Name: One Pan Blackened Chicken Alfredo Orzo
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 4 medium chicken breasts (flattened to one inch thickness); ¼ cup blackening seasoning; ½ cup butter (melted); 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 2½ cups low sodium chicken broth; 6 ounces cream cheese (diced, room temperature); ⅓ cup Parmesan Cheese (grated then measured); 1 cup whipping cream; 1½ cups dry orzo pasta

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Why You’ll Love My Recipe

Don’t be afraid of the spices in this recipe as you can adjust the blackening seasoning so that there isn’t too much heat! This one-pan dish is full of flavor thanks to all of those spices and has become a new family favorite for us.

Trying to come up with ways to flavor chicken that my entire family enjoys has been a goal of mine for years. Now that my son and daughter are older (and my son loves to cook) we’ve been making homemade blackening seasoning over the past year for chicken breasts.

It’s usually used with skin-on chicken so that you get a crispy, blackened chicken skin full of flavor, but we prefer boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

A woman with long red hair eats from a plate of rice and chicken in a colorful kitchen with teal cabinets and fruit-themed jars in the background.

Karlynn’s Recipe Notes

Skill Level – This is an easy to intermediate difficulty recipe. You have to blacken chicken properly, remove it from the pan, make the remainder of the dish, etc. That said, this is a great recipe to start learning how to use blackening seasoning.

Total Time: This dish can take up to 50 minutes or longer, depending on how long it takes you to blacken the chicken breasts.

Variations: You can use skin-on chicken breast if desired. You simply coat the chicken skin in the spices and then cook the chicken until the skin is crispy and blackened.

Blackened Chicken Alfredo Orzo

Orzo is a wonderful thing, it goes with pretty much any kind of protein and is especially delicious when combined with this blackened chicken. I love alfredo to begin with and it’s virtually a staple in my kids’ diets (and the ultimate choice for picky eaters).

Any time I make chicken, I am asked to make this blackened chicken because my son dislikes the texture of plain chicken unless it’s masked with a lot of flavor. For this reason (and because we love it), we always keep some of my homemade blackened seasoning in the cupboard for whenever we make him chicken.

A skillet of creamy, blackened chicken Alfredo orzo sits in the foreground with gold tongs. Behind it, a single serving is plated on a light blue dish next to a printed recipe card, a vase of flowers, and a glowing candle.

What You’ll Need for Ingredients

Here are a few tips for some of the ingredients in this recipe.

Chicken Breasts – Personally, I buy mine in the bag individually wrapped from Costco because I find they are better quality. You can use bone-in but I prefer mine boneless and skinless.

Homemade Blackened Chicken Seasoning – Linked above and in the recipe card below, I have customized mine for our tastes and always have some on hand.

Orzo – I always have this on hand, it’s one of my new favorite go-to pastas for dinners due to how simple it is to make and you can flavor it in so many different ways.

Various ingredients for a recipe are arranged on a counter, including raw chicken breasts, measuring cups with liquids, spices in small bowls, a block of cream cheese, butter, and grains on green and clear dishware.

Removing the Excess Seasoning

A lot of you are going to wonder why you remove most of the butter and spices after you are done cooking, and that’s simply because too much remains after you blacken the chicken, and it would ruin the taste of the dish.

You can see in the photos that the sauce already turns a lovely color thanks to the seasoning that remains on the chicken, and it’s perfectly balanced!

Three seared chicken breasts rest in a creamy, golden sauce with orzo pasta inside a large skillet, shown from above on a white surface with a red cloth partially visible.

How to Make Blackened Chicken Alfredo Orzo

This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.

Pat the chicken dry to remove excess moisture, then set aside. Place blackened seasoning on a separate plate.
Melt butter in a skillet, douse the chicken in the butter, then in the seasoning, then back on the plate.
Heat the butter until it is sizzling, then add the chicken and cook to directions below. Remove and place on a plate.
Prepare the orzo and sauce according to the recipe card, then place the chicken on top of the orzo and serve.

A piece of blackened, seasoned chicken breast sits on a mound of creamy, cheesy orzo pasta on a white plate, with a blurred recipe card in the background.

Vintage Recipe Card Shorthand

Here is how to write the recipe so that it fits onto small index recipe cards if desired.

A handwritten recipe card for One Pan Blackened Chicken Alfredo Orzo sits in front of a decorated box on a light green plate. The card lists ingredients like chicken, blackened seasoning, butter, garlic, broth, cream cheese, parmesan, and orzo.

A handwritten recipe on a card next to a floral box, detailing steps for cooking chicken with butter, blackening seasoning, and cheese in a skillet. The card is propped up on a reflective surface.

Storage Instructions

Leftovers, if there are any, can be kept in a sealed airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days before they should be discarded.