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.
Fool proof, delicious and easy. This has been my family’s favorite go -to pasta since the original publishing of this recipe almost 10yrs ago in 2014! I came back to the recipe today, as my husband has requested we have this for dinner tonight for his birthday meal. Five stars! It’s also easy to adapt and add veggies change the seasoning- make it your own, or keep it the original, either way you WILL be happy.
Made it today. Will definitely be making again
This recipe is absolutely delish! Thank you so much for helping me add something new to the rotation. This is the 3rd recipe of yours I’ve tried in the last week and they’ve all been so incredibly good. Thanks a billion
Instead of cream I used a can of cream of mushroom soup and added a little extra water. Flawless
This doesn’t make enough for a family. I would suggest doubling it.
This is now one of my families go to meals and if anyone is looking for a easy but delicious recipe I send them this recipe. We add broccoli to ours for a lil extra veg.
Tastes great and easy to make. Thanks so much!
One of my family’s favorites!!
This recipe is FANTASTIC!!! My whole family loves it and asks for it often!
Anyone used grated Parmesan cheese? Wondering if I should use that or shred some Monterey Jack or cheddar instead…
I cooked shrimp on the side instead of adding chicken and used half and half instead of milk….. AMAZING!! Will definitely be making this again!!
I adapted this recipe with my own flare, I used cream of chicken soup with half and half to make the sauce, then added cayenne pepper peas and parmesan cheese at the end. Yummy is not even the word!
How spicy is this dish? Half the family loves the spice but the other half not so much. Was wondering if I need to scale back and if so, about how far to keep the flavor but not overpower.
This was delicious! My friend told me it was an awesome recipe. I modified it to meet our diet restrictions. I used Shiitake mushrooms and dried porcini mushrooms (what I had on hand) instead of chicken and subbed milk with almond milk. I used not chikn boullion, though I’m sure mushroom broth or veggie broth would work well too. Used vegan parm. It was amazing. You would never guess it was vegan. THANK YOU!!!
I’ve made this several times and it never fails to satisfy me! I just made it and I was out of Parmesan so I used shredded cheddar and it was sooooo creamy and delicious! Love this recipe and so does my husband! Thanks for sharing it with us!
This is one of my favorite dishes! My fiance loves it as well, he’s always asking for me to make it. Great recipe.
I’ve had this recipe pinned for a while, but finally made it tonight. It is delicious!!! And my family seems to agree! Going to check out more one pot wonders now. Thank you!
LOVE this recipe! i use fat free half and half instead of milk. also, adding 1-2 oz. of light cream cheese is a fabulous addition (have done it both ways and both are good, but obviously w/cream cheese it’s creamier!). to make it kid-friendly, i wait till it’s on my plate to add the cajun seasoning. also i’ve found that adding steamed broccoli to the bowl is delicious too. all around 5 stars! and only one dirty pot is OUTSTANDING!! thanks for the recipe!!!
Making this tonight for he second time. The family LOVES it!! Thanks!
Making this right now
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.
Is the chicken precooked?
This was alright. The sauce never got creamy and it didn’t taste at all like the Red Lobster dish. I make a homemade version of that dish often, but tried this since it’s low calorie.
So im making this now and it has been simmering but its not creamy at all…. Its more watery. Will the sauce ever thicken? If not what do i do?!?!
Know this is late but anytime i make a dish and want it creamier or to thicken it i just whick a little bit of cornstarch with water to make a paste, think papermache, then add a little at a time to the boiling pot. Thickens in no time and doesnt alter taste
Can i use a non dairy milk such as almond milk? 3 people in my family of 6 have dairy intolerances.
Using half fat strong cheese makes it even healthier in the fat stakes. Its a lot of garlic , I halved that.Added some mushrooms & peas for colour. Very easy dish.
I did not think this was going to come out as good and flavorful as it did! Even though this recipe has no Alfredo sauce in it.. It’s a delicious and healthy (or healthier) recipe. I didn’t have any chicken broth so I decided to make my own vegetable broth. I boiled 1.5 cups of water and added some slices of onion, bell pepper and sprinkled garlic salt. I let it simmer for about 35 minutes. Then I just strained out the onion and bell pepper. This is a great alternative if you don’t have chicken broth.
So….do you precook the chicken?
I made this tonight all in one it was awesome thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I needed something simple like this to prepear in my drom room on aregular basis. You made my drom life a bit more bright, i thank you for this. I have just one question what are basics of a cajun spice mix? I have all the basic indian spices and was hoping to mix them rather then buying a whole new spice mix. Thank you for your help.
Hi! My parents are cooking dinner and since I’m not a huge fan of it, they told me I could make my own dinner, then they gave me some chicken breast.
I searched chicken breast recipes on Pinterest, and this came up. It’s so good, the only difference is I made my own cajun seasoning, because where I live there’s not cajun seasoning, I don’t know what goes in the packed seasoning but mine had cumin, paprika, black pepper, garlic powder and oregano.
I really liked this recipe. I’m definitely going to make this again!
Thank you so much!
Yummm! i just had this for dinner however i only used 1/2 tsp of Cajun seasoning and only a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese as I’m not huge fan of either and it was still amazing!
Can this be made in the pressure cooker?
And if so how long?
Thanks
Would this work well if doubled? Was thinking of making it for a church carry-in dinner..
Such a great dish, thank you!! I actually made this for a potluck tonight, but it was so good that my roommates persuaded me to keep it at home for us instead..haha 🙂 will definitely make again!!
Made this tonight and loved it! I only had skim milk so to make it creamier I used 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1/3 skim milk. Great recipie!
We are a family of five teens/adults and could easily polish off a whole box of pasta. Plus, we love leftovers! The chicken lo mein recipe is about the right size for us so do you have a suggestion for this recipe if I wanted to use the whole box of pasta? I’m not sure exactly how to adjust the liquids and spices, especially with the milk. Thanks.
I cook this dish with about 2-3 leaves of basil finely chopped in the last few moments of cooking time and allow it to marry with the rest of the flavors, finally topping it off with more basil as a garnish…Excellent!!!
I attempted this tonight and it was well received by all. I really did not go into it thinking I would change anything I was only going to increase it by a full box of pasta and just double the liquid to accommodate. But when I went to the store I found Louisiana Cajun infused broth by Swanson and used that instead of chicken broth. It was yummy. I also added an onion thinly sliced. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks Joyce! I haven’t seen Cajun infused broth in my stores yet. That sounds like it would be awesome in this dish! I’m so glad you liked it!
I’m cooking it right now using the Cajun infused broth! It smells so good!
I LOVE the One Pot Wonders! I will be trying this one very soon! All your recipes that I have tried have been so delicious, my family is excited to try more. Recipes like this one are great to “hide” veggies in. I think I will add some cauliflower or broccoli to this one.
Have you ever tried One Pot Wonders with rice?
Thanks for your great ideas!!
Nicole,
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you and your family have enjoyed some of my recipes!
Broccoli and cauliflower are great addition ideas 🙂
I do have one recipe that is a One Pot Wonder using rice. It’s One Pot Wonder Chicken Enchilada Bowls. Check it out here http://www.thewholesomedish.com/one-pot-wonder-chicken-enchilada-bowls/
Hope you like it!
Great tips on one pot wonders! My kids will LOVE this!
Thanks Serena! Hope you like it!
Ummmmm YES. This will be happening in my house. Soon. Thank you 🙂
Lol! Thanks Jen! Hope you like it.