This mouthwatering dish is both creamy and spicy! Fettuccine pasta and perfectly browned tender chicken breasts are paired with a rich sauce crafted from heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a kick of Cajun spices. Each bite delivers the perfect blend of creamy richness and spicy punch! This one-pot meal comes together in about 30 minutes, making it perfect for busy weeknight dinners.
What Do I Need to Make Cajun Chicken Pasta?
To make the creamy Cajun sauce for fettuccine pasta and tender chicken breasts you will need:
- Cajun seasoning
- Unsalted Butter
- Olive oil
- Chopped onion
- Minced garlic
- Heavy cream
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Dried basil
- Dried parsley
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sliced green onions are used as garnish.
What’s in Cajun Seasoning?
If you don’t have Cajun seasoning, you can make it yourself with the following ingredients:
- 1 ½ tbsp Paprika
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tbsp ground pepper
- ½ tbsp onion powder
- ½ tbsp dried oregano
- ½ tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ tsp dried thyme
What to Serve with Cajun Chicken Pasta?
I like to serve this dish with a side salad or start the meal with soup. I always feel the need to serve veggies in every meal to make it nutritionally balanced.
Serving a tossed salad brings freshness to the meal during the summer months, and on cold nights a Cheese and Broccoli soup or a Cauliflower soup can make this meal complete.
Variations and Add-ons:
To make this dish more nutritionally balanced or make it vegetarian, you can add:
- Sliced bell peppers
- Broccoli florets
- Sliced mushrooms
Lactose intolerant:
- Use coconut milk instead of heavy cream
- Dairy-free milk can also be used
Gluten intolerant?
- Substitute pasta with zucchini zoodles
- Use gluten-free pasta
One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 oz fettuccine pasta
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning divided
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil divided
- ⅓ cup onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- 2 green onions sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook the fettuccine according to package directions, reserve ¼ cup of pasta cooking water, drain, and set aside.
- Season the chicken breasts on both sides with 1 ½ teaspoons cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. Heat the butter and half of the olive oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken breasts for about 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the same skillet and saute the chopped onion and minced garlic for about 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to release the bits stuck on the bottom.
- Pour in the heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, sliced green onions, 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer the sauce until slightly thickened.
- Slice the cooked chicken breasts and return them to the skillet along with the cooked fettuccine. Stir everything until heated through. Add a little bit of pasta cooking water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan on top.
Margaret J
Saturday 23rd of March 2024
My husband just gave this two thumbs up! We’ve decided that next time we’ll add either steamed broccoli or asparagus or some other green veggie to add even more nutrition. We are gluten free, so I used chickpea pasta. Delicious!