Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Alfredo – this cajun alfredo is absolutely loaded with flavor! Seasoned chicken and smoked sausage in a homemade cajun alfredo sauce.
Cajun Chicken Alfredo
This recipe is a combination of two of my most popular recipes, One Pot Cajun Chicken Alfredo and CrockPot Chicken Alfredo. This slow cooker version is so delicious and sure to be a hit with your family. The smoked sausage and cajun seasoning flavor the chicken and alfredo sauce as it is cooking and gives the dish so many layers of flavor!
The best part is that even the pasta cooks right in the slow cooker.
How to Make Cajun Chicken Alfredo in the Slow Cooker
- Start by giving the chicken breasts a quick sear in a pan. Then transfer the juices and chicken breasts to the slow cooker. This step adds just a few minutes, but really helps add more flavor to the pasta.
- Next, add sausage, heavy cream, chicken broth and seasonings to the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2-3 hours depending on your slow cooker. Cooking time in the slow cooker varies so much, it’s best to check the temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer to ensure it has reached 165 degrees. Once the chicken is cooked through, set aside to cool and then slice.
- Stir in uncooked pasta. You can use any bite sized shaped pasta.
- Finally, stir in freshly grated parmesan cheese and return chicken to slow cooker. Sprinkle with fresh parley and additional seasoning.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Mississippi Pot Roast Slow Cooker
Cajun Chicken Alfredo is packed with flavor and so easy to make in the slow cooker!
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 1 pound smoked sausage sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cups of heavy cream
- 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons coarse cajun seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 pound of uncooked penne pasta
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 8 oz freshly shredded parmesan cheese about 2 1/2 cups
- kosher salt and black pepper
- garlic powder
-
Pat chicken breasts dry and season with salt, pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Heat olive oil over high heat and quickly sear chicken breasts on both sides.
-
Add chicken breasts,sausage, heavy cream, chicken broth, butter, garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, cajun seasoning and several turns of freshly ground black pepper to slow cooker.
-
Cook on low for about 4 hours or high for 2-3 hours, until chicken has reached 165 degrees.
-
Remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside to cool and slice.
-
Stir in 1/2 cup of hot water and uncooked penne pasta, cover and cook on high for about 30 minutes. Just until pasta is tender.
-
Once pasta is tender, stir in parmesan cheese, sliced chicken and additional salt and black pepper to taste.
5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
My five FAVORITE recipes for busy families!
- Quick to make
- Light on your budget
- Easy to clean-up
- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
So creamy and delicious! I love the addition of smoked sausage to alfredo and then adding cajun spices? Brilliant! And then to top it off it can be made in the slow cooker! What a time saver!
Excellent! I added some corn starch to thicken it up because it came out pretty soupy but the flavors are amazing!
This recipe is RIGHT up my alley! Easy, flavorful and delicious!
Using 2 pound of chicken because feeding 6 do I double the ingredients
Oh, my, this looks wonderful! I love everything in this! I am adding this to my pasta rotation!!
Thank you so much! I made this last night and it was a huge hit. I love using my slow cooker!
Noodles got soggy within the day after making would suggest cooking separately otherwise it taste pretty good
I would recommend penne pasta. I’ve tried other pasta shapes that have gotten soggy the next day, but the penne seems to hold up the best.
I love the idea of adding the smoked sausage! I bet it adds so much flavor to an already tasty dish! Alfredo dishes are my go-to!
At what point in the recipe do you actually add the sausage? Just at the end with the chicken?
Hi Amelia!
I’ve updated the recipe. Cook the sausage along with the chicken so that it can flavor the sauce. Thanks for your question!
I’m making this right now, but when do I add thebsliced sausage?!
I’ve made this twice now but on the stovetop. Didn’t plan ahead enough to make it in a slowcooker. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe! Had to lookup homemade cajun seasoning & it works WONDERFUL in this! Thank you for sharing it ?
So good, my family wanted it twice in one week! I shred the chicken instead but still just as good as is.
Aquion recently posted…Raising Children In The Social Media Age
I made this last night and it was so creamy and delicious. I used jalapeno cheddar sausage.
My husband wasn’t keen on the Smoked Sausage but I made the recipe as instructed to do so. It was pure liquid when done and didn’t thicken at all. So I added some cornstarch and poured some of the liquid from the crockpot to a pan and heated it up. Then poured it back into the crockpot. At this time everything in it was done but had to add some more time to it to allow for thickening. What did I do wrong, you think? BTW, we had to leave to go to ministry class however all the kids, Sarah, Britt, JT, Billy, and Emma loved it. It was a hit. For the boys to even like it was a plus in my book. We didn’t get to try the after product but I would just really like to know if any of you have experienced it not thickening if you go by the recipe?
Patricia Anderson recently posted…Pigs in a Blanket Recipe
I don’t add the extra water when adding the pasta and have never had an issue.
I managed to mess this up all kinds of ways and it was still delicious. Didn’t have cream so used milk and jar alfredo sauce. Didn’t have cajun spice so had to Google what cajun spice was and use that and a little bit of old bay and paprika for sprinkling. Didn’t have parmesan cheese so used mozzarella lol…we really enjoyed this recipe, thank you.
Did that work??? I have alfredo sauce and milk but no cream….
Delicious recipe, but I only added one cup of cream and used 1 tablespoon (for more chicken flavor) chicken bouillon granules plus one cup of hot water for the broth. After adding the shredded cheese, the sauce was perfectly creamy! I cooked the pasta separately and drained but didn’t rinse it before adding to the cooker. I used Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning (had it on hand) and would omit the extra half teaspoon of salt next time. Thanks, Melissa!
For some reason pasta never turns out for me when I cook it in the slow cooker. If I cook the pasta separately, should I omit the water that is added?
Yes! Also have a one pot version you might like! https://www.number-2-pencil.com/one-pot-cajun-chicken-and-sausage-alfredo/
This recipe was PHENOMENAL. My choice of cajun seasoning is Tony’s creole, comes in a green canister, red top. I also threw in mushrooms as an extra filler, but I also add those to everything. Thank you for sharing!!
It was such a good recipe. I did add broccoli to it and turned out amazing.
When did you add the broccoli?? Would love to try it with!
Made this today, it was delicious and the 5-year old even asked for seconds!
My teenage boys Loved this!!!!!! It was a family pleaser, and that can be difficult these days. Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I will be making it a lot more!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a hit. I honestly didn’t have high expectations as I’ve never cooked a pasta dish in the slow cooker but it turned out perfect. I took out the chicken at 3 hours on low, let it cool a bit and chopped/sliced the chicken and returned it to the crockpot to cook with the pasta and cooked it on high for 30 minutes. I also omitted the 1/2 cup water to get a creamier sauce and added a little red pepper flakes to add a kick and it was perfect.
How do you thicken them sauce. Mine was really runny still. Other than that GREAT taste!
Just add more parmesan.
Mine turned out like soup. Almost 8 cups liquid to one pound noodles didnt work out. Did I do something wrong?
I updated the amount of parmesan cheese in the recipe and showed it in oz and cups so it will be clearer. I think that’s why some people were having thinner sauce.
Sitting here enjoying this dinner. It was a HIT! My family LOVES it, I look forward to more of your delicious recipes.
Thanks a million!!
Absolutely delicious. Will definitely make again
I and the family loved the flavor and all the ingredients however my end product tonight came out very soupy. Thought it would end up with more of a sauce. I re-read the amounts of liquid ( broth and whipping cream) in the recipe just to make sure I got it right. Will make again – just will cut back on broth and cream. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I updated the amount of parmesan cheese and showed it in oz and cups so it will be clear. I think that’s why some people were having thinner sauce. Thanks for your comment!
I’m making this for dinner tonight. The only thing I did differently was add Andouille sausage for that extra spice. Hoping this is a hit!
Awesome! Made for a crowd, everyone loved it!
Wow! I made this last night and holy cow, it was PHENOMENAL! Everyone loved it! I made garlic bread to go with it, and the bread dipped in the sauce was soooo good!
Only thing I changed was the extra water – I left that out because I wanted a thicker sauce. Next time I’m going to try it with chicken thighs instead of breasts (personal preference).
I made this a few days ago and it was delicious! It was a little more soupy than I would have liked, next time I may not put as much broth. Also, mine did not need any extra salt, the Cajun seasoning was plenty. This was even better leftover!
Well, this a very adaptable recipe, meaning you can adjust to your families taste. We don’t care for Cajun food but do like smoked flavor. I used smoked paprika, fresh basil and a pinch (healthy) of chilli flakes for pop and pepper, no salt because I’m On a low salt diet.(enough salt in sausage.) I used rotissere chicken and threw everything in slow cooker. Turned out great.
Made this today, it was delicious and the 5-year old even asked for seconds!
I haven’t made this yet, but I’m trying it tonight and can’t wait! I usually cook most of my crockpot meals that have chicken on low for about 8 hours. Then chicken is super tender easy to shred. Will everything else in this recipe be okay if it cooks for that long? Thank you!
I haven’t tried it on a lower temperature, please let us know if it works for you!
Hi! I went ahead and tried cooking it for 8 hours and it was perfect! One of my new favorite recipes for sure 🙂
Oh, man! This recipe has it all. Good flavor. Easy to make. AND, has the right amount of spice!
Super delicious AND easy! I love that this is made in the slow cooker (crock pot for me! :D). A good “set it and forget it” meal is exactly the kind of meal I need in my life right now!
These is the most delicious dinner. The flavors come together in such a great way. Love it.
Great recipe. I substituted chicken sausage because my husband cannot eat pork. I also did not add the water when adding the pasta & it was perfect!
I made this tonight and it was excellent. I’m from Louisiana and it had the right amount of kick. I used Slap Ya Mommas creole seasoning. I was a bit nervous about the amount of liquid but it was perfect. Cooked all the pasta and thickened up nicely with the Parmesan cheese. I didn’t add any extra seasonings in the end.
Great flavor and even the leftovers were wonderful. The sauce was a bit thin but, had amazing flavor. the second day was even better because the sauce was absorbed into the pasta and was thicker. I was skeptical about putting pasta in a slow cooker but, it worked out perfectly. It was just the two of us so next time I May try to cut the recipe in half. And there will be a next time!
Delicious!!
Easy instructions to follow, and was very tasteful.
Will definitely make it again.
This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever came across. I’ve made it 4 times now because it has been such a huge hit with not only my husband and teenage son but my teenagers friends ask to come for dinner when they know I’m making it. The only thing I do different is the sausage I add is the jalapeno sausage, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, and I omit the water. Everything else is followed exactly.
This is my husband’s fav! I did make some changes to make it a bit healthier. I added a can of drained diced tomatoes and either a green or red bell pepper. I also wait until the very end, when I turn the slow cooker off, to add in the cream so it doesn’t curdle, if your slow cooker is temped lower than mine, that may not be an issue, but mine did even on low.
Ok this recipe is very good!
Couple “mistakes” on my end. I added two boxes of pasta thinking it would soak up the sauce better, and it did but there was a few hard pastas at the top. Definitely cook the pasta section a bit longer if you add two boxes. I also did what most people were doing, I did not add the water for the pasta. It really does not need that extra liquid. Because I added the two boxes of pasta I did not even need the Parmesan to thicken it up. Over all my mistakes weren’t that horrible and now my family has plenty of leftovers. It’s definitely a keeper and the spicy is just mild enough so it’s not burning my mouth. Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙏
This was AMAZING / followed the recipe to the letter. Not soupy at all. The 2 and 1/2 cups of Parmesan thickened everything up to perfection. My hubby said it was awesome and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out
I was wondering if anyone has added spinach to this? My husband hates most veggies but will eat spinach if I mix it in with his food. If anyone has tried that please let me know how it turned out and when you added it during the cook time! I’d love to know if anyone has tried this!
That would work great! Just stir in a few minutes before serving.
Excellent recipe!! Love Alfredo and spicy foods, this had just the right kick! Did not add the water when adding the penne as previous reviews said it was very soupy and mine came out at the perfect thickness! Will definitely make a again 🙂