Creamy Vegan Cajun Pasta with Oyster Mushroom

If you are craving a rich, spicy, and creamy vegan cajun pasta sauce this will be the one to make. We added some shredded oyster mushrooms as they are just the best vegan chicken alternative ever and voila here is an absolutely delicious and creamy vegan cajun chicken pasta to enjoy in about 30 minutes.

Since we discovered oyster mushrooms, we have been making lots of delicious vegan recipes using them as meat alternatives. They have such a sturdy, chewy, meaty texture that is perfect to make vegan shredded chicken, vegan gyros, or vegan philly cheesesteak. We also collected more than 30+ oyster mushroom recipes to give you even more ideas to enjoy this awesome ingredient.

What does cajun food taste like?

Cajun is the name of a very special and absolutely tasty cuisine from Louisiana. It is influenced by West African, French, and Spanish flavors. If you have heard of dishes like gumbo or jambalaya, you have heard of cajun cuisine as well.

What can you expect when you choose a recipe using cajun seasoning? Cajun spice mix relies heavily on cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and oregano. There are usually other spices added (as there is no fixed recipe), but these are the main flavors you can expect to taste in any cajun recipe.

Our vegan cajun pasta recipe is

• creamy,
• aromatic,
• spicy,
• meaty, and
• easy.

Ingredients

As for any pasta recipes, once you make THE sauce you can add whatever vegetables and ingredients you want. However, this is our favorite combination to make vegan creamy cajun pasta:

• Penne pasta – You can use another type of pasta of course.
• Oyster mushrooms – You can use any type of oyster mushrooms, but in this recipe, we used pearl oysters. Here is a list of where to buy them or how to grow them at home.
• Bell peppers – You can use red, yellow, or green bell pepper, whichever you have at hand. In this recipe we used yellow, but for example our fajita veggies recipe we used all 3 to have a colorful mix.
• Red onion
• Canned chopped tomatoes – We usually use these canned tomatoes since it tastes ripe and comes with juices.
• Vegetable broth
• Canned full-fat coconut cream – Since we want this to be a creamy cajun pasta sauce, but still an easy one, we used canned coconut milk in place of heavy cream. This way we don’t need to use cashew cream since it can be difficult to make if you don’t have the proper equipment or vegan cream cheese, which can be expensive.
• Spring onion – optional for topping

Homemade cajun seasoning

You can use a store-bought cajun spice blend, or use the below combination. I tell you it will give you an aromatic, flavorful, and a little spicy.

• Cayenne pepper
• Sweet smoked paprika powder
• Oregano – we used dried ground
• Thyme – we used dried ground
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Black pepper
• Salt

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

The best vegan cajun chicken

The best vegan meat alternative for shredded chicken is without doubt oyster mushrooms. Let me give you 6 reasons:

• allergy-friendly -> no soy, no nuts, no gluten 
• pantry staple -> mushrooms are usually in all vegan grocery or shopping list 
• easy to buy -> usually available in all local stores (unlike jackfruit, seitan, or tempeh)
• cheaper -> than company-branded products
• quite neutral in taste -> they soak up any seasoning or marinade you add
• tough spongy texture -> perfect to replicate this gummy, sturdy meaty texture

Instructions

Marinating the mushroom shreds

1. All you need to do are these 3 steps to prepare oyster mushrooms for cooking. Then cut the end of the stem of pearl oyster mushrooms and tear the cap into small shreds with your hands. If the stem is soft enough you can shred them as well.
2. Take a small bowl and mix the marinade (olive oil, cayenne pepper, sweet smoked paprika powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and salt)
3. Add shredded oyster mushroom to the marinade and mix well. Leave it for 5-10 minutes.

Frying marinated oyster mushrooms

1. Take a frying pan or a skillet and heat it to high heat. Add the marinated oyster mushrooms in one layer (work in batches if you plan to make more servings). The amount in the recipe card is for 2 servings, which can fit well usually in one large skillet.
2. Stir with a spatula and fry the shredded oyster mushrooms until nice and crispy. It took us about 10-15 minutes tops. Add a dash of (1 tsp) olive oil if the oyster mushroom if it feels too dry. Don’t they look deliciously crispy in the below photo?

Alternatively, you can bake them in the oven as we did in our vegan gyros recipe.

1. Place parchment paper in a sheet pan. Spread the shredded oyster mushrooms preferably in one layer.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit (220 degrees Celsius) and bake them for 40 minutes or until crispy on the edges. Watch how it progresses, and flip occasionally to make sure all sides are nice and crispy.

Preparing the ingredients

• Peel and chop the onion.
• Wash the bell pepper. Lay it on its side and cut off the stem. Now, cut it in half and take the seeds out. Now, place the half pepper on its open flat side and make horizontal cuts of ¼-inch (4-5 mm) wide. 
• Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Why it is not a one-pot dish? – We don’t recommend cooking pasta in the sauce even if you use more veggie broth as sadly gluten-free pasta does not behave the same as regular pasta. Too much starch will be released and that will thicken the sauce too much. The pasta can also absorb too much liquid and just dry the sauce up. This pasta dish will be way tastier if you cook the pasta separately. 

Making vegan cajun pasta

1. Take the same frying pan or skillet you used to fry the mushroom and heat to medium.
2. Add chopped onion with a dash of olive oil and fry them for approx. 2-3 minutes until the onion gets soft and tender.
3. Add sliced bell pepper and fry them together for another 5 minutes. You are ready when the bell pepper slices soften and have little brownish edges. The same for the onions, when they become caramelized and brownish. (See below picture #1 for reference.)
4. Add canned chopped tomatoes (we use Cirio’s*) and bring them to a boil. Cook until tomatoes soften.
5. Add veggie broth and full-fat coconut milk and stir until combined. Bring it to boil and you have a creamy and rich sauce. (See below picture #2 for reference.)
6. Add cooked pasta and crispy oyster mushroom shreds and enjoy!

Top tips to cook with oyster mushrooms

• Use high heat – You need to fry the oyster mushroom shreds on high heat otherwise the liquid they release will not evaporate. In that case, the mushrooms will be cooked rather than fried. They will turn out soft, but not crispy. In our experience, oyster mushrooms release less moisture than button or portobello mushrooms, but still, high heat is what you need in this recipe.
• Adjust the amount of olive oil – It is enough to marinate the mushroom shreds for 5-10 minutes. If you want to or need to marinate longer (like overnight), and the mushroom feels too dry, it means that probably all juices have been soaked up. You need to add a dash of olive oil to the skillet before frying to make sure it will not only get crisp but cooked as well.
• Don’t fry together onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms – Onion and bell pepper need medium heat as they will burn on high heat, while mushrooms need high heat to get them crispy. You can use the same skillet though as they can soak up each other’s juices.

FAQs and substitutions

How to store it?

If you have already mixed the pasta with the vegan cajun sauce, then you can store it in the fridge overnight without a problem. However, if you meal prep and want to store it for more days, we recommend storing them separately. The pasta will soak up the sauce and you will be left with a very mushy pasta with a thick almost non-existent sauce.

Can you make them ahead of time?

You can store oyster mushrooms easily for up to a week in the fridge, or at room temperature for 1-2 days. For more tips, read our how to store oyster mushrooms article. The finished dish can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. When you are ready to serve them, reheat them in a microwave.

Can you use other milk?

We chose full-fat canned coconut milk to make this vegan cajun pasta sauce rich and velvety. If you use other dairy-free milk, you might get a very runny sauce that you may need to thicken with starch or flour. You can choose other store-bought vegan heavy cream alternatives that are made of oat, soy, or nuts or make your own cashew cream sauce.

Can you omit oyster mushrooms?

Yes, of course. If you don’t like oyster mushrooms you can choose other substitutes or choose completely different ones like beans, lentils, or vegan sausages. If you prefer to make the sauce without it altogether, just mix the cajun seasoning as written in the recipe card without the olive oil and add 2-3 tsp of it to the sauce.

Allergen info

This Cajun Pasta Sauce recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free.

• Vegan – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – We use full-fat coconut milk in this recipe, you can substitute it with rice- or soy-based vegan cooking cream. In any event, always check the labels for cross-contamination for whatever product you buy.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – It is not compliant since it is hard to make oyster mushrooms crispy without oil. If you have an air fryer you can try it with that. To make the sauce you need to saute onion and bell pepper in vegetable broth.
• Gluten-free – You can choose your favorite gluten-free pasta. For example this corn quinoa and rice fusilli or this protein-packed chickpea pasta or this gluten-free chia flour pasta. Other than that all other ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free, but always check the packaging for cross-contamination info.
• Soy-free – All ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

More vegan oyster mushroom recipes

Don’t know what else to cook with oyster mushrooms? You can find several delicious oyster mushroom recipes here or check out one from the below list:

More vegan pasta recipes

You can browse through these 30+ vegan pasta recipes or our quick vegan meals collection or check out:

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Feb 2021. More info and details were added and it was republished in Sep 2022.