Blackened chicken alfredo
Chicken rubbed hard with paprika and chilli until it is properly dark, sliced over a garlicky parmesan cream sauce. Simple, and a genuine step up from a jar.
Notable for: calcium, iron, antioxidants
Ingredients
- 700 gchicken breast
- 400 gtagliatelle
- 300 glow-fat greek yoghurt
- 40 ggrated parmesan, grated
- 15 gcrushed garlic
- 10 gsmoked paprika
- 5 gchilli powder
- 100 gbaby spinach
- 10 mlolive oil
Method
Put the pasta water on to boil.
Rub the chicken hard with the paprika, chilli powder and a good pinch of salt.
Sear it in a hot pan with the oil, about 6 minutes a side, until properly dark and cooked through, then rest it and slice it.
In the same pan, add the garlic for 30 seconds, then add the cream and simmer gently for 3 minutes.
Stir in the parmesan until it melts into the sauce, then stir through the spinach until it wilts.
Cook the tagliatelle a minute short of the packet time and finish it in the sauce with a splash of its cooking water, then lay the sliced chicken over the top.
Get the spice properly dark before it hits the pan
Blackened means the paprika and chilli crust on the chicken is meant to look almost burnt, not just seasoned. That crust is where the flavour is, and it only happens in a pan that's properly hot.
Storage
Keeps three days in the fridge.
Reheat gently with a splash of milk, since the sauce can split in a microwave.
Cost per serving is indicative, based on New Zealand supermarket prices as at September 2026. Batch prices your own week against your own store on the day. Nutrition figures, including calories, are estimates rather than label readings, so always check the packet if you have an allergy. "Notable for" reflects well-established qualities of the ingredients used, not a lab measurement of this exact dish.