creamy, Spicy Vegan Cajun Pasta Full of veggies and cooks in one pot in 20 minutes. Make dinner easier, and clean up even easier! You’ll love this vegan Cajun pasta recipe!
When I’m feeling spicy, nothing tastes better than vegan Cajun pasta! Not only is vegan Cajun pasta easy to make, it’s one of my favorite one-pot meals. What does that mean? Like my Spinach Artichoke Pasta recipe or my 20-Minute One-Pot Wonder Pasta, Vegan Cajun Pasta cooks in one pot in less than 20 minutes!
Jump:
Sometimes, I want dinner to be easy and quick, and today was one of those days. And, if you’re anything like me, the less food, the better! So, I decided that tonight would be a great night to make a vegan Cajun pasta filled with vegetables in a light, oil-free sauce.
Cajun Pasta Ingredients
To make a simple and easy vegan Cajun pasta recipe, I chose my favorite simple vegetables:
- mushroom: I call it the vegan meat of the dish. I used baby portobello mushrooms because of their firmness and meatiness.
- onion: I chose white onion because I wanted a strong onion presence.
- garlic: I always choose fresh garlic when available for its irresistible warm and creamy flavor profile.
- Red Bell Peper: Red bell peppers provide color and sweetness to compliment the slightly spicy flavor of vegan Cajun pasta.
- Fire Roasted Tomatoes: Fire roasted tomatoes Give the dish a charred smoky flavor, enhancing the taste of the dish.
- Fresh thyme: The aroma of thyme, though subtle, gives vegan Cajun pasta an earthy, sweet flavor, enhanced by the sweetness of red bell peppers.
- Spinach: I always like to include some greens, and organic spinach is the perfect addition to this recipe.
- Cajun Seasoning: One of my favorite Cajun seasonings Raw cashews, vegetable broth, and Cajun seasoning combine to form the secret ingredient in a 20-minute one-pot wonder. Where the magic comes together. Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning Combines salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and garlic, so check that ingredient profile.
Substitute Cajun pasta recipe
- For those with nut allergies, substitute white beans, silken tofu, or 3 tablespoons of flour of choice (gluten-free flour works, too). Or substitute your favorite Cajun seating mix.
- Choose any pasta. I chose whole-grain rigatoni because I like big noodles, deep ridges, and wide surfaces. A suitable replacement is a Pen or GT.
- Choose chopped kale, collard greens or arugula for an alternative to peppers.
- For a sweeter onion, choose red onions for white or yellow.
As a result, I may use more than you like for your taste buds. So, add 1 teaspoon at a time because you can always add spices, but you can’t take spices away.
How to Make One-Pot Pasta in 20 Minutes!
Start with a 10.5 quart or larger pot with a tight fitting lid. Then, fry the garlic and onion until the onion becomes transparent.
Next, add the mushrooms and cook until browned. Although vegetables should provide enough natural moisture, if your vegetables start to stick, add a little vegetable broth or water.
The next step is to add the rest of the ingredients except the cashew cream and spinach. Cashew cream and spinach are added at the end.
- Red bell pepper
- fresh thyme
- Fire roasted tomatoes
- Pasta of choice
- Vegetable broth
Once the mixture starts to boil, cover it with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat and cook for 13 minutes.
When the time is up, add the cashew cream and cook for a few minutes. As a result, the sauce will thicken.
Storing the pasta
On rare occasions, I have leftovers. This pasta recipe heats up well in the microwave for lunch or another dinner. However, I recommend reheating on the reheat setting to avoid recooking leftovers.
Or, it will last 5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
If you plan to freeze vegan Cajun pasta, leave an inch or more of space between the pasta and the top of a freezer-safe container. As a result, you won’t get freezer burn. For best results, thaw vegan Cajun pasta completely before reheating.
Recipe FAQs
Traditional Cajun pasta combines mayo, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and tomato paste.
Cajun is described as the boldest, spiciest flavor. But you can always lighten it by adding less spices.
Cajun is the robust, rustic cuisine found in Louisiana’s Bay Area, combining French and Southern cuisine. It was brought to Louisiana by the French, who moved to the state from Nova Scotia 250 years ago and used food from the land.
advice
- When making a recipe with Cajun seasoning or other spicy ingredients, I recommend adding less than the recipe specifies. Everyone’s spice preferences are unique. You can always add spices, but once added it cannot be removed.
- Soak the cashews overnight to make them easier to blend. A quick way to soften cashews is to boil them for ten minutes, drain and then blend.
- Using a high-speed blender makes soaking or boiling cashews unnecessary.
- For a gluten-free option, choose your favorite gluten-free pasta. However, since gluten-free pasta has a thicker pasta water, I recommend cooking it separately and adding the pasta when done.
- If using gluten-free pasta and cooking it separately, reduce the vegetable broth to 1 ½ cups instead of the 5 cups in the recipe.
Next time you’re feeling a little spicy and looking for a quick and easy dinner idea, give Vegan Cajun Pasta a try.
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If you love this Spicy Vegan Cajun Pasta, give it a 5-star review and comment below. We want to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Cajun Pasta
Creamy, Cajun pasta is full of veggies and cooks in one pot in under 20 minutes. Make dinner easier, and clean up even easier. You will love this Cajun pasta recipe!
instructions
Cashew cream
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Soak the cashews overnight, if you don’t have a high-speed blender. If you have a high-speed blender, no soaking is necessary.
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Drain the cashews and mix with the vegetable broth and Cajun seasoning.
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Blend on high until smooth.
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Set aside.
Vegan Cajun Pasta
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Saute garlic and onion in 10.5 quart or larger pot.
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Once the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms and thyme.
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Saute until the mushrooms turn brown.
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Add a small amount of vegetable broth if the vegetables stick.
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Add red bell pepper, stir.
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Add the roasted tomatoes and dry pasta to the flame.
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Stir together.
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Add vegetable broth; Stir.
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Bring the mixture to a boil.
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Cover and reduce heat to low.
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Simmer for 13 minutes.
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Move over and stir in cashew cream and chopped raw spinach.
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Cook, uncovered, a few more minutes; The sauce will thicken. Remove from heat.
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Serve in separate bowls.
Comment
- For a nut-free option, replace the cashews with the same amount of white beans, silken tofu, or 3 tablespoons flour. Blend with Cajun seasoning and add last after pasta is cooked.
- If opting for gluten-free pasta, I recommend cooking the pasta separately and tossing it with the cashew cream and spinach after it’s cooked and at the end.
- If using gluten-free pasta and cooking it separately, reduce the vegetable broth to 1 ½ cups instead of the 5 cups in the recipe.
- For easy cooking, chop the veggies ahead of time and throw this meal together in minutes.
- I served the pasta with toasted sourdough bread on the side. The sauce is so good you’ll want to drag the bread out of the bowl while eating.
nutrition
Calories: 233kcalSugars: 43gProtein: 9gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fats: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1015mgPotassium: 552mgFiber: 4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 5451IUVitamin C: 41mgCalcium: 84mgIron: 3mg
Oh! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher and vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is completely plant-based vegan. I truly believe that what we eat and how we live determines our health and the preservation of our planet! 🙂