Spicy and Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Spicy and Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Spicy and creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta is packed with vegetables and loaded with flavor! This simple and quick dinner recipe features bell peppers, perfectly seasoned flavorful chicken breasts, and luscious cream sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Cajun

Keyword cajun chicken pasta

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 776kcal

Author Julia

Ingredients

Cajun Seasoning

2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon salt

Cajun Chicken Pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts , thinly sliced
10 ounces pasta
1 red bell pepper , diced
1 yellow bell pepper , diced
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup Parmesan cheese freshly shredded
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Combine ingredients for Cajun seasoning in a small bowl. Or, alternatively, use 2 tablespoons of your favorite Cajun seasoning. My recommendation is Frontier Cajun seasoning.
Place 2 chicken breasts in a shallow bowl and coat on both sides with ½ of the Cajun seasoning. Save the remaining ½ of the seasoning for pasta. Note: be sure to use thinly sliced chicken breasts. That means if you bought large chicken breasts, slice each one in half horizontally.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts seasoned with Cajun spice and cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat, cover the skillet with the lid, and let the chicken sit, covered, off heat for about 10 minutes until it's completely cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate and slice chicken thinly.
In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to the package instructions (that usually means somewhere between 10 or 15 minutes). Drain pasta.
Add diced bell peppers to the same, now empty, skillet that you just used to cook chicken. Cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes until bell peppers are slightly softened. Remove ½ of the cooked bell peppers to a plate, leaving the remaing ½ in the skillet.
To the same skillet with ½ of the cooked bell peppers, add the cream, the remaining ½ of the Cajun seasoning, and freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. Bring to a brief boil, reduce to simmer, and cook, constantly stirring, until the cheese starts to melt, for several minutes.
Add drained cooked pasta to the skillet with the cream sauce and heat through on low heat. Season with red pepper flakes, more salt and extra cayenne pepper, if desired. Top with sliced cooked chicken and the remaining ½ of cooked bell peppers.

Notes

Adjust the amount of Cajun spice. This recipe uses a rich amount of Cajun seasoning. You can adjust this amount to your liking reducing it in half, for example. I use half of the amount to season the chicken, and then the remaining half to add to the sauce. Use your best judgment and taste to adjust the amount of seasoning at either step.
Red Pepper Flakes. I also use red pepper flakes to spice up the pasta even more at the end. You can omit them or reduce the amount if you don't like your pasta to be too spicy.
Salt. In the last step, make sure to taste the pasta and add more salt if it tastes too bland.
Final touches. Sprinkle the pasta with finely chopped fresh parsley or chopped green onions, and with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

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