One Pot Cajun Pasta
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It’s easy to make this One Pot Cajun Pasta recipe in just 29 minutes! This deliciously spicy dish is loaded with sausage, peppers and flavorful Cajun-spiced tomato sauce for a scrumptious, simple weeknight meal.
Table of contents
There’s not much I love more than a one pot meal. These recipes for One Pot Buffalo Taco Spaghetti and One Pot Italian Sausage Shells and Cheese are in regular rotation at my house!
For this one pot cajun pasta recipe, I combined smoked Cajun sausage, fresh peppers and a spicy Cajun tomato sauce. The sauce for this dish is made with diced tomatoes, hot sauce, cajun seasoning and chicken broth. This keeps it light, healthy and super slurp-able. I promise you’ll want to drink this sauce right out of the bowl!
It’s easy to make this 10 ingredient recipe in just 29 minutes. It’s light, flavorful and perfect for any night of the week!
Ingredients
- Olive oil – or another neutral-flavored oil, like avocado oil or canola oil.
- Bell peppers – I like to use a combination of red and green bell peppers in this recipe. You can use one, or the other, or both.
- Red onion – I like the bite of red onion in this recipe, but you could also use yellow onions.
- Garlic – I recommend fresh-minced cloves for the best flavor.
- Cajun-style sausage – I’ve made this recipe with smoked andouille sausage and Louisiana-style hot link smoked sausage. Any Cajun or Louisiana-style sausage will work in this recipe.
- Pasta shells – penne pasta or macaroni noodles will also work in this recipe.
- Chicken broth
- Diced tomatoes – I like to use petite-diced tomatoes for this recipe, so that you don’t have large chunks of tomatoes in the sauce. But feel free to use traditional diced tomatoes if you’d like, either will work in this recipe.
- Cajun seasoning – – I love using my homemade Cajun seasoning blend because it has the perfect balance of Cajun spice and flavor! It’s made with a combination of 9 herbs and spices including paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper and oregano. You can click the link to make my recipe in just 5 minutes, or purchase pre-made seasoning on the spice aisle at the grocery store.
- Hot sauce – I like to use Red Rooster or Tabasco in this recipe, but any Louisiana-style hot sauce will work.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, recipe video and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook vegetables and sausage. Add olive oil to a large pot, or skillet, on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add diced bell peppers, onions, garlic and sliced sausage links. Cook for 4-6 minutes.
- Add the other ingredients. Add pasta shells, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, Cajun seasoning and hot sauce to the pan. Stir to combine everything. Make sure that the pasta is almost completely covered in the chicken broth.
- Cook the pasta. Bring the broth in the skillet to a simmer, then cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, stir the pasta, replace the lid and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve the pasta. Remove the lid and serve the pasta. Optionally top with fresh chopped parsley as a garnish.
Recipe tips
- The liquid to pasta ratio is very important in this recipe. If there’s too much liquid, it will water down the dish. If there’s not enough liquid, the pasta won’t get cooked. In this recipe, I’ve perfected the liquid to pasta ratio, so be sure to follow the measurements in the ingredient list precisely.
- Make sure the pasta is covered in the liquid. To do this, move the peppers, onions and sausage to one side of the pot. Add the pasta to the other side of the pot, then pour the broth over the pasta. This allows you to make sure all of the pasta gets covered.
- For this recipe, I recommend using a stock pot or more narrow pot vs. a wide pot or dutch oven. In a stock pot, you can move all of the pasta to the bottom of the pot. With the pasta at the bottom, you’ll be sure it gets fully covered in the liquid.
- This one pot Cajun pasta recipe is spicy! You can easily tone it down by reducing the amount of hot sauce or omitting it altogether. Without any hot sauce this dish will have a mild amount of spice. If you want to make it extra spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon, or more, cayenne pepper to the dish with the Cajun seasoning.
- If using store-bought Cajun seasoning, I recommend tasting the sauce first before adding any cayenne pepper or additional salt to the recipe. Some seasoning mixes contain more salt than others, so I always recommend tasting, then salting to your taste preference. The same goes for spice. Each seasoning mix will have a different spice level, so try the sauce first and then decide if you want to add some more spice.
- Store leftovers of the cajun pasta in the refrigerator, sealed in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stove over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until heated through.
Substitutions and variations
To make a creamy Cajun pasta, stir in 1/2 cup sour cream or heavy cream to the pasta after it’s fully cooked, right before serving.
To make Cajun chicken pasta, replace the sliced sausage with 12 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch cubes. Add the chicken at the same time you would add the sausage. You can also use 1 1/2 cups of cooked, shredded rotisserie chicken, or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken. Add this chicken at the same time as the pasta.
To make Cajun shrimp pasta, toss 1/2 pound of shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning. Before starting this recipe, add the shrimp to a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the skillet and set them aside. Stir the cooked shrimp into the dish at the end before serving.
To add more veggies, feel free to throw sliced zucchini or fresh spinach leaves in with the bell peppers and onions.
Diet variations
To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free pasta shells or penne pasta. Always make sure the Cajun seasoning and Andouille sausage used in the recipe are also gluten free.
To make the recipe vegetarian, omit the sausage. Instead, add 1 1/2 cups of veggies and cook them with the bell peppers and onions. These veggies could be broccoli or cauliflower florets, sliced mushrooms or zucchinis, spinach leaves, or more diced bell peppers.
What to serve with it
I like to serve this cajun pasta with a crispy baguette to soak up all of the amazingly flavorful sauce! You could also serve it with a simple salad with Cajun ranch dressing on the side, or with any of these bread recipes.
More one pot recipes
Looking for more easy weeknight meals? Try these popular one pot recipes!
One Pot Cajun Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups bell peppers, green or red – cut into 1” cubes
- 1 cup red onion, cut into 1” cubes
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces andouille or Louisiana-style sausage links, sliced
- 3 cups medium pasta shells
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons cajun seasoning, click link for the recipe
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large pot, or stock pot, on the stove over medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the bell peppers, onion, garlic and sliced sausage to the pot. Cook 4-5 minutes.
- Add the pasta shells, chicken both, diced tomatoes, Cajun seasoning and hot sauce. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and stir.
- Replace the lid and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Video
Notes
- This one pot Cajun pasta recipe is spicy! You can easily tone it down by reducing the amount of hot sauce or omitting it altogether. Without any hot sauce this dish will have a mild amount of spice. If you want to make it extra spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon, or more, cayenne pepper to the dish with the Cajun seasoning.
- If using store-bought Cajun seasoning, I recommend tasting the sauce first before adding any cayenne pepper or additional salt to the recipe. Some seasoning mixes contain more salt than others, so I always recommend tasting, then salting to your taste preference. The same goes for spice. Each seasoning mix will have a different spice level, so try the sauce first and then decide if you want to add some more spice.
- Store leftovers of the cajun pasta in the refrigerator, sealed in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stove over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until heated through.
- To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free pasta shells or penne pasta. Always make sure the Cajun seasoning and Andouille sausage used in the recipe are also gluten free.
- To make the recipe vegetarian, omit the sausage. Instead, add 1 1/2 cups of veggies and cook them with the bell peppers and onions. These veggies could be broccoli or cauliflower florets, sliced mushrooms or zucchinis, spinach leaves, or more diced bell peppers.
Nutrition Facts
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3 Comments on “One Pot Cajun Pasta”
This recipe is fabulous! I didn’t have Cajun seasoning so substituted using some red pepper flakes. My husband who NEVER wants leftovers asked me to reheat the bit leftover for his lunch. This is definitely one I will make again!
I fixed this last night and it was delicious. Very easy and very flavorful. Only regret was that I didn’t have a baguette to sop up that wonderful sauce.
Oh yes, that sauce is SO good! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Peggy!