Creamy Cajun Chicken Sausage Pasta with cajun-style blackened chicken and penne pasta, and a creamy cajun, tomato sauce! Add andouille sausage for extra flavor.
This cajun pasta is so easy to make, and it’s the perfect weeknight or weekend dinner that your whole family will love!
I am a sucker for my Cajun seasoning. It’s so much better than store-bought cajun spices, because the flavors are fresher and more robust. And the reason why I wanted to make my own cajun seasoning in the first place was this Creamy Cajun Chicken Sausage Pasta!
This is one of my favorite creamy chicken pasta recipes, and the inspiration for this dish came from something similar that I had at one of our local pubs a while back.
The result was this deliciously creamy cajun chicken and sausage pasta with onions, green pepper and penne pasta. I often make this with chicken, but sometimes I like to add smoky andouille sausage to amp up the flavor.
This creamy cajun pasta is a regular favorite for us. And it’s so easy to make and customize too. Ready in 30 minutes, and I often make extra for leftovers too.
Since my cajun seasoning is a powerhouse of flavor with smoky, spicy, herby, peppery notes, this creamy cajun chicken pasta really benefits from those flavors.
If you do use store-bought cajun seasoning, you may likely need to add more seasoning to get a similar flavor profile.
Why you’ll love this creamy cajun pasta recipe
- Use any kind of chicken you have at home. I used chicken breast, because it cooks faster, but chicken thighs work well too.
- Or use sausages to make creamy cajun sausage pasta instead!
- You can also use beef or pork instead, to make cajun beef pasta or cajun pork pasta.
- Or use shrimp to make creamy cajun shrimp pasta (like I made for this shrimp avocado toast).
- I only use green peppers here, but you can add other peppers too. You can add veggies as well. Zucchini, broccoli, corn are all great options.
- Want to make a healthier version of this cajun chicken pasta? Then use YOGURT instead of milk or cream.
How to make dairy free cajun pasta
- Substitute the milk/cream with coconut milk or almond milk.
- And instead of parmesan cheese, you can add a little nutritional yeast instead.
How to make gluten free cajun pasta
- Substitute regular penne pasta with your favorite gluten free penne pasta.
How to make vegetarian or vegan creamy cajun pasta
- Mushrooms! I love making cajun mushroom pasta when making this dish vegetarian. Mushroom is always an excellent meat substitute that even hardcore meat eaters can’t resist (like this flavor-packed oyster mushroom curry).
- Use a plant based milk instead of cream (coconut or almond milk).
- Use vegan cheese or nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese.
How to make creamy cajun chicken sausage pasta (cajun pasta)
- First set a pot of water to boil for the pasta.
- Then cut and prep the vegetables, onions, andouille sausage and chicken.
- Cajun-style blackened chicken is cooked first. It only takes about 5 minutes to cook the chicken on high heat, because you want to cook the chicken quickly and get a nice char on it. If you’re using sausage as well, this can be cooked next. Set aside.
- When the pot of water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.
- Next, prepare the pasta sauce with onions, green peppers, cajun seasoning, tomato, and milk/cream. I add the chicken (and sausages) halfway through so that all the flavors mingle and simmer together and you end with a deliciously creamy pasta sauce. I sometimes make the pasta sauce with a mixture of yogurt and water, instead of cream and milk. This adds a nice tangy flavor too.
- Lastly, once the pasta is cooked and drained, add the hot pasta to the hot pasta sauce and toss to combine. Then it’s ready to be served. I don’t mix any parmesan cheese into the pasta sauce because there’s so much flavor in the sauce as it is. BUT, I do like to shave some fresh parmesan over the pasta. Adds a lovely saltiness to the creamy cajun chicken pasta (cajun sausage pasta).
You can keep the pasta and cajun chicken mix separate if you like, or mix all together and store in the fridge for another day. The leftovers are delicious the next day as well.
So what you get here is an incredibly delicious, creamy, spicy, smoky, peppery and utterly satisfying creamy cajun chicken pasta dish, that’s perfect with a glass of wine! The perfect week night or weekend dinner any time of the year, that’s ready in 30 minutes!
You know cajun spice is all about flavor and that peppery heat. So when you make a dish that’s meant to be cajun, you want it to blow you away with all those flavors.
That’s what this creamy cajun pasta is – blackened chicken and andouille sausage, complete with a creamy tomato and cajun pasta sauce that’ll leave you unabashedly licking the bowl/plate at the end…
A spicy, creamy chicken pasta recipe like this goes perfectly with wine. Especially after a particularly long and tiring day, the combination of spicy comfort food with a glass of wine is just the ticket… for me at least!
And to finish off this cozy, comforting dish, here’s a super easy and delicious chocolate dessert idea – molten chocolate lava cake! Or how about a refreshing coconut panna cotta with a tangy fruit topping? Or just good ol’ classic panna cotta or creme caramel?
So go ahead and make this creamy chicken and sausage cajun pasta, for an easy, flavorful weeknight or weekend dinner that your whole family will love!
It’s one of our favorite main dish recipes, because it’s just so versatile, flavorful, and comforting.
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Creamy Chicken and Sausage Cajun Pasta
Ingredients:
- 500 g chicken breast About 1 lb. Cut into bite-sized pieces
- 226 g andouille sausages 8 oz. optional, sliced
- 2 green bell peppers thinly sliced
- ½ medium yellow onion thinly sliced
- 3 ½ tbsp homemade cajun seasoning you may need more if you’re using a store-bought cajun spice mix that’s less spicy
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped (double the amount if you like garlic flavor)
- ½ cup crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup half and half 120 mL (10% fat), or substitute with ½ cup greek yogurt (not 0% fat)
- 1 tsp brown sugar Add upto 1 extra tsp if needed.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese to serve
- 2 tbsp oil
- 226 oz uncooked penne pasta (or 4 servings of cooked pasta)
Instructions:
- Prep the vegetables and meat. Cut the green peppers and onions into slices, and slice the sausage (if using). Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks (on a separate cutting board to avoid cross contamination). Set aside.
- Place a large pot of water with salt, over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and set the timer for 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, but reserve 1 – 2 cups of the pasta water.
- While, the pasta is cooking, place another large non-stick pan or pot over medium-high heat and drizzle some oil.
- When the pan is hot, add the chicken, generous ¼ tsp salt, 1 tbsp cajun seasoning and mix well. Increase heat to high, and cook the chicken for 5 minutes, until it shows good caramelization (about 5 – 6 minutes, depends on the heat of your pan). Place the chicken in a separate bowl and set aside until needed.
- Optional step – add more oil, and then add the sliced andouille sausages and fry until they start to show some good caramelization as well (about 5 minutes). Set aside.
- Add the onion, garlic, green pepper, rest of the cajun seasoning, generous pinch of salt, and 1 tsp brown sugar to the same pan. Saute until the onion softens.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, blackened chicken and sausages, milk/cream mix, and stir to combine. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Add some of the pasta water if the mix is too thick, and stir to combine. Bring the pasta sauce to a simmer.
- Mix in the cooked pasta and toss to combine. If you’d like more pasta sauce, you can add up to another cup of milk or pasta water. Let the pasta simmer in the sauce for about a minute or two. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with extra black pepper on top (optional), and freshly grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
Substitutions
- If you’d like to, you can use chicken thighs instead of breast meat for this recipe as well.
- Feel free to leave out the sausages, OR you can use chorizo for this recipe too.
- You can also use beef or pork instead, to make cajun beef pasta or cajun pork pasta.
- Or use shrimp to make creamy cajun shrimp pasta.
- To make this pasta more nutritious, add other vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, corn etc. as well.
How to make dairy free cajun chicken pasta
- Substitute the milk/cream with coconut milk or almond milk.
- And instead of parmesan cheese, you can add a little nutritional yeast.
How to make gluten free cajun chicken pasta
- Substitute regular penne pasta with your favorite gluten free penne pasta.
How to make creamy vegetarian or vegan cajun pasta
- Mushrooms! I love making cajun mushroom pasta when making this dish vegetarian.
- Use a plant based milk instead of cream (coconut or almond milk).
- Use vegan cheese or nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Other recipes you may love,
- Blackened Cajun Shrimp and Avocado Toast
- Beef Cannelloni
- Chorizo Bolognese with Homemade Turmeric Pasta
- Spicy Tuscan Sausage Pasta
Trevor says
Wow, so good, made the cajun spice recipe as well and the whole family loved it. Thanks will be making this one again.
Lisa says
I’ve made this recipe so many times over the past few years. It’s just saucy enough with so much flavor and so easily modified with other proteins and extra veggies. This is such a staple go-to recipe for me, I love it!
Hazel Rink says
I love this recipe—it’s funny that you mentioned it was a copycat recipe from a local restaurant. I have been looking for a recipe for a spicy cajun pasta that fits the menu description of local restaurant where I am from! This is perfect and easy to play around with. My daughter does not eat meat, so I make more sauce for her, adjust the heat and serve it with blackened shrimp. Thank you for sharing!
Kris says
We love a nice bit of heat in our recipes; however, this was far too spicy – almost inedible. The pasta was also not creamy or saucy (with only 4 ounces of 1/2 & 1/2 there’s no way this recipe was going to turn out creamy). If we do attempt to make this recipe again, we will tweak the recipe by: 1) Only have 1t instead of 1T of red pepper flakes in the Cajun Spice Mix; 2) Add 1C instead of .5C of crushed tomatoes, and; 3) Add 1C instead of .5C of 1/2 & 1/2.
Dini says
Hi Kris
This was a copycat recipe for a spicy cajun pasta from a local restaurant. The pasta recipe is heavy on the cajun seasoning but tomato is just a background flavor. You are absolutely welcome to change the recipe to your liking though! The creamy tomato pasta that you mentioned sounds fantastic too.
However the 1 tbsp of chilli flakes is part of the cajun seasoning. This is 1 tbsp of chili flakes in 1 1/2 cups of cajun seasoning, of which only 3 1/2 tbsp is used in this recipe. Which is very mild for a cajun seasoning (in fact we add extra chili when we make this for ourselves, but left it out for the recipe because it may be too spicy). It is always a good idea to adjust spice levels to your taste if that is a concern for you.
Hope that helps!
Katie says
As I was reading this I kept thinking this is exactly like Flat Branch! I’ve been looking for a recipe that comes close to theirs for ages. Thank you!