One pot wonder Cajun chicken alfredo is a lightened-up copy-cat version of a similar dish from Red Lobster. It’s pasta and chicken in a spicy alfredo sauce.
Red Lobster has a Cajun chicken linguini alfredo that my husband likes to get when we eat there. It’s got pasta and chunks of chicken in a garlic parmesan alfredo sauce that’s been kicked up with Cajun spices. It’s delicious, don’t get me wrong. But, the calorie count on that dish is through the roof.
I came up with my own version of this creamy pasta dish. But, I made it with much fewer calories and fat than the original. And, it’s a one pot wonder. So, all the ingredients, even the pasta, get cooked together in one pot.
One pot wonder Cajun chicken alfredo has pasta and chunks of chicken in a spicy alfredo sauce, like the original. But, this is a lightened up version that’s simple to make at home.
I’ve come up with several one pot wonder recipes over the past year and there are a few things I’ve learned along the way.
My previous one pot wonder recipes make a lot of food. While you can reheat these pasta dishes, they’re just not as good reheated as when they’re fresh. So, this recipe calls for half the pasta of previous recipes.
Also, you can add everything to the pot at one time, including the raw chicken. But, the chicken tastes better when you sauté it first. This process adds about 5 minutes of cooking time to the recipe. But, I think it’s totally worth it.
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One Pot Wonder Cajun Chicken Alfredo Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size chunks
- 2 tsp. Cajun seasoning I used Weber N’Orleans Cajun
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup milk I used 2%
- 8 oz. dried fettuccini pasta half of a 1 pound box
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pot (or large high sided skillet). Place over medium-high heat for two minutes. Add the chicken and the Cajun seasoning. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring often.
- Add the broth and milk. Break the pasta in half and add it to the pot. Cover and bring to a rapid, rolling boil, stirring occasionally. *Note: Watch the pot carefully during the beginning of the cooking process as milk tends to boil over easily.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the pasta simmer, covered, for 8-13 minutes. Stir every 2-3 minutes to prevent sticking. Cook until there is ¼ to ½ inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of my great chicken recipes.
I can totally understand why this recipe is popular, because it is totally amazing! i have tried it out in family night, totally delicious!
I stumbled across your peg about a week ago. I made this today. I was so glad to find an alternative to using heavy cream. I really enjoyed this! It was delicious. My husband thought so too! Thanks!
Thank you so much Krystle! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Tried and loved it! So simple and easy to prepare. I used leftover rotisserie chicken and since I didn’t have any cajun spice, found a recipe and threw one together. Thanks so much for posting, I’m going to be on a One Pot Wonder kick now! 🙂
Great Sally! I’m glad you are having a good experience with the one pot wonders!
Made this tonight. Delicious and easy!
Oh great Wendy! I’m so glad you liked it!
I will be honest. You need WAY more broth to cook the pasta and I made the mistake of putting too much cheese. Otherwise it was YUM. Needed to increase the cajun spice, but overall I will make it again. Thanks! 7/10
excellent! I added a lot more cajun spice because we like things spicy, it was full of flavor!
Wonderful Sierra! I’m so glad you liked it!
I made a similar chicken alfredo dish last night that had asparagus. Would definitely try this but I would double the pasta and add veggies like asparagus and broccoli. And I’d definitely sear the chicken first to get a better flavor. Love the cajun idea. Can’t wait to try!
I have always been “ok” with chicken Alfredo. Decided to make this for my family tonight and it was delicious! I doubled the pasta, liquids and added a little more Cajun seasoning. Absolutely in love with this Alfredo! Thank you for this recipe!
This was a fantastic recipe! Made this for dinner tonight, my boyfriend & I loved it. Not too spicy at all, I’d actually add some extra Cajun seasoning next time. My only suggestions would be to add more noodles because there’s more chicken than noodles, & then obviously accommodations for more sauce with more noodles.
I don’t normally leave comments on recipes, but I just wanted to let you know that I made this for my family and it was a huge hit! I cooked the chicken beforehand, and used 1% milk and it turned out great. I’ll be for sure adding it into my monthly rotation. Could you use whole wheat noodles instead? I’m wondering if that has ever been tried.
Thanks so much again!
Hi, I made this exactly how you made it, and it turned out great. And even though it isn’t as creamy as a dish made with heavy cream, the flavor is nice without all the calories. My family isn’t used to Cajun seasoning, and found the two teaspoons on the strong side, so we’ll probably reduce it by a half teaspoon in the future. Thanks for these one pot meal recipes!
Made this tonight and it was good! Great for a quick easy meal as other alfredo reicpes require a bit more work. Ill def make again! I also added brocoli in after my chicken was cooked. Defosted it in the left over oil and sauted for just a couple min. Then i threw everything else in. I also used whole wheat angel hairand it cooked just fine! I ed like she said till there was about 1/4 in of the liquid and then put in my cheese. I was suprised at how well this dish came out. My 2 toddlers were happy to have a yummy meal on the table so quickly! Thanks!!
Made this last night with ‘original’ almond milk and added broccoli half way through cooking the noodles. it took a lil longer to cook, but I was able to pull out some for my daughter (dairy allergy) before adding the cheese. My husband is an Alfredo-aholic and loved it and didn’t realize there was almond milk in it! I added 1/2 cup of Parmesan to ours to make it a lil ‘creamier’.
Thanks for the recipe!
I saw the calories and such listed which is awesome! But is that per serving? And if so how many servings is there?
I didn’t have Cajun seasoning on hand so I used southwestern seasoning. One word: YUM!!!
I made this tonight and it is DELICIOUS!!
I love the idea of one pot meal, just one pot to wash, how convenient is that. Thanks you for sharing all those lovely healthy dishes. M
I made this for dinner tonight and enjoyed it! I used half the chicken and added a head of broccoli. I used nonfat milk, and it didn’t really thicken up, so I will experiment with using part nonfat and part cream. The taste was spot on, though!
Made this for dinner tonight!! It was quick and easy…and best of all ….tasted good!!!! Everyone in my house ate it!
This dish tasted fabulous, but it was almost too dry to eat. (And I even measured the liquids pretty generously!) If I made this again, I would use this amount of liquid if I cooked the pasta separately, but I would definitely add one cup if not two more liquid.