Creamy Cajun-style chicken pasta with red pepper in an everyday bowl beside the colander — Creamy Cajun-spiced pasta twirled high on a fork, flecked with paprika and herbs, the pan behind.

Cajun-Style Creamy Chicken Pasta

Name: Cajun-Style Creamy Chicken Pasta
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 350g pasta; 500g chicken breast, sliced; 1 tsp Authentic Lahori All Purpose Mix; 1½ tsp Cajun seasoning; 1 tbsp oil; 1 onion, sliced; 1 red pepper, sliced; 2 garlic cloves; 1 tbsp tomato purée; 200ml double cream; 100ml pasta water; 40g vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese, grated

A cream sauce loosened with pasta water so it stays glossy. Cajun seasoning and the cheese both carry salt, so taste first.

Prep

15 mins

Cook

25 mins

Total

40 mins

Serves

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Kitchen roadmap

Before you cook

The details that make or break this dish, mapped to the exact step where they matter.

Make sureStop at al dente
Watch forLet the chicken colour
Watch forLook for a glossy coating

Ingredients

Cooking this? You will need the mix.Add to basket

Method

9 steps

Cook the pasta until just al dente.
Reserve the cooking water.
Make sure
Stop at al dente
The pasta cooks again in the sauce. Drain it while it still has a little bite and keep the starchy water beside the hob.
Season the chicken with AL Mix and Cajun seasoning.
Sear it in oil for 3–4 minutes per side, then remove.
Watch for
Let the chicken colour
Leave each side alone long enough to form a browned crust. Constant turning cools the pan and prevents searing.
Cook the onion and pepper in the same pan for five minutes.
Add the garlic and tomato purée.
Cook for one minute.
Reduce the heat and add the cream and 75ml pasta water.
Return the chicken and add the pasta.
Toss until the sauce becomes glossy, adding more pasta water if needed.
Watch for
Look for a glossy coating
Toss until the sauce coats every piece of pasta without pooling. Add reserved pasta water one splash at a time if it looks tight.
Stir in the grated cheese off the heat, and taste before reaching for salt.

If it does not come out right

The faults this dish actually has. Open one for the fix.

How much spice blend per person?

Allow 4 g of an all-purpose South Asian spice blend per person for a curry – about one level teaspoon – which is 16 g for a family of four, or roughly 2 g for every 100 g of raw meat or vegetables.

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Why does my curry taste flat?

A curry tastes flat almost always because of salt and acid rather than spice – under-salted food reads as missing something, and a curry cooked without tomato, yoghurt, lemon, amchur or tamarind has no sourness to lift the spice, so adding more masala makes it duller rather than brighter.

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Make it with the Authentic Lahori mix

One blend for karahi, curries, marinades, chips and everyday cooking.

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