Why You’ll Love This this Creamy Cajun Chicken Alfredo
This Creamy Cajun Chicken Alfredo brings together the best of both worlds – that smoky, spicy kick from blackened chicken and the rich, velvety comfort of homemade alfredo sauce.
The sun-dried tomatoes add these little bursts of tangy sweetness that’ll make you wonder why you ever settled for plain old chicken alfredo in the first place.
Plus, to be frank, when you can make restaurant-quality pasta at home without changing out of your pajamas, that’s what I call a win-win situation.
Ingredients List
Getting this Cajun Chicken Alfredo on your table starts with gathering some seriously delicious ingredients that’ll transform your kitchen into something that smells way better than any restaurant.
- 4 (5 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup blackening seasoning (recommended — Paul Prudhomme’s Chicken)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 cup roughly chopped marinated sun-dried tomato
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 lb cooked fettuccine
- 1/2 cup sliced scallion
- Let’s be real – this isn’t exactly a health food with all that heavy cream, but you can lighten things up by using half-and-half instead of heavy cream, though your sauce won’t be quite as thick and luxurious.
- The sun-dried tomatoes actually pack some decent nutrition with lycopene and vitamins, so there’s that little bright spot.
- If you’re watching sodium, go easy on the blackening seasoning since it can be pretty salt-heavy, and you might want to taste before adding that full teaspoon of sea salt.
Step by Step Directions
Making this Cajun Chicken Alfredo involves blackening seasoned chicken, creating a rich cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, and combining everything with pasta for a restaurant-quality dish at home.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and dredge the chicken breasts in blackening seasoning until fully coated.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over very high heat and blacken both sides of the seasoned chicken breasts.
- Transfer the blackened chicken to the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Remove chicken from oven, slice into strips on the bias, and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and add minced garlic, cooking until lightly caramelized.
- Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and sliced chicken to the pan with the garlic.
- Deglaze the pan by adding white wine and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
- Pour in the heavy cream, increase heat to bring to a simmer, and cook until the sauce reduces by half.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper until the cheese melts and incorporates.
- Add the cooked fettuccine to the sauce and toss to combine.
- Plate the pasta by nesting it on large rimmed plates and pour the remaining sauce over top.
- Garnish with sliced scallions and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese before serving.
For even better heat distribution and professional results, consider using copper cookware which provides superior temperature control for both the chicken searing and sauce preparation steps.
Substitutions and Variations
- Cheese variations – Romano or Asiago instead of Parmesan will give you a sharper bite, while adding a handful of mozzarella makes everything extra melty and indulgent.
- Sun-dried tomato substitutes – Fresh cherry tomatoes or roasted red peppers work in a pinch, though you’ll miss that concentrated tangy sweetness the sun-dried ones bring to the party.
- Make it dairy-free – Coconut cream and nutritional yeast can create a surprisingly decent alfredo base, though to be frank, it won’t be quite the same creamy magic.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This dish is practically begging for some good company on the plate.
- Garlic bread – Because to be frank, you need something to soak up every last drop of that creamy sauce, and plain bread just feels like a missed opportunity.
- Caesar salad – The crisp romaine and tangy dressing cut through all that richness perfectly, plus you get to pretend you’re eating something healthy.
- Roasted asparagus or broccolini – A little char on these green guys adds a nice bitter note that plays beautifully against the sweet cream sauce.
- Sautéed spinach with garlic – It wilts down to nothing, so you can pile it on without feeling too guilty about the cream fest happening on your plate.
- Crusty sourdough rolls – For the sauce-sopping moments when garlic bread feels too extra, though honestly, when is garlic bread ever too extra?
- Simple arugula salad – Just arugula, lemon, olive oil, and maybe some shaved parm, because sometimes you need that peppery bite to wake up your taste buds between creamy forkfuls.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Let me share some game-changing tips that’ll turn you from a pasta novice into someone who actually knows what they’re doing in the kitchen.
- Don’t skip the blackening step – I know it seems dramatic with all that smoke and sizzling, but that’s where the magic happens, and without it you’re basically making regular chicken alfredo with delusions of grandeur.
- Get your pan screaming hot before the chicken hits it – We’re talking cast iron so hot it could probably brand cattle, because lukewarm pans create sad, gray chicken that nobody wants to eat.
- Let that cream sauce reduce properly – This isn’t a race, and rushing it means you’ll end up with soupy disappointment instead of the thick, luxurious coating that makes people forget their own names.
- Save some pasta water before you drain – That starchy liquid is like liquid gold for fixing sauce consistency, and trust me, you’ll kick yourself if you dump it all down the drain.
- Add the cheese off the heat – Hot pans make parmesan seize up faster than a teenager caught sneaking out, so pull it off the burner first.
- Slice that chicken on the bias – Cutting against the grain at an angle makes it tender enough to cut with a fork, plus it looks fancy without any extra effort.
- Taste as you go – Your taste buds are better than any recipe, so adjust the salt, pepper, and garlic until it makes you want to lick the spoon.
Nutritional Facts
This indulgent Cajun Chicken Alfredo packs serious flavor along with its calories – here’s what you’re getting per serving.
- Calories: Approximately 980-1,100 per serving (recipe serves 4)
- Protein: 45-50 grams from the chicken breast and parmesan cheese
- Fat: 65-75 grams, primarily from heavy cream, olive oil, and cheese
- Carbohydrates: 60-70 grams mainly from the fettuccine pasta
- Saturated Fat: 35-40 grams due to the heavy cream and cheese content
- Sodium: 1,200-1,500 mg depending on the blackening seasoning used
- Cholesterol: 200-250 mg from the chicken, cream, and cheese
- Fiber: 3-4 grams from the pasta and sun-dried tomatoes
- Calcium: 350-400 mg from the parmesan cheese and heavy cream
- Iron: 4-5 mg from the chicken and enriched pasta
- Vitamin A: Significant amounts from the heavy cream and sun-dried tomatoes
- Sugar: 8-10 grams, naturally occurring from dairy and tomatoes
Fun “Did You Know?”
Did you know that Alfredo sauce wasn’t originally meant to include chicken at all? I find it fascinating that Alfredo di Lelio created this creamy masterpiece in 1914 Rome using just butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and pasta to help his pregnant wife regain her appetite.
The original recipe contained zero cream! American adaptations later added heavy cream and protein like chicken.
Cajun seasoning brings another twist to this Italian classic, creating a beautiful fusion of cultures.
What started as a simple Roman remedy has evolved into countless variations, proving that great recipes adapt while keeping their soul intact.
