Cajun chicken over a bed of pasta with a creamy sauce is close to the delicious recipe at Chili’s restaurant that you can enjoy from home!
Jump to RecipeOne of Justin’s favorite chain restaurants is Chili’s, and he often gets the cajun chicken pasta meal. I’ve never tried it because I’m always afraid it’ll be too spicy for me since cajun food usually has a kick. So one day he suggested we try to make it at home so I can control how much seasoning is on everything.
Since I hadn’t ever eaten the meal before, I had no clue what was in it. I had to search online for other copycat recipes and make it our own from there. Even with the spices, I enjoyed this meal and will be making it again for sure. I don’t know if I’ll ever order it out since I can’t control the spiciness, but I’ll make my own.
I was pleasantly surprised at how creamy the sauce is. The name, Cajun Chicken Pasta, doesn’t really tell you anything about the sauce. I made this with half-and-half but may try it with heavy cream next time to give even more texture to the dish. Overall, though, this was delicious on the first try!
At Chili’s, you have a choice of sides. We decided that making some homemade Texas Toast would be a great side dish. I made it similar to THIS toast recipe, only I broiled the toast instead of baking it.
Step by Step
Start by cooking the penne noodles as directed. Penne is the type of noodles that Chilis uses. I don’t cook with penne often, but it was necessary for this meal. In this dish, I really liked them!
While the noodles are cooking, dry the chicken breasts off and coat them with your cajun seasoning. This is where you control how much kick the dish has. If you like a lot of spice and bold flavor, thoroughly coat the chicken. If you are like me and like it a bit lighter then just dust the chicken with seasoning. Heat one tablespoon of butter in a saute pan and cook the chicken until it is cooked through, flipping at least once. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep it covered.
Add two more tablespoons of butter to the pan and let it melt. Then add the half-and-half, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Whisk the sauce together then add about 1/3 cup of the parmesan cheese and heat until the cheese has fully melted and the sauce is bubbly.
Toss the cooked pasta noodles with the sauce along with the diced tomatoes.
Divide the pasta and tomatoes among the serving plates. Slice the chicken and add that to the top of the pasta then garnish with parmesan cheese, and parsley.
Recipe
Originally Published On: February 21, 2018
Last Updated On: August 8, 2019
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- 1 tomato (diced)
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
- 1 tsp parsley
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Cook penne noodles according to package
- Dry chicken and cover with cajun seasoning (the more you use, the more kick the meal will have)
- In a large saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat
- Add the chicken and cook until it is done through, flipping at least once, then remove from the pan
- Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan with the half-and-half, garlic powder, salt, and pepper
- Whisk together then remove from heat and add the parmesan cheese, stirring until it’s melted
- Toss the pasta and tomatoes with the sauce and place on serving plates
- Cut the chicken into strips and place on pasta
- Garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
This looks delicious! I think I’d like yours better than Chili’s because I feel the same way as you – I don’t like dishes that are too spicy. This would be a perfect dinner tonight!
It’s very easy to adjust the spices in this if you make it yourself. My husband enjoys more of a kick so will sometimes sprinkle more seasoning on his after it’s cooked.
This looks delicious and creamy. I love going to a restaurant and try to recreate the dish and sometimes, I do it perfectly.
We have a few recipes that are copycats of meals we love at restaurants. It can be a challenge but it’s fun!
Love chicken and pasta dishes with a nice creamy white sauce. Love the spices and will be trying this out.
It makes a great meal and so easy to make at home.
I LOVE THIS! My husband loves this dish!!!! I definitely want to try this out. Thanks so much for sharing.
It’s one of my husband’s favorites, too. That’s why we had to try making it ourselves. He says it tastes very similar to the one at Chili’s!
Interesting what you would switch to full cream next time. There’s a few dishes I do half and half with but never thought about switch to full so that it would be even better. This sounds so good, I love having the ability to control the amount of spice in what I cook.
I want to try the full cream next time, but the half and half still works really well. I just have always preferred thicker sauce on pasta so the full cream would add that extra thickness to it.
This is my favorite dish on Chili’s menu – but I order it with shrimp instead because I’m a pescatarian. I haven’t ever attempted to make it, but it sure does look good. I’ll have to try it.
I never thought of having this with shrimp! You could easily change out the chicken for shrimp. I am going to have to try that next time because it sounds delicious.
Yes! This is actually one of my favorite dishes at a restaurant. I am for sure making this!!
It’s my husband’s favorite and according to him, this tastes very similar. I like making it so we can control what’s in the dish.
This looks super good!! I love finding recipes that are similar to the dishes you fall in love with when you go out to eat.
We have a lot of fun trying to recreate a meal after having it at a restaurant. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. But this one tastes very similar to the Chili’s meal.
This looks and sounds delicious. Anything topped with cheese and looks that good is a win by me!
Me too, I love cheese. It’s delicious and a pretty easy meal to put together which is always a good thing.
The Cajun chicken looks delicious with the pasta! I can’t wait to try it for myself
It makes a great combination and a delicious meal. I hope you enjoy it!
I might just give this a try as it looks very delicious! Great post!
Thanks! It’s fun to try to recreate restaurant meals at home.
No joke, this is my favorite dish ever. I can’t wait to try out your recipe!
It’s one of my husband’s favorites, too. That’s why we had to come up with a recipe at home. I hope it lives up to your expectations! 🙂
I’ve never been to Chilis, but I’m pretty sure that it’s a great restaurant!
Also, I love chicken and pasta dishes that involve tomato, it’s a great combination. I
Chili’s is my husband’s favorite chain restaurant here. If you love all the ingredients, you should definitely give the recipe a try!
Mmm, that looks delish! (and SO easy!) – Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner once school has started again!
You know I am all about the easy meals! We have too much going on during the school year for elaborate weeknight dinners.
I too order this at Chili’s! I would love to try my hands on making this myself with your recipe as it looks so easy to make!
According to my husband, who loves this meal, it’s very similar to the restaurant version!
Wow! What a mouth-watering recipe. My son has started having pasta but we can hardly eat anything that has too much spice. I can probably try it without the spices.
You can easily adjust the spices in the recipe. I don’t like much spice and neither do my boys. My husband adds a bit on at the end so he still gets the extra kick of spice for himself.
This looks mouthwatering. I may have to add this to my meal plan this week. I typically try to find a similar recipe too if I find something I like at a restaurant. It seems to be a quick and simple meal.
It’s a lot of fun to try to make a meal at home that we had while out. This one is definitely a quick and easy meal to put together.
This looks so delicious! My son loves this dish, so I can’t wait to try your copycat recipe!!
Awesome, I hope he likes this one as much as the restaurant version!
I love a good copycat recipe! Its so fun being able to make something you really enjoy from a restaurant at home!
We always enjoy trying to recreate a meal. It can be a challenge, but we end up with the dish we like for a much better price at home!
I live a good copycat recipe! I’ve had this dish before and love it but have never made it at home.
You should give it a try! It isn’t too hard to make and comes out similar to the Chili’s meal according to my husband. I don’t eat it when we are out because it’s too spicy but I can control that at home.
I should know better than to come check your recipes out when I’m hungry. This looks amazing!! And way easier than I expected!
I know, when you see the dish out at the restaurant it looks like a lot. But we’ve been able to simplify it to make a close copycat of the original.
I stumbled upon your site last year and have been going through and trying out your recipes. This turned out amazing! So delicious. I hope this website never disappears.
Thank you! I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipes 🙂