On one of our first dates we went to a restaurant called Ruth's Diner (up Emigration Canyon for those in the Salt Lake area). It has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives on the Food Network, and for good reason. It has a fun atmosphere with outdoor seating in the summer and live music playing, and the food is delicious.
I got a cajun chicken and pasta dish that was so good that I have thought about it many times since that night. I decided to see if I could come up with something similar to satisfy my craving until we get a chance to go back.
Creamy Cajun Chicken
I cooked the chicken the night before in my slow cooker. I pretty much only cook chicken in the slow cooker because I love how tender it gets. I don't like the texture of chicken cooked on the stove, and I like that in the slow cooker the flavor of the seasoning you use is infused into the chicken instead of just plain, bland chicken thrown into some sauce.
So for this recipe I dumped a can of chicken broth in the slow cooker, added a teaspoon of cajun seasoning, and then just put some frozen chicken in and let it cook for a few hours. I let it cool and then refrigerated it over night, and the next night when I was ready to make this recipe the chicken was cooked and ready to go.
For the sauce, all I did was add a tablespoon of cajun seasoning to a 16 oz jar of alfredo sauce. This was an experiment because I wasn't sure how much seasoning I would want (I had never cooked with cajun seasoning before), but one tablespoon ended up being perfect. It was just the right amount of spice and flavor without being burn-your-mouth-off spicy. I cut up the chicken and added it to the sauce, and once everything was heated through I poured it over some bow tie pasta. It was delicious! I'm sure Ruth's Diner uses a slightly more complicated recipe than mine and probably even makes their own sauce, but for a do at home replacement this was just what I wanted.
If you like a creamy sauce with lots of flavor, try this recipe! I will definitely be making it again.
