Ready for a restaurant-worthy dinner that you can put together in under 30 minutes? 8 ingredients are all you need and you’ll end up with this Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta that will have your kitchen smelling like a sautรฉed heaven. No need to plan ahead or worry about marinatingโjust rub your chicken with our easy-to-make Cajun seasoning, and you’re ready to cook. This is a recipe for perfection, but since we can’t really title a recipe ‘Perfection,’ we’ll just say that our Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta is perfect for your family dinners.
Serve this with an Arugula Salad and Homemade Breadsticks for a complete restaurant-quality meal.
Why Our Recipe
- Less than 30 minutes from start to finish with only 8 ingredients.
- No marinating or planning ahead is required.
- We even give you the seasoning blend to make at home!
Cajun seasoning is one that we love so much that we decided to make our own. We like to keep a little bottle or bag of it in the pantry. Nowadays you can find Cajun seasoning blends in most grocery stores, but making your own allows you absolute control of the flavor. Want a little more kick? Add some extra cayenne pepper. Love that onion taste? Throw in a little more onion powder. There are a lot of variations to Cajun seasoning, so play around with it until you find the blend that makes your tastebuds sing like the bayou at night.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken Breasts: For faster cooking, fillet the chicken breasts by cutting them in half lengthwise. Slice horizontally, keeping the knife parallel to the cutting board.
- Cajun Seasoning: This blend can be purchased at most grocery stores in the spice aisle, but we prefer to make our own. Give it a try – Homemade Cajun Seasoning.
- Linguine: Slightly thicker than spaghetti noodles with a flat surface similar to fettuccine. You could also use spaghetti or fettuccine too. We’ve done it with all three!
- Bell Peppers: For quick slicing, cut off the top and bottom of the pepper, then take the circular piece you’re left with and cut it in half. Lay each piece flat on the cutting board, remove the seeds and white membrane, then slice into long strips.
- Red Onion: Sweetens as it cooks, and adds more color to the dish.
- Mushrooms: Cremini or white mushrooms work great. Find them in the refrigerated area of the produce section in your grocery store.
- Heavy Cream: Also labeled Heavy Whipping Cream. If you need to lighten things up, you can use half-and-half, but it’ll be a thinner sauce.
The Perfect Sear
Getting that perfect sear on your chicken is easier than you think! The trick? A hot skillet and a little patience. Heat your pan over medium-high before adding the chicken so it sizzles right away, locking in all those juices. Donโt crowd the panโgive each piece its space, and let it sit for about 2 minutes before flipping. This is how you get that golden-brown crust everyone loves! Once seared, lower the heat to medium-low to cook the inside without burning the outside. Always check that the internal temp hits 165ยฐF before taking it off the heat.
Homemade Cajun Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
Adjusting the Heat Level
If you love a spicy kick, there are plenty of ways to amp up the heat in this dish! Increase the amount of cayenne pepper in your Cajun seasoning or add a pinch of red pepper flakes in with your veggies. You can even drizzle in a bit of your favorite hot sauce for an extra punch. For those who prefer a milder flavor, simply omit the cayenne pepper in the homemade Cajun seasoning or choose a pre-made seasoning blend labeled as mild.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Reheat in a skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warmed through, or microwave portions at 50% power in 1-minute increments, stirring between each pass.
More recipes with Cajun seasoning…
Cajun Stuffed Chicken Breast
55 mins
Cajun Beer Can Chicken
1 hr 25 mins
Cajun Chicken Drumsticks
35 mins
Skillet Cajun Shrimp
15 mins
Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.
Oh my goodness! This recipe is so good! My spouse loves it as well. The mushrooms and peppers pair well together with the creaminess of the butter and cream. It’s easy to prepare and makes great leftovers. There is absolutely nothing negative I can say about this one. Thanks so much for an awesome recipe!
This was delicious! Just my husband and me. So I cooked chicken tenders. Les peppers, added carrot and celery. Will make again. Thank you. Love your recipes.
Awesome recipe! Will be making it this weekend. Thanks for sharing. ๐
This dish is awesome!! And the presentation was too!! LOL
This recipe is very flavorful! However, I never got the cream to really thicken.
I was wondering about that. Whenever I make a creamy pasta dish like this I start with a butter roux then add chicken stockโฆ then cream. Not quite as richโฆ but thicker. If you want rich, just do cream and no stock. But either way, a roux will make it thicken. Or you could just add a slurry (cold water in a small jar and a little flourโฆ put the lid on and shake it until there are no lumps) then add it to the sauce and stir or whisk it in. It will start to thicken after a few more minutes of cooking. Keep stirring so it doesnโt start sticking to the bottom and burning.
Forgot to purchase the cajun so i ended up making jerk pasta. it was still good!
WOW! A real winner. Delicious! Took longer to prep the veggies though.
My family loved this recipe. I followed the recipe except for adding the chicken and mushrooms. This was because this dish was a last minute decision to make after reading your post. I used shrimp but next time Iโll definitely use chicken. Since I didnโt have mushrooms, I substituted zucchini and spinach. Iโll will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing.
I was going to ask about using different vegetables. I definitely do not like mushrooms at all whatsoever. So I saw that somebody used zucchini. Has anybody else used any other veggies? Shrimp is also good & I’m glad to see somebody did use it. When I worked in the restaurant industry years ago to put me through college we had Cajun shrimp or chicken pita bread lightly grow the pita bread on each side put the protein inside along with sauteed red & green peppers plus sauteed onions I can’t remember if they were red or sweet onions they were definitely not that regular white onion. And then there was a little bit of ranch dressing added to it. served with a side salad something that was kind of quick. I used to make grilled Cajun chicken and shrimp at home like this & would have extra &I would make sandwiches quick and easy to go would also do it on a quesadilla shell often when I would have to run to my college classes.
This is my favorite chicken and pasta EVER
Absolute delicious! The flavors blended together perfectly! A family hit for sure!