Today we’re making a high protein chicken alfredo that only requires 5 ingredients and is ready in less than 30 minutes. Chicken breast is air fried with olive oil and a spicy garlicky seasoning. Then it’s sliced and served over a simple pasta alfredo.
Each serving has 35g of protein with just 46g of carbs and 11g of fat.
The Ingredients and Alternatives
While I developed this chicken alfredo to be a Trader Joe’s recipe, you can make it with ingredients from any grocery store. The only two ingredients that are specific to TJ’s are the alfredo pasta sauce and aglio olio seasoning blend.
Trader Joe’s alfredo sauce has 80 calories per 1/4 cup, for comparison. It’s fine, nothing to sing and dance about. Any sauce would be a good substitute. I’ve blended alfredo and low fat cottage cheese together to make alfredo lasagna, if you’re looking to play around with a high protein alfredo sauce.
The aglio olio seasoning is just a blend of dried minced garlic, bell pepper and chili peppers, parsley, and sea salt flakes. Any garlic and pepper forward seasoning blend should work well in its place. Lemon pepper and citrusy garlic seasonings are also good choices.
Beyond the sauce and seasoning, you only need chicken breast, olive oil, and some type of pasta. I used TJ’s pappardelle, but fettuccine alfredo is a classic for a reason. You can also get away with higher protein pasta options. I recently started using Brami lupini bean pasta (featured in my pesto chicken pasta) and like it much better than chickpea or lentil pastas.
Tips for Air Frying Chicken Breast
It’s as simple as using a food thermometer.
Chicken thighs have outshined chicken breast lately due to their forgiving nature when it comes to cooking times. It’s really easy to overcook chicken breast. So just use a food thermometer and pull them when they reach 160ºF to 165ºF at their thickest point.
And speaking of thickness, if your chicken breasts are much larger on one end than the other, it may be a good idea to pound them to an even thickness.
I used a Ninja air fryer pro to test this recipe (and many other chicken breast recipes). Twelve to fifteen minutes at 375ºF seems to be the sweet spot for eight-ounce chicken breasts.
Maybe just as important as cooking time and temperature is the resting time. Be sure to let the chicken rest for five to ten minutes before slicing. Resting gives the muscle fibers time to relax and holds onto all the juices inside the chicken. One of the biggest keys to juicy chicken breast is simply not slicing it too soon.
And if you’re looking for more recipes using air fried chicken breast like this, check out my coconut curry rice bowls and bbq chicken sweet potato bowls next.
Garnishes and Pairings
Fresh herbs, lemon, and cheese. Not much else to say about it.
I hope you dig my simple spin on chicken alfredo. Recipe reviews are always fun to read if you do!
Pasta la vista, baby. – Mason
High Protein Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients
- 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 1 pound total
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Trader Joe's Aglio Olio Seasoning or your choice of garlic pepper seasoning (see notes)
- 8 oz (dry) Pappardelle, Fettuccine, or Tagliatelle
- 2 cups (248g) Trader Joe's Alfredo Pasta Sauce or your choice of alfredo
- Fresh Parsley, Grated Parmesan, and Lemon for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- While the water heats up, prepare the chicken by coating the chicken breast in the olive oil and seasoning. Air fry at 375ºF for 15 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF. Let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
- In the last 3-4 minutes of the chicken's cook time, drop the pasta in the boiling water. Cook to al dente, about 8 minutes. (If you're using a pasta the requires a longer cook time, start cooking it sooner.)
- Once the pasta is cooked, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water before draining the rest. Add the cooked pasta back to the pot with the alfredo sauce. Stir together over low heat until the sauce is heated through. Use pasta water as needed to bring the two together and/or prevent the sauce from thickening too much while waiting on the chicken.
- Once the chicken has rested at least 5 minutes, slice and serve over the pasta. Garnish with a fresh parsley, grated cheese, and a generous squeeze of lemon.
