Cajun Shrimp Pasta
Want a quick weeknight recipe that you can cook up in minutes with a made from scratch sauce that is to die for? This Cajun Shrimp Pasta will quickly become your new favorite when you are craving something creamy and spicy!
I must apologize, I’ve been holding back on this recipe for way to long. I actually made and photographed it for you guys back in November. It’s actually a meal I make a lot, kind of my go to when I don’t have anything else planned. But I always vary it up just a bit and can never remember just exactly what I add to it. But I had finally taken the time to document the exact ingredients to get just right to share with you and what do I do? I lost track of where I wrote it down! I shed a few tears and promised myself to start over again but I guess I just never had the heart. Then the other day when grabbing a notebook to write some other stuff down, what did I find?!? This recipe scribbled on the page I happened to turn to!
How do I make cajun shrimp pasta?
It’s actually pretty simple to make and you really are not going to mess it up by changing a little of this or a little of that.
Sometimes I add chicken, sometimes veggies. We eat it plain with basil we eat it spicy like this. Just an easy go to with ingredients on hand and something the kids always gobble up.
I love having a go-to meal that can be ready in about 30 minutes that I know everyone will not just eat but practically inhale! Will you make it? How will you customize it for your family? And if you are a fan of spicy pasta, you should also try my reader favorite recipe.. buffalo chicken pasta!
How do you make homemade alfredo (or really just a cream) sauce?
- a few simple ingredients and a thickener is all you need
- chicken broth is used for flavor and thickened with cornstarch
- cream is added to make it reach and delicious
- you could always add a handful of fresh parmesan if desired
- toss it all up in your favorite skillet
Cajun Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz shrimp peeled and deveined with tail off (if frozen, thawed)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning blend
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water (whisked until smooth)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 12 oz dried linguine pasta (cooked according to package directions)
- Fresh parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat
- Add onion and sauté until softened, about 4-5 minutes
- Add garlic and shrimp and sauté until shrimp is fully cooked and onions are garlic start to caramelize (about 6-8 minutes)
- Add cajun seasoning blend (start with 1 teaspoon and add more if more spice is desired)
- Stir to coat well
- Slowly stir in broth and bring to a simmer
- Add cornstarch slurry and let continue to simmer and thicken until broth is reduced by about half (about 5-8 minutes)
- Stir in cream and let come back to simmer to heat through and thicken
- Let continue to simmer for about 3-4 minutes
- Add pasta and toss to coat
- Remove from heat and garnish with parsley if desired
Nutrition
First time making the recipe. It seemed to call for a lot of time on the skillet with the shrimp. At some point, the shrimp should be removed for a little while and than added back in to cook with the sauce. And the initial temperature setting was too high for the butter and shrimp. I had to make a lot of adjustments. Other than that, I think it turned out okay. I used a bone broth, which made my pasta come out in a brown creamy texture vs a whiter one.
Thank you for your feedback!
My family loved this recipe. The sauce was runny, but I let the pasta sit on the stove once it was finished cooking. This made the sauce thickened.
I made this recipe today. The title of the recipe is a little misleading because it says “slow cooker” but it’s not actually a slow cooker recipe. I tried to prevent the sauce from being too runny based on others’ reviews so what I usually do to thicken a sauce is add (whisk) flour to the water/chicken stock in a bowl before adding to pan. I added about a tbsp of flour to the chicken stock and also to the whipping cream. It still took awhile to thicken so I’ll have to play around with the amount of flour. I would also recommend not adding the shrimp until the end. I was trying to thicken the sauce after I added the shrimp per the recipe and the shrimp were over-cooked and hard. I would also recommend adding a generous amount of salt to the water to boil before added the pasta since this is really the only thing that you season.
Hi Dana! Could you tell me where you saw this recipe with “slow cooker” in the title? I’d like to track it down and see if I can have it updated, since it’s obviously not intended to be a slow cooker recipe. I’m sorry you found it that way, I can see why that would be disappointing!
Hi Jennifer, same here! It was under 16 of the best slow cooker pasta dishes and when you open link it’s on slow cooker gourmet.net
This recipe is always a hit! I recently noticed the link to the homemade cajun seasoning blend is no longer there- will this be available again? Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
I’m so sorry, I don’t recall having a homemade recipe blend for this one, but this is one of my favorite store bought seasoning blends. But, I should work on a homemade version!
Tony’s is a favorite in Mississippi and Louisiana. My favorite has always been Zatarins. I love Slap Ya Mama the best though for seasoning.Zatarins crab boil
Is awesome though.
Also Old Bay. I love cooking Cajun food.
I miss living on Cajun country. I
Also Love Creole
With is distinctly different. My favorite is the creole. I like the heat of the spicesz
I am so disappointed…it was super runny. Even with three times the cornstarch mixture. And the chicken broth made the sauce turn out pasty pale brown. It tasted ok…Next time I will use half the amount of chicken broth…I scooped out the shrimp and half the sauce to put over the pasta. I’m so glad it was only the kids I was serving this to and not company.
Hi I would recommend for the sauce to make
Sure you make your
Cornstarch slurry and slowly cook your sauce well to thicken. Be sure to Not use high heat and stir constantly. Also you may want to add
A pinch more Cajun seasoning. I recommend using Slap Ya Mama Cajun season, Zatarins, or Tony Chacheres. I also add couple
Of dashes of Old Bay. If you like heat add one Scant Drop of Crab Boil Oil…. Be Careful with the oil!! Too much will LIGHT YOU UP!! If you like to
Spice up a seafood
dish, this will do it! I use it in my shrimp and sausage Jambalya.
I made this for my boyfriend and his brother and wife last night. It was AMAZING! Our sauce had a little trouble thickening as well but I made a roux and added that and the sauce thickened up! We also left the shrimp in the whole time and it was not over cooked at all! We cook a lot and my boyfriend said “this is definitely the best thing we’ve made!”
That’s great!! I’m so glad you both liked it!!
I make this at least twice a month! My husband and I argue over who gets to eat the leftovers. It’s a staple in our house.
Thanks Katie, so great to hear!!
Tried this tonight and it was a fail. Like others have said, it came out runny and I followed step-by-step.
I made it as directed step by step. It was super runny even with adding extra corn starch and tasted like heavy whipping cream. Needless to say we are having pb&J’s tonight. Maybe I’ll try it again one day….it looked so good!
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out!!