Say hello to my favorite Cajun pasta dish! This Cajun alfredo sauce recipe is the only sauce you will ever crave again. It has so much flavor and is such a creamy sauce! It has a spicy twist but the spice is bearable as the cajun spices are not too hot in my opinion. Let’s make this Cajun pasta!
This is definitely a comfort meal with the homemade alfredo sauce, but I also think this would be a super easy dish to make for Easter or any special occasion that you are hosting a big meal. It is also perfect as easy weeknight meals. It takes less than 25 minutes to be on the table and my whole family loved it.
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Ingredients
- Onion - I use ½ white onion but you could use red onion or 1 shallot
- Garlic - I like to use fresh garlic, it just tastes so much better in my opinion
- Vegetable broth - any type of broth would work
- Butter - I use unsalted butter
- Half and half
- Parmesan cheese - I am such a shredded parmesan fan BUT when it comes to sauces, grated parmesan always seems to mix better
- Cajun seasoning - this is my favorite cajun seasoning from Target
- Fettuccine - or your favorite pasta
- Parsley - Fresh parsley for garnishing
- Meat - For protein you could always add smoked sausage, ground pork sausage, ground turkey sausage, or make it into a cajun chicken alfredo pasta.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Heat a saute pan over medium-low heat. Saute about 2 tablespoons of butter with the diced onion and cook until turning translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Add the vegetable broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to get any of the shallot or garlic unstuck. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Add the rest of the butter to the saute pan and melt. Once melted, add in the half and half, parmesan cheese, and cajun seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.
Add the cooked pasta to the cajun sauce and toss to coat. Add more of the reserved pasta water if needed. Serve and enjoy!
Boil water for pasta - Boil water in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook the pasta to al dente, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water and set aside.
Chop - Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Chop parsley finely.
Saute - Heat a saute pan over medium-low heat. Saute about 2 tablespoons of butter with the diced onion and cook until turning translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the vegetable broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to get any of the shallot or garlic unstuck. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Add seasoning - Add the rest of the butter to the saute pan and melt. Once melted, add in the half and half, parmesan cheese, and cajun seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.
Put it all together - Add the cooked pasta to the cajun sauce and toss to coat. Add more of the reserved pasta water if needed. Serve and enjoy!
Hint: Don’t leave the sauce too long without stirring, the bottom of the sauce may burn!
Substitutions
Add more vegetables - Instead of fettuccine, you could replace it with zucchini noodles! Adding bell peppers (a red bell pepper) would also taste amazing with this sauce!
Vegetarian or gluten-free - Just don’t add any meat to the sauce!
Variations
Spicy - Want more heat? Add red pepper flakes while cooking the sauce.
Kid-friendly - Changing up the pasta shapes always makes kids excited about a meal! You can find fun shapes on Amazon like these Dinosaur-shaped ones.
Equipment
Garlic mincer - this is so helpful with fresh garlic!
Storage
Store the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Top tip
To make this a more filling meal, I love to add cooked pork sausage to the sauce! You also don’t want to omit the half-and-half if you want a creamy alfredo sauce - this is the ingredient that really makes the sauce creamy!
FAQ
By adding extra seasonings to the sauce you can add a lot of flavor - just like this recipe! You can also add garlic powder or onion powder for more flavor.
The main ingredients are butter, heavy cream, and parmesan.
Alfredo sauce is specifically made up of butter, heavy cream, and parmesan. Fettuccine sauce can be a variety of sauces like pesto-based, tomato-based, olive oil, or garlic-based.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Cajun Alfredo Pasta Recipe:
Spicy Cajun Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ white onion or 1 shallot
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 6 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 2 cups half and half
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 16 ounces fettuccine
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Boil water in a large pot. Cook the pasta to al dente, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water and set aside.
- Dice the shallot and mince the garlic. Chop parsley finely.
- Heat a saute pan over medium-low heat. Saute about 2 tablespoons of butter with the diced shallot and cook until turning translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add the vegetable broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to get any of the shallot or garlic unstuck. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the rest of the butter to the saute pan and melt. Once melted, add in the half and half, parmesan cheese, and cajun seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.
- Add the cooked pasta to the cajun sauce and toss to coat. Add more of the reserved pasta water if needed.
- Serve and enjoy!
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