Prep Time:
Without marinade: 10-15 minutes
With marinade: 2-24 hours and 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
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This recipe is part air fryer and part stovetop, but you don’t need an air fryer for this. After you season your chicken bites, proceed to bake, grill, or fry them as you normally do with other chicken recipes. I make it a goal to invent air fryer recipes and hacks for busy moms who desire minimal cleanup and fried foods without all the frying oil. I’ll say it; I love my air fryer!
When it comes to spaghetti night, we don’t play around! I like to make baked and stovetop spaghetti for my family. Unfortunately, even though I make enough spaghetti to feed an entire village, my stomach can only handle so much tomato-based sauce. For this reason, I’ll make a smaller portion of alfredo sauce. We don’t normally have alfredo nights because the rest of my family doesn’t favor alfredo sauce. I, on the other hand, love it!
Alfredo sauce is very quick and EASY to make; that’s the best part! Normally, the base of the sauce only calls for two base ingredients: heavy cream (or milk) and butter. I added another dairy ingredient to my alfredo sauce: cream cheese. I love what cream cheese does for the creaminess and flavor of the sauce. Because of the cream cheese and butter, the sauce will thicken when refrigerated. When reheated, the sauce will return to its original consistency.
This alfredo sauce is simple yet packed with flavor. Combined with crispy blackened chicken bites, this meal will melt in your mouth and fill you up. What I love most about this meal is the versatility it gives. You can mix the chicken into the pasta or keep it on the side. The history of how the blackened butter garlic chicken came into play is explained in the “About This Recipe” section below (after the ingredients and instructions). The blackened seasoning I created for this recipe isn’t traditional. This is a seasoning pack that I altered to feature a butter garlic flavor. It is also technically not a true “blackened seasoning” because I leave out the cayenne pepper for my heartburn sufferers.
To spice things up:
Consider adding the left-out cayenne pepper or red crushed pepper.
Before adding the blackened seasoning layer to my chicken, I marinate it in a homemade marinade mix that pairs perfectly with the blackened seasoning. This marinade is honestly dreamy, although it does call for a specific ingredient: garlic butter (dry) seasoning. If you don’t have this seasoning, you can mix minced or powdered garlic with melted butter. It doesn’t quite give the same effect as the dry seasoning, but it’ll get the job done.
Ingredients
1-lb Chicken – You can use any kind of cut, truly. I happened to have a pack of 5 drumsticks in my freezer, so I cut the meat off the bone with a filet knife and used that.
To find out what I did with the bones and leftover fat, meat bits, and skin, see the “Don’t Waste Those Bones” section below.
Marinade
- 1 TBSP any brand – garlic and herb seasoning (I use what is pictured)
- 1 TBSP dry garlic butter seasoning (pictured above – but there are SEVERAL brands)
- 2 TSP black pepper
- 1-2 TSP kosher salt
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 1 TBSP red or white wine vinegar (red wine vinegar is more savory than white wine vinegar)
All you’ll need to do is mix everything together and evenly soak all your meat into the marinade mix. Use a sealable container or food-grade bag and store in the refrigerator for 2-24 hours, allowing it to marinate and soak up the flavor.
Blackened Butter Garlic Seasoning
For the blackened seasoning ingredients, you can adjust to the amount you need or desire for your chicken or use the amount I list and add if you need more. This recipe calls for more thyme than the original, due to the seasoning acting as a breading. If you’d rather not use as much thyme, try adding some Italian seasoning mix, basil, extra oregano and/or bay leaves.
- 1 TBSP thyme
- 1 TBSP oregano
- 2 TSP black pepper
- 2 TSP kosher salt
- 1 TSP white pepper
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 1 TBSP onion powder
- 1 TBSP paprika
- 1 TBSP dry garlic butter seasoning
Alfredo Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream (you can use milk, but double the simmer time)
- 1 stick (4 oz) butter (salted or unsalted)
- 4 oz cream cheese (half of one pack)
- 2-3 TBSP Garlic and herb seasoning
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 2 TBSP minced garlic
- Black pepper to taste (I use 2 TSP)
- 2 TSP kosher salt
- 4 TBSP grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Blackened Butter Garlic Chicken
Take your chicken and cut it into bite sizes. I use a filet knife to get the job done.
I cut my chicken into bite sizes before applying the marinade and letting it sit.
Take all of the blackened seasoning ingredients and blend them evenly in a medium sized bowl.
Dip and cover each piece of chicken until it is fully breaded in seasoning and place in your air fryer basket, keeping them slightly spaced apart for proper ventilation.
You don’t need to add foil to your air fryer basket. It disrupts the ventilation and even crisping. The foil in my picture is perforated (it was a busy day and I tried to spare some cleanup).
Be sure to use a gloved hand or wash thoroughly immediately after.
Set your air fryer to 400 degrees and cook for 10-12 minutes. You can also fry these on the stovetop, but I love that the air fryer requires minimal to no cooking oil.
That’s it; your blackened butter garlic chicken bites are ready.
Alfredo Sauce
Over medium heat, combine all dairy ingredients into a medium sized pot or saucepan.
Bring to a boil and stir for 1-2 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low and add the minced garlic, parmesan cheese, and the rest of the seasonings.
Let simmer while stirring occasionally until your sauce thickens to your desired thickness (around 10-15 minutes) and remove from the heat.
That’s it; your alfredo sauce is ready.
Drizzle it over some pasta, or a pasta replacement, and add your chicken bites on top or at the side.
REMEMBER: When storing your sauce in the fridge, it will thicken and become more dense, due to the butter and cream cheese cooling down. The sauce will thin back out to normal consistency upon reheating.
About This Recipe
There’s no big and lengthy story to this one. It started one spaghetti night when my stomach wasn’t agreeing with everyone’s vote on dinner. We plan for meals ahead of time, but my stomach had other plans! I remembered a friend of mine mentioning always keeping a jar of alfredo sauce in her cabinet, for this exact reason. Being that I don’t like jarred sauces, I decided to make my own. This sauce is light on the spice, due to the chicken bites having PLENTY.
My blackened butter garlic chicken bite recipe came to life when I found an oddball package of drumsticks in the freezer, waiting to be used. They were left over from a good sale, but it was only one pack of five drumsticks. It’s not enough for my family, but perfect for a small gut friendly meal. I took most of the ingredients from my signature blackened seasoning mix and added some garlic butter. In the photos you’ve seen, I also added Italian seasoning to my blackened seasoning mixture. You don’t need to do that, but it never hurts. I love it that way.
Check out our blog, Replacing Pasta, to gain ideas for pasta replacements.
Don’t Waste Those Bones
If you cut meat from the bone for this recipe, repurpose the leftovers. You can do this by adding them to six cups of water and boiling for an hour or two. This will create a delicious and nutritious bone broth. Boil with your favorite veggies for an even tastier broth. Allow the broth to cool and make a soup with it or store it for later. I like to pour it into a zip up baggie and freeze. Thaw broth in room temperature water when you’re ready to use it.
If you need time before making the broth, your thawed chicken bits and bones can stay in the refrigerator for 1-2 additional days.
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