Blackened Chicken Alfredo is a wonderful homemade dinner recipe your family is sure to enjoy. From the seasoned chicken to the homemade alfredo sauce, this recipe is full of flavor and love.
Recipe: $8.11 | Per Serving: $1.35 | Servings: 6
No, this chicken isn't burnt- it's blackened, which is a term that means it's been cooked at high heat to darken the skin to the point of becoming a very dark brown (or almost black) color. This adds texture and flavor and seals all the juicy chicken meat inside.
Making chicken alfredo is something we do about 2 or 3 times a month. (It's far more common in our house than spaghetti) and is often included in one of our Monthly Meal Plans.
One of our favorite ways to serve up alfredo pasta is with Homemade Cream Cheese Alfredo Sauce, and some well-seasoned chicken. I'll add color to the plate during the summer by serving some Instant Pot Zucchini as a side dish, but I almost always opt for Roasted Frozen Green Beans if I'm trying to pinch a few pennies.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- It's easy to make. While there are a few dishes and different burners needed, boiling pasta, cooking chicken, and making the sauce are all very simple recipes combined into one yummy meal. This blackened chicken pasta is actually very beginner friendly.
- You can use the air fryer for the chicken. Want to save some space on the stove or simply want less effort (who doesn't?) This recipe is a stovetop version of my Air Fryer Chicken Breasts, and you can easily choose your favorite appliance to help.
- You can adapt the flavors to your own tastebuds! Add in a pinch of salt, reduce the pepper, swap out seasonings, or add in some Cajun spices. There's no limit to your creativity.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Milk- This is the base of the recipe. I've used unsweetened plain almond milk, whole milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. All taste delicious, but the fattier milk options do produce a more velvety texture.
Cream Cheese- Using cream cheese will give us a thicker consistency with a pleasant tanginess in every bite. Make sure to soften and cube the cheese beforehand so it blends more easily!
Parmesan cheese- I recommend freshly shredded parmesan cheese, not the grated stuff in a green jar. Note that I have tried the green jar cheese, and it will work in a pinch, but the consistency will be different.
Chicken breasts- You will need some thawed, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. Feel free to use more than needed and simply work in batches.
Seasonings- For flavor, you'll want to use paprika, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Optionally, you can add in some cajun spice or cayenne pepper for a kick of heat.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Milk. You can choose to use regular milk, heavy cream, or even half and half to give this sauce the liquid needed for that flavorful, creamy end result.
Cream Cheese. For best results, use softened cream cheese instead of cold cream cheese. Cold cream cheese may not fully incorporate into sauces, leaving behind small white pieces that are visually noticeable but not texturally noticeable.
🔪 Instructions for Blackened Chicken Alfredo
Step 1: In a large pot of salted water, boil your pasta noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Drain into a colander and rinse under cold water. Set aside. IMPORTANT: Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining. Set aside.
Step 2: Add the seasoning for your chicken to a small bowl (Image 1).
Step 3: Mix together to combine (Image 2).
Step 4: Sprinkle the seasoning evenly between your chicken breasts (Image 3).
Step 5: Rub well to coat all sides of the chicken (Image 4).
Step 6: Add your olive oil to a large pan and place over medium-high heat (Image 5). Let preheat until the oil is very hot. It should be sizzling or smoking.
Step 7: Add your chicken breasts to the pan, evenly spaced (Image 6).
Step 8: Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side or until the chicken is dark on both sides (not burnt, just dark brown) (Image 7).
Step 9: Reduce the heat and add the lid to the pan. Continue to cook for several minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through and the juices run clear (Image 8). This may be about 5 more minutes, but it depends upon the size of the breasts.
Step 10: When the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees F, remove the chicken and place it on a plate, and tent well with foil. This will keep the chicken warm and prevent it from drying out. Set aside until the sauce is finished.
Step 11: Add your butter to a medium sized pot over medium heat (Image 9).
Step 12: Cook until the butter has melted (Image 10).
Step 13: Add in the minced garlic and dry seasonings (Image 11).
Step 14: Stir until well mixed. About 30 seconds (Image 12).
Step 15: Add in the flour (Image 13).
Step 16: Mix again to combine. Stir until no flour clumps remain (Image 14).
Step 17: Slowly add in the milk while whisking (Image 15).
Step 18: Continue until the mixture is smooth (Image 16).
Step 19: Add in the cream cheese (Image 17).
Step 20: Stir occasionally until melted into the mixture and it begins to thicken (Image 18).
Step 21: Add in the parmesan cheese (Image 19). Stir together until blended. Remove from heat.
Step 22: If the sauce is too thick, add in reserved pasta water a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency (Image 20).
Step 23: Slice your chicken breasts into thin pieces.
Step 24: Plate your pasta and top it with alfredo sauce. Add some sliced chicken to the top and serve warm.
Enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
- You can move the pans around. If necessary, you can temporarily remove the hot skillet of chicken from the burner for a minute or two to prevent burning.
- Salt can be added to taste to the alfredo sauce, meaning you add salt until it tastes good. If you salt the pasta water, you might find you need less salt.
- Tip to keep the pasta from sticking. After cooking the pasta for this blackened chicken alfredo recipe, rinse it under cold or cool water to halt the cooking process and prevent clumping. Rinsing also removes starches from the noodles, which would otherwise cause them to stick together as they cool.
🍳 Reheating
Preparation for Reheating: I actually take my leftover blackened chicken fettuccine Alfredo and mix it all together in a gallon sized baggie or food container (depending on how much we have left) and keep it in the fridge. This keeps the sauce, meat, and pasta together for easier reheating.
Microwave Reheating: For a single serving, heat in the microwave on a plate for 1-2 minutes.
Stovetop Reheating: For multiple servings, heat over low heat in a pot on the stove for a few minutes.
Hydration Tip: If needed, add water or milk to rehydrate the noodles if they seem dry.
🥗 Side Dishes
This recipe would be perfect for serving alongside some Instant Pot Steamed Broccoli, Frozen Garlic Bread in Air Fryer, or Garlic Parmesan Roasted Green Beans.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Leftover Alfredo Sauce- This alfredo sauce using cream cheese can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can even use it as a sauce for Air Fryer English Muffin Pizza or some Pizza Dough In a Bag for a meal the next night!
Leftover Dinner- Keep everything together if desired, and it should last about 3-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You can check out How to Reuse Leftover Food for more creative ideas too!
💭 Recipe FAQs
Food that is blackened isn't actually burnt, as you'd imagine. Instead, it's just very deep golden in color. It's cooked in a skillet, grill, or oven and the outside has become seared due to hot temperatures, resulting in a darker color on the outside.
They're actually very similar seasoning blends, as they both have almost the same ingredients and amounts. For that reason, the terms are often interchanged.
This recipe is not spicy (my kids prefer it that way), but for a more "traditional" blackened seasoning, add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the chicken spice rub. Traditionally, the blackened spice blend is a savory blend with a kick of heat.
❤️ More Delicious Pasta Recipes
If you tried this blackened chicken alfredo, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Blackened Chicken Alfredo
Equipment
Ingredients
Pasta:
- salt (to taste)
- water (for boiling)
- 1 pound dry pasta noodles ($0.98)
Blackened Chicken
- 1 teaspoon paprika ($0.08)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder ($0.08)
- 1 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning ($0.08)
- ½ teaspoon salt ($0.01)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning or cayenne pepper *optional
- 2 pounds boneless & skinless chicken breasts ($3.40)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil ($0.14)
Alfredo Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons butter ($0.37)
- ½ teaspoons minced garlic ($0.03)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ($0.08)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder ($0.08)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper ($0.02)
- Salt (to taste)
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour ($0.01)
- 2 cups whole milk ($0.40)
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened & cubed ($0.93)
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded ($1.48)
Instructions
Pasta
- In a large pot of salted water, boil your pasta noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Drain into a colander and rinse under cold water. Set aside. IMPORTANT: Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining. Set aside.
Chicken
- Add the seasoning for your chicken to a small bowl.
- Mix together to combine.
- Sprinkle the seasoning evenly between your chicken breasts.
- Rub well to coat all sides of the chicken.
- Add your olive oil to a large pan and place over medium-high heat. Let preheat until the oil is very hot. It should be sizzling or smoking.
- Add your chicken breasts to the pan, evenly spaced.
- Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side or until the chicken is dark on both sides (not burnt, just dark brown).
- Reduce the heat and add the lid to the pan. Continue to cook for several minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through and the juices run clear. This may be about 5 more minutes, but it depends upon the size of the breasts.
- When the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees F, remove the chicken and place it on a plate, and tent well with foil. This will keep the chicken warm and prevent it from drying out. Set aside until the sauce is finished.
Alfredo Sauce
- Add your butter to a medium sized pot over medium heat.
- Cook until the butter has melted.
- Add in the minced garlic and dry seasonings.
- Stir until well mixed. About 30 seconds.
- Add in the flour.
- Mix again to combine. Stir until no flour clumps remain.
- Slowly add in the milk while whisking.
- Continue until the mixture is smooth.
- Add in the cream cheese.
- Stir occasionally until melted into the mixture and it begins to thicken.
- Add in the parmesan cheese. Stir together until blended. Remove from heat.
- If the sauce is too thick, add in reserved pasta water a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
Assembly
- Slice your chicken breasts into thin pieces.
- Plate your pasta and top it with alfredo sauce. Add some sliced chicken to the top and serve warm. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use regular milk, heavy cream, or half and half for the sauce.
- Cold cream cheese can be used, but softened cream cheese incorporates better.
- Remove the skillet from the burner for a minute or two to prevent burning the chicken.
- Salt the alfredo sauce to taste.
- Rinse cooked pasta under cold water to cool it down and prevent clumping.
- Mix leftover blackened chicken alfredo and store it in the fridge for easier reheating.
- Reheat a single serving for 1-2 minutes in the microwave.
- For multiple servings, reheat over low heat on the stove, adding water or milk if needed.
- Leftover alfredo sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
- The leftover meal can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container.
Bre says
TASTED SO GOOD!! I did 2x the recipe in the recipe card and it lasted for the whole week for a family of 4. I’ll be making this a lot, they loved it so much!
Nicole Durham says
I'm so happy to hear that!