeling they’ll never see recipes again, given your love of trying new recipes. My husband complains all the time that I’ll make a great meal and then he’ll never see it again! I feel like there are just too many wonderful dishes out there to make the same thing over and over. It’s kind of how I feel about books, and why I rarely reread anything! Thanks for your help on the tomatoes and have a great vacation.
I’m glad you feel my pain over trying new recipes (and books!). The cans of rotel tomatoes are 10 ounces each (just edited the recipe to include that).
This looks delish. Thoughts on leftovers? Eat cold? Reheat? We are down to 3 at the moment so I know we couldn’t eat it all in one sitting.
I think you could easily cut the recipe in half BUT the leftovers (the little bit we have each time) are delicious as well. We usually reheat in the microwave.
This sounds so good. Like the best of so many things all rolled into one. I hope you have a great vacation. Happy Anniversary to you and Brian. Maybe now the kids will be ok with new meals once you get back? Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. 🙂 Then again they will probably be asking for this meal.
Haha, one can hope, right?? Grandma will be feeding them lots of mac and cheese (at their request), I’m sure. 🙂
I love when my two favorite cooking blogs collide. I cook almost exclusively from you and budget bytes. And yet shockingly, I stilll haven’t made this recipe. I think it’s finally time. Thanks so much!! Love everything you do!!
Thanks, Rebecca!
I will be making this asap. Have a wonderful time on your cruise!!! I can’t thank you enough for all of the fabulous recipes you have provided me and my family. Happy Anniversary!!
Thank you so much, Suzanne!
Sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try it! Have fun on your cruise, my hubs and I love cruises! Hubs thinks the best part is eating like 5-6 meals each day late night pizza and even later night room service, I just wish I had his metabolism! I just look at what he eats and gain 5 pounds.
Haha, the very thought of all that food both scares and excites me. I’ve heard food on cruises can be amazing! Hope it lives up to my expectations. 🙂