It’s been a while since I’ve made a one-pot pasta! But this weekend I got a craving for a creamy, smoky, spicy, easy one pot dish, so I set to work! This One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta is incredibly easy to make, so it’s perfect for weeknight dinners. I have a few variations for you below (spicy, non-spicy, creamy, non-creamy) so be sure to read on! :)
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“Good, easy, simple recipe. The sauce is perfect, and creamy, the spices are great, the only thing i did different was add a little lemon juice and it enhanced the flavor. My fiancé and I are obsessed with this meal!”
Julietta
What is Cajun Chicken Pasta?
This tasty pasta dish is one of my favorite easy weeknight meals. Everything happens in one pan, and there’s so little to clean up afterward. I mix tender cubes of chicken with plenty of savory (and hot!) spices, tomatoes, pasta, and cream cheese to create this flavorful one pot Cajun chicken pasta dish. It’s super simple to make, costs less than $10 total, and feeds the whole family!
Ingredients for One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
Here’s what you’ll need to make creamy Cajun chicken pasta:
- Spices: Smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt infuse this dish with a savory and spicy flavor.
- Fats: Olive oil helps the chicken cook without burning, and butter adds richness and flavor to the dish. You can use all oil if you prefer. I like the flavor olive oil adds, but vegetable or canola oil both work well and cut costs a bit.
- Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are my favorite lean protein for this dish. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer.
- Onion: Yellow onion adds a sweet and earthy flavor to the dish.
- Penne Pasta: Cooks perfectly right in the pan. Any short pasta shape will work, but skip longer noodles.
- Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes: Add a smoky and acidic flavor to the dish.
- Chicken Broth: Helps create a rich and flavorful sauce. You can also dissolve chicken bouillon in water to help cut costs.
- Cream Cheese: Makes this dish rich and creamy.
- Green Onions: Add a pop of freshness and color to the dish.
Serving Suggestions
This is a one pot meal, so you could totally end it right there and be completely satisfied. But I like to add a salad or some bread to round it off. My classic Caesar salad really plays up the creaminess of this dish. Or try some homestyle cornbread for a little sweetness to balance out the heat!
Recipe Tips!
- Adjust the Heat: This pasta is spicy. BUT you can adjust the heat by adjusting the amount of cayenne pepper in the Cajun seasoning. You can cut it in half for just a little heat, or if you are completely spicy intolerant, leave the cayenne out altogether. That makes me kind of sad, but I completely understand. Sometimes your body and brain don’t want the same thing. :)
- Make it Creamy (Or Not): If you can’t do cream cheese, feel free to replace it with a splash of heavy cream or half-and-half. I’d probably use about 1/4 cup of heavy cream or 1/2 cup of half-and-half. OR, if you don’t want it creamy at all, that works too. This pasta was quite delicious even before I added the cream cheese, but the creaminess does balance the heat and acidity very well.
- Make it Extra: If you want this pasta to be super over the top, try adding some cooked bacon, or a final dusting of Parmesan cheese. That little bit of extra umami flavor will really take this Cajun Chicken Pasta over the top! Or, in place of or in addition to, you could add shrimp.
Other Chicken Pasta Recipes You Might Like:
- One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta
- White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli
- Chicken Broccoli Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce
- Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
- Monterey Chicken Skillet
One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
Cajun Seasoning
- 2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.20)
- 1 tsp oregano ($0.10)
- 1 tsp thyme ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
Chicken Pasta
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast ($5.47)
- 1 yellow onion, diced ($0.32)
- 1/2 lb. penne pasta (uncooked) ($0.75)
- 15 oz. fire roasted diced tomatoes ($1.00)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.26)
- 2 oz. cream cheese ($0.50)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.25)
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the Cajun seasoning in a small bowl. Cut the chicken into 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubes. Place the cubed chicken in a bowl, pour the Cajun seasoning over top, and stir to coat the chicken in spices.
- Add the olive oil and butter to a large deep skillet. Heat the oil and butter over medium-high until the skillet is very hot and the butter is melted and foamy. Add the seasoned chicken to the skillet and cook for a couple minutes on each side, or just until the outside gets some color. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.
- Add the diced yellow onion to the skillet and continue to sauté for about 2 minutes more, or just until the onion begins to soften. Allow the moisture from the onion to dissolve any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Next, add the pasta, fire roasted diced tomatoes (with the juices), and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir just until everything is evenly combined, then place a lid on top and allow the broth to come up to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the pasta simmer for about ten minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the pasta is tender and the liquid is thick and saucy.
- Add the cream cheese to the skillet in chunks, then stir until it has melted into the sauce. Top the pasta with sliced green onions and serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Stainless Steel Pots and Pans
- White Cutting Boards
- Glass Mixing Bowls
Notes
- The deep skillet I use is a 4-quart capacity.
- Depending on your cookware, you may need to adjust the heat up or down to maintain a simmer in the broth. Be sure to stir often to prevent the pasta from sticking.
Nutrition
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how to make One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta – step by step photos
Stir together the ingredients for the Cajun seasoning in a small bowl (2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp salt). Cut one pound boneless, skinless chicken breast into 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubes. Place the chicken cubes in a bowl, pour the Cajun seasoning over top, then stir to coat the chicken in the spices.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is very hot and the butter is melted and foamy, add the seasoned chicken pieces. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, or just until they get some color. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.
Add one diced yellow onion and continue to sauté for just a couple minutes more, or until the onion just begins to soften. The moisture from the onion should help dissolve any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Add 1/2 lb. penne to the skillet along with one 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes (with the juices) and 2 cups chicken broth.
Give everything a brief stir to make sure it’s all combined, then place a lid on top and allow the broth to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn it down to medium-low, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.
Simmer until the pasta is tender and the broth has become thicker and more saucy in texture.
Add 2 oz. cream cheese to the skillet in small chunks. Stir until the cheese has melted into the sauce.
Top with sliced green onions and SERVE! This One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta is going to be on regular rotation in my house. :)
I think this bowl of pasta is begging for some Freezer Garlic Bread, what about you?
This meal is great for large groups. I saw some comments saying the sauce was too watery, just omit the broth and add heavy whipping cream instead!! The juices from the diced tomatoes, combined with the heavy cream & seasoning makes for a very unique spicey creamy cajun sauce. Also, sautee the onions and the garlic before you add the seasoned chicken it really brings the flavor to life as well.
Had to add sooooo much more salt to this at the end because it literally had no flavor :( my pasta was too mushy as well, but idk if it’s because I used protein (chickpea) pasta instead
Sauce would not thicken at all and ended up being a soup. So sad to waste the ingredients on this
May have had too much liquid. After the pasta cooks I leave the lid off and let the liquid reduce until there is maybe a half a cup before adding cream cheese. I have made this recipe at least a dozen times and it usually turns out great.
I loved this recipe- it was just delectable! I didn’t add cream and I thought it was just perfect! Would defo recommend :)
This was delicious!! I also made a few tweaks due mostly to inventory.
●I thought the spice blend was perfect, just added an extra 1/4 teaspoon of both the cayenne and the black pepper, as we like it on the spicier side.
●I had boiled a whole chicken last night to make broth so I used the 2 cooked breasts. I sautéed the onions first, then added the chicken and the spice mix.
●I added some fresh baby spinach cause I wanted to use it up! It was delicious.
●I didn’t have fire roasted tomatoes so I used a can of kirkland diced tomatoes.
●I didn’t have cream cheese so I added 3 oz of sour cream (full fat) and some shredded parm.
Thanks for providing such a quick, awesome recipe!! Looking forward to trying more of your stuff 😀
The recipe states one onion. Since onions are in so many sizes, could you possibly estimate the measurement amount of chopped onion? One cup or more?
One cup would be good!
I just love me a good, versitile, easy recipe!
I read through the reviews, and some of y’all made me laugh. Thanks for that.
I did make the recipe as written and I would also make a few tweaks for myself. My daughter would not change a single thing.
Changes I will make:
1. Brining my chicken – 10 minutes in a salt water bath does wonders, adding just enough saltiness to liven up the dull flavor of fresh chicken cubes.
2. Exchange 1 tsp of smoked paprika for regular paprika. I agree with a previous reviewer that the smoked paprika, being so bold in flavor, left the recipe a bit over-powered and unbalanced. Certainly not worth giving this recipe 3-stars, though. C’mon man, really?
3. Longer cook time, which I end up doing, as the noodles were too aldenté for my liking. 20 minutes was just right. Happily, this reduced the cooking liquid and the end result was creamy and saucy.
Things to try in the future:
Taco season and salsa, in place of the other seaseons and tomatoes.
Chili season sounds fantastic, too.
I’m looking forward to making this again. A 5-star keeper!
One of my Fav’s – I omitted the tomatoes and adding a little bit of water in it’s place. I also added a bag of frozen steamed spinach near the end. I’m making this again tonight and will most likely add white wine in place of the tomatoes.
Extremely paprika-heavy, and couldn’t get the sauce to thicken right even with double the amount of cream cheese plus a little heavy cream.
I liked that this was a quick, easy meal to prepare with common ingredients that I already had on hand. I found that the oregano and thyme were a bit strong, however. If I were to make this again, I would put about 1/4 to 1/2 of the amount for those two herbs.
Can I just used cajun seasoning from the store? And how much?
You can, but just be mindful of the salt amount and don’t add any additional salt until you’ve tasted it at the end. We formulated this Cajun blend have the perfect salt amount for the recipe and some store-bought Cajun seasonings have a lot of salt. I know a lot of other readers have done it with success, though! I would do about 2 Tbsp Cajun seasoning.
How do you reheat this dish?
Honestly, we’d just pop a portion in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or reheat it all on the stove on medium-low until warmed through.
how to make the sauce thicker?
The sauce should be pretty thick by the time the pasta is cooked through! If it’s still too liquidy for you, you can add a bit more cream cheese to make it creamier or perhaps you could spoon out some of the sauce and add a teaspoon or so of cornstarch to it to make a slurry and add it back in to the pasta to thicken the sauce.
I was looking for something creamy but not made with heavy cream and rather quick to prepare. I followed the recipe closely with only a couple of variations as needed.
In my opinion, it was quite salty, but that could’ve been due to the chicken broth I used. My first alteration was adding an extra cup of water for the noodles to soften enough. The Cajun seasoning wasn’t very Cajun—it seasoned the chicken and gave the pasta a nice flavour, but it wasn’t as robust as you’d expect from Cajun cuisine.
The other alteration I made was using light cream cheese instead of standard cream cheese. I let each person add it to their desired consistency.
Overall, this is a good base recipe that you can play with as needed. My partner enjoyed it.
Would you say this dish would freeze and reheat well? I’m trying to meal prep some dishes for postpartum. This dish is one of our favorites.
I think it should freeze fine! There’s always a chance it could separate as you reheat it but it should come back together. Congratulations!