Easy Rasta Pasta Recipe inspired by the sunny Jamaican life philosophy, freshly prepared from scratch!
Rasta Pasta, aka jerk chicken pasta.
Global Food Recipes
with Spices and Herbs
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With flavorful, vibrant coconut milk based rasta pasta sauce.
You can use jerk chicken or plain chicken with jerk seasoning to prepare this amazing Caribbean Rasta Pasta Recipe.
Covering further below what rasta pasta is, how to make rasta pasta with a video and the full recipe video + card to print and save.
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Jamaican Rasta Pasta is the new spicy hot food fad that is about to take over the world.
How?
This deliciously spicy hot coconut based Jamaican meal is colorful and exciting.
You wouldn't want to miss it if you are spicy foods and pasta lover.
π What is Rasta Pasta?
Rasta Pasta is a pasta dish from Jamaica, the Caribbean.
The Rasta Pasta Recipe consists of jerk spice flavors in form of a jerk pasta sauce with chicken or rotisserie jerk chicken.
Jamaica is known for its spicy hot jerk seasoning, rubs and marinations which is used to add Caribbean flavors to meats such as chicken and pork.
Those jerk flavors reflect in a Caribbean rasta pasta.
Besides the jerk flavors, rasta pasta is visibly vibrant in colors and that's something that will pop out when you see rasta pasta for the first time.
The colors are inspired by the Rastafari culture, green, yellow, red.
I like to add these colors to my rasta pasta with the 3 commonly available bell pepper (Capsicum/Paprika) varieties.
Each bell pepper color lends the rasta pasta jerk chicken sauce a different flavor.
- The green bell pepper is more bitter and less sweet.
- The yellow bell pepper is somewhat sweeter than the green ones.
- The red bell pepper is the sweetest of all and is not bitter at all.
Rastafari is a religion practiced in Jamaica.
Their diet does not include meat and usually not very hot food.
That is why, to clarify, rasta pasta is influenced by the Rastafari name, flag, and general Jamaican food culture.
Not the Rastafari religion and customs per se.
Die-hard Rastafari would eat this Rasta Pasta Recipe with coconut milk vegan without chicken.
π All the Rasta Pasta Ingredients:
I cooked Rasta Pasta in the past with heavy cream and I tried another with coconut milk.
I preferred the rasta pasta sauce with the coconut milk since it reflects the Jamaican soul all the more!
Besides Coconut Milk is healthier in so many ways and the jerk pasta sauce kind of tastes like a "curry", thanks to the spicy seasoning.
My Rasta Pasta Recipe includes the following ingredients:
- Chicken - either pick unseasoned raw chicken breast or leftover rotisserie jerk chicken
- Jerk Seasoning - You can make a homemade jerk seasoning easily or get from the store readymade jerk seasoning
- Pasta - I like to use Fusilli Pasta because they give the Rastafari look to the pasta
- Oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Coconut Milk
- Bell Peppers - mixture of green, yellow and/or red bell pepper
- salt to season
And no... there is no cannabis oil, seeds, herb or whatever in this rasta pasta recipe! That would taste awfully bad anyway.
πͺ How to make Rasta Pasta Recipe?
To make easy Rasta Pasta with chicken, aka jerk chicken pasta, is incredibly quick and rewarding at the same time.
You can quickly add flavors to this pasta sauce with the jerk seasoning or by using rotisserie leftover jerk chicken.
The coconut milk will add some great Caribbean island textures to the sauce and the colors will remind you about sunny beach days in the shade.
To start out with the rasta pasta recipe, I suggest that you cut and keep the ingredients ready before getting into the preparation of the hot cooking process.
Therefore cut your onion into slices, chop your garlic, cut the bell peppers into long thin bite-size strips.
For the chicken either use unflavored raw chicken breast, which you can cut into lengthy bite-sized pieces too.
Another better option is to use rotisserie leftover chicken if you have any sitting in your fridge.
Rotisserie leftover chicken ads more flavor to the rasta pasta dish.
separate the white meat from the whole chicken to use in your sauce.
To cook the Rasta Pasta, you can keep a pot with water to boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
So, while the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce by heating the oil in a pan so that you can fry the onion and garlic.
Quickly add the cut chicken pieces so that they get cooked on all sides slowly over low heat.
Make sure not to over cook your chicken on high heat for too long or the chicken will get tough.
At this point you can add the jerk seasoning and stir fry the whole content of the pan and then add the bell pepper strips.
Stir fry for a minute an and not more before pouring in the coconut milk.
Allow the sauce to simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
The bell pepper should still be visibly colorful and al dente, so to say still firm in shape.
In the end, you just need to taste to see if the sauce requires salt and you are good to mix the cooked pasta into the sauce.
Serve the Rasta Pasta Recipe hot and enjoy each bite!
Can I make this Rasta Pasta Recipe Vegan?
Yes! Just leave out the chicken completely in the cooking process and use the other ingredients as described.
Can I make this Rasta Pasta Recipe Gluten-free?
Yes, just use Gluten-free pasta.
The Rasta Pasta sauce is gluten-free if you use gluten-free store-bought jerk seasoning.
The homemade jerk seasoning should be gluten-free if you use organic spices.
Useful tools and things you will need to make pasta rasta:
- Pasta Pot
- Non-Toxic Copper Sauce Pan for induction
- Induction Cooktop
More quick & easy dishes like the rasta pasta recipe:
- 30 minute pan-fried salmon in white wine sauce with tagliatelle
- Pasta Shrimp Fra Diavolo
- Cajun Pasta
Dear Reader, how did you get to know about rasta pasta?
Please feel free to share your thoughts with us in a comment further below.
π Recipe
Easy Rasta Pasta Recipe [+Video]
Ingredients
- 1 Onion
- 2 Pieces Garlic Cloves
- 3.5 Ounces Bell Pepper use red green yellow, aka Capsicum/Paprika
- 5.3 Ounces Chicken Boneless raw or cooked rotisserie leftover jerk chicken
- 4.6 Ounces Fusilli Pasta
- 1-2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Jerk Seasoning
- 6.8 Fluid Ounces Coconut Milk
Instructions
- Start by preparing your produce first and cutting (or shredding) your chicken into strips. Quarter your onion and cut into slices, chop your garlic, cut your bell pepper into bite-size strips. If you use boneless raw chicken cut into bite-sized strips, if you use rotisserie leftover jerk chicken, then shredded the meat into smaller bite-sized pieces.
- Cook your Pasta according to packet instructions firm.
- While the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce.
- For the sauce, heat up a skillet saucepan and add the olive oil and onion. Stir fry the onion translucent and continue to add in the chopped garlic and chicken. Let the chicken simmer for 2-3 minutes on both sides.
- Next add the Jerk seasoning and stir fry the whole content for a minute and then add the cut Bell Pepper and stir fry for a minute as well.
- Then pour in the coconut milk and mix the whole content. Let cook for 5 minutes so that the sauce reduces a bit and gets in shape. Season with salt if needed.
- Mix the cooked pasta int the rasta pasta sauce and serve hot.
Notes
- Pick raw boneless chicken or even better rotisserie leftover jerk chicken for even more flavor!
- Fussili pasta is the best choice for pasta but you can also use another pasta variety. You are not limited.
- Try to use red, yellow and green bell peppers for the best rasta pasta flavor result. In case of use whatever you have, just avoid using only green bell pepper as the sauce will taste a bit bitter. the red and yellow bell pepper not only bring color but add some sweetness to the dish.
- Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking on the side. You will save time that way.