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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Oh my goodness, this was delicious!!! It had just enough cajun kick without being too spicy. Simple to make! Thanks again for another repeat recipe!!!
Are you kidding me? I just finished this and have added it to the rotation! My Mama said she thinks it’s better than a restaurant. I agree. I grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs on our new Power XL grill air fryer combo. The only thing I changed was the amount of black pepper. I only added 1 tsp instead of 1 T. Keep ‘em comin’!
If I don’t have the Ranch dressing (In the bottle) could I use the dried package ranch?
Thanks, Janet
bookmarked!!, I love your web site!
Oh my stars!!! This is amazing! The chicken, the pasta…it's a total home run!!! My entire family loved it! Thanks Steph for sharing this! I can't wait to make this over and over again!
The marinade was great. However, there was enough for double the amount of chicken. We found that the sauce was very thin and made a lot! I will cut back on the butter and try to thicken the sauce a little next time. It is well worth cooking again.
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Hi, this is ridiculously amazing. We always make a double batch but it still disappears way too quickly. I was wondering if you've ever tried it in a crock pot or if you think it would work in a one. I'd like to bring it to a party.
This was delicious 🙂 I baked my chicken in the oven to save some time (no access to the outdoor grill and I don't have an grill pan for the stove top). I made a few small tweaks. Will post it on my blog later this month. Thanks for the recipe!
Definitely a must try
My daughter recommended this recipe and said, "Mama, it is the best dish I have ever cooked!" And it is absolutely delicious!!!
I can't say enough great things about this recipe! The chicken marinade is amazing, we use it so often and I have gotten many compliments on it!
Today is my boyfrirend's birthday and he requested i make this again! It's his favorite.
I made this for dinner and yummy, however if you're not one for spicy cut back on the pepper a bit. I also added some more parm (I subed it for the kind you put on spaghetti so 2x the grated kind for anyone who wants to know) BUT DELICIOUS! thank you for this.
Can't wait to try this one. Every recipe of yours has been a hit with my family. BUT my husband is on low-sodium so can you share your homemade Cajun recipe? Thanks again for all the work you put into this blog – it has expanded our menus tremendously. Love all you do.
I linked to the homemade seasoning in the post – just click Cajun Seasoning in the ingredients.
Dumb question because I know a lot of times you use dry ranch mix is this already prepared dressing or dry?
This is bottled dressing
Thanks Stephanie! My laptop didn't show it as a link so I had to hunt a little. Perfect! I've added both recipes to my next week's menu! Can't wait. You are AWESOME!
this is BY FAR the BEST homemade alfredo sauce recipe I've ever used. not too cheesy, not too thick. the chicken marinade is SO good as well!
SO glad to hear you enjoyed it!