This Cajun Chicken Pasta is a mix of creamy cajun sauce, blackened chicken, peppers, and linguine! It's lighter compared to other creamy pastas; it has no heavy cream, and only 2 ounces of cream cheese! And everything is cooked in the same pot or pan, making clean-up a little easier. 🙂
Blackened Seasoning in the Cajun Chicken Pasta:
You can use store bought blackened seasoning (blackening seasoning), or make your own Homemade Blackened Seasoning.
When blackening the chicken, make sure the pan is HOT! Cook on medium-high heat with a little bit of oil, for about 5 minutes, only flipping/stirring once or twice. This helps with browning the chicken.
Cooking the Linguine:
- When cooking the linguine, make sure to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan every few minutes! Otherwise, the linguine will start to stick.
- Cut the linguine in half (just snap it in the middle). This allows it to lay fully submerged in the liquid, and it makes it easier to eat too! You can also sub with other pastas, like spaghetti, or whatever you have on hand.
Want a Skinny Version?
This Cajun Chicken Pasta on it's own is already a healthier version compared to other creamy pasta recipes. It has only one tablespoon of butter, and two ounces of cream cheese.
But, if you are trying to eat low-fat, you can reduce the fat of this dish by 38g, and the calories by 340! To do this, use a non-stick skillet, and eliminate the olive oil (used to coat the chicken and oil the pan) and the butter.
Toppings for the Cajun Chicken Pasta:
Garnish the pasta with green onions and grated parmesan cheese. You can also serve it with lemon wedges or slices, and crushed red pepper (for some added heat)!
Enjoy! 🙂
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One-Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta {on The Lighter Side}
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast cut in 1" cubes
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ¼ cup green onion sliced (about 1 green onion)
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1.5 tablespoon blackened seasoning divided (homemade or store-bought)
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 oz. cream cheese from the block
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese fresh grated
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice about half medium lemon
- 8 oz. linguine pasta cut in half
Optional Garnish & Toppings:
- green onions, lemon wedges, grated parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine and mix the cubed chicken with 1 Tsbp olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of the blackened seasoning.
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once it's hot, cook the chicken for 5 minutes, flipping about half way.
- Add the green onions, and the green and red bell peppers. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through.
- Remove the the mixture from the pan into a bowl. Cover and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium, and add 1 tablespoon butter.
- Add the garlic and ½ tablespoon blackened seasoning, cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the chicken broth, and scrape up any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan.
- Add the linguine pasta. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir and scrape the pasta every few minutes to keep it from sticking to the pan.
- Add in the cream cheese and stir until melted. Add in the parmesan cheese and stir until melted.
- Turn off heat.
- Stir in the lemon juice, and the chicken mixture.
- Ready to serve! Serve with optional garnish & toppings.
Video
Notes
Watch the VIDEO of how to make Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Cooking Channel so that you never miss a recipe video! 🙂