Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Sausage is easy to make weeknight one pot pasta dish! With only 40 minutes of total work, this shrimp pasta dinner recipe is simple, fast and delicious!
Quick and easy dinner is always something I have on my mind. I happen to love shrimp and sausage combination because it’s so flavorful and delicious. Besides, there’s nothing better than having a restaurant quality pasta dish on the table for my family and friends! This creamy pasta dish disappeared quickly from our dinner table!
CREAMY SHRIMP PASTA:
If there is one thing I can always count on my family to eat it is my Cajun food. We love this traditional Southern shrimp pasta recipe in our house! I always make it with large shrimp and smoked sausage. By the way, I like to use Andouille sausage. We recently had some company over for dinner and this creamy sausage pasta became a huge hit! It is a family favorite Southern shrimp pasta recipe! This easy sausage pasta recipe is so vibrant with flavor! And I like that this delicious, creamy shrimp pasta is ready in less than 40 minutes!
Because the Cajun sauce is homemade, it is so much better than anything in a jar! And so incredibly simple! The cooking time for this creamy shrimp pasta recipe is only 40 minutes as it all comes together pretty quickly. And if you enjoy eating Cajun as much as we do, you might also like this Cajun themed Instant Pot Chicken and Rice. Yes, I made it Cajun as well!
What kind of Cajun seasoning should I use
This is Sodium Free Cajun seasoning that I like to use just because it gives me control over the amount of salt I am consuming. Be aware that various Cajun seasoning brands contain significant amount of sodium. Therefore always be sure to check the Nutrition Facts on the spice blends to see if they contain sodium. I have seen blends with as much as 300 mg sodium in 1/4 teaspoon. Please choose a blend with little or no salt as the one I listed above.
There are many other low sodium options for Cajun seasoning in your local grocery stores! Just be sure to check the labels!
What is closest to Cajun seasoning?
Definitely Creole seasoning. To recreate the heat found in many Cajun seasoning blends, what you can do is simply add cayenne pepper to the blend or use fresh or dried chili peppers elsewhere in the recipe. This way you can use Creole seasoning as a 1:1 substitute for Cajun seasoning.
I like to use this Creole Seasoning: Tony Chachere’s Original Creole seasoning
HOW TO MAKE CAJUN SHRIMP SAUSAGE PASTA:
- You will start by adding olive oil in a large skillet.
- Then you will cook your seasoned shrimp until browned. Remove it from the pan.
- Next you will add sliced sausage to the same pan and brown it. Remove it from the pan as well.
- Then, you will cook your diced onions, bell peppers, and garlic until softened. You will only need about 5 minutes.
- While they are cooking, you will start preparing your pasta by boiling some water.
- Now, back to the sauce. The next step is to pour in crushed tomatoes, chicken stock and heavy cream into the pan. Bring to a simmering point.
- While the sauce is simmering, add your Parmesan cheese. You finished the sauce work!
- Now let’s complete the assembly. Once you cook the pasta, add it to the pan with Cajun sauce.
- At this point you will also add your shrimp and sausage back to the pan and reheat them. If you like your sauce a bit thicker, you may want to add extra Parmesan. But keep in mind that the sauce will thicken as it sits.
How do you make Cajun Pasta with shrimp?
I cooked shrimp just pink enough. This is what my shrimp looked like. Perfect for creamy shrimp pasta!
Then I emptied the skillet and added my sausage. And just like the shrimp I cooked the sausage just till brown enough. It will be delicious in creamy sausage pasta!
Finally, I made the creamy Cajun sauce. You can use either Cajun or Creole seasonings to make it. I like to use this Louisiana Cajun Seasoning or this Original Creole Seasoning. This sauce is delicious!!! While I was making it, I already knew it was going to be a hit. All you need to do now is combine all three. And then add cooked pasta. Sausage and shrimp pasta is done!
This Cajun shrimp pasta is so decadent and yet easy! And the flavor is out of the world. It is restaurant quality pasta dish that you can make right at home.
If you like spicy food and more, you can always follow us on FACEBOOK where we share the tastiest recipe videos. And if you enjoy Cajun and pasta, I do have a few other Cajun pasta recipes on this website. For example, my family loves our Louisiana Chicken Pasta and Cajun Chicken Pasta.
Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 lb. large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (or Creole seasoning)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 6 oz andouille sausage or smoked sausage (thinly sliced)
- 10 ounces fettuccine pasta
- ½ yellow onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
- 4 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (or Creole seasoning)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2-3 cloves garlic (chopped)
- ½ cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth sodium free
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup Grated Parmesan
- 1 tbsp parsley (chopped)
Instructions
- Toss shrimp with salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and Oregano, and coat well. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and drizzle bottom of pan with olive oil.
- Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Flip shrimp over and cook another minute or two. Then remove to a plate and set aside. Drizzle pan with a little more olive oil, add sausage and brown until nicely caramelized, about 4 - 5 minutes. Remove to plate, set aside.
- Add pasta to salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
- Lower heat to medium and add a bit more olive oil to the pan, add the onion, red bell pepper, Cajun seasoning, brown sugar, and a generous pinch of salt. Sauté until onion and pepper have softened a bit, scraping up any browned bits that you can. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and heavy cream. Bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan, simmer a couple minutes.
- Once simmering, add Parmesan and stir into sauce. When Parmesan is blended in, add cooked pasta and sausage and stir to combine and heat through, 2 - 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and then lastly, add shrimp.
- Serve with chopped parsley.
My family LOVED it! I made the sauce without parmesan because my husband doesn’t like cheese and still, the flavor was fantastic!!
Sooo glad to hear it was great without parmesan!
I just made this for dinner tonight, I had to sub a few ingredients we didn’t have, so no sausage, and used fresh plum tomatoes and tomato puree instead of crushed tomatoes, and used coconut cream instead of heavy cream, and no parmesan as I dont like cheese. It was amazing, my husband actually said it was better than restaurant pasta, and gave me a high 5 lol!
Will be adding your website to my list of go to’s for ideas, thanks so much, I swear that’s the best food I’ve ever cooked!
Thank you for such a wonderful review, Elizabeth – it made my day!
So Im not a shrimp lover so I used chicken breast in place of it. Also used a little cornstarch to thicken sauce. I only used half the amount of cajun seasoning called for and it was absolutely delicious! Will definitely be making again! Thanks for a great recipe.
We loved this!! I used half amount of Zatarain’s Creole seasoning and no extra salt. Took a suggestion of reviewer here and after adding liquids, just put uncooked pasta right in sauce, covered and simmered for 8-10 min, then added the cooked turkey smoked sausage & shrimp back in – Yum!!
Sounds like you nailed it with the cooked turkey smoked sausage, Barbara!
Omgggggg. This is so good. My family cleaned the pan. That was my first time and it turned out delicious. I will definitely cook this dish again. Now I’m looking for my next dish for Sunday. Thank you.
There is only one thing left to do – make more!
Made this for my family and they loved it! My mom especially, and she’s picky. Lol. Sauce was thin for while, but I let it simmer down a bit longer, and it was good to go after that. Thank you!
Simmering always does the trick! I’m glad mom liked it.
This was delicious. I followed your recipe as written, except substituting half and half for the heavy cream because that’s what I had. I did add a tablespoon of cornstarch to the half and half before adding to the pan to thicken the sauce after reading some of the reviews. Even if the sauce was on the thinner side the recipe is still perfect. The red bell pepper, Parmesan and Cajun seasoning all marry together and make this dish oh so good! It’s a gorgeous presentation too. My family gobbled this up and it will definitely be added into my dinner rotation. Thank you for the fabulous recipe!
You are so welcome, Brittany! And sounds like you nailed it with the cornstarch!
I read the messages that were left so when I made the sauce and brought it to a simmer, I just cooked my pasta in the sauce. It thickened the sauce and the flavors absorbed into the pasta. It was great. Leftovers the next day, I just added a small amount of water when reheating. It was really good
That’s a great idea, Jaime!
I’m making this recipe tonight! Can’t wait for dinner now! Looks SO delish!
The flavor was great, but the sauce was soupy and not thick enough. I followed the recipe and did not alter it in any way. Didn’t cling to the pasta and we had to eat it as if it were soup.
Very good flavor. I added more parmesan than the recipe called for, and it was still a little thin. But we frequently eat Cajun, and this was a nice recipe to mix it up!