One-Pot Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta
This One-Pot Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta is full of rich, smoky flavor with a creamy sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, if you want the dish spicier, feel free to increase to ½ teaspoon
- 1 lb raw boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite-sized pieces
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 (13 oz) rope of turkey smoked sausage (I used Hillshire Farm), sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 ¾ cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 12 oz dry pasta such as penne, campanelle, farfalle or rotini, use whole wheat pasta if following the WW purple plan
- 2 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, cut into cubes (also labeled Neufchatel cheese)
- 2 medium scallions, sliced (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, onion powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne in a small dish and stir to combine into a Cajun spice mix. Place the cut up chicken in a bowl and add the spice mix. Stir until chicken is coated.
- Add the oil to a 5 QT dutch oven or pot and bring to medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and stir to coat. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice until the outsides of the pieces are browning. Add the sausage and onion and stir together. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, occasionally stirring and scraping up any browned spice mix stuck to the pan until the onion is softened. Add the broth, fire-roasted tomatoes, and pasta and stir to combine.
- Cover the pot and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through and the liquid has thickened some.
- Stir in the cream cheese cubes until dissolved into the sauce. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes to thicken the sauce before stirring again and serving.
Notes
To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
WW Points per (1 & ¼ cup) serving: 7 (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information per (1 ¼ cup) serving:
366 calories, 40 g carbs, 4 g sugars, 11 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 28 g protein, 4 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)
MYWW SMARTPOINTS PER (1 ¼ cup) SERVING: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Green: 8 SmartPoints/ Blue: 8 SmartPoints/ Purple: 4 SmartPoints
Weight Watchers Points Plus:
9 per (1 ¼ cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below) Adapted from Budget Bytes
9 per (1 ¼ cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below) Adapted from Budget Bytes