Are you in the mood for Cajun cuisine or something Italian? This Cajun chicken pasta recipe offers the best of both worlds. Pasta is an Italian favorite of course, and Cajun seasoning just brings out the beauty of the chicken and the pasta, resulting in a dish you will adore.
You might have enjoyed something similar before or perhaps the combination of Italian and Cajun is a brand new treat for your palate. Either way you will certainly enjoy this tasty dish.
This is simple enough for beginner cooks to master and once you have made it you will be sure to want to make it again. The following recipe makes enough for 2 people so you can easily double it to serve 4 or triple it for 6 (or 4 hungry people!) Serve some salad leaves on the side if you want.
A lot of home cooks rely on creamy pasta with chicken, shrimp or similar as one of their regular weeknight menus, but try a pinch of Cajun spice in the mix and you will be really impressed with the results. There are a few Cajun chicken pasta recipes free online and so many chicken pasta dishes to choose from, but this is one of the best, and the following recipe is how I personally like to make it.
Chicken Louisiana Pasta Recipe: Cajun Spice Mix
Chicken Louisiana Pasta Recipe: Cajun Spice MixWhether you choose to use a Cajun spice mix or create your own, you can add plenty of Cajun flavor to this lovely dish.
It is easier just to buy a mix of Cajun spices but if you want to make your own you see my recipe below. This recipe makes half a cup so you can use what you need and then keep the rest in an airtight container somewhere dark and cool.
This recipe is made with Penne pasta, but you can use any kind of pasta you want, so consider fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti if you want long pasta, or wheels, bow-ties or shells if you prefer. The flavor will be the same regardless of which one you use.
Whole wheat pasta wouldn’t be as good in this recipe, so save that for the healthy pasta salads.
Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe: Possible Adaptations
You can also use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder if you want, but that would need to be sautéed with the chicken. As for the tomatoes, sun-dried offer a nice flavor or try fresh cherry or plum tomatoes if you prefer to use fresh.
The chicken can be sautéed in just oil, just butter or even spray oil if you want to cut some of the fat. Likewise, the heavy whipping cream can be swapped for Half & Half or another kind of cream, but since this dish is better the richer it is, you might like to use the butter and cream and just indulge yourself this once! It is totally worth it.
And you might also like to discover how to make a white wine pasta sauce that’s easily as good as any restaurant sauce.
Looking for more dinner recipes? Try my chicken crackslaw, oven baked short ribs, duck breast a l’orange, French bread pizza and smoked salmon pizza.
Even more ideas include gnocchi beef stew, shepherd’s pie, beef stew with dumplings, pasta with scallops and beef and potato rissoles.
Pesto Spaghetti with Easy Baked Meatballs
Ingredients
- 8 oz (230g) dried spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons prepared pesto sauce
- 4 sprigs of fresh basil, for garnish (optional)
- 1 lb (450g) ground beef or pork
- 1 lightly beaten large egg
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- ½ minced small onion
- 2 tablespoons marinara or tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon each chopped fresh rosemary, chopped fresh parsley and chopped fresh basil
- ½ cup (65g) regular or Italian breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup (25g) shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix.
- Take care not to over-mix unless you like tough meatballs.
- Divide the mixture in half then repeat until you have 16 equal-sized meatballs.
- It is best to do this with wet hands so you can shape them better without having them cracking.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
- While they are baking, cook the spaghetti following the instructions on the package.
- Drain off the water then toss the hot cooked spaghetti with the pesto sauce.
- You might want to add a little more pesto sauce - just use your judgement.
- Divide the pesto spaghetti between 4 warmed serving plates.
- Add 4 meatballs to each one and garnish with fresh basil.
- Serve right away.
Notes
- Feel free to make any changes you like to the meatballs recipe, perhaps swapping the herbs for others or even adding some red pepper for spice.
- Some people like to toss the meatballs with the spaghetti while others serve the meatballs on top - this is up to you of course.
- Serve some shredded parmesan cheese on the side if you like - fresh parmesan of course, to keep it authentic and delicious!
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 teaspoons each of salt and garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon each cayenne pepper, onion powder and black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/4 teaspoons each dried thyme and dried oregano
- 2 chicken breast halves (boneless and skinless) in strips
- 1 1/2 cups (350ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 thinly sliced green onion
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes or fresh tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 oz (110g) Penne pasta, cooked to al dente
- Sprigs of fresh basil, parsley or similar, for garnish (optional)
- 1/4 cup (30g) grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish (optional)
Method
- Combine the list of ingredients to make it.
- Toss the raw chicken strips with the Cajun seasoning and toss well, then sauté it in oil and butter for 6 minutes or until tender, stirring often.
- Turn the heat down and stir in the cream, green onion, basil, tomatoes, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Warm this mixture through then serve over the hot pasta and garnish with parmesan and/or fresh herbs.
Notes
Green onion might be known as spring onion or scallions where you live.
Looking for something different? Try lahmacun which is a Turkish pizza.