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Cream Spicy Chicken Pasta has just the right amount of heat combined with a creamy sauce and tender chicken for a hearty and satisfying meal. The spicy pasta sauce’s complex flavors are a luscious, tomato-y and full-flavored addition to spicy chicken linguine.
Spicy cream sauce is what brings this spicy chicken linguine to life and makes it a hearty and satisfying meal. Spicy food lovers will rejoice at this match made in heaven, but it’s also easy to adjust if you prefer just a touch of heat. A perfect balance of carbs and protein, this creamy spicy chicken pasta is simple to prepare in under 40 minutes. It will satisfy your stomach and warm you from the inside out.
If you love sriracha sauce, try my Spicy Salmon Eggrolls, Spicy Salmon Crispy Rice, or Honey Sriracha Baked Chicken Breast.
Why You’ll Love This Pasta with Spicy Cream Sauce
- It’s simple. This simple meal is ready in less than 40 minutes using ingredients you have on hand.
- It’s got spice. Spicy, but not too spicy, this chicken pasta with sriracha cream sauce will satisfy the cravings of all who love a little heat in their food.
- It’s customizable. Easily adjust the heat level, swap the linguine for your favorite noodle or use rotisserie chicken instead of chicken tenderloins.
Spicy Chicken Pasta Ingredients
- Pasta: select a long pasta such as linguini.
- Chicken: use chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts.
- Olive Oil: or use any light, neutral flavored oil.
- Chicken Seasoning: combine garlic powder, onion powder, salt, smoked paprika and black pepper to season and coat the chicken.
- Parmesan Cheese: use grated parmesan cheese for the sauce and freshly shaved parmesan cheese for garnishing
- Parsley: for garnishing
- Butter: use unsalted butter for better control over the dishes’ saltiness.
- Aromatics: finely diced onion and minced garlic add flavor and aroma to the dish.
- Sundried Tomatoes: look for tomatoes in oil and drain and julienne before adding to the dish.
- Tomato paste: look for tomato paste in a squeeze tube, so you don’t have to open a whole can for a small amount.
- Chicken Broth: use low sodium chicken broth. You can also substitute pasta water if desired.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is the best option for this sauce, although you can substitute it with milk or half and half if you add a bit of butter.
- Sriracha Sauce: sriracha adds spice to this dish. You can adjust the amount up or down to control the spiciness.
- Seasoning: season the sauce with black pepper (more or less to taste), onion powder, garlic powder and salt.
How To Make Creamy Spicy Chicken Pasta
- Prepare the pasta. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- Season and cook the chicken. In a bowl, season the chicken with the chicken seasoning blend. In a large shallow pan, heat up 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Pan sear the chicken tenderloins on each side for 5 minutes, or until fully cooked. Transfer to a plate, cover with foil wrap, and cube when it cools down.
- Saute the aromatics. In the same pan, melt the butter. Pan-sear the diced onions and cook until translucent. Add in the sundried tomato and sauté for another minute.
- Prepare the sauce. Add in the sriracha sauce, tomato sauce, spices and combine everything. Sauté for another minute and add in the heavy cream and chicken broth.
- Combine the pasta and chicken. Mix well and cover to simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Once the sauce has simmered, add in the cooked pasta, cubed chicken, parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Mix everything together very well to coat and cover to cook on low heat again for 3-4 more minutes.
- Garnish and serve. Remove from heat, garnish with some chopped parsley and shaved parmesan cheese and serve.
Tips To Make Spicy Chicken Linguine Pasta
- Cook the pasta to al dente as it will continue to cook slightly when added to the sauce.
- If the pasta is done before the sauce, drain it and toss with a bit of oil to prevent sticking.
- Season the pasta water with salt.
- Substitute gluten free pasta if desired.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary.
- Cook the chicken tenders whole and chop them into chunks just before serving.
- Use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken if preferred.
- Adjust the amount of sriracha to control the spiciness of the dish.
- Toss in a handful or two of fresh spinach to wilt into the sauce if you like.
- Top with fresh herbs before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Spice level is one of those things that seems to be in the eye (or the mouth) of the beholder. If you love spicy food, leave the recipe as is. If you are hesitant, cut back on the sriracha to start, then taste and adjust as needed. If you are a daredevil when it comes to spice, go ahead and add a little more sriracha or a bit of cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes.
Chicken takes on lots of flavors and is a great addition to this dish. If you don’t have chicken tenderloins, you can use chicken breast or boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can also use rotisserie chicken. If you prefer to use something other than chicken, you can easily toss in sliced smoked sausage, coked shrimp or go meatless and toss in a handful or two of spinach just before serving.
Sriracha is a well-loved ingredient that’s used in a lot of Asian dishes. There are several possible substitutes if you don’t have sriracha on hand. Gochujang hot sauce can easily be substituted for sriracha. Of course, feel free to use your favorite hot sauce, such as Louisiana hot sauce, Frank’s, peri-peri, or hot sauce of your choice.
Leftover Sriracha cream sauce pasta can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a microwave-safe dish in the microwave. Add a bit of water to loosen the sauce if needed.
Freezing this dish is not recommended as the creamy sauce will not reheat well after freezing and the pasta noodles will become mushy.
This dish is served as a meal of it’s own but you can’t go wrong when you serve Homemade Roasted Garlic Bread or Cheesy Cauliflower Bread Sticks with pasta.
More Creamy Pasta Recipes
- Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake
- Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Spicy Chicken Linguine recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family!
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Creamy Spicy Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. linguini pasta
- 1½ lb. chicken tenderloins
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- shaved parmesan cheese, for garnishing
- chopped parsley , for garnishing
Chicken Seasoning
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp smoke paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
Creamy Spicy Sauce
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 small onion, finely diced, about 1 cup
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup sundried tomato , in oil, drained, julienned
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ⅔ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1½ cup chicken broth, low sodium
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sriracha sauce
- ¾ tsp black pepper, more or less to taste
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- In a bowl, seasoning the chicken with the chicken seasoning.
- In a large shallow pan, heat up 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Pan sear the chicken tenderloins on each side for 5 minutes, or until full cooked. Transfer to a plate, cover with foil wrap and cube when it cools down.
- In the same pan, melt the butter. Pan sear the diced onions and cook until translucent. Add in the sundried tomato and sauté for another minute.
- Add in the sriracha sauce, tomato sauce, spices and combine everything together. Sauté for another minute and add in the heavy cream and chicken broth.
- Mix well and cover to simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Once the sauce has simmered, add in the cooked pasta, cubed chicken, parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.
- Mix everything together very well to coat and cover to cook on low heat again for 3-4 more minutes.
- Remove from heat, garnish with some chopped parsley and shaved parmesan cheese and serve.
Notes
- Cook the pasta to al dente as it will continue to cook slightly when added to the sauce.
- If the pasta is done before the sauce, drain it and toss with a bit of oil to prevent sticking.
- Season the pasta water with salt.
- Substitute gluten free pasta if desired.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary.
- Cook the chicken tenders whole and chop them into chunks just before serving.
- Use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken if preferred.
- Adjust the amount of sriracha to control the spiciness of the dish.
- Top with fresh herbs before serving.
