Grilled Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta – a restaurant-quality meal in about 20 minutes! Chicken marinated in a cajun ranch mixture and grilled, then tossed in a homemade creamy Cajun Alfredo. I wanted to lick the plate! Chicken, olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire, cajun seasoning, lemon juice, vinegar, pasta, heavy cream, butter, garlic, and parmesan. We loved this so much that we made this two days in a row! #chicken #pasta
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Pin This RecipeRestaurant-Quality Chicken Pasta
This Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta is one of our new favorite dishes! We wanted to try something new for dinner last weekend and came up with this grilled chicken pasta dish. One word – delicious! The chicken was so juicy and packed full of flavor. It would be good on its own, but the creamy pasta really put it over the top. Chicken Legs is still raving about this dish! We both agreed this was the best thing we ate last weekend.
How to Make Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta
This chicken pasta is super easy to make. Start with making the chicken marinade. Whisk together olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, cajun seasoning, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour over chicken and let marinate a few hours to overnight.
When ready to eat, prepare the grill. Remove chicken from marinade and discard the excess marinade. Cook the chicken on the grill until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF. While the chicken is cooking prepare the pasta. Boil the pasta noodles. Start the sauce. In a large skillet, melt butter, add garlic, heavy whipping cream, Cajun seasoning, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Whisk together on low heat for 5-6 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and top with cooked chicken.
- Can use any cut of chicken you prefer: breasts, thighs, or tenders. Adjust the cooking time to ensure an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- I don’t have a grill. Can I cook the chicken on the stove? Yes! To cook chicken breasts without a grill, pan sear the chicken 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes.
- What is Cajun seasoning? Cajun seasoning is a spice blend used in cajun cooking. Cajun seasoning uses garlic powder, onion, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. You can use store-bought or homemade. For store-bought, I like Slap Ya Mama or Tony Chachere.
- Here is the link to our homemade Cajun/Creole Seasoning: https://www.plainchicken.com/creolecajun-seasoning-secret-recipe/
- If using store-bought cajun seasoning, I would omit the salt.
- Can use gluten-free pasta for a gluten-free recipe.
- The sauce uses heavy cream, but you can substitute evaporated milk if you are counting calories.
What to Serve with Grilled Chicken & Pasta
This Grilled Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta is a favorite at our house. We have made it at least once a week for the past month. We LOVE It! I usually marinate the chicken the night before we make it. While Chicken Legs cooks the chicken, I make the sauce. Dinner is done in about 20 minutes! This is easy enough for a weeknight and fancy enough for a dinner party! Give this a try ASAP! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
We usually serve this dish with a salad and some rolls. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this yummy chicken:
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Grilled Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta
Ingredients:
Chicken
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup bottled ranch dressing
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp Cajun/Creole Seasoning
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper or to taste
- 1 Tbsp white sugar
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
Pasta
- 1 (16-oz) box pasta
- 2½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 Tbsp black pepper, or to taste
- 2 tsp Cajun/Creole Seasoning
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Chicken
- In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, cajun seasoning, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Pound chicken breast to 1/4″ thickness. Place chicken in the gallon size ziplock bag, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (the longer the better).
- Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Grill chicken for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear. Slice and serve over pasta.
Pasta
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, Cajun seasoning, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Whisk together on low heat for 5-6 minutes.
- In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta. Top with Cajun ranch chicken and sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.
Notes:
Steph
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I agree with the commenter who said this one is "restaurant quality!" DELICIOUS!
Thank you! Definitely going in my "make this for company" rotation!
I made this last night, but didn't realize I would have to marinate for 2 hours. SOOO, I changed it up a bit. I used a plain rotisserie chicken, chopped it up, and mixed it with the marinade. I heated up the mix and then combined it with the my buttered noodles. The family loved it!
I LOVE your blog. I have already made several of your delicious recipes and plan on many more!
This was fabulous! I have liked many of your recipes, but, so far, this is my favorite. Restaurant-quality! Thank you for sharing.
Another one I must try. I think my daughter will love this. Thanks so much for sharing!
Saved to my infinitely large "try soon" queue. It sounds absolutely perfect, both dishes.
We made this yesterday. It was very delicious and everyone like it a lot! Thanks!
The Ranch dressing is it the premixed kind you use on salads, right? The recipe looks amazing!
Yes – it is prepared ranch dressing
Hello there, one of the pasta ingredient called 1TBSP pepper. Is it black pepper? Thank you
yes – I used black pepper. You can adjust the amount to your personal preference.
Can I use lactaid free milk? Heavy cream upsets my stomach 😭
This was Fab-U-Lous! A new favorite for my whole family! Used mostly milk/evap milk instead of cream and toned down the pepper in the sauce (1 tsp) because of the kiddos, but it still had a nice kick and was SOO delicious! I'll be back for more recipes!
YUM! pinning!
looks delish! The pictures are making my mouth water!
Jamie – we use a charcoal gill. You are probably over cooking the chicken. We grill ours about 12-15 minutes.
this looks amazing! i just happened upon your blog and so glad i did! thanks for sharing!
This dish looks so yummy!
Just curious what kind of grill do you use? (charcoal/gas & indoor/outdoor). I usually don't grill chicken because it ends up dry–what am I doing wrong?
Probably overcooking. I take chicken off the grill when it reaches 155-160 degrees. It will continue to cook a little more after it is taken off the heat.
Both of these look delicious!
I know what's for dinner tonight!
Goodness! You post amazing-looking recipes faster than I can try them! So glad now that I can "save recipe" so that I don't forget to come back to try later!! 🙂