Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
212 Comments Jun 23, 2022
Updated Jun 01, 2024
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Creamy cajun chicken fettuccine alfredo is a perfect meal for any weeknight. You can make a homemade cajun alfredo sauce and tender chicken in the slow cooker, then add cooked fettuccine noodles to complete the dish.
If you are looking for a plain chicken alfredo recipe, try my crockpot chicken alfredo recipe.
Table of Contents
This slow cooker Cajun chicken fettuccine was one of those recipes that changed after the ingredients were bought. I had planned to make a dish called chicken lazone, but decided to add a few more Cajun seasonings, then add pasta and Parmesan cheese to the pot at the end of the cooking time, along with the cream.
Cajun chicken alfredo pasta is a great spicy recipe for pasta night! This pasta has a bit of a kick to it, mainly from the cayenne. It was a nice change from my regular pasta recipes.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken – Use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this dish. They shred up perfectly.
- Seasonings – Make a homemade cajun seasoning blend with cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. You can add more cayenne pepper for a bolder cajun flavor.
- Chicken broth – This is the base of the sauce and will help keep chicken breast moist during the cooking process.
- Heavy Cream – Makes the dish creamy and helps thicken it, don’t use half and half or milk.
- Parmesan Cheese – This adds flavor to the creamy alfredo sauce. You can use shredded parmesan cheese or grated parmesan cheese.
- Fettuccine Noodles – A classic noodle for cajun chicken pasta.
Step One – Add the chicken broth to the slow cooker. Add the seasonings to the chicken broth and stir. Add the chicken breasts to the broth.
Step Two – Add the onion on top of the chicken.
Step Three – Cook on low for 6 hours.
Step Four – Shred the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker.
Step Five – Add the heavy cream.
Step Six – Add the cooked and drained fettuccine noodles and a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.
Step Seven – Stir gently.
Step Eight – Add additional parmesan cheese, parmesan, paprika, and parsley (or oregano) on top—Cook for an additional 20 minutes. Serve the alfredo pasta with salad and bread sticks.
Variations
- Shrimp – Add shrimp 15 minutes before the cooking time is done. Shred the chicken, add the cream and noodles and cook for the 20 additional minutes still. Make sure the shrimp is cooked through.
- Andouille sausage – You can add one pound of sliced andouille sausage at the beginning of the cooking time.
- Penne Pasta – You can use penne pasta instead of fettuccine noodles for a heartier noodle.
Recipe FAQs
You can use two teaspoons of cajun spice seasoning (such as Tony’s Chachere’s Creole Seasoning) instead of the different seasonings in this dish. Don’t add any more, for it can be on the salty side.
Cayenne pepper loses its potency the longer it’s been on the shelf, or it can sometimes not be as spicy as other brands. You can add additional cayenne pepper after the dish is done cooking for more cajun spice.
You can add a block of cream cheese to this dish instead of heavy cream. You can add it at the beginning of the cooking time or microwave it for 30 seconds before adding the dish at the end of the cooking time.
To make this a complete meal, add steamed broccoli or frozen peas to the pasta just before serving.
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Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried leaf oregano
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 small white onion, diced
Add at the end:
- 1 lb. fettuccine noodles, cooked according to package directions
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, divided
- dried parsley or oregano for garnish
- paprika for garnish
Instructions
- Add the chicken broth to the slow cooker, add the cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir.
- Add the chicken breasts and flip them around in the seasoned chicken broth to get the seasonings on the chicken.
- Sprinkle the onions over the chicken and broth.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- After the cooking time is done, shred the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker. Add the heavy cream.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta and a ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese. Stir.
- Sprinkle over the remaining parmesan cheese. I added a touch more paprika and also parsley flakes to the top of my pasta to make it look pretty. Cover and cook for 20 more minutes. Cooking for a bit longer helps the sauce thicken from the gluten in the pasta.
- Serve and enjoy!
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
- To make this a complete meal stir in steamed veggies into the pasta with the noodles at the end of the cooking time.
- You can add a block of cream cheese to this dish instead of heavy cream. You can add it at the beginning of the cooking time or microwave it for 30 seconds before adding the dish at the end of the cooking time.
- Cayenne pepper loses its potency the longer it’s been on the shelf or it can sometimes not be as spicy as other brands. You can add additional cayenne pepper after the dish is done cooking to taste.
- You can use two teaspoons of cajun spice seasoning (such as Tony’s Chachere’s Creole Seasoning) instead of the different seasonings in this dish. Don’t add any more, for it can be on the salty side.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Looks delicious! If adding shrimp, should they be the frozen/already cooked kind, or the frozen/raw kind? Would cooking time change with either option?
I would use raw and thaw them. It’s hard to say how long they would take without testing, but most likely 20 minutes or so.
Looks delicious
Delicious. Love it.
Can I freeze leftovers?
I never have luck freezing anything with dairy (or potatoes).
How would I make this when I have already shredded chicken?
You can most likey cook it for half the time. It’s hard to say without testing it agian.
Could you cook on high to speed up the coming time?
Yes, that will be fine.
Can you use coconut milk (the canned stuff) instead of heavy cream? I have dairy-free folks I cook for.
No, I think that will make it too coconut flavored, I apologize. See if you can find a dairy free half and half or dairy free cream cheese.
I liked this a lot but felt it needed more salt (easy to add at the table!) And I did put in a little cornstarch which I think helped. Also added more red pepper flakes at the table, but I like things spicy. Overall good recipe!
What kind of veggies would you recommend adding?
You can add cooked broccoli or frozen peas just before serving. I’m unsure if cooking vegetables with it will make the sauce runny.
This worked perfectly for us. I cup of milk and half a cream cheese packet. I did use a little starch because of previous comments but I don’t think it was needed. I also used the shake type parmesan and let it sit about 10 minutes before serving. Thanks for the recipe!
Could I possibly cook this on high instead of low so that it won’t take the entire 6 hours? Unfortunately I started this later than I had originally planned :/
Yes, High for 3.5 – 4 hours will work.
I’ve made this in the crockpot as written and it was amazing. It reheated amazingly well.
I have also made it in the instant pot. I would not do the IP version again. It seems the flavor don’t develop as well and it’s not as thick as it was in the crockpot. But still delicious.
Thank you.