Before we get to today’s recipe (which is mighty tasty, by the way), I have to share something with you. If you just so happen to get this magazine in the mail or see it on the newsstand…
…be sure to check out page 90.
All I have to say is, “Woooooo Hoooooo!” I know. Very eloquent and oh so very Martha. But seriously, I still can’t believe my name, blog, photos and recipe are printed on the pages of a Martha Stewart Living magazine. I’m downright giddy.
Okay, enough squealing from Jane. Thanks for indulging me. On to the real reason we’re here!
In the not-so-distant past, I was pretty much scared of spicy food. I could barely handle medium salsa, folks. Yes, I was a wimp. Then Nate and I discovered a fabulous Caribbean take-out restaurant in Menlo Park with jerk chicken that is to die for. The chicken is coated in the most delicious but super spicy jerk sauce. The only way I could eat that chicken was if I got tough and faced the heat head on. And I did just that. Not only is that now one of my favorite dishes, but I am in love with spicy food. Bring it on!
This year I have the opportunity to participate in a Newman’s Own “Own It” campaign with Martha’s Circle. The challenge is to take recipes and make them your own through simple flavor changes. For my first recipe, I was asked to incorporate one of the Newman’s Own sauces into my dish. I started browsing through their sauces and the Alfredo caught my eye. Alfredo is most often simply paired with fettuccine and, if things get really crazy, chicken. It’s a traditional favorite that seemed to be screaming for a new twist. With my newfound love of heat, I decided to kick up the spice factor a notch…or twenty.
Blackened chicken seemed like a fun and unique twist to the classic Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. Can I say how glad I am I gave this a try? This recipe is a keeper! Nate and I both really enjoyed it. The spicy kick of the chicken was such a great counterpoint to the super mellow and rich Alfredo sauce. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to regular old chicken fettuccine alfredo again!
- 9-oz package fresh fettuccine
- 1 jar Newman’s Own Alfredo Pasta Sauce
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan or dish with cooking oil. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pound the chicken breast until quite thin (around ¼”³ thick). Mix all of the spice ingredients together thoroughly. Coat both sides of the chicken breasts with the spices.
- Heat a non-stick grill pan or skillet over medium high heat. Place chicken breasts in pan and brown both sides, 45-60 seconds per side. Place chicken in prepared baking pan and bake in oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and slice chicken into strips.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return pasta to warm pot over medium-low heat. Pour in alfredo sauce and mix thoroughly.
- Serve pasta with sliced chicken served on top. Serves 4.
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
This looks incredibly delicious! Not to mention super easy!
I can’t wait to give it a try!
YES! I am making fettucine alfredo this week with a homemade sauce and was thinking about how good it would be with blackened chicken but didn’t have a the recipe for the chicken part…and now I do!! Thanks for sharing!
What an exciting accomplishment!!! Congratulations!
Great, easy dinner recipe! Congrats on the recipe being published in MSL. So exciting! I squeal with you!
Eeeeeeee! So excited for you, Jane! And that chicken doesn’t look half bad, either! 🙂
What timing! I have Chicken Alfredo on the menu for this evening so I will try this new recipe.
It was a hit with the entire family! My kids even like it. Thanks for a new recipe.
wow! you are FAST! I love that you made it already and am delighted that it was a hit with the entire family – yippeee!!!
Congratulations, Jane! How exciting for you! I just made grilled chicken alfredo the other night…I had forgotten just how perfectly decadent it was…now I can’t wait to try it with your spice rub too 🙂
cheers,
cathy b.
Wow!!! congratulations!!!
Congratulations, how exciting! I love anything Martha Stewart, that is so cool your recipe is featured in her magazine:)
Congratulations Jane! I have that issue but was saving it for this weekend. Am going to read it now! Delicious recipe too!
See Jane Go? Go Jane GO!
Yumm…I love blackened chicken alfredo. They have it at a local restaurant here and I almost always get it. I will have to try newmans owm for the sauce. So far I haven’t found an alfredo sauce in the grocery store that doesn’t have that yucky preservative flavor to it.
Congratulations! On a side note, could you explain why the need to put the chicken in the oven instead of just cooking it entirely on the grill pan? Just curious. Thanks!
I like to brown it on the grill pan – get a nice sear, but I think cooking it in the oven may keep it more moist. that said, I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison, but the chicken came out super tender and moist cooked this way. hope that’s helpful! 🙂
also…I was just thinking…if you wanted to skip a step, I would do one of the two following things instead:
1) use a real live bbq grill – that’s the best way! 🙂
2) if you don’t care about getting it browned on the outside, I would choose oven over skillet…I think better chance of it staying more moist…I would still pound it nice and thin, that really helps keep it tender. I am a big believer in pounding the heck out of my chicken whenever possible 😉
Congratulations Jane! And that looks like a tasty recipe! I will be trying it!
YAY JANE!! That is so exciting!! I’ll have to go and buy a copy of my very own! 🙂
Shut up. You’ve arrived! Wait, you already had. Way to go, Jane!
Congrats Jane! A great opportuity for you and your blog and such a great reflection on the whole blogging community. Yippee!
As for learning to love spicy — you might get addicted. Step up the chipotle the next time you make tortilla soup – you might just love it.
Love this recipe because it’s different but with the shortcut of using Newman’s sauce, it’s still doable on a weeknight.
wow, congrats! this look fabulous 🙂
Made this tonight and it was great! My husband raved!
I’m so thrilled for you, Jane, and not a bit surprised. You are incredible–fabulous recipe!
I am so thrilled for you, Jane, but not a bit surprised. You are amazing–congrats! The recipe looks great.
Congrats!! This is awesome and this recipe sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
oh jane, i’m so proud of you! i’m going to have to buy an issue of martha now, so i can go around bragging about you! hehe… your recipe made me miss chicken and dairy (i’m trying out a vegan diet for lent). after easter, once i go back to my vegetarian diet, i’d love to try out your recipe using mock chicken. i’ll let you know how it fares. love from the LV.
Congrats!! It looks great! And I fully support the description of Jane Maynard as an “expert food blogger.”
Yumm! That looks delicious and very easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
Soooooooo Awesome! Congrats. That recipe looks super yum! Way to go!
This looks delicious, can’t wait to give it a try!
WAIT! WHAT? I just saw this now. You are now an even bigger hero for me. GO JANE!!!
I just made this and it turned out perfectly. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
oh good, so glad it went well for you! enjoy! 🙂
Wow! Blackened chicken and alfredo pasta are two of my favorites and I was wondering if I could combine these into a dish and found your receipe. Thank you so much!!!
I love this dish… i wanted to find a new way on making chicken alfredo…. this is great… i made the chicken a little bit more thicker… so good… thanks for the recipe
so glad you loved it!
Going to try it tonight. It’s going to be for 4 adults and 2 kids under 3. If I double the chicken breasts to 4, should I double everything else? Thanks
I would for sure double all the spices for coating on the chicken.
as for the pasta and pasta sauce – I can’t remember how much one package makes…I would check the back of the pasta package and see what it says in terms of servings and go by that. I feel like one package makes a lot and might be enough…but if you want to be safe maybe two packages? in which case, get two jars of sauce! 🙂
hope that helps!!!
This Chicken recipe is not good.
did you make the recipe and have trouble with it? let me know, would love to help out! so far we’ve had a lot of success with the recipe, but love to get feedback. thanks!
This is one of the best chicken alfredo recipes I have ever had! My husband and I both loved it and will definitely make it again…so easy too!
thanks, jessica! so glad you guys loved it!
What temperature does the oven need to be on or did I miss that. Thanks!
it’s at the start of the recipe, but I can see how you missed it. no worries – 350 degrees! 🙂
Made is for my husbands birthday, turned out great..but watch out with the cayenne, I just added a pinch.
This was AMAZING. So, so good. Keeper.
Congratualtions on your magazine feature. This recipe looks delicious, I’m sure the super spicey flavor will be a hit in my house.Thanks for sharing.
This recipe was awesome! My wife doesn’t really like spicy stuff, either, so I’ve been trying to find a recipe for Chicken Alfredo that wouldn’t turn her off to it… And after MANY failed attempts :^P , I’ve finally made her something we can all enjoy (even my 3-year-old!) … All thanks to your recipe! Congrats on being published; you totally deserved the recognition!
I put this on a recipe card, and have a feeling it will soon be as worn-out as my ace-in-the-hole Chicken Parm recipe card! THANKS A BUNCH FOR SHARING! ;^)
what a wonderful comment – thank you geoffrey! and I’m so glad it’s such a hit with your family, that is awesome! 🙂
do you mind sharing your “ace-in-the-hole Chicken Parm” recipe
My 4 boys and I loved it.. Very good! Only thing mentioned was the chicken was a bit spicy. ( I had to rinse of some of the spice off for my 6 year old. )
I will use this recipe again only cut down on the pepper and cayenne pepper
I’m glad you loved it! and you are a nice mommy, de-spicing the chicken! 🙂
Way too hot. Tasted more like chili seasoning on the chicken. I was thinking it would have a more blackened flavor. Tasted too much like chili. Kids didn’t like it. Husband ate it though.
I love this recipe I have been cooking for several years and have never came up with the right seasoning mix for blackened chicken. I absolutely loved it. I have been in a relationship for 2 years and he never knew I could cook (because he has been overseas) until on our anniversary I told him I would cook for him for the first time since he have been back from the military. To make a long story short I am now ENGAGED!!!!!!
I am going to take full credit for that engagement. woohoo! ;)’
congratulations!!!! 🙂
Sounds wonderful. Can’t wait to try it. Having company over next week and will have thiß for sure.
Just made this and it was so flavorful and SO moist! Just like my favorite restaurant style cajun pasta. This is the perfect way to cook blackened chicken! Thank you 😀
I am so glad the technique worked perfectly for you – thank you so much for letting us know!
My bf and i had eaten the newmans own with the bkackened chicken and.it was truly scrumptious! Ty for the recipe 🙂
you’re welcome! so happy it was delicious for you, that’s what I like to hear! 🙂