Every family loves pasta dishes, like my Hidden Veg Pasta, Vegan Baked Feta Pasta, or Red Lentil Pasta, and this Cajun pasta recipe will quickly become one of your favorite easy vegan dinners. It’s loaded with protein, healthy carbs, and so fulfilling and comforting as a family dinner! A classic Cajun pasta recipe is made with chicken and typically cooked in chicken stock. So Cajun Pasta is not naturally vegan-friendly, therefore, you need to adapt the recipe for a plant-based version.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Olive Oil, vegan butter, or any vegetable oil you have on hand. Onion – I used yellow diced onion, but red onion adds a lovely sweet flavor to the dish. Canned Chickpeas – rinsed, drained before use. They add a lot of protein to the dish. You can also use cannellini beans. Garlic Cloves – for flavor. Red Bell Pepper and Green Bell Pepper – You can also use other bell pepper colors. If you can’t have pepper, large tomatoes can be used as an alternative. Cajun Seasoning – For flavor. Salt – If your seasoning doesn’t contain salt, if so, skip the salt to avoid overly salty vegan pasta. Pasta – I used penne pasta. Mine are high-protein pasta. For a gluten-free, vegan dinner, you can use gluten-free pasta like quinoa, buckwheat, or rice pasta. Vegetable Stock – You can use bottled stock or make it yourself. Fire-Roasted Canned Diced Tomatoes – or diced or crushed tomatoes. Nutritional Yeast – for a cheesy flavor. Cream of Choice – I love soy cream or coconut cream from full-fat canned coconut cream.
How To Make Vegan Cajun Pasta
There are many ways to adapt the classic Cajun Pasta recipe to make it vegan using vegetables you love and plant-based protein. Here I chose to combine colorful red bell pepper and chickpeas. Let’s see the ingredients you need for this easy vegan Cajun recipe.
Cajun Seasoning Mix Recipe
If you can’t find a Cajun spice mix at your store, let me share how you can easily make yours at home. I like to make my own spice mix and store them in an airtight glass container in a dark, cool place in my pantry. They keep their flavor for up to 6 months and go very well in so many dishes. You can also use this Cajun spice mix in my Vegan Jambalaya. For one pot of Cajun spices, stir all the below dry spices together:
2 tablespoons of Paprika 2 tablespoons of Garlic Powder 1 tablespoon of Black Pepper 2 teaspoons of Onion Powder 3 teaspoons of Oregano 2 teaspoons of Chili Powder or Cayenne Pepper 2 teaspoons of Thyme 2 teaspoons of Salt
Storage Instructions
These vegan Cajun pasta store very well for up to 4 days in a sealed container in the fridge. You can freeze a portion of this vegan meal and thaw it in the fridge the day before serving. It’s a great lunch to meal prep and serve any time of the year.
Allergy Swaps
Gluten-Free – You can use gluten0-free pasta for this recipe. Watch their cooking time carefully, as most gluten-free pasta cooks a bit faster than wheat, especially the buckwheat pasta that quickly turns mushy. Chickpea-Free – If you don’t like chickpea, you can use any other can of cooked beans like brown lentils, or black beans, or skip it and cook some sliced mushroom as a vegan protein source instead.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
Below I listed some more delicious vegan pasta recipes for you to try.
