Quick Spicy Chicken Mince Pasta

Spicy chicken mince pasta in a tomato sauce laced with Worcestershire sauce is a quick and easy midweek dinner that everyone will love.

This simplified, and stripped-back pasta sauce is based on a ragu, but rather than low and slow cooking, it comes together in under 30 minutes!

Quicker and Lazier Chicken Bolognese

You can't beat pasta as the base of a simple midweek recipe, it is relatively frugal, filling, quick and easy to cook.

Whether you are rocking a simple penne arrabbiata, a fun BBQ chicken pasta, or the magical spaghetti all'assassina, pasta is the foundation for many a great dish.

This spicy chicken mince pasta recipe is a lazy, quick bolognese-style dish.

Given that it cooks in around 20 minutes, it of course does not have the depth and complexity of a laboured ragu alla bolognese.

The sauce base is wonderful tomato passata, and the spice comes courtesy of a combination of cayenne pepper and dried chilli flakes.

Quicker and lazier does not mean inferior; it just means different! It joins other wonderful, quicker bolognese-style pasta sauces like my haggis bolognese pasta, pork mince pasta and a sardine bolognese!

Add the pasta of your choice, and dinner is served in around 25 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What sort of pasta should I use?

I like to make this spiced chicken pasta with rigatoni or mezzi rigatoni, but it is also great with flatter, wider pasta like pappardelle, fettuccine and tagliatelle.

It's also great with flat pasta like farfalle or heavier orecchiette.

Can I make this in advance?

The chicken mix can be made in advance. In fact, you can scale it up and make loads of it because it is also great in a toasted sandwich or on a baked potato!

Then all you have to do is heat it up, boil some pasta, and 15 minutes later, dinner is done.

What is tomato passata?

This is a question often asked by my US-based readers, passata is called tomato puree in the US.

Can I use tinned tomatoes?

Yes, but you will not get quite as smooth a sauce to coat the chicken, but use a small 225g (7oz) tin of crushed tomatoes as a direct substitution and off you go.

Can I make this more or less spicy?

Yes, spice is incredibly personal, and you could use your experience of your tolerance levels to make this dish good for you!

I find this fairly modestly spiced using the levels I suggest, and I double these quantities for our dinner.

Serving Suggestions

The only thing that I regularly serve with this spicy chicken pasta recipe is garlic bread or cheesy garlic bread.

For me, it is a simple one-bowl dinner, ideal for curling up on the sofa with a bit of TV.

If you wanted to do something a little different, then adding a simple herb crumb adds a great texture. I often use the lemon and parsley crumb from my sea bream fillet recipe.

Another nice variation would be to increase the greens and wilt through some rocket (arugula) or even some baby spinach.

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Hob/stovetop.
• 30cm or 12" frying pan.
• 20cm or 8" saucepan.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• Colander or sieve.
• A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons
• Mixing and serving spoons.
• Small jug or ladle to save pasta cooking water.