Chicken and Chorizo Pasta Recipe

Name: Chicken and Chorizo Pasta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Pasta
Ingredients: 1 tsp olive oil; 1/4 onion (35g / 1.2oz) onion, diced; 1 small chicken breast (around 100g / 3.5oz); 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 30g / 1oz spanish, dry-cured chorizo, sliced; 200g / 7oz chopped tomatoes; 1/2 tsp cumin; 1/2 tsp sweet paprika; 75g pasta (farfalle, rigatoni, or your own preference); 4-5 cherry tomatoes (75g / 2.5oz), halved; 2 tbsp whipping or double cream; 3-4 fresh basil leaves; 30g / 1oz freshly grated parmesan

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This chicken and chorizo pasta is the ultimate comfort food. Plus it takes less than 30 minutes to pull together from start to finish so it’s great for a mid-week pick-me-up. It contains a tomato sauce with tender chicken and rich chorizo along with the warm flavours of cumin and paprika. Add some parmesan cheese for the ultimate indulgence!

What Chorizo should you use?

This recipe uses dry-cured Spanish chorizo, which is the most commonly found variety in the UK. If you are in the US you may also see Mexican chorizo varieties which are not cured (or cooked).

You can use non-cured varieties but you may need to cook the chorizo for slightly longer.

Can you make it in advance?

This recipe is most definitely best served freshly cooked so I wouldn’t recommend it for pre-planned meal prep (and it does only take 30 minutes to pull together). However, if you do have leftovers then you can still enjoy them later.

You can eat this cold if you enjoy cold pasta dishes. Or you can reheat it in the microwave. Add a little water to the bowl and loosely cover with a plate. You can also reheat on the hob but be careful of stirring too much which may break apart the cooked pasta.

Chicken and chorizo pasta dished from a pan to a plate

Substitutions

You can swap the cumin and paprika with oregano, dried Italian herbs, Cajun seasoning or cayenne pepper.

While you could use dried basil instead of fresh, I don’t recommend this as it simply won’t have the same fresh taste. If you do use dried then add it at the same time as the other dried spices to allow the flavours to release.

There are also a lot of additions you can make to this recipe if you want to add a little more veg to the equation. These include:

Red, orange or green pepper (capsicum), thinly sliced
Sundried tomatoes (in place of the cherry tomatoes)
Mushrooms, sliced
Spinach

Ingredients

For this chicken and chorizo pasta recipe you’ll need a few ingredients:

Olive oil (you can substitute for another cooking-suitable oil)
Onion – brown or white
Chicken breast
Garlic, finely chopped
Spanish, dry-cured chorizo, sliced (see above for info on using other types of chorizo)
Tinned chopped tomatoes
Cumin
Sweet Paprika (smoked also works well but will be hotter)
Pasta (I used farfalle but you can use any variety you prefer)
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Whipping or double cream
Fresh basil leaves
Parmesan, grated (optional. Buy a block and grate it yourself if possible as the pre-grated varieties use emulsifiers which stop it melting as well).

How to make it

Place a large pan of heavily salted water over high heat while you prepare the chorizo and chicken.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan or skillet. Once hot add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.

Add the chicken to the pan and cook for around 5 minutes, until sealed on all sides. Add the garlic and the chorizo to the pan and cook for a further 2-3 minutes unti the chorizo has turned a little crisp on the edges.

Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan along with the cumin and paprika. Reduce to a simmer and cook for around 10 minutes.

While the tomato sauce is simmering, add the pasta to the boiling water. Time for around 1 minute less than the packet instructions.

When the pasta is ready add around 2 tbsp per person of the pasta water to the tomato mixture. The starch from the water will help to emulsify the sauce. Drain the pasta and add to the pan.

Add the cream and cherry tomatoes to the pan and then tear over the basil. Toss or stir everything together until mixed and then serve with the parmesan scattered over the top.

If you are looking for more great pasta recipes then check out this salmon & leek pasta or this lemon chicken with angel hair pasta.

Products that work well for this recipe