Gluten Free Chicken Enchilada Pasta (Top 8 Free, Too!) (2024)

If you love enchiladas, you’ll love this spicy pasta casserole. Pasta is dripping with a red enchilada sauce and southwest flavors. A great spin on traditional Italian pastas, this dish is free of: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts. It’s also top 8 free, and there’s a vegan option too.

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One of the things I miss from my former allergy-free days is enchiladas. Blame it on growing up in the West, but I LOVE me some tex-mex. But, I never make them because unless they’re dripping in cheese, I find them to be not the same.

However, when I saw this pasta idea, I thought–now this I can do without cheese! The creamy sauce called to me immediately. Instead of having a dry tortilla shell, this pasta is swimming in a sauce.

I like this variation of a pasta night, because usually my family knows it’s going to mean something with oregano, basil and other Italian flavors. So, this chili spiced pasta was a nice kick–literally.

And, it’s nice to have another stove-top recipe up my sleeve. While we’ve actually been blessed with a bit of a drop in temperatures, since it’s August, it’s bound to be super hot again and so it’s nice to not have to turn on my oven to get a satisfying meal.

This could easily be vegan if you swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth, and omit the chicken. It’s super filling with just the beans and pasta.

Also, feel free to add more or less pasta. I added more when I tweaked it since it was too soupy for me and I like a more equal sauce to pasta ratio, but if you like more sauce–just leave out some of the pasta. Plus–if you’re like me, my kids LOVE plain pasta (I seriously don’t get it) and they happily devour any leftover pasta I don’t use. In fact, I never measure my pasta anymore. I just always make a decent batch knowing my kids will want any leftovers. Kids and simple tastes!

Lastly, the taco seasoning makes extra, so what I did was put it in a plastic baggy in my spice cupboard. It was nice to have the spice mix ready to go for the next time I made this.

I’m also a big baby–so we just use the Mild option of enchilada sauce, but feel free to use medium or hot if you can handle it! I find since we don’t use cheese anymore, we have to use milder options since cheese can help smother the heat a bit.

This is already a pretty simple meal (all one pan, except for the pasta) and it’s pretty fast. But, if you’re really crunched for time–and since school is almost upon us and all of our nights are about to get a lot more hectic–you can use leftover or even rotisserie chicken to save you some time.

Why is nutritional yeast in this Gluten Free Chicken Enchilada Pasta?

Nutritional yeast is a great dairy-free cheese substitute. It gives that salty flavor cheese would impart. Plus, it helps to thicken the sauce, so it’s a win-win. It might be a new ingredient to you, but if you continue to be dairy-free, it will become a staple in your house.

Here are some other nutritional yeast recipes:

Here are some other dairy free recipes that will allow you to use up the nutritional yeast and get your vegan cheese on!

• Vegan queso (cashew free!)
• Dairy free creamy Tuscan chicken

What enchilada sauce is allergy friendly for this Gluten Free Chicken Enchilada Pasta?

I have found that the El Paso Red Enchilada sauce at my grocery store only lists “soybean oil”. But, when I went to link to it on Amazon, it showed soy flour AND soybean oil. So, perhaps they have a new rendition. Be sure to check your local store and see. As FARE states, “*Highly refined soy oil is not required to be labeled as an allergen. Studies show that most people with soy allergy can safely eat highly refined soy oil as well as soy lecithin. If you are allergic to soy, ask your doctor whether you need to avoid soy oil or soy lecithin.

But avoid cold-pressed, expelled or extruded soy oil—sometimes called gourmet oils. These ingredients are different and are not safe to eat if you have a soy allergy.” SOURCE

I’ve also foundLa Victoriahas these ingredients:

• Water
• Red chiles
• Modified food starch
• Dehydrated California chile pods
• Vegetable Oil (cotton-seed and/or Soybean)
• Salt
• Distilled vinegar
• Dehydrated padilla pods
• Garlic
• Spices

Looking for more gluten free tex-mex recipes?

Nothing is more satisfying than some good tex-mex recipes, especially when they’re allergy friendly and gluten free! Here are some of our other favorites:

• Slow Cooker Green Chile Enchilada Soup
• Slow Cooker Pineapple Chipotle Tacos
• Meatless Enchilada Quinoa Bowls
• Dairy Free Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
• Mexican Tuna Salad
• Gluten Free Salsa Sheet Pan Dinner
• The Bomb Gluten Free Baked Taquitos

And, there’s more tex-mex recipes in myallergy friendly cookbook!It has tex-mex soups, homemade refried beans, several kinds of tacos, Mexican rice and more!

And, from fellow blogger if you want more of a pasta salad version, try thisGluten Free Tex Mex Pasta Salad.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta (Gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nut free; top 8 free)

Yield: 5 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

See Also

The Best Beef Fajitas to Cook for Your Family

If you love enchiladas, you'll love this spicy pasta casserole. Pasta is dripping with a red enchilada sauce and southwest flavors. A great spin on traditional Italian pastas, this dish is free of: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts. It's also top 8 free, and there's a vegan option too.

Ingredients

• ENCHILADA PASTA INGREDIENTS:
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 large chicken breasts, diced *see note
• 1/2 Tablespoon homemade taco seasoning {recipe below}
• 1 cup red enchilada sauce (be sure to read labels--some have wheat!)
• 2 cups chicken broth* see note
• 12 oz. brown rice rotini (or other safe pasta)
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
• GARNISHES:
• Freshly chopped cilantro
• Chopped green onions
• HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING:
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Make the taco seasoning by stirring all of the ingredients together. Once you have measured out the 1/2 Tablespoon needed for the recipe, put the remaining ingredients in an air-tight baggie to use for next time.
2. Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat to medium. Add the onions and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add in the diced chicken and taco seasoning and cook until the chicken is done.
3. While the chicken cooks, bring a large stock pot of water to boil, adding a generous pinch of salt. Cook the pasta according to the package directions to al dente.
4. Add the red enchilada sauce, beans, nutritional yeast and chicken broth and bring to a boil.Lower the heat until it's just simmering and reduce the sauce to your liking. I allowed mine to simmer and reduce by about half--again it's how saucy you like your pasta to be.
5. Once the sauce is to your liking stir in the pasta.
6. Garnish with the toppings of your choice (we like green onions and cilantro) and serve.

Notes

This can easily be made vegan: swap the chicken broth for vegetale broth and omit the chicken. The pasta and beans are plenty filling on their own.
Also, you can use a pre-made taco seasoning. I just have a hard time finding one without wheat.
Lastly--feel free to use whatever level of spice you like on your red enchilada sauce. We use Las Palmas mild.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 468Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 1596mgCarbohydrates: 57gFiber: 8gSugar: 5gProtein: 30g

Pasta recipe adapted from:A Cedar Spoonand taco seasoning adapted from:Food Renagade