This One Pot BBQ Chicken Pasta is smoky and savory, with tender chicken breast, crispy bacon, and your favorite BBQ sauce — an easy one pan dinner idea the family will love!
I know this sounds a little crazy, but trust me on this one: bbq sauce and pasta are an awesome combination!
When I first created this recipe back in 2017, it was an original idea! You just didn’t see BBQ sauce in pasta like you do now.
I mean, I’ve always been firmly in the camp of people who put barbecue sauce in everything, so it was never a stretch for us.
This BBQ Chicken Pasta is an easy, one pot meal that the whole family loves!
And when I find an easy dinner idea that my kids will eat without grumbling, and cooks in just one pot, I just want to shout it from the rooftops.
Am I the only one?
(Some of our other faves? This Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta, this Rigatoni Pasta Bake and this Sun Dried Tomato Pasta!)
This recipe came about one day when I was still working out of the home, and needed something super quick to feed my two year old. And we know how 2 year olds can be.
Since then, this pasta has been a regular on our rotation and for good reason — it’s delicious.
If your family loves all things BBQ chicken — like we do! — then I know they’ll love this, too!
Variations on this One Pot BBQ Chicken Pasta:
- You can leave out the diced tomatoes if you don’t have them or don’t like them, but you will want to increase the cooking liquid (either the broth or the milk) by ¼ cup.
- The milk just adds a little creaminess but isn’t essential. If you don’t have any or want to keep this recipe dairy free, just swap it for chicken broth and leave out the cheese if need be.
- Any short variety of pasta works in here! Changing it out won’t change the cook time significantly.
- If you want more spice, choose a spicy barbecue sauce or add an extra pinch of red pepper flakes.
- You can skip the bacon if you don’t have any or prefer not to use it! You will just need to add a bit of oil to cook your onion and chicken.
*This post and images were updated from its original post in June 2017
One Pot BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pasta
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon chopped
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp salt (1 teaspoon if using low sodium chicken broth)
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 398 ml canned diced tomatoes (14oz)
- ½ cup milk
- â…“ cup barbecue sauce
- 3 cups rotini (or other short pasta) about 225 grams
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheese marble or mozza cheese
Instructions
- In a large pan, cook bacon and onion until onion is lightly browned and bacon is near crispy.
- Add the chicken (we don't drain the fat as it's going to prevent our chicken from sticking!), and cook until just browned on the outside, 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, salt and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to remove any stuck on bits.
- Add the tomatoes, milk and barbecue sauce and stir until combined. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and add in pasta.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook on a low simmer, stirring often, until pasta is al dente (you may wish to cover the pan near the end of the cook time if the pasta is no longer submerged in the liquid).
- Stir in cheese and serve.
Nutrition Information
Want to save this recipe?
Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again.
Tried this recipe?
Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel —
I love to see what you’re making!
Tag @thereciperebel
Andy Mancini says
Has anyone tried par boiling the pasta? Curious if there is enough to actually cook it well.
Andy Mancini says
Also planning to season with BBQ Bacon Rub both the chicken and lightly on the top.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Andy! The pasta cooks perfectly!
Rosa Teniteni says
I’m actually doing this recipe atm.. I wasn’t going to add the BBQ sauce but after reading comments, I am..
Also after reading recipe properly, I see it’s 3 cups of ‘uncooked’ pasta.(I have a pot of salted water coming to the boil.., now I see I don’t need..)
I’ve never cooked a pasta dish this way, I’m nervous..
It says it’s 5 servings. I have BIG eaters in the house so suspect I’m going to have to double..
Wish me luck! And Thank you, I’ll let youknow how it goes..
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Rosa! I’d love to hear how you liked it 🙂
CHRISTINE says
OUTRAGEOUSLY DELICIOUS!!! Ashley, you’ve done it again! Thank you so much!
I did not use bacon, but everything else followed your recipe. PERFECT!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you so much Christine!
Jen says
update: Made this in my power pressure cooker, still super good! Sautéed the bacon/onion/chicken inside the pot, then cooked it per the directions, under pressure for about 6 min (do whatever short time your pot has for rice/pasta – it doesn’t take long for pasta), it came out quick and perfect!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing Jen!
Franziska Appel says
This was fantastic,reminds me a little bit of my goulash I make .We will make this again.Thank you for sharing!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it!