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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
Equipment
- large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot
- Large spoon
- small skillet
- Tongs
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
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
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.
- 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.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
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.
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So good, my son told me it needed to be in the normal dinner rotation. Thank you!
We’re so glad everyone loved it! Thanks for sharing, Tia!
I just got my kitchen back since our cabinet painting is finally finished now, and this recipe was the first on my list to be made! It was the perfect comfort meal. I served it with fresh, warm sourdough and I couldn’t have been happier.
Ooh, we’re honored that you chose it as the first recipe to make! Warm sourdough sounds delicious with it. Thanks so much for sharing, Amelia! 😊
Outstanding soup with so much flavor. Will definitely make again 😋
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing, Mia!
I just made this and it is SO good! Super easy to make too. Thanks!
We’re so glad you loved it, CeeCee! Thanks for sharing!
Good recipe although I added some veggies to mine very flavorful and easy.
Ooh, veggies sound like a great addition! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
So good, I cooked it in a crockpot. I just added all the ingredients into a freezer bag except noodles. Froze it and than thawed it out when I was ready to use it. Cooked it for 7h then shredded the chicken cook the noodles separately and then combined it. It turned out fantastic. Will definitely make again. I also had extra mushrooms on hand so I added them to the recipe.
Ooh, perfect! Thanks so much for sharing these helpful tips, Rebekah!
This soup is delicious! Both times I’ve made it, the Parmesan melted into a glob at the bottom. Any suggestions?
Oh no! Were you using packaged parmesan cheese, or freshly grated parmesan? Sometimes that makes a big difference!
Great tasting soup. Easy to make.
Thanks for sharing, Kelley! 😊
I made this dairy free & it was delicious. Can’t wait to make this more often this coming fall/winter!
So glad you loved it, Jennifer!
Looks delcious! Can this be made ahead of time and/or stored in the freezer?
Hi there! We haven’t tried freezing this soup, so we can’t say for sure. We’d love to hear how it works out if you try it! 😊