Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Soup
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All the best parts of rich, flavorful Cajun chicken pasta, made into a filling, delicious, super creamy soup! Made in less than 30 minutes and with simple ingredients, this soup is wonderfully rich, with plenty of cream, Parmesan, and Cajun-blackened chicken.
🍲 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- We took that tried-and-true cajun chicken pasta and turned it into the ultimate comfort dish – soup! This flavorful take on chicken noodle soup combines cajun seasoning, juicy chicken, tangy diced tomatoes, and a creamy broth with tender ditalini pasta.
- I wouldn’t consider this soup overwhelmingly hot or spicy, so don’t panic. Of course, it’s easy to customize and adjust the spice levels. For a good kick, you might use another ½ tablespoon cajun seasoning. If you’re really heat sensitive, dial it back to just 1 tablespoon total and use it only on the chicken. You can always add more to the soup if you feel it needs it toward the end.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- It’s not necessary, BUT, if you want to really put your cajun chicken pasta soup over the top, serve it with a garnish of sliced green onions, crisp crumbled bacon, and a little more freshly shredded parmesan cheese.
- For a really thick, extra creamy soup, add in 2 ounces softened cream cheese when you add the broth and diced tomatoes. Make sure it’s softened, though. If it’s not room temperature when you add it, you risk it curdling in the dutch oven.
- I like to use thinly-sliced chicken breasts (typically 4 that weigh roughly ¼ pound each) or chicken tenders. This lets me maximize the surface area for seasoning, plus it lets the chicken cook in roughly 5 minutes total. Larger chicken breasts will take longer to cook, generally 4-5 minutes per side.
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Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small white onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons cajun seasoning divided
- 5 cups chicken stock or 4 cups chicken stock + 1 cup water
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 cup heavy cream at or close to room temperature
- 1 cup ditalini or other small pasta, dry
- 1 pound chicken breasts or tenders see Notes
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan at room temperature, see Notes
- salt and pepper to taste
- green onions sliced, to garnish
Equipment
- large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot
- Large spoon
- small skillet
- Tongs
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
Instructions
- Heat butter in large dutch oven over medium-high heat. When butter is melted, add onions and garlic. Sauté approximately 5 minutes or until aromatics are tender and fragrant, then stir in 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning.
- Remove pot from heat and stir in broth, diced tomatoes, and heavy cream. Return pot to heat and bring mixture to boil, then reduce heat to medium and let liquids come to rapid simmer.
- Pour dry pasta into dutch oven and stir well. Cook 10 minutes, stirring regularly and making sure to scrape bottom of pot to prevent sticking or burning.
- While pasta cooks, sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning over chicken, covering all sides.
- Heat small skillet over medium heat. Once pan is hot, pour in 1 tablespoon neutral oil and rotate pan to cover surface with oil.
- Add seasoned chicken to skillet. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, then flip chicken and cook on other side another 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board and let cool to touch, then chop chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Reduce heat under dutch oven to low. Remove pot from heat and stir in grated parmesan until well combined. Return pot to low heat and stir in chicken pieces, then let soup simmer 2 to 3 minutes.
- Taste soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Portion soup into serving bowls. Garnish with sliced onions if desired and serve warm.
Notes
- Chicken: I like to use thinly-sliced chicken breasts (typically 4 that weigh roughly ¼ pound each) or chicken tenders. This lets me maximize the surface area for seasoning, plus it lets the chicken cook in roughly 5 minutes total. Larger chicken breasts (½ pound each or so) will take longer to cook, generally 4-5 minutes per side.
- Parmesan: Buy a block of parmesan and grate it yourself rather than using store-bought grated cheese. The prepackaged kind adds starches and other anti-clumping agents that will keep it from melting like it should.
- Make it Low Carb/Keto: Use palmini noodles instead of traditional pasta. Rinse the palmini well before adding it to the soup. Also, make sure your diced tomatoes don’t have any added sugars.
Nutrition Information
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Meya says
Delicious, thank you for the recipe!
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
So happy you enjoyed it! 😊
Sara says
One of my new all time fav recipes. This is now a staple in my kitchen!! I also add a can of chipotle corn & some tomato paste & it’s amazinggg!!! This time I also added some of the cream cheese for that little extra creaminess.
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Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
Ooh, your additions sound delicious! So glad you loved it! 😊
Ashley Newton says
Love this recipe! First time I made it as is, but played around with it this time. I added mushrooms, spinach and green peppers to mine!
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
Ooh, that sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Ashley!
Allison says
We fixed this for supper tonight. My three picky grown sons loved it! We did add an extra Tbsp of Cajun seasoning into the soup and added ALOT more to the chicken as we were frying it. Excellent soup!
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
So happy to hear everyone loved it! Thanks for sharing, Allison. 😊
Jackie Ffrench says
We loved it! Very easy and just about everything I had on hand. Can I freeze the leftovers?
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
We haven’t tried freezing this soup, so we can’t say for sure! Let us know if you try it!
Gigi Odom says
Oh. My. Goodness. I normally adjust recipes and add extra ingredients, because my husband and I both are passionate about cooking. I decided to make this one just as it is written and we both loved it!
Megan | 40 Aprons Team says
Thank you, Gigi! I love this review so much. So happy you both enjoyed the soup as much as we do!!
Lorrie-Anne says
Was delicious, thank you
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
So glad you enjoyed it, Lorrie-Anne!
Bailey Wininger says
It was good.. thankfully I didn’t add any salt to the recipe because it would have been way too much. I recommend buying low sodium chicken stock & diluting it more than then recipe calls for. Other than that everything was great.
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
So glad you enjoyed it, Bailey!
michelle Neal says
This was delicious. Although I forgot to put my Parmesan on haha. I used seafood as I don’t eat chicken and it was very tasty.
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
Ooh, seafood sounds like a delicious substitution for the chicken! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!
Tamika Roberson says
what type of seafood did you use
Okeyma says
Very good! This recipe will be added to the family cook book!
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
So glad everyone enjoyed it! It’s such a great recipe to keep in rotation!
Justice says
Hi!
Was just wondering if this is able to be made in a crockpot?
Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
We have not tried making this soup in a crockpot yet, so we can’t say for sure. So sorry!