Crockpot Cajun Chicken Pasta
Crockpot Cajun chicken pasta has perfectly seasoned tender chunks of chicken in a creamy pasta sauce with sweet mini peppers and parmesan cheese.

I'm very particular when it comes to slowcooker pasta dishes: I insist that the noodles retain their perfect texture and I'm very careful that they don't overcook.
This delicious Cajun chicken pasta recipe ensures that the chicken is nice and tender while the pasta remains firm and perfectly al dente.
Follow my easy tips for assembling this dish with special notes on how to make it ahead so that it reheats perfectly when dinner is ready to be served!
Why This is the Best Recipe
I love using my slowcooker to make easy family dinners, I think this is the best Crockpot Cajun chicken pasta recipe because:
- Perfectly Seasoned: You can use a hand-mixed spice blend or your favorite Cajun spices to season the chicken and pasta sauce.
- Easy to Make Ahead: Don't miss my tips on how to make this ahead of time for a quick dinner.
- Kid-Friendly: The sliced mini peppers taste amazing and practically melt into the pasta but if you've got a picky eater leave them out and serve veggies on the side.
Ingredients
All you need to make this easy recipe is:
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts: If you prefer chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins, you could use them but you'll have to reduce the cooking time since they cook faster.
- Cajun Seasoning: You can use a single Cajun spice blend or hand-mix your own. See my notes below.
- Fettuccinie Pasta: I love this shape for this dish but you could use linguine, spaghetti, or even a short noodle like penne or farfalle. Whatever you love.
- Chicken Stock
- Heavy Cream
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Onion
- Hot Sauce: Like Texas Pete.
- Dried Parsley
- Mini Peppers: These are the small sweet peppers that come in a bag in the produce department, they are about 3 inches long each. I sliced them into rounds. If you've never eaten them before, just know the seeds are edible so it is fine if they get scraped into the dish.
Season the Chicken
I like keeping a bottle of Cajun seasoning in my spice rack because it makes dishes like this so easy to prepare with just one shake. My blackened seasoning mix would also be a good option.
However, if you don't think you'd use it often, you can always mix your own. I have all the ingredients you need listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
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Spray the Crockpot with cooking spray and then place the chicken breasts inside.
Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning blend over the top and then turn the chicken with a fork to coat both sides.
Cooking Instructions
Pour the chicken stock and hot sauce into the slowcooker and use your fork to swish the chicken around so the stock can get under the meat. Sprinkle the chopped onion over the top.
Close the lid and cook the chicken and onions for 4 hours on HIGH or 6 hours on LOW.
About 1 hour before the chicken is done cooking, break the larger pieces of chicken into smaller pieces so that it finishes cooking evenly.
Then add the sliced mini peppers. You don't want to add them at the beginning or they'll disintegrate into the sauce. Just 45 min - 1 hour is enough to soften them.
When the timer is up, finish completely shredding the chicken and then pour in the heavy cream and 1/2 cup of the grated parmesan cheese. Stir everything together and put the cover back on the pot.
Boil the Pasta
Cooking pasta IN the slowcooker can be very tricky to get just right. I always prefer to boil my noodles on the stovetop and then just stir them in before serving.
This allows me to control exactly how firm the pasta is depending on when I plan to serve the final dish.
Serving Right Away: If I'm assembling and serving the dish right now, I cook the pasta for just 2 minutes less than the lowest time on the box. The pasta will continue to cook and soften when you add it into the sauce, so this leaves room for it t cook without getting mushy.
Making Ahead for Another Night: If I'm assembling the pasta to bring as part of a meal train dinner or for leaving in the fridge to reheat tomorrow night, I cook the pasta for 3 minutes less than the lowest time on the box so it can handle sitting overnight in the fridge and absorbing the liquid from the sauce.
Drain the pasta and then add it to the slowcooker. Use a pair of tongs to gently toss it in the pasta sauce.
Close the lid and let the pasta cook for at least 15 minutes. During this time it will absorb the sauce and become much more flavorful. The starch from the pasta will also help to thicken the pasta sauce which likely feels a little "soupy" when you first stir in the noodles.
Toss the pasta once more to coat in the now-thickened sauce. Sprinkle it with the remaining parmesan cheese and dried parsley and serve.
Make Ahead Tips
If you follow my pasta boiling tips above, your Cajun chicken pasta will last well in the fridge for up to 2 days. It may not be quite as creamy when you reheat it because the noodles will absorb the liquid but the flavor will be the same.
If you want to retain the creaminess, another option is to prepare just the chicken and cream sauce in the crockpot and then stop. Store that alone in the fridge and then boil the pasta fresh when you want to assemble and serve the dish.
Do not try to freeze this dish. The cream in the sauce will separate when it thaws.
Serving Suggestions
I loved the added sweetness the mini peppers added to this dish but if you wanted to you could also roast mini peppers in the oven for a little bit of char and then spoon them over your pasta at the table.
This strategy would also work with roasted cherry tomatoes or roasted peppers and red onion if you wanted to add more veggies to the dish.
Need a gluten-free Cajun chicken dinner? You could skip the pasta and just spoon the creamy chicken over a bowl of jasmine rice.
More Crockpot Recipes
Looking for more easy slowcooker dinners for busy nights? Don't miss my other favorite recipes:
๐ Recipe
Crockpot Cajun Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend or substitute the spice mix from the notes below
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 1.5 pounds
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 shakes hot sauce like Texas Pete
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cups mini bell peppers sliced into rounds
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese divided
- 1 pound fettuccine pasta or your favorite long noodle
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
Instructions
- Spray the slowcooker bowl with cooking spray and place the chicken breasts inside. Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken and turn to coat both sides.
- Pour the chicken stock and hot sauce in and turn the chicken to coat again. Sprinkled the diced onions over the top.
- Cover the Crockpot with the lid. Cook the chicken on HIGH for 3 - 4 hours or LOW for 6 - 7 hours.
- About 1 hour before the chicken is finished cooking, break the whole breasts into smaller chunks. This helps the thickest part of the meat to cook more evenly. Scatter the sliced mini peppers over the top and replace the lid.
- When the chicken is fork-tender, shred the larger chunks of meat with two forks. Pour the heavy cream over the top and stir. Cover the Crockpot with the lid and let it warm through while you prepare the pasta.
- Boil the pasta according to the box directions for 2 minutes less than the lowest time listed on the box so that it is very firm, or "al dente." It will finish cooking in the sauce in the slowcooker, so this helps you avoid mushy pasta. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and then drain the pasta.
- Add the cooked pasta and just 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese to the chicken mixture and toss to combine. Cover the slowcooker and continue to cook for at least 15 minutes so that the sauce can thicken from the starch of the pasta. The pasta will continue to absorb the sauce and improve in flavor for up to 30 minutes total. Then adjust the temperature to KEEP WARM if you need it to sit longer. If you plan to let the pasta rest longer than 30 minutes, you may want to reduce the original boiling time by another minute.
- If the pasta absorbed too much of the sauce by the time you want to serve it, you can stir a bit of the reserved pasta cooking water into the pot to loosen up the sauce. Otherwise if the texture looks good, sprinkle the reserved 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and dried parsley over the top before serving.
Recipe Notes
Cajun Seasoning Blend Substitution:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne peper
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
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