It used to bother me when recipes called out for “precooked chicken.” But then, I started to get more comfortable with the idea of grocery store rotisserie poultry.
What is a Monterey Chicken?
I adapted this quick skillet pasta recipe from a Monterey Chicken recipe. This unique combination of tomatoes, green chillies, BBQ sauce, cheese and bacon makes it a special dish. Although it sounds strange, this dish has so many great things that it is hard to find a boring bite. It’s full of flavour. To help reduce the cost, I made it into a pasta dish. Because chicken, bacon and cheese are not cheap.
SUBSTITUTIONS:
I used a small amount of rotisserie chicken and reduced the cheese. I also included bacon, as I had some in my freezer. In truth, the BBQ sauce and cheese are what make this dish great. You can skip the bacon and still have a delicious meal. Rotel tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chillies, can be spicy. You can substitute plain diced tomatoes (15 oz) if that is your preference. The cans are fine.
MONTEREY CHICKENSKILLET
This quick and easy Monterey Chicken Skillet features smoked BBQ sauce, bacon, and creamy Monterey Jack Cheese.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups precooked chicken shredded (1/2 rotisserie bird) ($3.50
- 1 10 oz. Can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles) ($0.99)
- 1/2 lb. fusili pasta ($0.63)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.30)
- 1/3 cup BBQ sauce ($0.36)
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese ($1.24)
- 3 slices of bacon ($0.92)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.17)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the pasta, chicken, and Rotel tomatoes (undrained) in a large skillet. Stir in two cups of chicken broth. Turn the heat up high and cover the skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium. Reduce the heat to low once it has reached a boil. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Stir it every 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, fry the bacon in a pan until golden brown. The bacon should be drained on a towel and then cut into pieces.
- After 15 minutes of simmering, the pasta should be softened and most liquid absorbed. Let the skillet simmer for five minutes if the pasta is not firm. If the pasta is not tender but still has a lot of liquid, you can let the skillet simmer for 5 minutes more without covering.
- After the pasta has been cooked and all liquid absorbed, drizzle the BBQ sauce on top. Cover the skillet with the lid and sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Let the heat go to low, and then let the cheese melt in the skillet for five minutes. Serve the cheese topped with crumbled bacon and sliced green onion.
NOTES
You can substitute one 15-oz Rotel tomato if you don’t have Rotel tomatoes. You can also use a can of diced tomatoes. You can also add canned diced green chillies if they are not already in the pantry.
NUTRITION
Serving Size: 1 Serving Calories 580.83 Kcal Carbohydrates 46.93 G Protein: 42.15 G Fat: 24.53g Sodium 2083.13 mg Fiber 2.03 g