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This post is all about how to make my Louisiana Chicken Pasta Bake – a cajun alfredo chicken pasta with peppers and veggies smothered in cheese and baked in a casserole dish until bubbly.
Easy enough for a weeknight dinner and equally delicious and impressive to serve to dinner guests. This cajun-style Louisiana chicken pasta is full of cajun spices, creamy sauce, melty gooey cheese, and perfectly cooked veggies and chicken.
This Louisiana Chicken Pasta is inspired by Cheesecake Factory’s popular dish but I’ll be honest, this one is so much better! I am not a huge mushroom fan, but you can add these if you want this to be more similar to the Cheesecake Factory version. You can also alternately fry the chicken instead of sautéing it.
If you love comfort foods and pasta dishes, you’ll probably adore some of my most loved pasta recipes: Chicken Scampi Stuffed Shells, Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese, and my Easy Chicken Tetrazzini.
This recipe post is all about Louisiana Chicken Pasta Bake, a lusciously creamy cajun alfredo sauce smothered all over chicken, crisp veggies and pasta, topped with cheese and baked until bubbly.
Key Ingredients in Louisiana Chicken Pasta:
- Chicken – I use tenders but you can also use chicken breasts or thighs.
- Butter – a must for alfredo sauce.
- Heavy Cream – another staple ingredient in alfredo sauce.
- Chicken stock/broth – I use chicken stock to cut some of the heavy cream to lighten up the dish so it’s not overly heavy.
- Cajun Seasoning – I use my homemade Cajun seasoning but you can buy store bought as well.
- Veggies – onion, broccoli, tomatoes, and bell pepper.
- Pasta – use your favorite; penne, bow tie, linguini, etc.
- Garlic – lots of garlic is used in the cajun alfredo sauce.
- Cheese – parmesan and melty cheese like monterey jack, pepper jack, or colby jack.
How to Make Louisiana Chicken Pasta:
Prep & Saute Veggies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep the chicken by seasoning it well and setting aside for 20 minutes to remove the chill from the fridge. In a large skillet melt butter and garlic cloves and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the peppers and broccoli. Saute for just 3-5 minutes, until they are browned but not cooked through.
Cook Chicken: In the same pan add the cajun-seasoned chicken. Cook for 3 minutes per side then toss the chicken in the butter and garlic. Place the chicken and pan juices into the bowl with the veggies, tent with foil and set aside.
Make the Sauce: Melt butter in the same large skillet. Add remaining garlic and diced tomatoes and saute for another 2-3 minutes or until tomatoes soften.
Pour in the heavy cream and chicken stock. Then add in the cajun seasoning and parmesan cheese and bring to a simmer until it thickens slightly. Cook the pasta to al dente.
Toss & Bake: To the simmering sauce add the cooked pasta, chicken, and veggies. Add in half of the shredded cheese and toss well.
Place the mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish, top with remaining cheese and sprinkle the top with cajun seasoning or paprika. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and the top is lightly browned.
Reheating & Serving Tips: To reheat pasta, add a splash of chicken stock, cream and a dollop of butter to each bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes stirring half way through. I like to serve my Louisiana pasta with breadsticks or Texas toast and a salad.
Tools I Love For This Recipe:
It’s important when making this recipe to choose a large enough sauté pan that will allow you room to toss your veggies, chicken and pasta in the alfredo sauce without everything spilling over the edge. I love my large saute pans for recipes like these. You can bake this in a glass Pyrex dish or, a pretty ceramic baking dish. These are some of my favorites:
White Ceramic 9×13 Baking Dish with Lid
Large and Deep Saute Pan
Looking for More Pasta Recipes?
Chicken Scampi Stuffed Shells
Chicken Tetrazzini
Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
I hope you enjoyed this recipe for my cheesy and creamy Louisiana Chicken Pasta Bake. Be sure to comment below with any questions or feedback! If you make these or any other recipes, don’t forget to tag me on IG @BadBatchBaking to be featured on my story. Seeing your recreations makes my day!
Louisiana Chicken Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken tenders, breast or thighs
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 10 cloves garlic
- 2 crowns broccoli, broken into small florets
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 lb pasta, farfelle penne or any pasta of your choice
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup chicken stock/broth
- 1 cup parmesan, grated
- 3 cups shredded cheese, divided colby jack, cheddar, pepperjack whichever you prefer
- cajun seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
Instructions
Prep & Saute Veggies
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep the chicken by seasoning it well with cajun seasoning. Set aside for 20 minutes to remove the chill from the fridge. In a large, deep skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter and add in 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the peppers, onion and broccoli and season with salt and pepper. Saute for just 3-5 minutes, until they are browned but not cooked through. Remove veggies from the pan and set aside in a large bowl.
Cook Chicken
- In the same pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil and add chicken. Cook for 3 minutes per side. Add 1 tbsp butter to the pan plus 1 spoonful of garlic then toss the chicken in the butter and garlic. Place the chicken and pan juices into the bowl with the veggies, tent with foil and set aside. After chicken has rested about 5-10 minutes, then slice it up and return to the foil-tented bowl.
Make the Sauce
- Melt 3 tbsp butter in the same large skillet. Add remaining garlic and saute until fragrant. Add diced tomatoes and saute for another 2-3 minutes or until tomatoes soften, lightly smashing with a fork. Add heavy cream and chicken stock. Add in the cajun seasoning, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese and bring to a simmer until it thickens slightly. As the sauce cooks boil water and cook the pasta to al dente.
Toss & Bake
- To the simmering sauce add the cooked pasta, chicken, and veggies. Add in half of the shredded cheese and toss well. Place the mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish, top with remaining cheese and sprinkle the top with cajun seasoning or paprika. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and the top is lightly browned.
Reheating & Serving Tips
- To reheat pasta, add a splash of chicken stock, cream and a dollop of butter to each bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes stirring half way through. I like to serve my Louisiana pasta with breadsticks or Texas toast and a salad.
First of many of your recipes I will try! So happy I came across your page. Loved this spicy cheesy dish. I had it leftover for lunches at work too! Only change I made is a 1/2c of white wine before the broth and cream step. Yum!
The sauce preparation is tricky to me. Well super tasty recipe
Super tasty spicy recipes. I love to try your recipes.