Easy Cajun Penne Pasta with Andouille Sausage

This Spicy Cajun Penne Pasta with Andouille Sausage is an easy one pan meal, perfect for weeknight dinners!

I’m a sucker for one pan meals. This Spicy Cajun Pasta with Andouille Sausage is technically a two pan meal, since you do have to boil the pasta, but it still has the benefit of not requiring a big clean-up effort after dinner!

Andouille sausage is a pork sausage with Cajun spices and a ton of savory flavor, which makes it one of my favorites!

“This was awesome (and spicy)! Instead of using canned diced tomatoes, we cut up a fresh tomato and sautéed a shallot and a clove of garlic beforehand. We also added fresh basil for garnish.”

Typically, you see Cajun pasta recipes with chicken or shrimp. I like to use authentic andouille sausage, which cooks up super quickly in the skillet AND adds a ton of authentic Cajun flavors. 

Most Cajun pasta recipes call for heavy whipping cream, but honestly, I think it’s unnecessary in most cases. I prefer to use low fat cream cheese to make the creamy sauce, which has about half the calories.

Love Cajun dishes? I think you’ll also enjoy my Shrimp Boil or Shrimp and Grits!

Cream cheese also has a much longer shelf life, and you can freeze it! I don’t even want to know how many partially used cartons of heavy cream I’ve thrown out over the years because I’ve used a small portion and the rest goes bad.

This Cajun pasta recipe uses light cream cheese to make a rich, creamy, and super flavorful andouille sausage pasta dish that is ready in about 20 minutes. You can fit that in on a weeknight, right?

Recipe Additions and Substitutions

This Cajun sausage pasta recipe has plenty of additions you can make! Here are a few ideas: 

• Use whatever type of pasta you like for this recipe! But I would recommend that you use a tubular shaped pasta, like penne, rigatoni or cavatappi. Why? Because the hollowed-out shape of the pasta will hold the cream sauce inside, making a delicious bite every time! If you don’t have any of these pasta shapes, farfalle is awesome too. You could even use spaghetti to make a Cajun sausage spaghetti!
• Add a handful of cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese towards the end of the cook time for extra cheesy flavor. 
• If you’d like to add veggies, I recommend the holy trinity! Add a quarter cup each of diced onion, celery and red bell peppers (or green pepper) when you cook the sausage. A handful of mushrooms, broccoli or fresh spinach are also wonderful vegetables to add.
• Instead of the seasonings listed in the recipe card below, you can add 2 heaping Tablespoons of low-sodium Cajun seasoning or creole seasoning. It will save time for sure!
• If you can’t find andouille sausage, try using sliced kielbasa or mild Italian sausage.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this Spicy Cajun Pasta with Sausage with crusty French bread and top with grated Parmesan cheese , and let the good times roll!

Storing Leftover Creamy Cajun Sausage Pasta

Store leftover pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I recommend reheating leftovers gently in the microwave at half power. You may need to add a splash of water or chicken broth to help the sauce loosen back up!

I hope that you love this andouille sausage pasta recipe! If you end up making it, please let me know how it went in the comments below.

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