Louisiana Cajun Chicken Pasta
Carried on the coat-tails of the Cheesecake Factory, this cult-favourite pasta dish combines Cajun seasoned chicken with a creamy trinity pasta sauce.
Back in the 2010s, American chain restaurant ‘The Cheesecake Factory’ launched an expanded range of dine-in meals to broaden their food offering beyond titanic wedges of American cheesecake. To draw on a new Southern customer base, they developed a number of ‘Southern-style’ pasta dishes which went on to gain cult popularity and hundreds of copycat recipes throughout the US. What’s interesting to note is that these dishes, of which ‘Cajun Chicken Pasta’ is one, appealed greatly to Southerners and appear to have been adopted into Louisiana cuisine the long way around. There are two stages to this dish, a cream sauce that’s loaded with Louisiana’s trinity aromatics (onion, green bell pepper and celery) and Cajun seasoning, and crispy-fried Cajun-spiced chicken cutlets. A real satisfying dish that gives you a sort of Disneyland essence of Louisiana-style cooking. Let’s go!
INGREDIENTS (serves 2x)
CAJUN CHICKEN CUTLETS
1x chicken breast, halved through the middle to make two cutlets
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 tsps Cajun seasoning
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
oil for frying
CAJUN CREAM SAUCE
25g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1x shallot, diced
1x green bell pepper, diced
1x stick celery, diced
2x cloves garlic, diced
handful of button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tsps Cajun seasoning
400ml chicken/vegetable stock
1 tsp lemon juice - or to taste
1/2 tsp sugar - or to taste
50-100ml double cream or creme fraîche
150-200g dried pasta - ideally farfalle (bows), conchiglie (shells) or spaghetti
WALKTHROUGH
CAJUN CHICKEN CUTLETS
First we’ll prepare the fried chicken cutlets. Slice a chicken breast through the middle to make 2 flat cutlets. Place the chicken cutlets into a shallow bowl.
Now we’ll bread the chicken. Add the 1 tablespoon of flour followed by the 1 tsp salt and 2 tsps Cajun seasoning. Toss the chicken in the flour and seasonings until coated. Discard any remaining, loose flour in the bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of water and mix the chicken around until coated in a creamy paste. Add 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and toss the chicken until the breadcrumbs have adhered to all sides of the chicken.
Now let’s fry the chicken cutlets. You can pan-fry the chicken cutlets in shallow oil for 3-4 minutes per side, or cook in an air-fryer/oven at 180C for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through. If air-frying or cooking in the oven, spray both sides of the chicken with oil for best results.
CAJUN CREAM SAUCE
Place a large frying pan onto a medium-low heat. Add 25g of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil followed by the 1x diced shallot, 1x green bell pepper, 1x stick of celery, handful of sliced mushrooms and 2x diced cloves of garlic. Fry gently until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the 1 tablespoon of plain flour and 2 tsps of Cajun seasoning. Fry for 2 minutes to toast raw flavour out of the flour and seasoning.
Gradually add the 400ml of chicken/vegetable stock in small amounts, stirring well in between additions to remove lumps. Once all of the stock is added, allow the sauce to come up to a gentle boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the 50-100ml of double cream/creme fraîche, depending how rich you would prefer the dish. Stir until combined and smooth, and remove from the heat while you cook your pasta. Taste for seasoning, making adjustments with salt, sugar or lemon juice.
Boil your preferred pasta - 150-200g of farfalle (bows), conchiglie (shells) or spaghetti - to about 80% doneness before al dente. Transfer the pasta from the cooking water straight into the simmering Cajun cream sauce and finish cooking the pasta until tender, adding small amounts of water if needed.
Serve the pasta in your serving dish along with your sliced Cajun chicken cutlets. Finish with a scattering of fresh parsley. Enjoy!
What is in Cajun Spice ?