Mediterranean Baked Chicken Pasta Recipe
This Mediterranean-inspired baked chicken recipe features moist and juicy chicken thighs with perfectly crispy skin and tender bowtie pasta. Everything simmers in sauce made with every fabulous Mediterranean themed ingredient I can think of including feta cheese, kalamata olives, red peppers, tomatoes, lemon juice, white wine, garlic, and more! We are talking layers and layers of briney, savory goodness. Despite a semi-long list of ingredients and directions, I promise this is a very do-able and approachable weeknight recipe that you can have ready in 45 minutes. Or if you want to serve this at your next get together with your friends or another couple, I promise everyone will be very impressed! It serves 4 perfectly, although you can double the recipe if you’re cooking for a bigger group.
Ingredients in Mediterranean Chicken Feta Pasta Bake
For this Mediterranean-inspired recipe with crispy chicken skin, pasta sauce, and bowtie pasta, you’ll need the following easy-to-find and common fridge and pantry ingredients including the following:
Salt Pepper Chili powder Smoked paprika Skin-on bone-in chicken thighs Olive oil White or yellow onion Red pepper Serrano chile pepper, optional Garlic Lemon zest Lemon juice Cumin Dried thyme Reduced sodium chicken broth Dry white wine, optional but recommended Feta cheese Whole cherry tomatoes Pitted kalamata olives Bowtie pasta Reserved pasta water Fresh parsley, optional for garnishing
Note: All ingredients amounts are listed in the recipe card section when you keep scrolling down.
How to Make Chicken Feta Pasta Bake
Let’s make crispy chicken with a Mediterranean twist! Follow these straightforward steps. However, make sure you read the recipe over at least once in entirety before beginning so you have a mental map of where you’re going and what comes next. Step 1: In a small bowl, stir to combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Step 2: Score the skin-side of the chicken. Step 3: Press and rub the dry spice rub over the skin side of the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Step 4: Remove the chicken from the fridge 20 to 30 minutes before you plan to sear it. Step 5: Add olive oil to a large oven-safe pot such as a Dutch oven or braising pan, add the chicken skin side down, and sear for 2 to 3 minutes over medium high heat. Do not move it or disturb it – just let it be! Remove it and set it aside after it’s browned. Step 6: Add more olive oil, add the onions, red pepper, optional serrano, and saute for 3 minutes before adding the garlic and sauteeing another minute. Step 7: Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, thyme, broth, wine, and stir to combine. Step 8: Add the chicken back into the pan and then add the feta, cherry tomatoes, olives, and bake for 20 minutes. Step 9: While the chicken bakes, boil the pasta. Reserve some pasta water in case you need to thin out the sauce. Step 10: After chicken is done, remove it from the pan, and using a fork or potato masher, mash the feta, tomatoes, and vegetables together to form a sauce. If it’s thicker than you like, add some pasta water to thin it. Step 11: Add the pasta and toss to combine before adding the chicken. Step 12: Return the skillet to the oven and bake for 5 minutes to warm through. Step 13: Optionally garnish with parsley and serve immediately!
What Kind of Chicken is Best?
The key to having crispy baked chicken skin along with tender meat is to use chicken thighs with the skin on. I also use bone-in thighs for chicken that’s even more moist and tender. If you don’t like crispy chicken skin, you can remove it before serving. However, that crispy, golden brown skin really is wonderful. Boneless chicken thighs with the skin on will also work. Chicken breasts – either with or without the bone and the skin – are also fine. However, chicken breasts are a leaner cut than chicken thighs so they won’t be quite as flavorful and you’ll want to bake them a few minutes less so they don’t dry out.
What to Serve with This Recipe
This easy Mediterranean-inspired dinner is really a complete meal in itself! Allow them to brown for 2 to 3 minutes, undisturbed, in your hot skillet. There’s nothing to really “crisp up” since there’s no skin, but searing helps to seal in the moisture. Between the protein from the chicken, the wonderful savory sauce complete with mashed vegetables (onions, red peppers, tomatoes, serrano), and the carbs in the pasta, this is a one-stop-shopping kind of dinner recipe. However, if you’d still like to serve it with a side, I recommend the following:
French bread or garlic bread Your favorite green salad. I like this Green Edamame Salad or a Kale Caesar Salad. Roasted vegetables such as Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Roasted Cheesy Asparagus, or Rainbow Roasted Carrots.
Storing Leftover Baked Feta and Chicken Pasta
This comfort food baked chicken recipe with pasta will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in your freezer for up to 4 months. The pasta may continue to absorb some of the red pepper-based sauce so it may appear you have less sauce when you open your container of leftovers! Pasta has a way of doing that. And if it happens, the pasta will be on the softer side, rather than al dente.
Tips for the Best Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Bake
Additionally, I’ve got a few more tips and tricks to make this recipe as easy and successful as possible. Chicken – As I mentioned above, I like using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Although you can use other combinations of bone in or out, skin on or off, and breasts versus thighs, based on your personal preferences. Spice Rub – I like to rub the spice mixture on the chicken for at least 2 hours before I begin the rest of this chicken and pasta recipe. You can also do this overnight for maximum flavor! Either way, store your chicken with dry rub in an airtight container in the refrigerator. And then take your chicken out of the fridge about 20 to 30 minutes before you plan to sear it for best results. Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth – I always use reduced sodium broth rather than regular because I can always add more salt at the end if I feel like it needs it. As the chicken bakes, and the broth evaporates and concentrates, it will taste saltier which is another reason I opt for lower sodium chicken broth to begin with. Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice – Always zest your lemon before your juice it. And make sure to only take off and us the outermost lemon peel. Do not use the white pith because it’s bitter. Kalamata Olives – If you’re not an olive person, this may not be the recipe for you. I highly recommend using black kalamata olives because they add an essential unami, briney flavor and really put the Mediterranean in this Mediterranean Baked Crispy Chicken with Pasta! So don’t omit them. Make sure you buy pitted olives so you don’t have to pit them before using them in the dish. I have never tried using green olives but black kalamata are my go-to. If you’re not into black olives or olives in general, please see my other easy pasta recipes below the recipe card for ideas and olive-free suggestions. Tomatoes – Cherry or grape tomatoes are my recommendation but if you have Roma tomatoes on hand, they will be fine. I would use two tomatoes, cubed into large bite-sized chunks. Feta Cheese – Use full fat feta cheese rather than reduced fat or fat free feta because full fat melts much better. I use feta that I cube, but I suppose full fat feta crumbles will also work since you’re stirring this together in the end anyway! Reserve Pasta Water – Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water to use in case you need to thin out the mashed red pepper, olive, and feta sauce that you make. Based on how it looks and your preferences, you may or may not need the reserved pasta water.
More Easy Pasta Bakes:
Cheesy Chicken Artichoke Pasta Bake — Imagine spinach and artichoke-flavored PASTA spiked with juicy chicken, red peppers, and TWO types of melted cheese!! A family favorite big-batch COMFORT FOOD PANTRY RECIPE that’s great for meal prepping!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Cheesy Ground Beef Pasta Casserole — Hearty comfort food that’s EASY and IRRESISTIBLE!! Cheesy pasta and beef coated in marinara sauce and topped with more CHEESE! Makes planned leftovers and is freezer-friendly! Pizza Pasta Casserole – EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and for times when you want BOTH pizza AND pasta!! Ground beef, pepperoni, and oodles of cheese make this casserole pure COMFORT FOOD! Feeds a crowd!! Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake — A hearty comfort food casserole that includes juicy chicken, pasta, marinara, the BEST crispy buttery breadcrumb topping and TWO types of cheese!! A family favorite big-batch recipe that’s also great for meal prepping!! Three Cheese Baked Ziti – Mozzarella, fontina, and parmesan melted together are divine!! An easy, make-ahead meal that’s also freezer-friendly and so tasty!! The whole family will love it! Extra Cheesy Tortellini Bake – Three-cheese tortellini baked with pasta sauce AND 3 more cheeses!! Cheese lovers will adore this easy comfort food that’s ready in 30 minutes!! Baked Chicken Alfredo — Hearty Italian-inspired comfort food! Fettuccine noodles are tossed in a homemade alfredo sauce, topped with chicken, baked, and then finished off with crispy crunchy breadcrumbs! A classic yet easy recipe that’ll be a guaranteed family favorite!
