Rasta Pasta – a Jamaican-inspired one-pot dish with creamy cheesy pasta tossed with with jerk chicken and bell peppers. Creamy, cheesy and spicy!
This post is sponsored by Café Appliances. Customizable appliances for modern day cooks. Design your appliances around your style.
I hope this decadent one-pot pasta meal here will be enough to officially welcome the spring season. With its beautiful colors at first glance, you can truly say that this dish here means serious business – serious in getting you to drool! 😉
A couple of my girl friends from other parts of the U.S. drove to LA and endured the brutal LA traffic just to visit me. Aren’t they sweet? And one of them brought along with her this Rasta Pasta recipe that she got from her Jamaican mom. But this time, I put my own little spin to it.
Our Café Appliances Kitchen
While I’d love to think that I’m the best cook among our group (sorry, ladies 😉 ), but these gals can roll up their sleeves and nail some dishes, too. But the star of the show on that day were my upgraded kitchen from @CafeAppliances.
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Convection Over-the-Range Microwave Oven
Now let’s talk about this over-the-range microwave oven which we haven’t used that much until recently. We rarely used our old microwave, but with this new one, we’ve been using it more often for popcorn (Hello Friday movie night!) and steamed veggies (hubby sure loves this one). Now take note of this, it automatically adjusts the time and power for perfectly cooked dishes every time, especially when reheating dishes. It delivers dishes as good as those baked in the oven with its full-width removable cooking rack that also allows for cooking simultaneously.
Built-In Gas Cooktop with 5 Burners
Well, honestly, I could dedicate an entire blog post about this exciting cooktop. I swear! Our old cooktop was slightly bigger than this one but it only had 4 burners. This baby right here has FIVE (5) burners with Tri-Ring burners that are perfect for searing and sautéing. Delicate food are evenly heated on this cooktop even on low heat. And not only that, it also has heavy duty STYLISH knobs with LED backlight (gorgeous, right?) that glimmers when its in use. How AMAZING is that?
But what I do love most about it is that it has an extra large integrated cooktop griddle which makes perfectly cooked pancakes (which my son loves), eggs, patties, and pressed sandwiches. Just imagine this…I can boil the pasta and sear the chicken on the cooktop at the same time while I prepare the crab cakes on the cast-iron griddle. Lastly, with its sealed cooktop burners, it contains any mess or spills during cooking, and make cleaning up so quick and easy. The heavy-duty grates are dishwasher-safe, too! Cooking and entertaining has never been this easy!
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What is Rasta Pasta?
Rasta, in short for Rastafari or Rastafarianism, is a belief and lifestyle that originated in Jamaica during the 1930s and they have since spread throughout the Caribbean and even to the rest of the world.
This Jamaican-inspired one-pot meal Rasta Pasta is a simple yet decadent dish that’s great as a family weeknight meal or for entertaining. Over the years, it has evolved from a simple pasta veggie dish with coconut-milk based sauce to a creamy, cheesy, pasta veggies with jerk chicken and/or shrimps.
But even without the meat, Rasta Pasta alone is a decadent meal with its creamy sauce.
Other than the name, what makes this dish more Jamaican-inspired is by seasoning the chicken with my homemade jerk seasoning which brings depth of flavor to the meat. You can make this jerk-seasoned chicken ahead of time and just toss it over the pasta. Or you can serve it on the side if you want to.
What ingredients are in a Rasta Pasta?
Classic Rasta Pasta would use coconut milk as a base for the sauce, however, since I want that chicken flavor to linger more in the pasta, I decided to use heavy cream to go along with the chicken stock. Personally, Parmesan cheese pairs well with a heavy cream-based sauce than that of a coconut milk.
Furthermore, since not all of our readers here can easily access Parma Rosa sauce mix (another ingredient in a classic Rasta Pasta), I left it out and adjusted the sauce to somehow mirror that cheesy, creamy sauce with a hint of heat. And it turned out great! Everybody loved it and it’s even approved by my Jamaican friend.
You may add shrimp into this or even sliced oxtails! As always, adjust the creaminess and heat based on your preference.
Ever since that little gathering, I’ve been making this easy and amazing Rasta Pasta dish almost every other day and I don’t think I’ll be stopping soon. It quickly flies off the table and is just as appealing to the little ones. Now I have more reasons to host gatherings more often; Now I have a crowd-pleasing recipe and a set of customizable and efficient kitchen appliances.
Enjoy!
Rasta Pasta - a Jamaican-inspired one-pot dish with creamy cheesy pasta tossed on top with jerk chicken and bell peppers. Creamy, cheesy and spicy!
- 2 pounds (908 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- salt to taste
- 2-3 teaspoons (8-12 g ) jerk seasoning
- 2 tablespoons (28 ml) canola oil
- ½ medium onions , sliced
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (0.80 g) fresh thyme
- 1 red bell pepper , sliced
- 1 green bell pepper , sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper , sliced
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) paprika
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) Worcestershire
- ¼ cup (60 ml) chicken stock
- ½ - 1 cup (120 - 240 g) heavy cream
- ½ cup (50 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 ounce (224 g) Penne pasta
- 1 green onions , sliced for garnish
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Cook pasta in a large pot, according to box instructions. Salt according to taste, drain and set aside.
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Place chicken thighs in a medium bowl, then generously season the chicken with salt and jerk seasoning, making sure all sides of the chicken are covered with the spice. Cover chicken with a transparent plastic wrap and let it marinate for about 30 minutes or up to 24 hours
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Heat a heavy cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add about 1 tablespoon of oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Using a thong, add in the chicken and sear both sides until golden or until fully cooked through and juice from the chicken runs clear, about 8-10 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the chicken. For faster cooking you may cut chicken in bite size pieces .Remove from the pan and set aside.
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Add remaining oil to the pan, cook onions, garlic and thyme stirring for about a minute until onions is soft. Then add in bell peppers, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with paprika, Worcestershire and the remainder of the jerk spice.
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Pour in chicken stock and heavy cream, bring it to a boil then simmer for about 3-4 minutes , add parmesan cheese and cook for another minutes. Slice prepared chicken and set aside
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Finally toss in pasta and with sliced chicken or serve with chicken on top , like I did.
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Sprinkle with green onions and/or parsley.
- Adjust heavy cream to desired thickness. Use an extra ½ cup or more for creamy pasta. You may omit completely and replace with an extra tomato.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
How to Make Rasta Pasta
Cook pasta in a large pot, according to box instructions. Salt according to taste, drain and set aside. Place chicken thighs in a medium bowl, then generously season the chicken with salt and jerk seasoning, making sure all sides of the chicken are covered with the spice. Cover chicken with a transparent plastic wrap and let it marinate for about 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. Heat a heavy cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add about 1 tablespoon of oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Using a thong, add in the chicken and sear both sides until golden or until fully cooked through and juice from the chicken runs clear, about 8-10 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the chicken. For faster cooking you may cut chicken in bite size pieces .Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add remaining oil to the pan, cook onions, garlic and thyme stirring for about a minute until onions is soft. Then add in bell peppers, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with paprika, Worcestershire and the remainder of the jerk spice.
Pour in chicken stock and heavy cream, bring it to a boil then simmer for about 3-4 minutes, add parmesan cheese and cook for another minute. Slice prepared chicken and set aside
Finally toss in pasta and with sliced chicken or serve with chicken on top , like I did. Sprinkle with green onions and/or parsley.
I use coconut milk instead of heavy cream delish
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback.
I made this today my family loved it. I added a teaspoon of creole seasoning at the end. Thank you for all your recipes.
Thank you for sharing that tip. Have a lovely day!
I just made this, very good! I used what I had, only had 2 peppers, so I added cut up fresh asparagus just to fill the void. So very good!! Also used more chicken since I’m feeding 4 hungry teen/young adults and 2 others. Used more of the stock and heavy cream. I love your recipes! Thank you so much!
This is my 2nd time cooking this. The first was a hit. My daughter asked when I was going to make it again, so I made it today.
Yaaay! Thank you for letting me know. And what a great dish to make on Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, Janece!
Thank you. I love your recipes.
Rasta are – ital is – vegetarian
This version here has my personal twist to the recipe. You may skip the meat if you want to and replace chicken stock with the vegetable one.
Will try tonight. Look very tasty.
Giving this a try tonight!
Can you please publish the old vegetable version of Rasta Pasta with coconut milk?
Thank you.
Will add that on my list. Thank you!