Chili’s Copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe

  |  37 Comments

I love Chili’s, but going out to eat can be difficult with kids!  This pasta tastes just like the real thing and it is so easy to make in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Serves: 4

Chili's Copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe

15 minPrep Time

15 minCook Time

30 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

  • 8 ounces penne pasta
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 4 teaspoons cajun seasoning
  • 4 Tablespoons butter (divided)
  • 3 cups half and half
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tomatoes (diced)
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Cook penne pasta according to directions on the box. Drain pasta and set aside. 
  2. Place chicken breasts in a resealable plastic bag and sprinkle in cajun seasoning.  Reseal bag and shake thoroughly until chicken is evenly coated. 
  3. In a large skillet, saute chicken breasts over medium heat in 2 Tablespoons of butter, turning occasionally until cooked through. 
  4. In a separate skillet combine half and half, 2 Tablespoons butter, lemon pepper, salt, pepper, and garlic powder over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 
  5. Remove from heat when cream mixture starts to bubble. 
  6. Pour cream sauce over cooked noodles. Slice chicken breasts into strips. 
  7. Serve pasta on serving plates.
  8. Top with chicken breast strips, and sprinkle on diced tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.
7.8.1.2
2002
https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/chilis-copycat-cajun-chicken-pasta/

(Recipe adapted from Food.com)

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Comment on this Recipe

37 Responses to “Chili’s Copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe”

  6. Kristin
    I made this tonight for dinner. The sauce was so runny that it was like eating soup. There was also far too much sauce for the amount of pasta. Perhaps you should make a roue first by mixing in a few tablespoons of flour? Other than that problem, the meal itself was DELICIOUS. I'm definitely going to be making this one again! I will just have to experiment with the sauce to see what I can do about making it thicker.
    May 26, 2013 at 6:06 pm
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  9. Kaitlan
    Just made this for dinner and it was amazinnng! I did make a small adjustment that may help those who are saything there is too much sauce or it wasnt thick enough... I used 16oz of heavy whipping cream inatead of half and half. And then after i mixed it with the pasta and chicken, I turned in the shredded parm. PERFECT. Thanks for sharing! Love the recipe!
    July 30, 2013 at 7:09 pm
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  10. Amber
    Made this tonight, and have to say pretty disappointed in how the sauce turned out :/ I wish I would have read the comments BEFORE I made it because it has great flavor, but I ended up straining out some of the sauce because it was more like noodles, chicken, and soup. Definitely going to give it a 2nd try sometime. Maybe using the whipping cream since I'm gluten free :) I haven't dabbled with flour thickening since I had to change my diet.
    October 23, 2013 at 6:21 pm
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  11. Jasmine J
    Just finished making this for my boyfriend and I. We were so excited to finally make it but unfortunately the "sauce", like others said, was far too runny. What I did to fix this since I didn't have flour for a roux was put the sauce in the cooked noodles and heat until the sauce was bubbling in the bottom, stirring constantly. The noodles will absorb some of the sauce and help thicken it. I also used the entire box of penne however it's not necessary if you follow my instructions for thickening. After this the sauce was perfect! Hope this helps!!!! :)
    October 25, 2013 at 10:16 pm
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  12. Paige
    This pasta was awesome! I accidentally used Mrs Dash instead of lemon pepper (both yellow tops, similar color - oops) but flavor turned out perfect, I think I will make it that way again. My only complaint is the consistency of the sauce was literally like water. Next time I will add some flour or cheese to thicken up but definitely will make again. Thank you.
    December 1, 2013 at 7:33 am
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  13. Cheri
    This dish was great, although I had a problem with thin sauce, too. I dissolved about two teaspoons of corn starch in 1/4 cup of water and added to the sauce. Also added about 1/8 cup of parmesan. It took a lot of patience and stirring, but it was worth the effort.
    January 18, 2014 at 10:11 am
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  16. Loren
    Love this dish and so does the picky husband. A little hint about the sauce: The first time I made it I accidentally picked up the 16 oz half and half and it turned out perfect (though I did add a little splash of extra milk when I realized was short of 3 cups). I'm going to start getting the smaller half and half from now on. And like some if the other ladies said I also add some parmesean to the sauce.
    May 27, 2014 at 6:51 pm
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  17. Theresa
    I made this last night and noticed that the sauce wasn't getting thick (didn't see the other comments until this morning). I kept reading the recipe over and over thinking I missed something :). I finally added some of the shredded parmesan to the sauce (just eyeballed the amount) and then it thickened up! It came out DELICIOUS!!!!
    September 12, 2014 at 9:37 am
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  19. Regina Knott
    This recipe is very similar to TGIFRIDAYS blackened chicken Alfredo. (I worked there MANY years ago) . I noticed some comments were concers about the thickness of the sauce. One trick would be to allow the sauce to reduce a little, allowing the water in the cream to evaporate; usually ends up being reduced by 1/3. Then remove the pan from the heat and add the Parmesan directly into the sauce, stirring until melted and semi-smooth. Pour over pasta and add additional Parmesan to taste. Add tomatoes and chicken and fresh ground pepper, (optional to taste) Sometimes I even add some sliced green onions to the dish. Yummy! Fresh Grated Parmesan is best for this dish because it hasn't been sprinkled with some type of preservative powder.
    November 6, 2014 at 11:45 am
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  21. Amber Vaughn
    Made this for dinner. I tweaked it a little bit , I added a package of cream cheese to the sauce and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese for extra thickness. This was a great hit, I always make fettuccine Alfredo so I figured I would tweak it with some of those steps after reading about other's having the meal come out to runny. Hope this helps. Will add this to my recipes!
    January 18, 2015 at 5:28 pm
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  25. Willionaire
    My wife made this and it was great but the sauce was incredibly watery. So we found a good fix was to add about one and a half tbsp of flour to the drippings in the pan we cooked the chicken, and then we added the thin sauce to our makeshift roux. It thickened it up nicely and added all the flavor from the cajun chicken to the sauce itself.
    October 16, 2015 at 4:24 pm
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