Blackened Chicken

4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Easy Blackened Chicken is a quick flavorful chicken recipeChicken breasts seared with blackening seasonings like paprika, cumin, thyme, and white pepper.

From Roast Chicken to Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts to baked chicken breasts seasoned with lots spices, we have the most delicious Chicken Recipes to make dinner easy any night of the week.

Blackened Chicken in frying pan

BLACKENED CHICKEN

This Blackened Chicken recipe is quick and easy, a perfect weeknight dinner when you want a flavorful main dish that you can serve with anything! Don’t let the name fool you, this baked chicken comes out with a beautifully deep golden-red crust on the outside and juicy, perfectly cooked meat on the inside. Common spices from your pantry come together to make a slightly spicy, smoky Cajun seasoning blend that you’ll want to use on everything!

Blackened Chicken raw chicken breast on cutting board with rub ingredients in bowl

Making Blackened Chicken is a delicious way to get boneless skinless chicken breasts full of flavor. The two step cooking technique of searing first then baking to finish ensures juicy, tender chicken every time. You start by locking in the spices by browning the seasoned chicken in a hot cast iron skillet with just a little bit of oil, and the coating seals in the juices while the meat cooks in the oven.

Unlike other Southern chicken dishes,  Blackened Chicken isn’t loaded it up with butter or breading, instead the chicken gets all the flavors from the Cajun blackening seasonings. Blackened Chicken is also a healthier chicken recipe since you are cutting the chicken breast in half, similar to a thick chicken cutlet. You can save yourself time and buy chicken fillets, just keep in mind they are going to cook a lot faster and they are a bit more expensive cut of meat.

Blackened Chicken raw chicken breast coated with rub on cutting board

Serve Blackened Chicken with Southern favorites like Mac and Cheese and Fried Okra, or with simple but delicious sides like Mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Green Beans. This recipe for Blackened Chicken can easily be doubled or tripled for a hearty, protein-rich dish for your weekly meal prep. Top salads and sandwiches with leftover seasoned chicken, cold or reheated, for quick lunch or dinner the next day.

EASY SIDE DISH RECIPES TO SERVE WITH BLACKENED CHICKEN

Tips for Blackened Chicken

  • Make sure your cast iron skillet (or heavy bottomed pan) is smoking hot before you add the chicken. The goal is to sear the spices, so if it is not hot enough you’ll have to leave your chicken in the pan too long.
  • Your chicken breast halves should be the same thickness all the way down so they cook evenly and the ends don’t dry out. Use a meat mallet to flatten to the same size, but don’t pound them too thin, you are looking for about ½ inch thick.
  • Try this hack to keep your leftover Blackened Chicken from drying it when you reheat it. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and let the chicken rest at room temperature while the oven is heating. Place chicken breast in a baking dish with a couple tablespoons of chicken stock and cover with foil. Bake until heated all the way through, about 5 minutes.

Blackened Chicken in frying pan, with two pieces cooked on top and two pieces uncooked on top

VARIATIONS ON BLACKENED CHICKEN

  • Spices: You can try other spices in this chicken rub like smoked paprika, oregano, black pepper, celery seed, or garlic powder. If you want spicer Cajun seasoning, up the cayenne pepper to ½ teaspoon, or try other hotter spices like chipotle powder or red pepper flakes.
  • BBQ Sauce: The smoky flavor of Blackened Chicken goes great with your favorite barbecue sauce! Once you sear the spice rub on the chicken, drizzle a 1/4 cup BBQ Sauce over the chicken breasts before baking.
  • Meat: You can use the blackening seasoning on fish, shrimp, pork chops, or steak instead of chicken. For pork or beef, sear as usual in the hot skillet and bake until cooked through. For fish and shrimp, cook it completely on the stove top so it doesn’t dry out.

OUR MOST POPULAR CHICKEN RECIPES YOU NEED TO TRY!

HOW TO STORE BLACKENED CHICKEN

  • Serve: You can keep Blackened Chicken at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
  • Store: Place cooled Blackened Chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven, wrapped in foil, to prevent dry chicken.
  • Freeze: Once cooled, wrap individual cooked Blackened Chicken Breasts in plastic wrap and store in a freezer safe bag. Freeze chicken breasts for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator or reheat from frozen in the oven.

WHEN IS BLACKENED CHICKEN FULLY COOKED

According to the USDA’s websitechicken is fully cooked when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken breast to measure the internal temperature.

Blackened Chicken in frying pan

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Blackened Chicken

Easy Blackened Chicken is a quick flavorful chicken recipe! Chicken breasts seared with blackening seasonings like paprika, cumin, thyme, and white pepper.
Yield 4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 chicken breasts , skinless, boneless, and cut in half longwise
  • 1/2 teaspoon  paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon  cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add butter and vegetable oil.
  • Season the chicken breasts with the spice mixture.
  • Sear on each side for 4 minutes, then place the pan in the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes until cooked through.
  • Note: Oven cooking helps keep the spices from becoming too bitter.

Nutrition

Calories: 133kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 443mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 470IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Blackened Chicken

Blackened Chicken collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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Comments

    1. I realize this comment is very old, so I am so sorry for the delay in replying.

      As long as it’s oven safe.