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Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta (Instant Pot)

This Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta is restaurant quality and made in one pot! It’s so easy and delicious and perfect for any dinner menu.

Cajun chicken pasta in a bowl

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Full Recipe/Instructions are available in the 
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Pasta is my love! It’s my comfort food. And my pressure cooker spoils me because I can make easy and delicious pasta all in one pot without draining any liquid. It’s so easy but so darn tasty.

Now I’m no newbie when it comes to pasta in my pressure cooker. I’ve shared these garlic noodles and this pressure cooker chicken spaghetti recipe. Now I’d love to share this cajun chicken pasta made in my Instant Pot with you.

I first tested this recipe on a night I was mad at my husband. He had thrown out some leftover cajun chicken pasta I had brought home from a restaurant earlier that day. I  was livid! He shrugged and said “I bet you can make a better version at home.” Challenge accepted I said, and I got to testing.

Fast forward to today where this has become another staple recipe in our rotation.

How to make Creamy Chicken Pasta

First, grab your pasta. I strongly suggest using corkscrew pasta for this recipe. The noodles plump up into a nice pillow like noodle that helps provide that creamy comfort. It’s the only noodle I use in this recipe.

Add your 1 lb of pasta into your pressure cooker insert. Then add 3 cups of water, and 1 cup chicken broth. The ratio of pasta and water for cooking pasta in the pressure cooker is 1:4.

pasta in the pressure cooker insert with water

Please note that every single bit of pasta will not be submerged in water as you can see in my photo. That’s fine, it will all get cooked just the same.

Then add your cut chicken breast by laying it across the top of the pasta in a single layer. Then sprinkle your cajun seasoning over the chicken breast.

pressure cooker insert with chicken and cajun seasoning sprinkled on top

I’ve tried this recipe in a ton of various cajun and blackening seasoning blends. Each time the pasta was good but the very best blend was this Organic Thrive Market brand cajun seasoning. It’s a necessity now when I order through Thrive Market.

Next, layer your spinach on top.

spinach in pressure cooker for creamy cajun chicken pasta

Close the lid, ensuring that your valve is set to “Seal.”

Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.

Once the cook time is complete, do a quick release and open the lid once all the pressure has been released. 

spinach cooked on top of creamy cajun chicken pasta

Stir and add your heavy cream and parmesan cheese at this time.

completed creamy cajun chicken pasta in pressure cooker with spoon sticking out

Top with chopped roma tomatoes and green onions.

Can you sub shrimp for the chicken in this recipe?

You could, but not by simply replacing it. If you’re going to replace or add shrimp, I’d suggest cooking the shrimp separately on the stove top so it doesn’t overcook.

I hope you enjoy this Cajun Creamy Chicken Pasta as much as we do. If you’re looking for more pasta recipes try these out:

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Creamy and delicious Cajun Chicken Pasta made right in your Pressure Cooker. I use my Instant Pot to make this chicken pasta without draining and in less than 20 minutes.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword creamy cajun chicken pasta
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Build Pressure 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 418kcal
Author Tanya

Ingredients

  • 16 oz corkscrew pasta
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 lb chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3 Tablespoon cajun seasoning
  • 2 cups spinach
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup grated parmesan
  • 1 roma tomato chopped
  • 1 green onion chopped

Instructions

  • Pour pasta, water, and chicken broth into Pressure Cooker insert.
  • Spread chicken breast on top of pasta. Then sprinkle cajun seasoning over chicken breast.
  • Place spinach on top.
  • Cover pressure cooker, ensuring that the vale is set to “Seal”
  • Set on Manual for 5 minutes.
  • The pressure cooker will take about 10-15 minutes to reach pressure and start the timer. After the 5 minute timer is up, release the pressure by moving the valve to “Vent.” Once all the pressure is released, open lid and stir. Add heavy cream and parmesan cheese.
  • Serve and top with roma tomatoes and green onion. Enjoy 🙂

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 418kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 389mg | Potassium: 510mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2490IU | Vitamin C: 6.4mg | Calcium: 186mg | Iron: 1.9mg
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4.63 from 8 votes (1 rating without comment)
Recipe Rating




JimmyB

Friday 10th of June 2022

Hubby sure knows how to dig himself out of the doghouse!! LOL

Summer

Sunday 1st of March 2020

It was too spicy! But still good!

Lori

Sunday 27th of October 2019

This one was spicy but still bland... I added salt, pepper, and garlic powder and that helped. Mine was also rather soupy. I'm hoping the flavors develop more after resting for a while. Decent, but not a huge hit here.

Brittney Province

Friday 30th of August 2019

My husband absolutely loved this recipe. He told me to keep it and make it again.

Tanya

Saturday 31st of August 2019

Yay! So glad he liked the recipe.

MARYSSA BROWN

Wednesday 28th of August 2019

If I leave the amount of pasta the same, but double the chicken, does the time change? Plan on making this tonight! Thanks!

Tanya

Wednesday 28th of August 2019

Hi Maryssa, no the cook time doesn't change.