Cajun Chicken Pasta

This Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe is a creamy pasta dish with a bit of a kick! It’s creamy, a bit spicy and a pasta dish everyone loves.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings Servings

Calories 851kcal

Author Beth, The Butcher’s Wife

Equipment

large skillet or saucepan for making the pasta dish
medium sized pan for cooking the chicken
zip top bag or large bowl to season/oil the chicken
sharp knife for chopping onions (and garlic if using fresh garlic)
cutting board for chopping onions (and garlic if using fresh garlic)
cheese grater
whisk
large spoon for mixing sauce and serving

Ingredients

The Cajun Chicken

1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
2 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning *add more if you want the chicken spicier

Pasta and Pasta Sauce

1/2 pound bowtie pasta, cooked according to the package *you can use another type of pasta
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced/chopped
2 tsp minced garlic from a jar/bottle *OR 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
14.5 oz. chicken broth *one regular sized can
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese, fresh grated *extra for topping if desired (optional)
4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick) *either salted or unsalted will work
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning *or more to taste
2 1/2 tsp paprika *or more to taste
1/2 tsp salt *or more to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper *or more to taste

Instructions

Cooking the Chicken

In a zip top bag or in a medium sized bowl, add the raw cut up chicken pieces with the oil. Mix the chicken with the oil so all of the chicken pieces are covered - a ziptop bag makes it easy to just shake/squish the bag to get the chicken covered.
Then add the Cajun seasoning and mix it all again making sure the chicken is evenly covered.
*If you want this dish spicier you can add more Cajun seasoning to the chicken before cooking it.
Add the chicken to a skillet and cook the chicken over medium heat making sure the internal temperature reaches 165 ℉. Take the chicken off the heat and set it aside.

Making the Sauce

In a large skillet or sauce pan, over medium-low heat, add the butter to the pan. Let it start to melt and then add the onion and minced garlic. Stir/whisk the onion and garlic with the butter and let it heat until it’s fragrant.
Add the flour to the melted butter with onions and garlic and whisk it together. It will be thick and probably lumpy-that is ok-see the blog post above to see what mine looks like. Whisk it the best you can and let it cook over the heat for a minute, whisking it while you let it heat.
Add the chicken broth slowly to the butter mixture. It will till be lumpy, just keep whisking, the lumps will eventually disappear and melt into the chicken broth. The mixture should start to thicken.
Add your heavy cream and keep whisking, making sure all of the lumps are out.
Reduce the heat to low after it has started to thicken and then add the seasonings to the sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings to your liking. More Cajun Seasoning will add more heat.
Next, add your grated Parmesan cheese. Whisk it into the sauce until it’s fully melted and incorporated. Taste the sauce again and adjust the seasoning to your liking if desired.

Making/Finishing the Pasta Dish

Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and stir it in. Then add the cooked pasta to the chicken and sauce.
Top with extra grated Parmesan cheese if desired- or you can add this to each serving as desired.
You can also top with chopped green onions. (Optional)
Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. The pasta reheats just fine in the microwave.

Notes

I prefer the brand Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning or Blue’s Hog Cajun Bayou seasoning, but any brand works.

If you do not have Cajun seasoning and have Creole seasoning it is pretty close in flavor and is a great substitute!

You can use pre-grated Parmesan cheese or even the canister of Parmesan cheese but it will not taste as good and I have found the cheese doesn’t melt as good as fresh grated.

Any type of pasta works in this dish. I prefer pasta that is bite sized with more surface so that the sauce can cling to it better, but you can use a long pasta like spaghetti, linguini or fettuccine.

NOTE: you only need half a box/package of coked pasta (if the package is a 16 oz./1 pound package) for this dish

Nutrition