This Cajun Chicken Pasta is a dinner winner with it’s creamy cajun sauce and bites of tender pasta and chicken. It’s one of the easiest dinners, ready in less than 30 minutes.
There’s few things I love more than 30-minute meals! This cajun pasta is quick, easy, and completely customizable! Serve it with Homemade Breadsticks, Rolls, a Salad, or a side of Roasted Vegetables.
What I LOVE about this recipe:
- 30 minute meal
- Customizable: Choose your pasta and veggies, and make it healthier if you want to! I share all of my ideas below in the post.
- Easy to make healthier (see ideas below).
How to Make Cajun Chicken Pasta:
1. Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
2. Cook chicken and veggies. In skillet, melt the butter, add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the chicken pieces (and any desired vegetables) and season with cajun seasoning. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until chicken is nearly cooked through.
3. Finish sauce. Add the milk and cream cheese, stirring well until cream cheese has melted and sauce is smooth, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add pasta and cheese. Stir together and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Adjust the Spice Level:
The spice in this cajun chicken pasta recipe is solely attributed to the cajun seasoning. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons, which gives it a mild to medium spicy flavor. Add more for spicier pasta, add only 1 teaspoon for mild.
Choose your pasta:
I used farfalle (bowtie) pasta but you can substitute 8 oz of your favorite pasta, like penne, shells, rotini, linguine, etc.
For Healthier Cajun Chicken Pasta:
- Substitute whole grain pasta
- Add veggies: Add any vegetables you’d like to use up from your refrigerator including but not limited to, sliced bell peppers, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli etc.
- Substitute olive oil for the butter or cut the butter amount in half.
- Use low fat cream cheese
- Use skim milk
- Omit the parmesan cheese
Make Ahead Instructions:
- To make this cajun chicken pasta ahead of time, prep steps 2-4 of the recipe (make the creamy sauce with cooked vegetables and chicken). Allow it to cool and store in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, cook noodles, reheat sauce and stir in pasta and cheese.
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Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Video
Ingredients
- 8 ounces farfalle pasta (or your favorite type)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts), cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning , more or less, to taste
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened and cut into small pieces
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt , more to taste, if needed
- Fresh vegetables, if desired , see note*
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
- In a large pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken pieces (and any desired vegetables*) and season with cajun seasoning. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until chicken is nearly cooked through.
- Add the milk and cream cheese, stirring well until cream cheese has melted and sauce is smooth, 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in pasta, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Substitute whole grain pasta
- Add veggies: Add any vegetables you'd like to use up from your refrigerate including but not limited to, sliced bell peppers, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, etc.
- Substitute olive oil for butter or cut the butter amount in half.
- Use low fat cream cheese
- Use skim milk
- Omit the parmesan cheese
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe December 2014. Updated April 2020 with process photos, a video, and additional instructions for making it healthier and making ahead of time.
Beth says
Not too spicy but sooo delicious! Instead of pasta, I roasted butternut squash separately and added it in at the very end. Definitely a good addition!
Carlos says
I made this and for the spicy addition I used Tony Chachere’s Bold Creole Seasoning on the chicken and in the pan. You can find this spice in the spice aisle or near the cajun food section. I also used zucchini and mushrooms and also added Andouille sausage along with the chicken breast. It was amazing. Great leftover too! I want to make it again right now because it’s so delicious but I don’t want to get burned out on it. I can’t wait to make it again. I can’t wait to make this for the rest of the family.
Kate says
This was so good! Thank you so much!
My fiancé and I like spicy food, so I added about a tablespoon of hot sauce and some extra chili power, paprika, and cumin, and it was perfect for us.
Kaitlyn says
I just wanted to mention that I made this tonight and even with some major dietary changes, it was INCREDIBLE.
Listen. Normally when you take all the meat and cheese components out of a dish it takes all the flavor as well.. NOT THE CASE. I made it as a side dish, omitting the chicken and cheese but using veggies (red onion & sweet pepper) instead. I used lactose-free cream cheese and oat milk in place of the full dairy components.. amazing. Just as good as alfredo full of cream. I just made sure to season the veggies and the sauce liberally. Everything was perfect. I even used leftover pasta from the fridge. It was that easy.
I am so happy to have found a simple and delicious recipe that could be adjusted so heavily to our plant-heavy diet!! It impressed me so much I felt compelled to leave this review for anyone else worried about if this alfredo could ever be made dairy pain-free.. YES!!
Kaitlain says
Tastes great and so filling. Added two bell peppers and one zucchini.
Maureen says
This was fantastic! Didn’t dice my chicken tenders, browned them in the garlic butter with broccoli, bell pepper and carrots around. Used penne as that was what I had, still plenty of sauce (added a bit more parmesean as I increased the enoodles and chicken about 50%, didn’t increase anything else) which was awesome! Printed out to keep in my recipes, keeper for sure.
Jordyn P says
Absolutely delicious! Next time we are adding more Cajun seasoning and maybe some paprika! Other than that it was perfect, thank you so much for the recipe! Definitely sending out to family!
Sandy says
Sooo Yummy…I am allergic to chicken ( i know i know) so I switched this to pork. Still yummy. A lot of the recipes I change the chicken to turkey or pork. The shrimp ( yes, allergic to shellfish as well) is a little harder, but have used pork of beef instead.
Madeline says
This is a great recipe! I did not have cajun spice, so I made my own. Didn’t have the bow tie pasta so I used extra wide egg noodles and I used 1/2 whole milk with 1/2 heavy whipping cream. The kids said it was a “make it again” recipe! Will definitely make it again! Thank you!
Catryna kellar says
Was super yummy! I used cajin and ghost pepper seasoning! Definitely will make again.