Cajun Spaghetti

  4.6 – 26 reviews  • Spaghetti

A serving of pasta is topped with a fiery sauce and shrimp in this Cajun spaghetti dish. You may adjust the heat to your liking.

Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
Servings: 5

Ingredients

  1. ½ cup vegetable oil
  2. 8 ounces tomato sauce
  3. 1 ¼ cups water
  4. ¼ teaspoon dried basil
  5. 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  6. 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (Optional)
  7. 1 teaspoon salt
  8. 1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined
  9. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  10. 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  11. 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  12. ½ onion, chopped
  13. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  14. 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  15. 2 tablespoons cold water
  16. 12 ounces spaghetti
  17. 8 green onions, minced

Instructions

  1. Mix 1/2 cup oil, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, basil, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a 4- to 6-quart pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low; stir occasionally.
  2. Meanwhile, season shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; mix thoroughly and set aside.
  3. Warm 2 tablespoons oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir until slightly softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
  4. Add vegetables to tomato sauce and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes.
  5. When sauce has 7 to 10 minutes to cook until completion, add seasoned shrimp to sauce; mix well. Bring heat to medium and stir occasionally.
  6. Mix cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl; add mixture to sauce when sauce has 2 minutes left until completion and mix well.
  7. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes; drain and place in a serving bowl.
  8. Pour sauce over pasta and sprinkle with green onions.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 585 kcal
Carbohydrate 61 g
Cholesterol 138 mg
Dietary Fiber 5 g
Protein 29 g
Saturated Fat 3 g
Sodium 845 mg
Sugars 6 g
Fat 25 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Kelly Brady
I forgot the next to last step about adding the corn starch mixture, even though I had already gotten the corn starch out. By the the time I realized it everyone else had already fixed their plates. Oh’ well. It was great without it. Next time I’ll try it though. My husband and son both loved it. And my son doesn’t usually like things too spicy. I was a little worried thinking he might not like it because of being too spicy; but it really wasn’t too spicy at all. There was nothing left. It is rare that we don’t have leftovers. My husband even said it was his new favorite dish!
April Franklin
Excellent!
Javier Osborne
Husband did not like. I felt it was only ok
Cindy Mitchell
This is one of the best recipes I’ve found on this site. I used olive oil instead of vegetable but otherwise made it as is. It’s SO delicious!
Todd Mack
was a great hit with family.
Pamela Moore
This turned out really well. I doubled (or more) the garlic, onions, black pepper, and chili flakes because I knew it would be kinda bland otherwise. In addition to the spring onion I also sprinkled chopped cilantro.
Daniel Elliott
It turned out pretty well. In the future, I’d use tomato paste for a thicker sauce. For the red pepper flakes, I used prepackaged flakes from a pizza restaurant, one package for the sauce and one for the shrimp.
John Schultz
This was pretty good. I will make it again because it was simple and quick.
Patrick Perry
We cut the garlic in half, eliminated the salt and green onions and topped each serving with Parmesean Cheese. This dish was amazing, especially if you like spicey meals. We will absolutely make it again.
Jessica Gray MD
Made it as written delicious!!!
Maxwell Jones
So good!
Jesus Fisher
I made this tonight, and it was quite good. But I thought it had too much oil. I’ll definitely cut back next time. I also substituted chicken with cajun seasoning since I had no shrimp, and orange and yellow bell peppers since that was all I had.
Julia Ross
Once again we enjoyed a delicious supper based on using up fresh produce I needed to clear out of the fridge the night before I head out of town! Hubs agrees some of the best things I’ve come up with are a result of AR’s recipe search feature, typing in ingredients I need to use up. I didn’t measure anything, just cooked away, using olive oil rather than vegetable oil, large rather than small shrimp, and no cornstarch. Also, in consideration of Hubs’ sensitive innards, I skipped the optional red pepper flakes. The fact I had homemade tomato sauce in the freezer made this particularly fresh tasting. This, along with a tossed green salad, made for a delicious as well as pretty meal.
John Meyers
Was very good . I added some diced tomatoes and a little bit of cajun spice to it
Robert Townsend
We LOVED it!! I’ve made it twice now and it has came out perfect both times. My family requests it and DH takes leftovers (if any) to work the next day. I’m thinking next time I may serve it over steamed white rice like a spicy shrimp creole! Big thanks to Maurice for posting this! Served with garlic cheese bread and a crisp salad. YUMMY!
Elizabeth Barker
it was a SUPER HIT for me at the house!! Awesome recipe!
Colleen Watson
We loved it! I am making it again tonight for my colleages before a 4 hour cram session for finals. 🙂
Phillip White
This is great. I used a package of langostinos from Trader Joe’s instead of shrimp and it was delicious!
George Bailey
I really enjoyed it. I disagree with people saying that oil for this food is too much. It might be because of my cultural background (More fat is better). I think using olive oil would solve that problem. It’s healthier but still tasty. One thing. I think this recipe is more in small portion size. I tried to make for 4 but it was enough for 3. However, if you tend to have small portion, the recipe might be good. Two tips: 1) I replaced shrimp with chicken but I think it might be better to marinate and fry chicken before a little bit and 2) if you don’t have cornstarch you can use normal flower to make it thick.
Allison Parker
I’ve made and enjoyed t his several times, and noticed that I hadn’t rated/reviewed it yet. I always make it exactly as written, using sunflower oil, sea salt, some “Penzeys Freshly Ground Pepper” and white onion. At first I tried larger shrimp, but then I thought that the 51-60 count shrimp worked better, so stuck with those. It is very tasty, a nice medley of ingredients. I will say that as written it’s not very spicy (I like it hot!) and there’s perhaps too much oil used. But all in all, I enjoyed this a lot, usually for three big dinners. I recommend it!
Angela Medina
THis dish was absolutely delicious!!! I made it for some friends in my one burner studio kitchen and it was so easy and very very tasty. Definitely a keeper!

 

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