Louisiana Chicken Pasta is a recipe for one of the Cheesecake Factory‘s most popular Cajun Chicken Pasta dishes. Delicious Parmesan crusted chicken is served over bow tie pasta with mushrooms, green onions, and bell peppers in a spicy New Orleans sauce. Very easy, one skillet meal that comes together quickly and is full of flavor!
This incredible Louisiana Chicken Pasta dish is full of flavor thanks to the combination of bell peppers, garlic, green onions and mushrooms. And of course, Cajun seasoning. It’s Cajun chicken pasta in its finest!
I love to make a restaurant quality meal at the convenience of my own home. Pay same price as in a restaurant, but get 4 full portions! This Cheesecake factory copycat truly feeds a whole family. That’s a pretty good deal in today’s economy!
What kind of chicken to use
Thin or butterflied chicken. 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.
Parmesan crusted Chicken. Chicken is crusted with Parmesan, bread crumbs and spices and cooked on each side for 4 to 5 minutes. You will cook them whole and then slice into strips.
Now let’s get into it!
What kind of spices to use
Creole Seasoning. 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.
Equipment to make Louisiana 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?
Bow tie or penne pasta. Any bow tie pasta will work for Louisiana Chicken Pasta. 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 dish.
How to Serve Louisiana Chicken Pasta
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 Louisiana Chicken Pasta with the sliced chicken breast on top of the pasta. Use a spatula to pour the sauce on top of each plate.
How to Cook Vegetables for the Sauce
Heat olive oil and butter on medium high heat in a large stainless steel skillet until butter is melted. Add sliced Cremini mushrooms to the hot pan and cook for a total of 3 minutes – 1.5 minute on each side.
Next add mixed bell peppers, green onions, garlic, and a splash of olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes on medium high until softened.
How to Make the New Orleans Sauce
Add chicken stock, heavy cream, and Cajun Seasoning. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. This is when the sauce will really start to smell good and look good.
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.
How 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.
If you liked this Cheesecake Factory 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.
Louisiana Chicken Pasta – Parmesan Crusted Chicken in a Spicy New Orleans Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, (divided)
- 2 tablespoon butter, (divided)
- 1 lb chicken breasts, thin (4 to 5 pieces)
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
- ½ large yellow bell pepper, chopped
- ½ large red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
Sauce:
- 1 cup chicken stock, sodium free (adjust salt if not sodium free)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 10 oz bow tie pasta
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- First, paper towel dry the chicken and then prepare two bowls. One is for the egg, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Whisk this egg mixture slightly.
- The second bowl is for the parmesan, bread crumbs and flour.
- Dredge each chicken breast piece in egg/seasoning mixture. After that place in parmesan mixture and press. Turn to coat the other side of the chicken with parmesan mixture and press again. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces and place each coated parmesan chicken onto a plate or a cutting board.
- TO COOK THE CHICKEN: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter on medium high in the stainless steel skillet. PLACE COATED CHICKEN in skillet and cook on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes one one side. DO NOT MOVE chicken otherwise the cheese will slide off surface before it adheres! Press down lightly with a spatula. TURN WITH TONGS when the first side is golden brown and cook the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the skillet onto a large plate.
- Melt 2nd tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add sliced mushrooms to the hot pan and cook for a total of 3 minutes – 1.5 minute on each side.
- Add chopped bell peppers and green onions, and a splash of olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes on medium high until softened. Add garlic cloves and cook for 1 additional minute until garlic is fragrant.
- TO MAKE SAUCE: Add chicken stock, heavy cream, Cajun Seasoning, and salt to taste.
- 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.
- Add pasta to the pan and stir until fully coated in sauce. Add Parmesan to the sauce now. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
- Slice chicken into thin strips and serve on top of pasta in individual plates. Sprinkle with additional shredded Parmesan and chopped fresh green onions, if desired.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Video
Notes
For other popular chicken recipes see Balsamic Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Apples and Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Sauce.
Very delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. I was going through my pins to find a more fancy Saturday night dinner. I substituted a sweet onion for the mushrooms as not everyone is a fan. And only used 1Tbs of Cajun seasoning to keep the heat down. Huge hit… We all loved it. The technique for the chicken is perfect. So impressed! Thanks again 😊
Sounds like you nailed this quite involved dish! Thank you for your 5-star rating!
I found your recipe after holidaying in the US & wanting to be able to have Cheesecake Factory at home in Australia. This is one of my family’s Sunday night faves & most requested birthday dinner! We make it exactly to your recipe, but double quantity so we have leftovers for the next day. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you were able to replicate it and establish it as the most requested birthday dinner:)! Thank you for returning to this page and letting me know about this as well as living a 5-star rating!
Hello,
Was wondering which type of Parmesan Cheese is used in this recipe to put on the chicken before frying? Grated or the fresh shredded type.
I used grated Parmesan cheese on chicken
Loved this dish. The intro stated there were tomatoes but the recipe did not have them. Mmy sauce was beige looking while yours was mire reddish. Did I forget something. I have plenty left over to freeze since I am one.
But yess plenty of pots to clean..but worth it.
Plenty of pots:)! I just updated the intro about the tomatoes – there are none in the final recipe. Thank you for letting me know!
So delicious! My husband and I loved this dish. Tweaked the recipe a little by making our own cajun seasoning to add in and had to add cornstarch to thicken up the sauce. The recipe called for mushrooms, but we just left them out. This is our new favorite dinner!
Yes!!! Glad you made your own Cajun Seasoning!
I am soo pleased with this recipe! I am not the cook and wanted to try this. I was soo impressed with myself. Definitely adding this to my recipe book!
This recipe tasted exactly the Louisiana Chicken pasta at Cheesecake Factory…I order that dish every time I go there. It was amazing and my 7 yr old and husband loved it. Had to add a good amount of Parmesan at the end to get the sauce to thicken and sprinkled a little Cajun seasoning on top of chicken when serving for added flavor and garnish with more green onions and cheese. This is a great recipe!!!!
I got rave reviews from my son for this delicious dish! I used half the amount of Louisiana seasoning because we don’t like food too hot and it was perfectly seasoned for us. I also added 1T of cornstarch to thicken the sauce which was then perfect! I will definitely make this one again!
I’m so glad your son liked it. I’m always so happy to read that children appreciate our cooking:)
Made this tonight and my family liked it.
Unless you have a sous chef, it takes a lot of time to get everything ready.
My family thought the spice was perfect, but it was a little spicy for me.
Lots of pans and dishes to clean up.