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Pan-fried king prawns with linguine and jalapeños in a creamy Cajun Buffalo-style sauce. Ready in 25 minutes, this is a simple cajun prawn pasta dish is packed with spicy, tangy, creamy flavour!
“My husband said this was one of the best meals I’ve cooked for him. It was delicious and will definitely be made again. Halved the quantities and it was perfect.”
Nicky’s Notes
If you’re a fan of seafood and you like a bit of spice, this dinner is perfect. Plus it’s so quick to pull together too!
I love cooking with ready-peeled king prawns. No need to get into chopping up and trimming meat – each prawn is the perfect bite-size portion!
Prawns cook so quickly – which means we can start off putting the pasta on to boil, and the rest of the recipe comes together while the pasta is cooking. I chop up the pepper, onion and jalapeno once the pasta is already on, so there’s hardly any up-front prep time.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for Spicy Prawn Pasta
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
- King prawns or shrimp – de-shelled and de-veined
- Linguine – or swap for spaghetti, tagliatelle or your favourite pasta shape
- Red bell pepper, onions, Jalapeno and garlic for colour, flavour and crunch
- Hot pepper sauce – I use Franks hot sauce for the perfect Buffalo-style tangy heat. You can replace with another hot sauce – such as sriracha if you like (i’d start with 1 tbsp sriracha and add more in if needed later)
- Worcestershire sauce and cider vinegar – it adds extra flavour and tanginess – which balances perfectly with the cream
- Cream and parmesan – for creamy cheesy goodness
🧑🍳 Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Cook the linguine, saving a splash of pasta water. Fry onion, pepper, jalapeño and garlic, then add the prawns with Cajun seasoning until just pink. Stir in hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire and cream, melt in Parmesan, then toss through the pasta with a little pasta water until glossy. Finish with extra Parmesan, black pepper and parsley.
Pro Tip
- Be sure to save some of the water from cooking the pasta. We add splashes of this water in at the end to make extra sauce. The starchiness of the water makes the sauce cling to the pasta.
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
I find this to be a nice filling meal, so I usually just serve it by itself, but if you wanted a little extra, try serving with:
- Easy homemade garlic bread
- Fresh homemade artisan bread
- A quick green salad
You can adjust the 🌶 spice level to your liking. If you don’t like it too hot, just go with one tablespoon of hot sauce and leave out the jalapeno. The cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce still provides a lovely tang that compliments the cream and parmesan in the sauce.
📺 Watch how to make it
Cajun Prawn Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g (10.5 oz) dried linguine
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 small onion peeled and finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- 1 jalapeno sliced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 300 g (10.5 oz) king raw king prawns de-shelled and de-veined
- 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 3 tbsp hot pepper sauce I use Franks hot sauce
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) double cream (heavy cream)
- 75 g (3/4 cup) grated parmesan
To Serve:
- grated parmesan
- black pepper
- finely chopped curly parsley
Instructions
- Cook the linguine in a large pan of boiling salted water, as per the pack instructions.300 g (10.5 oz) dried linguine
- Once cooked, drain, reserving half a cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan (large skillet), over a medium heat.2 tbsp oil
- Add the onion, red pepper, jalapeno, and garlic, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion starts to soften.1 small onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 jalapeno, 2 cloves garlic
- Add the prawns to the pan and sprinkle the Cajun seasoning on top. Stir together and fry for a further 2 minutes, until they’re just starting to turn pink.300 g (10.5 oz) king raw king prawns, 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- Add the hot pepper sauce, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and cream.3 tbsp hot pepper sauce, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 120 ml (1/2 cup) double cream (heavy cream)
- Stir together and bring to a gentle simmer, then stir in the parmesan.75 g (3/4 cup) grated parmesan
- By now the linguine should be ready. Add to the pan, along with a a good splash (about 4-6 tablespoons) of the pasta cooking water.
- Stir together, using a set of tongs, until the linguine is coated in the sauce. Add more pasta cooking water if you want to loosen it up further.
- Turn off the heat and divide between bowls. Top with grated parmesan, black pepper, and parsley before serving.grated parmesan, black pepper, finely chopped curly parsley
Video
Notes
- Swap the linguine for spaghetti, tagliatelle or your favourite short pasta
- Swap the prawns for small chunks of white fish or salmon (they will take a little longer to cook than prawns, so please do ensure they’re fully cooked).
- This dish can easily take an extra couple of vegetables. Peas, courgette and mangetout work great.
- Fancy a chicken version? Try my Buffalo Chicken Pasta.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This Cajun prawn pasta recipe was first posted in Jun 2023. Updated since with recipe improvements and for housekeeping reasons.
🍤 More fantastic Prawn recipes
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Excellent! A family favourite
WOW! You have to try this one. Keep it āfull fatā and donāt substitute anything.
Delicious recipe and easy to follow. I can see myself making this over and over again!
We substituted chicken for the prawns and swapped out the creme for a reduced fat creme fraiche to make a lighter version and it was absolutely delicious. A nice warming heat.
This was gorgeous!! It will become part of my regular meals. Thanks for this.
My husband said this was one of the best meals I’ve cooked for him. It was delicious and will definitely be made again.
Halved the quantities and it was perfect.
Loved the spicy sauce in this pasta dish, definitely adding to our recipe rotationš
I love how you put the ingredients in the method, makes life so much easier.
thank you
Delicious, really nice sauce, will definitely be making again