Easy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Today we’re making an easy Cajun Chicken Pasta bursting with flavor so let’s get started!

First off fill a large pot with water. We’re going to place this over high heat, add a tablespoon of salt and let it come to a boil.

In the meantime, we have a little bit of prep so let’s get to chopping while our water heats up.

Grab a bell pepper and slice it up into thin strips. Just remove the pith and seeds first.

This dish is perfect for an easy weeknight meal. It has everything you want: a creamy spicy sauce, chicken to make it substantial, and of course some pasta to make it delicious.

Try and get uniformly sized strips but don’t worry if it’s not perfect. We also want about 3/4 of a cup of diced tomato, so grab your tomatoes and dice them up.

If you’ve ever been frustrated in the kitchen by chopping, maybe your knife is dull. It should be razor sharp!

You should be in the habit of sharpening your knives at least twice a week if you’re cooking often.

We also want about three to four cloves of garlic. You could give them a mince or use a garlic press; either way is going to work great.

Once your salted water comes to a boil, it’s time to add 8 oz or half a pound of pen pasta.

For this recipe, you’ll need two boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces. Try to be uniform and err on the smaller size.

Even I get stumped on certain weekday nights where I’m like, “I have chicken, I have pasta, I have some veggies in the fridge, what should I make?”

You need to expand your horizons, and this is a great one. It has really basic ingredients that you might have on hand already.

There are so many different variations you can make. If you don’t like chicken, you could use shrimp or sausage or both!

If you have spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, or broccoli in the fridge, you could use that too.

My chicken’s all chopped, I’m going to pop this into a bowl so I can toss it with seasoning.

Now we’re going to toss our chicken with a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning. This stuff is really just like garlic, paprika, and a bunch of peppers.

Mix it up so it’s nicely combined and evenly coated.

Once your pasta is al dente, reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water, then drain it and set that aside.

Place your pan over medium-high heat, and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.

Once the butter’s melted, we’re going to add our chicken in and toss it frequently so it browns nicely.

Once all the chicken sides have been browned, add your bell pepper in and cook for about 7 minutes until softened.

I like to have my bell peppers be crisp-tender; I don’t want them to be soggy and limp.

My bell peppers have changed color, and I’m ready to add my tomatoes in.

Add your tomatoes and stir for about a minute.

Don’t forget your garlic! Add it in and stir for about a minute until the garlic’s fragrant.

Reduce to medium-low and stir in one cup of heavy cream; this is the base of the sauce.

Then stir in a third of a cup of grated Parmesan and 4 oz of cream cheese, cut into small cubes.

I’m also adding in two more teaspoons of Cajun seasoning and a quarter teaspoon of cracked black pepper.

Stir this up so all the cream cheese breaks into smaller pieces and let it simmer until it’s nice and thickened.

In the meantime, I’m going to chop a bit more parsley and grate some more Parmesan to finish it off.

My cream cheese has melted and you can see it’s thickened nicely. This isn’t like an Alfredo sauce; it’s just a beautiful silky texture.

Add your pasta into the sauce and toss to coat.

Serve immediately, garnish with more Parmesan and chopped parsley, and you’re ready to enjoy!

This dish is perfectly creamy, spicy, satisfying, and delicious!

I hope you had a chance to make this easy recipe!