Blackened Chicken Alfredo

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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.

side view of a plate of cooked pasta noodles with alfredo sauce and sliced chicken breast on top

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 I like to switch it up here and there. One of our favorite ways to serve up alfredo pasta is with Homemade Cream Cheese Alfredo Sauce, and some well-seasoned chicken.

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 pretty 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.

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🥘 Ingredients
🍽 Equipment Needed
🔪 Instructions
🧾 Substitutions
🍴 Recipe Tips
🍳 Reheating
🥗 Side Dishes
👩🏻‍🍳 Storage
💭 FAQs
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

For the Alfredo Sauce, you will need:

Butter- You will need a little butter to start our roux. This will add a richer flavor to the sauce. Use salted or unsalted butter, depending on what you have on hand, or use olive oil if needed.

Garlic- Minced garlic from a jar or freshly minced garlic will both work fine here. Feel free to add in extra garlic. You can NEVER have too much garlic.

Flour- Adding in flour is what will thicken the sauce as it cooks. I use all purpose flour, but you can use gluten free flour instead.

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 easier!

Seasonings- To make sure this sauce is packed with flavor, you will want to use garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper.

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.

Pasta noodles- You will need a box of dry pasta noodles. I like to use longer pasta noodles like fettuccine, but you can use any noodles on hand. Short noodles like penne work great too!

For the Blackened Chicken, you will need:

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.

Olive oil- This will help the chicken to not stick to the pan and will promote even cooking and a nice sear on the meat.

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 quantities, see the recipe card below.

🍽 Equipment Needed

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🔪 Instructions

Check out how to make blackened chicken alfredo with these simple step-by-step instructions:

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.

Add the seasoning for your chicken to a small bowl.

Mix together to combine.

seasoning sprinkled over raw chicken breasts on a plate

Sprinkle the seasoning evenly between your chicken breasts.

fully seasoned chicken breasts on a plate

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.

seasoned chicken breasts in a skillet with hot olive oil

Add your chicken breasts to the pan, evenly spaced.

blackened seasoned chicken breasts in a large skillet

Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side or until the chicken is dark on both sides (not burnt, just dark brown).

fully cooked blackened chicken in a large skillet

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.

Add your butter to a medium sized pot over medium heat.

Cook until the butter has melted.

seasonings and garlic added to pot of melted butter

Add in the garlic and seasonings.

Stir until well mixed. About 30 seconds.

flour added to pot with seasoned melted butter

Add in the flour.

Mix again to combine. Stir until no flour clumps remain.

milk added to seasoned butter and flour mixture in a pot

Slowly add in the milk while whisking.

Continue until the mixture is smooth.

cubed cream cheese added to pot with seasoned milk mixture

Add in the cream cheese.

Stir occasionally until melted into the mixture and it begins to thicken.

shredded parmesan cheese added to pot with cream cheese milk mixture inside

Add in the parmesan cheese. Stir together until blended. Remove from heat.

homemade cream cheese alfredo sauce in a pot

If the sauce is too thick, add in reserved pasta water a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.

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!

aerial view of sliced blackened chicken breast with alfredo pasta underneath and parsley for garnish

🧾 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. You can use cold cream cheese, but keep in mind that the texture will be different than if using softened cream cheese. When cream cheese is cold it doesn't fully incorporate into sauces and leaves behind very tiny white ball-looking pieces. Visually, they are noticeable. Texturally, they are not.

🍴 Recipe Tips

If needed, you can remove the hot skillet of chicken from the burner for a minute or two as it cools down. This can help to prevent burning the chicken as it cooks.

Salt can be added *to taste* to the alfredo sauce, meaning that after it's made, add in salt until you think it tastes good. If you salt the pasta water, you may find that you don't need much salt.

For this blackened chicken alfredo recipe, we ask you to rinse the cooked pasta under cold water. Cool water works fine too, but the point is to cool down the past to stop the cooking process.

This also helps to remove the starches from the noodles that would otherwise cause them to clump together as they cool.

🍳 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.

A single serving will take about 1-2 minutes in the microwave on a plate, but multiple servings can take a few minutes over low heat in a pot on the stove. If needed, add in some 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, Air Fryer Frozen Garlic Bread, or Garlic Parmesan Roasted Green Beans.

👩🏻‍🍳 Storage

Leftover sauce? This alfredo sauce using cream cheese can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Leftover meal? Keep everything together if desired, and it should last about 3-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

💭 FAQs

What does it mean to blacken chicken?

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.

Is Cajun seasoning same as blackened?

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.

Is blackened chicken spicy?

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.

a sliced blackened chicken breast over a bed of cooked pasta and homemade alfredo sauce topped with parsley for garnish

More great pasta recipes to check out soon

📖 Recipe

an upclose view of a sliced chicken breast with alfredo sauce and pasta underneath

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5 from 1 vote