This Chicken Taco Tortellini Skillet is a crowd pleasing dinner you can make in as little as 30 minutes! With seared chicken breast, tender tortellini, charred corn, and zesty tomatoes with green chiles all enveloped in a creamy taco flavored sauce, this meal is not only flavor packed and delicious, but also super quick and easy to make with only one skillet!
This post is sponsored by Buitoni. All recipes, tips, and opinions are cooked up right here at Easy Family Recipes.
Taco Tortellini Skillet – The EASY Way!
When dinner gets boring, one of my favorite ways to get creative in the kitchen is taking a couple of our favorite dishes and doing a flavor mash up to bring them together in a new way!
This Chicken Taco Tortellini Skillet is the best combination of chicken tacos and creamy tortellini alfredo, two foods that my kids could eat ENDLESSLY! When you marry them together, it makes a meal that is quick, easy, and anything but another boring weeknight meal!
What I love about this recipe
- One skillet– You don’t need to have several pots and pans all over the kitchen! All you need is one skillet to make this easy dinner!
- Fun flavors– The unexpected flavors of tacos and tortellini come together in the most magical way! When dinner gets boring, this is the solution!
- Fast cooking– The combination of the technique we use to cook the chicken quickly, Buitoni ready-to-go alfredo sauce, and using Buitoni 3 Cheese Tortellini, which cooks in minutes, makes this dinner extra fast!
- Easy clean up- Since there is only one skillet needed, clean up is fast and easy!
- All in one– This dish has it all! Protein, veggies, grains, and dairy, all packed into one filling and delicious dinner!
What to Serve with Taco Tortellini
As I mentioned above this recipe makes a very hearty and filling dinner. That means that you can make this, serve it up in bowls and you really don’t need anything else to go with the dinner to make a great meal. That said, I love to add a side or two to round out the dinner and help stretch it to go even farther!
Side Dish Ideas
- Side salad with Jalapeno Ranch– This dressing is so good that it made my kids love salad. No joke!!
- Tortillas– This is great if you want a bread to serve on the side and dip in that delicious taco alfredo sauce. You can grab flour tortillas at the store, or make flour tortillas from scratch.
- Mexican Roasted Veggies– We LOVE these and they are very quick and easy to make!
- Mexican Style Cornbread– This is a super quick recipe and my kids favorite!
You can choose one or add a few sides to make a wholesome, well rounded dinner, but of course this one-pot pasta is filling and satisfying on its own too.
Recipe Notes
This easy Taco Tortellini Skillet recipe is as simple as promised! Just a few ingredients and one skillet for a family friendly meal.
In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Chicken breast– I use boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe. This recipe will also work well with chicken tenderloins or boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you prefer dark meat. You can also omit the chicken all together if you want to make this a meatless meal.
- Olive oil– Use extra virgin olive oil, or your favorite cooking oil.
- Taco seasoning– You can use 1 packet of store bought seasoning or about 3 tablespoons of homemade seasoning.
- Canned corn– Well drained canned corn works well in this recipe. You can also substitute frozen corn that has been thawed.
- Buitoni Alfredo Sauce– This is so good! This ready-to-use alfredo sauce is about as close as it gets to homemade! It is rich, creamy, delicious, and has the classic blend of cream, butter, Parmesan cheese and a hint of nutmeg. This alfredo sauce is one of the special tricks I use to keep this recipe super fast without sacrificing flavor.
- Canned tomatoes with green chiles– You can choose mild, original or hot depending on your family’s preference for heat.
- Milk– Use whatever you have on hand! It can be anything from skim to whole milk. They will all work!
- Buitoni 3 Cheese Tortellini– These delicious, bite sized tortellini are perfect for this recipe because they can cook quickly right in the sauce! Buitoni 3 Cheese Tortellini offers tender semolina pasta rings filled with three cheeses: fresh creamy ricotta, aged Parmesan and Romano. So good!
Garnish (optional)
- Chopped cilantro– I love to add the fresh burst of flavor by adding freshly chopped cilantro on the top. If you don’t care for cilantro or just don’t have any on hand, you can skip it.
Recipe Tips
- Have everything ready– This is a fast recipe! It will really help you be successful if you make sure everything is ready to go before starting to cook. This means everything is cut, opened, measured and ready to go. Since we are working with a hot pan and quick cooking food, if you are lagging behind it is really easy for things to burn.
- Quick cooking technique– One little trick we use to get the chicken to cook extra fast is by cutting it into small bite sized pieces (around 1/2″) and cooking it in a hot pan. Since there is a lot of surface area combined with a uniform thickness, it can quickly cook through in just minutes.
- Well drained corn– After cooking the chicken we char the corn to add depth of flavor and texture to the dish. The key to doing this is cooking the corn over high heat with as little moisture as possible. The more moisture there is on the corn, the harder it is to get a char on the corn. So I generally drain the corn well, then let it air out while cooking the chicken.
- Cover it up– Once you finish the sauce and add in the tortellini, let it simmer covered so that the moisture (along with all the flavor) can be absorbed into the pasta. It won’t take more than just a few minutes.
Recipe Variations
If you love this recipe as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!
- Meatless Taco Tortellini Skillet– To make this into a delicious meatless meal, all you need to do is omit the chicken and start with hot oil and the corn and continue as directed.
- Cheesy Taco Tortellini Skillet– To make the Taco Tortellini extra cheesy and delicious, add in 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese when you stir in the chicken and corn to the tortellini and stir until cheese is melted. Top with additional cheese if desired.
- Beef Taco Tortellini Skillet– Brown 1.5 pounds of lean ground beef in place of chicken. Drain and mix in the taco seasoning. Then continue with recipe as directed.
Taco Tortellini Leftovers
If you have leftovers after making this Taco Tortellini Skillet, then it is your lucky day! They save and reheat well, and can make the start of another delicious dish.
To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:
- in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
- in the freezer up to a month
More Easy Dinner Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!
You can check out all of my simple dinner recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite recipes below.
- Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
- Blackened Chicken Breast
- Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
- 7 Layer Taco Casserole
Chicken Taco Tortellini Skillet
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into small 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning, (1 package) divided in half
- 15.25 ounces canned corn, (1 can) drained
- 15 ounces Buitoni Alfredo Sauce
- 10 ounces canned tomatoes with green chiles, (1 can)
- 20 oz Buitoni 3 Cheese Tortellini, (1 package)
- 1/2 cup milk
Garnish (optional)
- chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet with olive oil over medium high heat. Once hot add chicken breast and half of the taco seasoning. Cook 2 minutes, without stirring, then flip and let cook an additional 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked through (165˚F internal temp.)
- Remove chicken from skillet and add corn in a thin single layer to the hot pan. Let cook without stirring for 3-4 minutes, then cook for an additional 2-3 minutes stirring regularly until it has a golden brown char on the outside. Remove corn from skillet.
- Reduce the heat to low and add alfredo sauce, tomatoes with green chiles (not drained), milk, and remaining taco seasoning. Mix to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Add the tortellini. Stir to coat the tortellini in the sauce and cover the skillet. Continue to simmer for about 5-7 minutes or until the tortellini is tender.
- Add the chicken and corn back in and mix to combine. To finish, garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.
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