Louisiana Chicken Pasta Copycat is a recipe for one of the Cheesecake Factory’s most popular Cajun Chicken Pasta dishes. It’s a delicious Parmesan crusted chicken served over bow tie pasta with mushrooms, green onions, bell peppers and tomatoes in a spicy New Orleans sauce. Very easy, one skillet meal that comes together quickly and is full of flavor!
What kind of chicken to use for Louisiana Chicken Pasta
You will need thin or butterflied chicken breasts, or even chicken tenders. If the chicken you bought is thick, as it usually is, make sure to butterfly it by slicing it through the middle and splitting it into two thinner parts.
Chicken is crusted with Parmesan, bread crumbs and spices and cooked on each side for 4 to 5 minutes. Chicken breasts are cooked whole and then sliced in strips.
This incredible Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta Copycat dish is full of flavor thanks to the combination of bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, green onions and mushrooms. And of course, Cajun seasoning. It’s Cajun chicken pasta in its finest!
My first introduction to Cajun spices as years ago, when Emeril Lagasse had a show on Food Network cooking everything with his Emeril Essence Creole Seasoning. What he used to make his Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe was a combination of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano and salt. To this day I still use his seasoning for the Louisiana Chicken Pasta recipe.
Tools needed for this Cajun Chicken Pasta
You will need two skillets to prepare it: one for cooking the chicken and the other for the sauce and pasta. I used stainless steel pans.
You will also need a large saucepan to cook pasta in, a spatula and a whisk.
What kind of pasta to use for this Louisiana Chicken Pasta.
Any bow tie pasta will work here. My orange colored bow tie pasta was fun to work with and super delicious to eat! It was actually two color bow tie pasta, but the second darker color is not as visible on the pictures.
I also think penne will work very well in this Cajun Chicken Pasta dish.
When all work is done, the chicken is cooked and sliced, pasta is prepared and New Orleans Sauce is ready, sprinkle the slices of chicken with a bit of fresh green onions and shredded Parmesan and it will look even more attractive.
Serve it with the sliced chicken breast on top of the pasta.
This Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta Copycat recipe is a restaurant quality meal at the convenience of your own home. Pay same price as in a restaurant, but get 4 full portions!
This one truly feeds a whole family. That’s a pretty good deal!
Begin by cooking mushrooms. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter on medium high heat in a large stainless steel skillet until butter is melted. Add 8 oz sliced Cremini mushrooms to the hot pan and cook for a total of 3 minutes – 1.5 minute on each side.
Remove mushrooms from pan onto a plate (we’ll add them to the sauce later), if you want them to stay more flavorful and intact for the sauce. Otherwise, you can leave them in the same pan. I only like to remove them because they retain flavor and texture better that way.
Next add ½ red bell pepper and ½ yellow bell pepper, chopped to small cubes and 2 chopped green onions and a splash of olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes on medium high until softened.
Add 3 garlic cloves (sliced) and cook for 1 additional minute until garlic is fragrant.
To make Creamy New Orleans Sauce for this Cajun Chicken Pasta:
Stir in 1 tbsp flour and then add 1 cup chicken stock, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of Cajun Seasoning, ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Add 1 chopped small tomato. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes
This is when the sauce will really start to smell good and look good.
Add 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate.
Use a whisk or a large spoon to mix in Parmesan into the sauce.
Taste the sauce now before adding pasta to make sure it’s seasoned to your liking, add more of Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes and salt if necessary.
I added just a pinch more of seasoning at this point. Don’t forget you will be adding pasta to it later, so if you like it spicier, this is a good time to do it.
To cook pasta: In the meantime bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta and cook it according to instructions. Drain the pasta, but do not rinse.
For authentic “al dente” pasta, boil your pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally for 12 minutes. For more tender pasta, boil an additional 1 minute.
To cook chicken: If your chicken breasts are not thin, butterfly them, and/or flatten them by pounding with a meat tenderizer. The thinner the chicken breasts the better.
Take a chicken and dip in flour mixture first, then into the egg bowl, then back into the flour mixture. I went from one bowl to the other until I liked how much stuff I had on the chicken. Repeat with each chicken breast and set them aside on a plate.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium high in the stainless steel skillet (2nd skillet, not the one that has the sauce in it) and cook on medium high for 3 to 4 minutes on each side (total of 6-8 minutes) – just set the timer and flip when it beeps.
Check to make sure the chicken is fully cooked.
Cajun Chicken Pasta Final Assembly
Add pasta to the pan and stir until fully coated in the prepared Creamy New Orleans sauce. Add mushrooms (if you removed them earlier) to the sauce now. Season with more salt if necessary. Slice chicken into thin strips and serve on top of pasta. Sprinkle with additional shredded Parmesan and chopped fresh green onions, if desired.
If you liked this Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta Copycat, I also have a copycat for Pasta Da Vinci Chicken Pasta in Madeira Wine Sauce.
Hungry for more delicious pasta dishes? Below is the list of chicken pasta recipes to explore:
- Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Spinach in Creamy Tomato Sauce
- Seared Chicken Pasta in White Wine Parmesan Cheese Sauce
- Chicken and Mushroom Pasta in Pesto Wine Sauce
Our new favorite creamy chicken recipe is this Creamy Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta dish! It’s ready in less than 30 minutes and is so unbelievably good that I cannot recommend it enough:
Delicious Parmesan crusted chicken is served over bow tie pasta with mushrooms, green onions, bell peppers and tomatoes in a spicy New Orleans sauce. Very easy, one skillet meal that comes together quickly and is full of flavor!
- 1.5 lb chicken breasts thin (4 to 5 pieces)
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tbsp olive oil for cooking chicken
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- 2 green onions chopped
- ½ large yellow bell pepper chopped
- ½ large red bell pepper chopped
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 small tomato chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chicken stock sodium free (adjust salt if not sodium free)
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 to 1.5 tsp Cajun Seasoning
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt to taste
- 10 oz bow tie pasta
- TO MAKE FLOUR MIXTURE FOR CHICKEN: Even though we won’t cook chicken in this step, we want to make the flour mixture now ahead of time so that it’s right there in front of us when we need to use it. In a shallow dish mix Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, flour, salt and Italian Seasoning and set aside.
TO PREPARE EGGS FOR DIPPING CHICKEN: Add 2 eggs into another dish or a bowl and whisk them until mixed. Set aside as well.
- TO COOK VEGGIES FOR THE SAUCE: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter on medium high heat in a large stainless steel skillet until melted. Add sliced cremini mushrooms to the hot pan and cook for a total of 3 minutes – 1.5 minute on each side. Remove mushrooms, if you want them to stay more flavorful and intact for the sauce. Otherwise, you can leave them in the same pan. I only like to remove them because they retain flavor and texture better that way – it’s not necessary.
Add red bell pepper and yellow bell pepper, chopped to small cubes and 2 chopped green onions and a splash of olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes on medium high until softened.
Add 3 garlic cloves and cook for 1 additional minute until garlic is fragrant.
- TO MAKE SAUCE: Stir in 1 tbsp flour and then add chicken stock, heavy cream, 1 to 1.5 tsp Cajun Seasoning, ½ tsp paprika and ½ tsp red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Add 1 small chopped tomato and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes.
Next add 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate. Taste the sauce now before adding pasta to make sure it's seasoned to your liking, add a pinch more of Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes and salt if necessary.
- TO COOK PASTA: In the meantime bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta and cook it according to instructions. Drain the pasta, but do not rinse. For authentic “al dente” pasta, boil your pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally for 12 minutes. For more tender pasta, boil an additional 1 minute.
- TO PREPARE CHICKEN BREASTS: If your chicken breasts are not thin, butterfly them, or flatten them by pounding with a meat tenderizer. The thinner the chicken breasts the better.
TO COAT THE CHICKEN: Take a chicken and dip in flour mixture first, then into the egg bowl, then back into the flour mixture. I went from one bowl to the other until I liked how much stuff I had on the chicken. Repeat with each chicken breast and set them aside on a plate.
TO COOK THE CHICKEN: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium high in the stainless steel skillet (2nd skillet, not the one that has the sauce in it) and cook on medium high for 3 to 4 minutes on each side (total of 6-8 minutes) – just set the timer and flip when it beeps. Check to make sure the chicken is fully cooked.
FINAL ASSEMBLY: Add pasta to the pan and stir until fully coated in sauce. Add mushrooms (if you removed them earlier) to the sauce now. Season with more salt if necessary.
Slice chicken into thin strips and serve on top of pasta. Sprinkle with additional shredded Parmesan and chopped fresh green onions, if desired.
Recipe source: Garnish and Glaze
For other popular chicken recipes see Balsamic Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Apples and Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Sauce).
Can you freeze the sauce?
Yes, I freeze cream based sauces on a regular basis. They tend to separate a little when thawed, but once reheated and stirred, they are just fine, just maybe a little thinner. If it separates, just give it a stir & add more Parmesan.
Does the sauce freeze well?
Yes, it does. I freeze all my leftovers, including creamy pasta dishes such as this one. All you have to do is add a little bit extra liquid (cream or chicken stock) when reheating right out of the freezer.