Cajun Chicken Pasta

This creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta will become your new favorite high protein dish. Made in under 30 minutes with simple ingredients, this low calorie healthy recipe is perfect for quick weeknight dinners and meal prepping.

If you’re looking for more protein-packed pasta dishes, you should also try my cottage cheese Alfredo, my Tuscan chicken pasta and my high protein mac and cheese. But only after this extra creamy, smoky and spicy chicken cajun noodles recipe.

Healthy cajun chicken pasta

This easy cajun chicken pasta serves the perfect macro-friendly lunch or dinner. One serving provides over 35 grams of protein for just 405 calories, and you can easily adapt it for both muscle building and weight loss diets.

The best part? It’s so rich, creamy and packed with smoky flavors that you won’t ever guess it is also good for the diet. My recipe swaps cream cheese or heavy cream for whipped cottage cheese and uses whole grain pasta instead of white noodles. To make the dish as flavorful as possible, chicken breast is seasoned with a simple homemade cajun spice mix. That’s it, in under 30 minutes you’ll get a restaurant-style meal for you or your family, and your weekly meal prep.

Ingredients

Here’s an overview of the ingredients, along with more tips and details. You can find precise quantities both in grams and US measurements in the recipe card at the end.

• Pasta. I recommend short pasta such as penne, ziti, rigatoni or fusilli. Spaghetti, fettuccine and linguine are also great, especially if making cajun chicken Alfredo. Use whole-grain or gluten-free noodles, if necessary.
• Chicken breast. Start with boneless and skinless chicken breast, preferably from free range chickens. It must be uncooked, so leftover or rotisserie chicken is not suitable.
• Vegetables. This simply recipe uses red bell pepper and red onion, but you can easily include diced tomatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, fresh spinach or broccoli.
• Milk. Use semi-skimmed or skimmed dairy milk, or replace with unsweetened plant based milk if necessary. Unsweetened soy milk is a great option, low calorie and high protein.
• Blended cottage cheese. Whipped cottage cheese is my secret ingredient. It offers a low fat, low calorie alternative to cream cheese while adding a savory flavor and more protein. Replace with 5% Greek yogurt or light cream cheese (such as Philadelphia), if desired.
• Homemade cajun seasoning. No need to buy cajun spice mix, you are going to make it at home with smoked paprika, dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.

How to make cajun chicken pasta

1. Step 1 – Mix spices. In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the homemade cajun seasoning. Set aside for later while preparing the pasta.
2. Step 2 – Cook pasta. Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions until al dente (slightly firm). Drain and set aside, drizzling with olive oil to prevent sticking. Reserve some of the pasta water for later.
3. Step 3 – Season chicken. Cut chicken breast into cubes and place in a bowl. Season with ½ of the homemade cajun seasoning.
4. Step 4 – Cook chicken. Heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. When hot, add seasoned chicken and cook through on both sides, until tender. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and transfer to a bowl. Set aside for later.
5. Step 5 – Sauté veggies. In the same pan where you cooked the chicken, add sliced onion and sliced red bell pepper. Sauté for 1 – 2 minutes.
6. Step 6 – Prep sauce. Add to the sautéd vegetables the milk, the pasta water and the remaining cajun seasoning. Give it a stir, then cover with a lid. Simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
7. Step 6 – Assemble. Remove the lid and add to the skillet cooked chicken, cooked pasta, blended cottage cheese (or cream cheese) and the remaining olive oil. Stir to combine and remove from the heat. Before serving, adjust with more salt, pepper and cayenne pepper if necessary.

Recipe variations

• Higher protein. You can add more protein by combining cajun chicken and pasta with shrimp, sausage, diced ham or lean bacon. For the highest protein chicken pasta, use chickpea pasta or edamame pasta.
• Low carb. Replace regular pasta with low carb noodles such as chickpea pasta, edamame pasta, red lentil penne or zucchini noodles. This makes it also suitable for gluten-free diets.
• Dairy-free. Substitute cottage cheese with nondairy cream cheese and use unsweetened soy milk for the sauce.
• One pot. To make one pot chicken cajun pasta, cook the noodles in the same skillet with the vegetables. Once the chicken is ready, remove it from the pan and then add onion, bell pepper and dry pasta. Cover the ingredients with low sodium vegetable broth and milk, then cook until the pasta is ready. Stir in chicken, blended cottage cheese, seasonings and enjoy.
• Extra spicy. When making the seasoning, be generous with cayenne pepper. I recommend ¼ teaspoon, but you can easily add up to ⅓ or ½ teaspoon.

Additionally, you can also tweak this recipe to make it higher or lower in calories. If you are trying to build muscle, either have two pasta servings or use more high calorie foods such as olive oil. If your goal is to lose weight, consider reducing serving sizes or choose nonfat milk and cottage cheese.

Meal prep and storage

Once cool, place leftovers in an airtight food container or in individual meal prep lunch boxes and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave for 1 – 2 minutes or in a hot skillet with little olive oil.

Freezing creamy pasta dishes is not recommended, as dairy does not hold well. But if you are meal prepping ahead of time or have extra leftovers, you can freeze them in an airtight container for as long as 3 months. To reheat, allow to thaw overnight and then microwave or re-warm in a skillet.

Frequently asked questions

More high protein pasta dishes

• Tuscan chicken pasta
• Salmon pasta
• Cottage cheese Alfredo
• Tuna pasta salad
• Chicken spinach pasta
• Protein mac and cheese
• Pesto chicken pasta