Cajun shrimp pasta has an explosion of flavor that can't be beat. This spicy shrimp pasta recipe results in a dish that combines perfectly-cooked shrimp and tender pasta in a creamy, spicy Cajun sauce that will have your taste buds singing! They don't call it Creole heaven for nothing.
If you're looking for a ragin' Cajun flavor blast, then you've come to the right place. This delicious Cajun shrimp pasta has all the flavors we love about creole food in a creamy pasta sauce wrapped around noodles and tender shrimp. It's a delicious spicy shrimp pasta recipe that I and my family can't get enough of.
It's no secret that my family loves spicy food, especially my husband and son. I swear, they would eat fire if they could. In fact, I'd say they have judging by some of the hot sauces I've seen them eat. While this recipe isn't quite that hot, it does have a nice kick of heat and flavor in all the rich, creamy goodness.
While I didn't grow up eating Cajun food, I encountered it as a young adult, and I was hooked. I've always loved intense, interesting flavors, and if Cajun cooking has anything it has those two things. I started using Cajun foods in my recipe rotation, and when I met my husband, he was totally on board. I swear, he'll mainline peppers... Anyway, we had our son, and as he got older, he also became a lover of spicy food, including Cajun pasta dishes.
Over the years, I've made tons of different spicy dishes ranging from Tex-Mex to this spicy shrimp pasta recipe, and this one has become one of my family's absolute favorites.
This creamy cajun shrimp pasta is one of those chicken pasta recipes that is perfect for busy weeknights or entertaining and how cool is that?
History of Cajun Cooking
Before we get into the recipe, I want to talk about the history of Cajun cooking for a minute. Of course, I feel it's important to talk about it because that's how we come to this recipe, but it's also interesting to me because Cajun cooking might be synonymous with Louisiana, but it actually originated in Canada.
Follow along with me, and you'll find out how.
The flavors of Cajun cooking originate in Lousiana due to the availability of certain ingredients, but the sensibilities behind it come from Canada. How the heck did Canada have a hand in Cajun cooking? It's easy.
French-Canadian immigrants brought the style of rural French cooking with them from Canada when they immigrated to what is now Louisiana.
The Acadians were the original French settlers in North America. They immigrated to Canada in the early 1600s where they lived off the land. Their peasant-style recipes from the French countryside, which were usually meat and vegetables cooked in a single pot were adapted to whatever the Acadians could catch or gather from the surrounding land and sea.
Upon their refusal to pledge allegiance to the British crown in 1755, over 14,000 Acadians were deported, and many of them made their way to Louisiana.
Upon their arrival in Louisiana, the Acadians adapted their cooking to what the land could provide. Lobster, salmon, and cod from the North Atlantic were replaced with crab, oysters, alligators, crawfish, shrimp, catfish, and redfish.
Rice, which loved the humid climate of the region, replaced potatoes, and bell peppers took the place of carrots. Influences and flavors from the Spanish, Native Americans, and African-Americans in the area also played a heavy role in shaping their cuisine into what we know as Cajun cooking today.
How do I Make Cajun Shrimp Pasta
This spicy shrimp pasta recipe is the quintessential Cajun idea. It's a simple recipe packed with flavor. It's not overly complicated. It's not time-consuming.
It's just simple ingredients put together to create a simple dish that lets all the flavor do the heavy lifting, just like every good Cajun recipe does. It's so good and so easy, it's a great recipe to keep on heavy rotation if you love spice and shellfish.
Cajun Shrimp Pasta Ingredients
It takes a few ingredients to make this dish, but most of them just get mixed together and simmered. You'll see that all of these ingredients are very common. There's nothing fancy here, just great flavor. Here's what you'll need.
- Penne Pasta - or any you choose
- Olive Oil
- Heavy Cream - this makes the sauce nice and creamy and will stick to the pasta nicely
- Roma Tomato - or any fresh tomato will do
- Cajun Spice or Seasoning - I use Slap Yo Mama, but use your favorite kind or homemade cajun seasoning
- Shrimp - raw, medium, peeled and deveined (if using frozen shrimp, thawed)
- Butter - not margarine
- Garlic - minced or pre-minced
- Fresh Parmesan - freshly grated, don’t use pre-grated or the kind in the bottle
- Parsley - fresh not dried
- Salt
Making the Spicy Shrimp Pasta
Making this Cajun shrimp pasta is as easy as the ingredient list. The amount of cooking required is minimal, as shrimp cooks up fast, and the rest of the recipe is just as quick. This past dish doesn't even require a roux!
You'll find the complete recipe along with amounts in the recipe card below, but a quick look at the recipe overview below will immediately reveal just how quickly everything comes together in this dish.
- In a medium to large pot, cook pasta noodles according to package directions with salt until al dente. Once the noodles are cooked to tenderness, pour off and reserve ½ cup pasta liquid and set aside. Drain remaining liquid and keep the noodles warm on the stovetop or covered.
- In a small bowl combine olive oil, and 2 ½ tablespoons of the cajun seasoning - reserve 1 teaspoon of the cajun seasoning for later use. Coat the deveined and peeled shrimp with this oil and seasoning mixture
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shrimp in a single layer across the bottom of the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. Only turn the shrimp over once. Shrimp is cooked when it turns opaque and firm, and depending on the kind of shrimp you use can turn pink. Do not overcook shrimp or it will turn rubbery and chewy. Remove the shrimp from the skillet and place it on a plate so that it will not continue to cook from the heat of the pan.
- In the skillet over medium high heat add remaining butter and cook the onion, minced garlic, and the reserved 1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning. Saute till onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream, and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow the cream to come to a low bubble.
- Turn off the heat. Add the cheese and stir till smooth and creamy.
- Add the cooked pasta and stir to coat.
- If the sauce is too thick add some of the reserved pasta water one spoon at a time to thin down to desired thickness.
- Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.
What To Serve With Shrimp
Wow! What a meal idea! Now all you need is a side dish or two that will compliment this pasta. Check out the list and let me know which one you choose! Or for more dinner ideas, try out our delicious Easy Broiled Lemon Garlic Shrimp and our Easy Garlic Shrimp Pasta recipes.
Tips
This cajun shrimp pasta recipe is hard to screw up. Really hard. It's so straightforward, you're almost guaranteed to have a delicious meal when everything is said and done.
That being said, there are a few things to remember to ensure that you get the absolute best finished product possible.
Don't Overcook the Shrimp
If ever there was a meat that you don't want to overcook, it's shrimp. When you overcook shrimp it gets rubbery, which isn't very appetizing. Cook the shrimp until it's just cooked and no longer.
Use Fresh Parmesan Cheese
It's important that you take the little bit of extra time required to grate your own parmesan cheese. Pre-grated parmesan cheese that you get in the shaker or the bag has added ingredients to keep it from sticking. When you use that kind of parmesan in a recipe, it makes the sauce grainy and odd. Grate your own cheese for a far better outcome.
Don't Substitute the Heavy Cream
You might be tempted to save calories by using milk instead of heavy cream, but you will absolutely ruin this dish if you do. The heavy cream is what makes the sauce nice and creamy and allows it to stick to the pasta and shrimp. If you use milk, the entire thing will be watery.
Variations
There's only one thing I recommend playing with when it comes to this recipe. That's the shrimp. The rest of the recipe is absolutely perfect, but you can change out the shrimp for other shellfish if you like to create a dish that is equally as delicious but a touch different. Any kind of shellfish will work here. Some great ideas are:
- Jumbo shrimp
- Prawns
- Crawfish
- Crab
- Any firm white fish
Storing Cajun Shrimp Pasta
This spicy shrimp pasta recipe will keep well in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to five days. For longer storage, you can freeze the dish for up to three months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bags.
To thaw, place the pasta in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat it on the stovetop in a microwave-safe dish and enjoy!
Enjoy This Cajun Shrimp Pasta
This spicy shrimp pasta is a real winner. It's perfect for any time of year, from summer evenings to cold, winter days. It's so creamy, filled with seafood goodness, and satisfying that everyone always loves it no matter when you serve it.
Cook it up as-is or substitute the shrimp for your favorite seafood to make a dish that's uniquely yours. With so many fish and shellfish options available out there, there's literally no end to the ways you can change things up with this recipe.
Give this Cajun shrimp pasta a try, and I know you and your family will love it. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you find yourself making it far more often than you might have thought!
Cajun Shrimp Pasta - Creole Heaven
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3 Tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 pound shrimp raw, medium sized, peeled and deveined
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 roma tomato diced
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese fresh grated
- 1 tablespoon parsley minced
Instructions
- In a medium to large pot, cook pasta noodles according to package directions with salt. Once the noodles are cooked to tenderness, pour off and reserve ½ cup pasta liquid and set aside. Drain remaining liquid and keep the noodles warm on the stove top or covered.
- In a small bowl combine olive oil, and 2 ½ tablespoons of the cajun seasoning - reserve 1 teaspoon of the cajun seasoning for later use. Coat the deveined and peeled shrimp with this oil and seasoning mixture
- Heat a large skillet and melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shrimp in a single layer across the bottom of the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. Only turn the shrimp over once. Shrimp is cooked when it turns opaque and firm, and depending on the kind of shrimp you use can turn pink. Do not overcook shrimp or it will turn rubbery and chewy. Remove shrimp from the pan and place on a plate so that it will not continue to cook from the heat of the pan.
- In the hot pan over medium/ high heat add remaining butter and cook the onion, minced garlic and the reserved 1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning. Saute till onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream, and stir. Reduce heat to medium low and allow the cream to come to a low bubble.
- Turn off the heat. Add the cheese and stir till smooth and creamy.
- Add the cooked pasta and stir to coat.
- If the sauce is too thick add some of the reserved pasta water one spoon at a time to thin down to desired thickness.
- Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Lisa says
Absolutely loved this pasta dish as did everyone else No leftovers to be had Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe KD Keep up the great work!
Karin and Ken says
Thank you for your kind words! As always I’m grateful to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Hopefully you find some other recipes on this site that you enjoy just as much! All the best. Karin