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.
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.
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.
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.
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. If you’re making a one pot pasta dish, I suggest sticking to the type of pasta recommended in the recipe for best results.
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.
Hope you love this smoked sausage pasta recipe!
Cajun Sausage Pasta
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4-6
This easy Cajun sausage pasta recipe is flavorful comfort food at its best! Bonus: It's all made in one pot.
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.
Courses Main Course
Cuisine Cajun
You may also like my Cajun shrimp pasta or my Cajun chicken pasta recipe.
Zara says
Great recipe! I just love it! Perfect for this weekend! Thank you!
Natasha says
You are welcome!
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.
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.