One Pot Cajon Chicken Pasta

Did you guys miss me yesterday? :)

Honestly, I had no plans to be no-show and had an amazing vegetarian recipes to share for meatless Monday... but the pictures of recipe did not make me very happy.. and I ended-up skipping a meeting with you sweet people. :(

No worries though because today, I thought to give you an easy one pot dinner which will sure make-up for the yesterday's missed recipe.

This Cajun Chicken Pasta is so easy to prepare that by-far it is one of my favorite chicken and pasta dinner to server in 20 minutes.. Starting from diced chicken breast, fresh spinach, and fresh tomatoes to a flavorful, creamy and amazingly spicy pasta pot... everything comes together in wink of an eye.

Really, this pasta recipe needs no pre-preparation.

All you need is few generous spoons of cajon seasoning. Don't go easy on that. This is one ingredient that can make or break the dish! Other than that, use anything you like and this pasta will still make you very happy. Like:

1. Skip chicken and use turkey instead or even chicken sausage. 
2. Or simply add mushrooms and bell peppers for veggie pasta and no meat.
3. Use any kind of pasta you prefer- penne, spaghetti or linguine all will make creamy one-pot pasta without any need of boiling pots of salted water.
4. Use dairy-free cream such as coconut milk to make pasta dairy-free.

Pasta in my home have to have veggies. Depending upon what I have in refrigerator or what is in-season, I always add some veggies to pasta. One pot pastas especially are very flexible - you can use any veggies of choice.  Other than few ounces of spinach, I love to add kale, array of bell peppers - red, green and yellow for color, red onion, even some zucchini or mushrooms. All of these work perfectly. Red onion or peppers, I saute slightly before adding other ingredients. 

To prepare cajon chicken pasta, I dice chicken breast into small cubes, liberally season with cajon seasoning... then saute in pot in some olive oil. 

Once chicken is not longer pink, I add slice red onion, diced tomatoes, garlic into same pot with some more cajon seasoning and saute for 2-3 minutes to marry flavors. 

Then, I add in fresh spinach, and uncooked pasta, with water and lemon juice. Bring it to boil and cook until pasta is al-dente. In this time, pasta cooks and makes sauce thick and creamy. Tomatoes almost disappear in sauce leaving behind a delicious tomato-y pasta sauce. 

At this point, I add in cream, and fresh parsley or basil whichever I have in-hand. Since my family likes a bold and spicy cajon pasta, I always make sure taste and adjust cajon seasoning, salt, and lemon juice at the end. 

Remember, creamy pasta should always be seasoned (salt, pepper, acid) properly or they might taste bland. So never throwaway a pasta.. or for that matter any food thinking it is bland. It is possible, it just need some more salt, pepper and acid. In short, season generously. I even sprinkle a little cajon seasoning on top before servings. :) 

Cooking in one pot makes pasta so creamy that I usually don't even add cheese in this recipe. 

So happy to share this easy cajun chicken pasta recipe with you all today. I hope you are not mad at me for missing recipe yesterday no more ;)

Today, add some cajon kick to your Tuesday dinner! Dice some chicken, dig the bottle of cajon seasoning from spice rack, chop some veggies, add some pasta... then enjoy a homemade Cajon Chicken and Pasta dinner tonight!

Oh, and don't forget to take a picture, and tag us @savitachefdehome on Instagram!

Happy cooking! -Savita