This easy Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta combines juicy chicken and fettuccine pasta with creamy, spicy alfredo sauce. It’s an easy way to add a little pizzazz and a lot of flavor to your regular weeknight dinner routine.
When I make Cajun Alfredo, I usually use boneless skinless chicken breasts. However, you could substitute chicken thighs, leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or even another protein like shrimp.
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Creamy Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
If spicy is your thing, you will absolutely love this creamy Cajun Alfredo Pasta recipe. The creamy cajun alfredo sauce recipe is based off of our regular alfredo sauce with the addition of diced tomatoes, sauteed garlic, and cajun seasoning. It perfectly coats every little piece of juicy chicken and fettuccine pasta.
If you don’t have fettuccine, feel free to substitute linguini, penne pasta, or just about any other pasta you have around the house. You can also switch up the protein by substituting sliced Andouille sausage, shrimp, or veggies.
Cajun Chicken Alfredo Ingredients
- Pasta - fettuccine is the most widely used pasta for chicken Alfredo recipes. However, linguini, penne pasta, or just about any noodles will work great.
- Chicken Breasts - boneless skinless chicken breasts are perfect for this recipe. I like to filet them first so that they cook quicker and the pieces are a bit smaller. You could also make this without chicken if you wanted to do a vegetarian Alfredo dish.
- Olive Oil - you’ll need just a little bit of olive oil or avocado oil to cook the chicken breasts.
- Salt and Pepper
- Diced Tomatoes - you can use drained canned diced tomatoes or dice fresh tomatoes. Red bell peppers would be another great veggie to use.
- Garlic - I like to use fresh minced garlic for this sauce. It gets sauteed with the tomatoes before adding the rest of the ingredients.
- Cream - heavy cream is a key ingredient in Alfredo sauce and really difficult to replace. Unlike milk, heavy cream has enough fat content to keep the sauce from curdling while it cooks. If you do need to make a substitution, half and half is the next best thing.
- Chicken Broth - you can substitute vegetable broth if you want to make this vegetarian.
- Cajun Seasoning - since different brands have more or less heat, you’ll want to add between 1-2 tablespoons to taste. Start out with less, adding more as needed.
- Parmesan Cheese - be sure and use freshly grated Parmesan cheese so that it melts well and keep the sauce super creamy.
- Parsley - this is a simple garnish that adds color and a little bit of fresh flavor.
How to Make Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
- Cook the pasta. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted water, boiling until al dente according to package instructions.
- Prepare the chicken. Meanwhile, filet each chicken breast into 2 even pieces. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook until golden. Flip to the other side, place a lid on the pan, and continue to cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pan and let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before slicing into strips. Do not clean the pan!
- Cook the Cajun Chicken Alfredo sauce. In the same large saucepan over medium heat, add the diced tomatoes and minced garlic. Stir and saute until the garlic is translucent. Add the cream, chicken broth, and Cajun Seasoning to the pan and use a wooden spoon to stir all the bits from the bottom of the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then continue to boil while stirring for 1 minute. After 1 minute, add the grated Parmesan cheese, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer while stirring for about 5 minutes so that the cheese can melt and the sauce can reduce slightly.
- Toss and serve. Remove the Cajun Alfredo sauce from the heat and toss with the cooked fettuccine pasta. Add the sliced chicken and toss again. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Easy Recipe Variations
- Seafood Cajun Chicken Pasta: Sauté shrimp separately adding to the finished cajun noodles.
- Vegetarian Cajun Pasta: For a meatless version, omit the chicken and replace it with sauteed bell peppers, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms.
- Grilled Cajun Chicken Pasta: During grilling season, you can add a little smokey flavor by topping your cajun pasta with sliced grilled chicken.
- Different Cajun Noodles: You can easily make Cajun Chicken Fettuccine, Cajun Chicken Linguine, Cajun Chicken Penne Pasta, and more just by swapping out the types of cajun noodles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cajun seasoning is a blend of spicy and earthy spices and herbs that originated in Louisiana. It typically combines paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, dried oregano, and pepper, but you’ll often find other ingredients like salt, onion, and other herbs.
I highly recommend using heavy cream in this recipe simply because anything with more water content is more likely to curdle. Heavy cream thickens the sauce far better. If you do make a substitution, the next best thing would be half and half.
Following the cajun theme, you could substitute either sliced Andouille sausage or even shrimp. If you want to make this dish vegetarian, you could also just skip the protein altogether and add more veggies like bell peppers and mushrooms.
You want to be careful reheating anything that has an Alfredo sauce base because it can burn quite easily. The noodles also absorb quite a bit of the sauce as it sits. Because of this, the best way to reheat your leftover Cajun Pasta is to add a little splash of milk or chicken broth and heat over medium low, stirring very frequently.
Storing and Reheating
- Refrigerator: store leftover Cajun Chicken Alfredo in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also store the Cajun Alfredo sauce separately in a jar or covered container in the fridge for up to about 5 days.
- To reheat: reheat leftover pasta in the microwave, or in a saucepan over very low heat with an extra splash of milk or water. To reheat Cajun Alfredo sauce on its own, place it in a saucepan with a little milk or chicken broth to thin it out, and reheat it slowly. Be sure to stir constantly so the cheese can melt without scorching.
Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound Fettuccine Pasta
- 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 pinch Salt and Pepper
Cajun Chicken Alfredo Sauce
- ⅔ cup Diced Tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons Garlic minced
- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 1-2 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning to taste
- 1½ cups Parmesan Cheese grated
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pot of salted water, boiling until al dente according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, filet each chicken breast into 2 even pieces. Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook until golden. Flip to the other side, place a lid on the pan, and continue to cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pan and let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before slicing into strips. Do not clean the pan!
Cajun Alfredo Sauce
- In the same large saucepan over medium heat, add the diced tomatoes and minced garlic. Stir and saute until the garlic is translucent. Add the cream, chicken broth, and Cajun Seasoning to the pan and use a wooden spoon to stir all the bits from the bottom of the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then continue to boil while stirring for 1 minute.
- After 1 minute, add the grated Parmesan cheese, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer while stirring for about 5 minutes so that the cheese can melt and the sauce can reduce slightly.
- Remove the Cajun Alfredo sauce from the heat and toss with the cooked fettuccine pasta. Add the sliced chicken and toss again. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Most Of The Best Chicken Pasta Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Slow Cooker Tortellini Bake
- Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta Bake
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Chicken Stuffed Shells
- Creamy Garlic Tortellini Alfredo
- More Pasta Recipes
- More Sauce Recipes
This Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe is a simple, delicious weeknight meal that adds some excitement to your regular routine. The creamy sauce, based on our alfredo sauce, combines diced tomatoes, sauteed garlic, and cajun seasoning for a serious blast of flavor.
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