Cajun Pasta Shrimp and sausage. Tastes as good as any high-quality restaurant but is more cost-effective. This dish is straightforward to make yet absolutely delicious. Adjust the spice according to your preference and feel that heat.
CAJUN PASTA, SHRIMP AND SAUSAGE
You’ll be glad you came across this recipe. This CAJUN PASTA SHRIMP is a definite keeper. I have cooked this several times, and it has always drawn praise from my family. Plus, it is cheap and affordable too. It’s just perfect for budget-loving moms out there.
As you may have noticed in the recipe, this calls for two tablespoons of Cajun spice. I was worried about how spicy the recipe could become. Some of you may not like super spicy meals. I like spicy meals, but I think two tablespoons is a lot for my taste, so I adjusted the amount of Cajun spice here.
Talk about how well your tongue can handle the heat. The creamy sauce coats the pasta, resulting in the Cajun spice that will linger on your tongue. Adjust the seasoning accordingly by adding it little by little.
Ingredients Cajun Pasta Shrimp and Sausage
- Fettucine- is the only ingredient I need to buy in the store, and I rummage in my pantry and freezer for the rest.
- Cajun seasoning – the closest alternative and substitute for Cajun spice is Creole seasoning, so if you happen to have that at hand, you can use it.
- Shrimp – shrimp in Costco is cheap at 5.99 per pound. It’s cheap because I usually get it at $7.00 per pound. You have to devein and remove the shell, too.
- Heavy whipping cream is why I must cook this pasta as soon as possible. I bought this heavy cream when it was on sale, not knowing what to do with it, and it’s about to expire. I am glad that my budget Facebook ground posted this and saw that I got almost all of its ingredients/
- Sausage– I used Andouille sausage here, but use what you have in your pantry or whatever is on sale in your store.
- Chicken Broth– if you don’t have chicken broth, add water and chicken bouillon. Just dissolve the bouillon in 1 cup of water. If you don’t have bouillon, use water.
- Crushed Tomato – Tomatoes are at their peak right now, so if you have ripe tomatoes, crush them using a mortar or a blender. But if you don’t want the hassle, it’s only 78 cents at Walmart.
How do you make Cajun Shrimp Pasta
This is an overview of how to make Pink sauce—the complete step-by-step process on the recipe card.
- Cook the Pasta in the Instant Pot
- Marinate the Shrimp – Place shrimp in a bowl and add Cajun seasoning. Toss the shrimp gently until coated.
- Pan-fry the Shrimp –Heat a medium-sized skillet and add in cooking oil. Fry the shrimp until it changes color, and remove it from the pan. Set aside.
- Cook the sausage using the same pan, add cooking oil to fry it, and brown it on all sides for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside until ready to use.
How to Cook the Whole Dish
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- In the same pan, add oil and saute the onion until transparent. Add the bell pepper, Cajun seasoning, sugar thyme, and paprika. Add the crushed tomato, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix all of the ingredients
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- Add the cream and let it simmer.
- Add the pasta and the sausage and let it simmer for another 3 minutes.
- Add more water if it becomes dry. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Lastly, add the shrimp and gently mix.
Ingredient Substitutes
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- If you don’t have Fettucine, use any pasta you have: rigatoni, elbow mac, penne.
- Chicken – use chicken if shrimp is not your favorite. Simply pan-fry it until cooked through. I like to use chicken thighs because of their moistness, but you can use other chicken parts, too.
- Sausage- you can use any sausage you like. You can even use a hot dog in this.
- Use water with chicken bouillon to dissolve in it if you don’t have chicken broth.
- Creole seasoning for Cajun seasoning
What to Serve with this Pasta Meal?
Here are some suggestions:
- Chicken Breast Barbecue
- Roasted Pork Belly
- Sesame Vegetable Asian Salad Dressing
- Grilled Chicken with Cucumber Salad
- Herb Garlic Bread
- Moist Pumpkin Bread
More Noodle Dishes:
Recipe Tips
- Want to add heat? Sprinkle some hot chili flakes.
- Want to add texture? Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds and nuts!
- Out of linguine? You can always use other types of noodles like udon or rice noodles. Spaghetti makes for a great substitute, too.
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FOR MORE CHEAP AND BUDGET-FRIENDLY MEALS:
- Chicken Leg Oven Bake
- Budget-Friendly Meal Plan # 1
- Homemade chicken Gyros
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Velveeta Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese
CAJUN PASTA SHRIMP
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot Duo Crisp 8 quart
- strainer
Ingredients
- 1 lb Fettucine Noodles
- water to cook the pasta
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled
- 1/2 lb andouille sausage sliced inro bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1-2 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning, divided
- 1/4 cup onion, yellow or red
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1-2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream add more if you want the consistency to be thinner
- 1 cup Chicken Broth add more to make the sauce less spicy
- 1/2 cup Crushed tomato
- salt and pepper to taste as needed
Instructions
Cook the Pasta in the Instant Pot
- Put the inner pot in the instant pot base. Break the pasta in the middle and drop it into the inner pot. Add water to cover.
- Cover the instant pot with the pressure cooker lid and push the pressure cooker button setting. Please set it to HI and set the timer to ten minutes quick release when done.
- Reserve one cup of pasta water before tossing the water. Set the pasta aside for later.
Marinate Shrimp
- Place shrimp in a bowl and add 1/2 - 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning. Toss the shrimp gently until coated. Marinate the shrimp for thirty minutes.
- After marinating the shrimp, heat one-fourth cup of oil in a large pan. Fry the shrimp until it changes color. Transfer to a plate and set them aside.
Cook the Sausage
- Using the same pan, add in cooking oil and fry the sausage and brown on all sides for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside until ready to use.
How to cook the Whole Dish
- In the same pan, add oil and saute the onion until transparent. Add the bell pepper, 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning, brown sugar, thyme and paprika. Add the crushed tomato, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix all of the ingredients and let simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the cream and let it simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta and the sausage and let it simmer for another 3 minutes.
- Add the reserved pasta water if it becomes dry. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Lastly, add the shrimp and gently mix.
Nutrition
Shobelyn Dayrit says
Hi, Shannon.
Start with 2 cups of heavy whipping cream which is approximately 1 pint. And 1 cup of chicken broth. Check consistency and more cream and broth according to your liking. If you have leftover chicken broth, just transfer it to the container and freeze. For this recipe, I used 14.5 oz chicken broth, 1 cup of broth was spicy for me.
Shannon ingram says
I was so excited to use this recipe. I bought all the ingredients and during preparation I realized the recipe didn’t say how much chicken broth and heavy whipping cream to use.