One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta is a big, bubbly pasta made with beef and a surprising amount of hidden vegetables in a Cajun flavoured tomato pasta sauce, topped with oozy cheese. Serves 7 to 8 and makes for excellent leftovers!
A complete one-pot meal with lots of hidden vegetables
Here today with a sparkling new recipe I created with mid-week cooking in mind: a big, bubbling Cajun pasta made with beef and a surprising amount of hidden vegetables, so you can serve this as a complete meal. It’s really economical (500g/1lb beef -> 7 to 8 servings), with bold beefy Cajun flavours and smothered with oozy cheese.
The good amount of Cajun spices used in this recipe lets us pack in vegetables without disappointingly diluting the flavour of the dish. You know exactly where I’m coming from, I know you do!!
In this recipe, we’ve got a carrot, zucchini, and capsicum (bell pepper) with 500g/1 lb of beef, plus there’s also 800g/28 oz canned tomato and an onion (these count as vegetables too!) All these vegetables not only boosts nutrition but also stretches the dish to serve 7-8 people instead of the usual 4-5.
So much veg. But try to tell me you don’t want to eat this!! ⬇️
Cajun pasta – not authentic, and that’s ok!
In case you are wondering, no, Cajun pasta isn’t authentically Cajun. In fact, Cajuns typically use rice. However, combining Cajun spices with pasta is popular in America and makes for a super tasty dish. So I’m totally on board with it!
Ingredients in this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta
I’ve chosen to use grated carrot and zucchini which blends in seamlessly into the pasta sauce, plus a chopped capsicum (bell pepper) which is on theme for the Cajun flavours in this dish.
The pasta add-ins
Beef – I’ve designed this recipe around beef and I did find I had the tweak the volume of the Cajun spice blend to get the right balance of flavour. So while you could substitute with chicken, turkey or pork, you might find the seasoning a little on the light side so I’d increase the Cajun seasoning a bit. And probably add a bit more fat too, else the mince might seem a little dried out.
Lamb doesn’t get a mention here because I feel like the combination with Cajun spices in a pasta sounds a bit odd? I could be wrong.
Vegetables – Zucchini and carrot, grated with a box grater so it disappears into the pasta sauce. Plus a red capsicum (bell pepper), chopped rather than grating because it would turn into watery mush.
Onion – This absolutely counts towards your vegetable quota! Plus it forms an important part of the flavour base for this pasta.
Garlic – Where there is onion, there is almost always garlic. Actually, there is almost always garlic even when onion is not present!
Kidney beans – This bulks out the recipe with more nutritional value than using more pasta, as well as adding a different texture to the dish. It’s also on theme as kidney beans are used in Cajun dishes – like red beans and rice. 🙂
cajun pasta sauce
The key to success with this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta for perfectly cooked pasta and enough sauce so it’s bubbly and saucy rather than dry and stodgy is to use enough liquid (stock, canned tomato and water). You will be surprised how much the pasta absorbs!
Crushed canned tomato – For the pasta sauce. We use 800g/28 oz which makes this pasta nice and saucy!
Chicken stock/broth and water – The liquid for cooking the pasta. We need a fair amount (1 litre / 1 quart) because pasta absorbs a surprising amount of liquid! I use a combination because using just water makes the sauce a little bland, but using all chicken stock rather than equal parts water and stock didn’t improve the flavour. So why incur the extra cost of using all chicken stock when water is free? 🙂
Tomato paste – Just 2 tablespoons gives the sauce a tomato flavour boost, and thickens it slightly. Without, the sauce is just a little on the light side of tomato-flavour, but I’d still make this if I was out.
Homemade Cajun Spice blend – I like to use a homemade Cajun spice blend because the quality of Cajun spice blends varies so much from brand to brand. Though if you have a good one, like Slap Ya Mama, feel free to substitute with that.
Here are the spices you need for the homemade Cajun spice blend:
Dried thyme – substitute with fresh leaves, chopped
Paprika – sweet/regular, not smoked or spicy
Garlic powder – has an earthier flavour than fresh garlic. Substitute with more onion powder, or 2 extra garlic cloves.
Onion powder – has an earthier flavour than fresh onion, Substitute with more garlic powder.
Cayenne pepper – optional, for subtle warmth. Feel free to leave it out, or substitute with chilli powder (ie pure chilli, not the US non-spicy chili blend) or a dash of your favourite hot sauce.
Salt and pepper
Cheese – For melting on the surface. I like to use Colby because it melts easily (useful for recipes where we use residual heat to melt the cheese) and doesn’t go greasy. But any melting cheese will be fine here. Personally I don’t use mozzarella because it doesn’t have quite enough flavour. Or, if I did, I’d add a good sprinkle of parmesan on top.
How to make this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta
Using the one-pot method of cooking pasta where uncooked pasta is cooked in the pasta sauce does not work for all recipes. But it works extremely well for some – like this one!
The bonus, other than less washing up, is that the pasta absorbs the flavour of the sauce. Extra yum factor!
Shred the carrot and zucchini using a standard box grater. I like to grate them so the strands are shorter rather than longer (they hide better!). I don’t peel the carrot (free nutrition).
Cook – Use a large heavy based pot with a lid. I use a 24cm / 9.45″ cast iron pot which gets very full!
Heat the oil over high heat, and cook the onion and garlic first to flavour the oil. Then cook the beef, breaking it up as you go, until it changes from red to brown.
Vegetables and spices – Next, cook the carrot and zucchini. They will release water at first, but then the water will evaporate. After 2 minutes when they are partially cooked, add the capsicum and cook for another 2 minutes until the carrot and zucchinis wilted.
Then add the tomato paste and all the Cajun spices. Cook for another 1 minute to take the sour raw edge off the tomato paste and get the spices all through the vegetables and beef.
Sauce and pasta – Add the canned tomato, water (I use the water to swill out the tomato cans), chicken stock and beans. Give it a good stir and bring it up to the simmer before adding the pasta.
Cook 15 minutes – Once the liquid comes back up to the simmer, cover with the lid and then lower the heat to medium. We want the liquid simmering, but not bubbling madly (too strong, base will catch) nor still which means it isn’t hot enough (the pasta will just be sitting there bloating in hot liquid rather than cooking).
Stir every few minutes to ensure the base doesn’t catch. As it cooks, the liquid will get absorbed by the pasta.
The pasta is ready when it’s just about cooked (ie centre is still a bit firmer than you want). It will be rather watery still which is what we want. The pasta will finish cooking and the excess liquid will be absorbed in the next step! **Stop here if making ahead, see box below for tips.**
Cheese it! Working quickly (so we don’t lose heat), give the pasta one big stir, smooth the surface, then sprinkle the surface with cheese.
3 minutes – Cover with the lid and turn the stove off. Leave the pot on the stove for 3 minutes to let the residual heat melt the cheese. Then lift the lid and be greeted with THIS DELERIOUSLY DELICIOUS SIGHT! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Serve immediately, while the pasta is at its peak, hot and oozy. Because as with all pastas, the longer this sits around, the less saucy it becomes as the pasta will continue to absorb liquid.
Though truthfully, it doesn’t bother me even when it’s not as saucy as freshly made. I was happily warming up leftovers and eating this for breakfast four days later, then I made another couple of batches “just to check it one more time” and froze them to donate through RecipeTin Meals (my food bank).
I think this is One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta is another recipe ideal to add to our RTM rotation – nutritious, economical, easy to scale up, keeps well and damn tasty! – Nagi x
PS The token green onion sprinkle is not at all mandatory, just my attempt to add a splash of green to the molten blanket of yellow.
PPS For those interested, I did a post on the Top 10 meals we make at RTM -> Top 10 recipes we make at RecipeTin Meals. It’s a useful list for recipes that are ideal for making ahead, freezing, wholesome, economical and the sort of food everybody loves. We tend to stay away from things like bold-flavoured spicy Vindaloo curry at RTM! 🙂
One-pot Cajun Beef Pasta FAQ
If making the whole dish ahead to reheat another day, stop when the pasta is cooked but don’t put the cheese on. Take it off the stove and let it cool with the lid off. You could even transfer into an ovenproof dish at this stage. Sprinkle with cheese then fridge or freeze!
Just be mindful if you freeze the whole dish, it will be a formidable block so allow sufficient time to thaw (I’d allow 2 days in the fridge or give it a good head start on the counter then thaw overnight).
I’m afraid I haven’t tried. As the absorption rate of GF pasta is different, the liquid-to-pasta ratio would require adjustment. If you scan the comments, someone may have tried it and shared their tips. I find this to be the case with most recipes. My readers are so nice and helpful! 🙂
Just a very background hint of warmth from the cayenne pepper in the homemade Cajun Spice Mix. But you can easily omit it, it won’t compromise the flavour. 🙂
Nope. In fact, Cajuns prefer rice over pasta! But using Cajun spices in a pasta dish is a “thing” in the States, and it’s a tasty way to add flavour into a pasta dish. So I’m totally on board!
Not too many, as I have a handful of tomato based one-pot pasta recipes on my website (like Cheeseburger Casserole – don’t let that name put you off, it is one of my favourites! Chilli Mac, One Pot Vegetable Pasta, Creamy Tomato Beef Pasta, to name a few.)
The main variable here was the sheer volume of vegetables in the dish, which was intentional. I had to dial up flavour (because it’s dispersed throughout so much more “stuff”). In the first iteration I had WAY too much vegetables in it which overwhelmed the beef, so it was like eating a vegetable pasta with a tiny amount of beef! Whereas I wanted a beefy pasta and to hide as much vegetables as I could get away with.
Then it was just about getting the liquid-to-pasta ratio right, and the cook time. There is a general rule of thumb, but I find that with every one-pot pasta recipe it differs slightly, depending on sauce thickness.
Watch how to make it
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One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta with lots-of-veg
Ingredients
One-pot pasta:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1 onion , chopped
- 500g/ 1 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 1 carrot , medium, shredded using box grater (I keep skin on)
- 1 zucchini , medium, shredded using box grater (Note 2)
- 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), chopped (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 800g/ 28 oz canned crushed tomato
- 400g/ 14 oz kidney beans , drained (or other beans of choice, can omit)
- 2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium (sub beef stock)
- 2 cups water (just regular tap water!)
- 350g / 12 oz (3 cups) elbow pasta (macaroni) , spirals, penne, ziti, small shells, rigatoni or similar size, uncooked (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 cups (tightly packed) colby cheese or other melting cheese of choice, preferably freshly shredded (melts better)
- 1 green onion stem , finely sliced (optional garnish)
Cajun spices:
- 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 1/2 tbsp paprika (sweet/regular, not smoked or spicy)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper , optional (faintly spicy)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large heavy based pot with a lid over high heat.
- Cook vegetables – Cook the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you no longer see red meat. Add the carrot and zucchini, cook for 2 minutes until the water they release mostly evaporates. Add the capsicum and cook for 2 minutes.
- Spices – Add the tomato paste and Cajun Spices. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pasta sauce – Add the canned tomato, water (I swill the cans clean), stock and beans. Mix and bring to a simmer.
- Add the pasta, stir, let it come back up to the simmer. Put the lid on and lower the heat slightly to medium so the liquid is simmering (not bubbling madly).
- Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the base doesn't catch. The pasta should be a bit firmer than you want in the middle, and still a bit soupy which is good! Liquid gets absorbed in the next step.
- Melt cheese – Give it a stir, smooth the surface, sprinkle with cheese. Put the lid on then turn the stove off (leave the pot on the stove). Leave for 3 minutes so the residual heat melts the cheese and the pasta finishes cooking.
- Serve – Remove from the stove, sprinkle with green onion if desired, then serve immediately while saucy and the cheese is gooey!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
My new cookbook TONIGHT hits shelves around the world next month! 15 October in Australia, 17 October in the UK and 29 October in the US. I CAN’T WAIT!!
Dozer features prominently in this one. I insisted. No Dozer, no cookbook! He’s in every single Chapter opener. Here’s one of my favourites – no setting up required, 100% Dozer/Nagi situation!
And some photos I found on my camera from the shoot day:
Actually, I haven’t been looking at these photos from the early cookbook shoot days because it makes me a little sad. It was just before he was diagnosed with his condition and had his surgery, and all I can think is how I dragged him along to all those shoot days and he made such an effort to co-operate like the good boy he is. But he must’ve been suffering so terribly, unable to breathe properly. 😭
I remember on the last day of shooting, he struggled so much to walk just 50 meters from the building to the car at the end of the day. Breaks my heart knowing I pushed him too hard, not knowing he was not well. 💔
Anyway! He’s so much better now, and I’m so grateful.
And the best reward for all that hard work I put into the cookbook? That he is here with me to celebrate the launch next month.
I have the best dog in the world. – Nagi x
Our new cookbook TONIGHT is now available for pre-order so you can secure a copy and get it straight away when it releases in October! It’s not all Dozer. There’s a recipe or two in there as well. 😉
Nagi & Dozer: I am so happy for both of you that life is getting better by the day. I love seeing Dozer when I come here daily to check recipes. Thank you so much Nagi for another easy great recipe with all my favorites veggies. Bless you both!
Thank you Sherry! I feel very fortunate 🙂 – N x
Nagi, you were not know your beautiful fur boy was starting to get unwell! Do not beat yourself up about this as EVERYTHING you do is for Dozer and he knows you love him more than life itself ❤️
Aww thanks Velissa! I do feel bad 🙁 I just thought it was old man breathing issues because they do get a bit noisy with their breathing as they get older 😭
You mentioned when not using beef you may need to add some more fat. We are vegetarian and tend to use the rehydrated textured soy protein in place of beef mince. It can be very dry, how can I add some of that fat back into the dish?
Hi Lisa! I’d stir the cheese throughout the dish rather than sprinkling on top. 🙂 – N x
Meat contains saturated fat, which is richer than unsaturated fat aka oils from plants. So your best choice is refined coconut oil, vegetable shortening? or an oil/fat source solid at room temperature that can be fried with. I would start with 2tbsp/about 30g, as mince doesn’t release as much oil as people think, And go from there. But my Italian heart says use double but we drench pasta dishes in oil haha. Hopefully I’ve given you a starting point:)
Do you think lentil could be used instead of beef or textured soy protein?
Mmmm That would be quite different, I’d have to tweak the recipe. Sorry Joanna! N x
Delicious! The only thing I would change is a stalk of celery for the holy trinity, maybe some more beans just because i love them and make it in the slow cooker…..Am rather known for my slow cooker adventures 🙂
Someone else suggested celery too! Absolutely could do that 🙂 N x
Could you finish this off in the oven ? Glad to hear it freezes well too.
Absolutely! You can transfer the cooked pasta into a baking dish, top with cheese then stick it under the grill just for a few minutes or in the oven for about 10 🙂 N x
My precious four-legged best friend passed away recently. I am still devastated. One subject that isn’t usually discussed is the guilt you feel for missing signs or letting something happen that may have caused stress or pain to our precious babies. They love us. They forgive us. That’s why they are so special. My best wishes to you both xxx
Oh no Angela! I’m so sad to read this. I’m very emotional about this sort of news these days, having had a scare. I wish I could give you a giant hug and share stories about your pooch. Hold onto those memories Angela – N x
Big hugs Angela 🤗 It’s a month yesterday since I had to say goodbye to my 18 year old furbaby so my heart goes out to you. I know well the feeling of guilt, but you are so right, they love and forgive us. Animal love is the purest there is.
Angela, I am very sorry you lost your four-legged best friend. I know how this feels… Thank you for your remarks about guilt – so true – you’ve lightened my heart this morning..
I feel like I know you as friends. My favorite foods are Asian & Mexican. I really enjoy every time I get an email from both of you. Your are both wonderful. I am so glad Dozer is better.
MINE TOO!! We have similar palettes 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, recipe looks so inviting! Just wondering if I could substitute the beans for more mince? We have a legume allergy here, and just wondering if more beef would be better than just omitting the beans? Thanks!
Morning Dewey! I think I’d add another vegetable instead, like one chopped zucchini, an extra capsicum or 2 celery diced. 🙂 With more beef, you’d need to dial up the spicing a bit I think! N x
I think more mince sounds lovely! For me, I would swap cooked beans for cooked al dente French green lentils (hold their shape and look aesthetically pleasing compared to common green lentils. And taste like le Puy but cheaper!) to keep the fibre addition (not a health nut)
Thank you for the One Pot recipes I am staying in South Africa working full day>I am very blessed to have a husband who loves to cook and when it is my turn I love to put everything in one pot with of course a seperate pot of rice or what we love to eat here “Pap” 🙂 So glad to hear Dozer is doing so much better and love the updates. It is so special to have him futured in your recipe book as he is such a big part of your life. 🙂
Thank you Sharon! I’m so grateful he is doing so much better 🙂 N x
Nagi, in a plea to the gods of Acadia and Louisianan life. Please add at least a stalk of celery as the cajun trinity. Onion, bell pepper and celery is the prelude to just about everything cajun.
Love and picks to Dozer from the 3 musketeers.
William, you make me LAUGH!!! I will add that as a vegetable suggestion 🙂 N x
The weather has cooled down to Jambalaya season so time to make your version of pastalaya. Yes it’s a real thing down here.
Nagi, Thanks for sharing the great shots of Dozer. We are all so happy he is better. Don’t be hard on yourself! You didn’t know at the time, and look how well you have taken care of Dozer since. He couldn’t ask for a better Mom!
Thanks for the lovely message Janet! I know in my heart he preferred to make the effort and come rather than be home alone 🙂 N x