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Chicken is such a versatile protein for quick dinners. Check out my chicken and mushroom soup, 30 minute air fryer chicken strips, and Broccoli Chicken Casserole for other chicken dinner ideas.
Creamy Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta is a delicious pasta dish with tender chicken, vegetables, and your favorite pasta noodles all covered with a creamy homemade alfredo sauce. Cajun spices, parmesan cheese, and garlic add so much flavor to this delicious dish. Your whole family is going to ask for this easy dinner again and again. My husband said he could eat this meal once a week for the rest of his life!
Cooking Time
One of the best things about this Cajun chicken alfredo recipe is that it only takes about 35 to 45 minutes to make. It would take you longer than that to order and pick up takeout from your favorite restaurant, not to mention you save a ton of money making this dish yourself. Another bonus is that pretty much every homemade meal is healthier than the restaurant version of the same food. You and your family are going to love this spicy twist on a restaurant classic.
Techniques Overview
Season As You Go
In any cooking recipe (baking is different), the amount of salt is always up to you. The amount listed in my recipes is a suggestion or starting point. It is always better to season each layer of a dish as you cook, rather than add all the salt at once.
Adding salt a little at a time allows the salt to get into each layer of the food as it cooks. For example, in this recipe, salting the vegetables just a little bit allows the salt to get into the interior of the veggies before the sauce is added (yay, osmosis!). Seasoning in stages brings out deeper and more nuanced flavors in your cooking, and you use less salt overall. If you just add salt all at one time, you usually need more of it because it is just sitting on top of your food rather than getting into it. I have provided directions for when you should add salt in stages in this recipe.
These little pinches of salt are not included in the 1 teaspoon added to the sauce.
Sauce Emulsification
The water in heavy cream and the fat in butter are not friends naturally. Without some help, they will not want to stay together in a smooth sauce. Emulsifiers help water and fat to bind together.
In this case, the egg yolks and the starch in the pasta water serve as emulsifiers. They help bind the sauce and make it glossy, smooth, and thick.
Ingredients
To make Cajun chicken alfredo pasta, you will need:
- dried pasta: you can use any kind you like. Rotini is easy for my kids to eat, unlike the long pastas, and holds onto the sauce, so that's what I like to use. You could use fettucini, shells, cavatappi, really anything you like.
- Kosher Salt: for salting the pasta water
- 3 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Cajun seasoning blend: I like to use Tony Chachere's No Salt (which is actually a Creole seasoning). This is what gives this meal its tasty Cajun flavor. If your favorite blend has salt in it, reduce the salt added to the salt and taste it before adding more.
- yellow onion
- red bell pepper: you can use any color bell pepper you'd like. I just prefer red.
- fresh garlic cloves
- unsalted butter: if you need to use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt added to the sauce.
- heavy cream
- two egg yolks: these help thicken and emulsify the delicious cream sauce.
- pasta cooking water: again, helps emulsify the sauce. If you accidently toss the pasta water, don't fret too much, but it is a nice addition.
- salt and freshly ground black pepper: get yourself a high output pepper mill and thank me later.
- grated parmesan cheese
- white wine vinegar: acid helps brighten the dish, cuts through the cream, and brings out all the other flavors.
Equipment
- pot for boiling pasta
- liquid measure
- pasta strainer or colander
- cutting board and chef's knife
- large skillet with deep sides or an enameled Dutch oven
- plate for setting the chicken aside
- set of measuring spoons
- high output pepper grinder - not necessary, but so awesome to have.
Step By Step Instructions
To make Cajun chicken pasta...
Prepare The Ingredients
- Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil
- dice the onion and bell pepper and mince the garlic. Set aside.
- Cut the boneless skinless chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, about one inch by one inch. Add one teaspoon of your favorite Cajun seasoning along with a pinch of salt and pepper to the chicken pieces. Mix together with your hands and leave on the cutting board. Wash your hands.
Cook The Pasta
- Add kosher salt to the boiling water. Add the dried pasta and cook it according to the package directions.
- Right before the pasta is done, carefully scoop out about ½ cup of pasta cooking liquid with a liquid measure. Don't burn yourself.
- Drain the pasta and set aside.
Chicken And Vegetables
- While the pasta cooks, preheat either a very large skillet with deep sides or an enameled Dutch oven over medium heat. Add butter and cook the chicken in two batches until browned and cooked through. The chicken will be more tender and juice if you cook it in two batches because it will not steam due to an overcrowded pan. Set the cooked chicken aside on a plate.
- Add more butter and toss in the onions and bell peppers along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Sauce
- Add the rest of the ½ cup butter to the pan. Let it melt with the vegetables.
- Pull the pan off the heat and add heavy cream and egg yolks to the pan. Immediately stir with the vegetables until well combined.
- Set the pan back on the heat over medium low. Bring the sauce to a simmer and add the salt, freshly ground black pepper, and Cajun seasoning. The amount of cajun seasoning in the recipe card is pretty conservative. Feel free to add as much as you want for your heat preference.
- Add a couple of Tablespoons of pasta water and stir to combine. This helps emulsify the cheese into the sauce and it helps the sauce cling to the pasta. See this article by J. Kenji Lopez Alt for more details.
- Bring the sauce back to a simmer and add the parmesan cheese and white wine vinegar. Stir.
Finish The Cajun Alfredo Pasta
- Add the chicken and al dente pasta to the sauce. Stir and fold them into the sauce to combine.
- Serve with chopped fresh parsley and more parmesan cheese, if desired, and enjoy!
Creamy Cajun chicken pasta is sure to become one of your favorite recipes. It is a surprisingly easy and elevated pasta dish for pasta night with just the right amount of kick. I think you'll be delighted at how easy it is to make one of your favorite pasta dishes at home. Please let me know in the comments when you try it!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I halve this recipe?
Definitely!
2. Can I use milk instead of cream?
No, milk will not be thick enough. Instead of a creamy sauce, you'll end up with a watery one. Blech.
3. Can I use a different spice blend?
Sure! It won't be Cajun alfredo anymore, but it will still be delicious!
4. Why are there egg yolks in this recipe? Are they necessary?
The egg yolks help emulsify the sauce. That is, the yolks help bind fat to water. It won't be the end of the world if you don't add the egg yolks, but the sauce will not be as rich and creamy, and may separate easier.
5. What if I forgot to save some pasta cooking water?
I've done this. It's annoying but not a disaster. Just continue with the recipe. The pasta water helps emulsify the creamy alfredo sauce, but it will be ok if you forgot it.
How To Reheat This Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe
The very best way to reheat this Cajun pasta recipe is to add the leftovers to a pot on the stove with a splash of milk. Cover and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until warmed through. You can also reheat it in the microwave (again, with a splash of milk), just know that the sauce may separate slightly.
Variations
This is a very adaptable recipe. You could add:
- andouille sausage
- corn
- celery
- carrots
- more herbs
- chicken thighs instead of chicken breast
- any color bell pepper
Sources
No recipe is created in a vacuum. The sources I looked at in creating this recipe are:
- the following homemade alfredo sauce recipes:
- Article about saucing pasta by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt on Serious Eats
More Chicken Recipes...
Leave A Comment!
When you make this recipe, please leave me a comment and a review! I would love to know how it goes. I really feel like this is going to go into a lot of people's dinner rotations. Also follow me over at Instagram @gracious.cooking so you never miss a new recipe! I appreciate you.
Happy Cooking!
Carli
Recipe
Creamy Homemade Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Bring 3 quarts of water up to a boil in a medium to large pot. You need enough water to cover the pasta by a couple of inches.
- While the water comes up to a boil, dice 1 onion, 1 red bell pepper, and mince 6 to 8 cloves garlic, depending on your preference. set aside.
- Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning and a little pinch of salt and pepper. Mix the chicken and spices with your hands on the cutting board. Wash your hands.
- Add 1 and ½ Tablespoons of Kosher salt to the boiling water. Cook your pasta according to the package directions. Right before you drain the water, reserve ½ cup of pasta water with a liquid measure. Don't burn yourself.
- Drain the pasta and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, preheat a large skillet, or Dutch oven over medium heat (really a little more toward medium high). Add 2 Tablespoons of butter. Once the butter is foamy, add half of the chicken. Cook until cooked through and browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with the other half of the raw chicken. You may not need to add more butter for the second batch.
- After the chicken is done, add another 2 Tablespoons of butter to the pan, then add the onions and peppers. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until soft and the onions are translucent - about 10 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the remaining unsalted butter and pull the pan off the heat. You will have added ½ cup of butter in the total recipe.
- After the butter is mostly melted, add the cream and the egg yolks, still off the heat so the egg yolks don't scramble. Stir to combine well. Put the pan back on medium heat (this time closer to medium low).
- Add 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper (all to taste of course).
- Add the pasta water, a couple of Tablespoons at a time, and stir well. The pasta water is optional, but the starch that is released as the pasta cooks adds a silkiness to the sauce. You probably won't use all of the pasta water. Add a couple of Tablespoons, and then add a couple more if the sauce is looking too thick.
- Bring the veggies and sauce to a simmer, stirring often.
- Add ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese, and stir it through the sauce. Add 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar. Stir to combine.
- Add the chicken and cooked pasta to the sauce. Stir to combine and cook for a couple of minutes to heat through. Sprinkle the pan with chopped parsley, if desired. Serve with extra parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Notes
- Two tablespoons of the butter will be used to cool the chicken and vegetables, then the rest will be added when making the sauce.
- If your Cajun seasoning has salt in it, just reduce the added salt to ¼ teaspoon, or to taste.
Bruce Wu says
Looks delicious. Will try definitely 🙂
Gracious Cooking says
Thank you! Let me know how it goes!