This easy one pot creamy Cajun sausage pasta recipe is flavorful comfort food at its best! Ready in just over half an hour. Perfect for a weeknight dinner.
Red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and a little Dijon mustard go a long way towards making the sauce especially scrumptious. I finished this Cajun pasta recipe off with some fresh basil and parmesan cheese. YUM.
In an ideal world, I would have used Andouille sausage here (a smoked pork sausage). Sometimes I can't get all the ingredients I need without going to a specialty shop, so I used a nice pork sausage I found in the deli section of a local grocery store.
If you can find a good smoked pork sausage, I'd definitely go for that.
Pro tip: I saved some calories in here by using half-and-half vs. heavy cream. The pasta is nice and creamy, but not so rich that you'll get a stomachache after.
Love Cajun-inspired food? You may also like my Cajun salmon pasta, my Cajun shrimp pasta, or my Cajun chicken pasta recipe.
Another tip: If you're making a one pot pasta dish, I suggest sticking to the type of pasta recommended in the recipe for best results.
I made this pasta with penne. One observation I made is that penne seems to suck up a LOT more fluid than some other shapes of pasta, so there ya go.
What's in Cajun seasoning?
I use a pre-made Cajun seasoning blend to save time, but it's easy enough to make your own. It typically contains garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt.
There's only a tablespoon in this recipe, but I find that's enough to give this dish fantastic flavor without it being too spicy or overwhelming.
More pastas with sausage you may like:
- Easy Sausage Rigatoni
- One Pan Tortellini with Sausage
- Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta
- Tuscan Sausage Pasta
- One Pan Creamy Gnocchi with Sausage
- Simple Sausage and Broccoli Pasta
Hope you love this smoked sausage pasta recipe!
Questions? Let me know in the comments below!
Cajun Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound pork sausage (ideally smoked) sliced
- 5 ounces white mushrooms sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes julienned
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 3 cups uncooked penne
- 8 leaves fresh basil thinly sliced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese to taste
Instructions
- Add olive oil and sausage to a soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown the sausages for 5 minutes. If your sausages are particularly fatty, drain most of the grease off (I skipped this step since my sausages were fairly lean).
- Add the mushrooms and sauté for another 3 minutes or so.
- Stir in the garlic, Dijon mustard, sun-dried tomatoes, and red pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the chicken broth, half-and-half, Cajun seasoning, and penne. Increase the heat to high. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium (or medium-low if it continues to bubble a lot). Cook until the pasta is done and the sauce is reduced to your liking (about 20 minutes), stirring often so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Season with salt & pepper and stir in the basil. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- This recipe is accurate as tested on my stove. However, stoves (especially electric ones) can vary, so if you notice the pasta is not yet cooked and there doesn't seem to be enough liquid, I suggest using your best judgment and adding a bit more liquid as needed, a half cup at a time until the pasta is cooked.
- Some pastas absorb more liquid than others, so I suggest sticking to the type of pasta I recommend in this recipe.
- You could use pretty much any kind of pork sausage in this recipe, but a smoked pork sausage such as Andouille sausage would be especially good.
- I used sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and drained the oil before adding them to the pan.
- Serves 4-6.
Tiffany says
Hi Natasha,
Could you use heavy whipping cream instead of half & half? Or is half & half a better option?
Thanks,
Tiffany
Natasha says
I’d use the heavy whipping cream.
Marta says
This recipe really knocked my socks off! It’s delicious! Definitely on the salty side- at least with the sausage I used. The fresh basil is a fantastic addition. Takes it to 5 stars. We can’t do dairy here so I just doubled the stock instead of adding half-and-half. I’m sure it’s great creamy but I didn’t feel that it was missing anything without it.
Natasha says
Wonderful... I am so happy that you liked it! That is good to know that it works without the cream too.
Danya says
It turned out great! My family loved it 🙂
Natasha says
Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know.
Emma says
You can substitute the dairy milk with ripple drink. Which is a plant based drink, free of gluten, dairy, egg, soy and nuts. I also use gluten allergy free noodles made by barilla. They have an excellent selection of allergy friendly pasta. I go for the allergy free organic veggies and sauces too. I live in a house full of food allergies. Egg,dairy all forms, soy, all forms of nuts, wheat, whey, gluten. Substitutions are easy to master and easy to get along with. I'm making this recipe tonight and can't wait to see how yummy it turns out! Oh quick add in tip. For those who want cake, use soda. You won'tr need oil,butter, egg, or milk in your baking recipes. You will have a cake that melts in your mouth! I use Bubly soda.
Carolyn says
So I made this last night and it was fantastic! I didn’t change anything except I had no fresh basil, I just added dried during the cooking and it was great. I used Honey Garlic Sausage; it was tender and tasty!
I am keeping this to make again.
Natasha says
That's awesome!! Thanks so much for letting me know, Carolyn.
Julie says
Any way to make without dairy? The rest of the recipe sounds great and would love to know how to get that creamy texture without it!
Natasha says
Hi Julie! I’m afraid that I really don’t have any suggestions. This is one of those recipes that I’d really have to tinker with (especially since it’s one pot) to give you any kind of good answer.
Zara says
Great recipe! I just love it! Perfect for this weekend! Thank you!
Natasha says
You are welcome!