Next Time You Make Chicken Alfredo, Make It Cowboy Style (It's Pure Magic)

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Chicken Alfredo is one of the classic Italian-American recipes you should certainly try, and it's usually rather simple with pasta and chicken doused in a creamy and cheesy white sauce. But if you grew up eating the pasta dish at home or out at dinner, you might have a craving to amp up its flavors. This is when cowboy-style chicken Alfredo can tantalize your taste buds and add some magic to your next pasta dinner at home.

So what gives chicken Alfredo the cowboy spin? It's all about a mix of spices that you must add to the buttery sauce and to the chicken to give the dish layers of flavor. For the chicken, it takes seasonings including some variation of chili, garlic, and onion powders with other household spices like paprika, dried oregano, black pepper, and some cayenne pepper for a touch of heat. In the sauce, you'll also need to add some of those spices and fresh herbs like parsley. The result is deeper, bolder, and slightly spicier flavor profiles that you certainly won't find in a serving of traditional chicken Alfredo.

Let's get into how you should give the chicken the bold spice that we've described. Keep it easy and buy a premade blend, like Weber Cowboy Seasoning, which is available for $8.99 on Amazon, or make a blend with paprika, cayenne pepper, dried chives, dried thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Then, use it as a dry rub on your chicken and cook it according to your preference. Bake it in the oven for a mess-free meal or throw it on the grill for a smoky, charred flavor. According to our chicken fettuccine Alfredo recipe, use chicken breasts cut into strips.

The real flavor comes from the cowboy butter sauce, which uses the same spices and dried herbs as the chicken dry rub. According to online recipes, the core of the sauce is similar to traditional chicken Alfredo. Simply melt butter, saute garlic, and add the spices to bloom the flavors. The rest just takes heavy cream and grated Parmesan cheese, then combine it with pasta and chicken. You can also add lemon juice or herbs like parsley to temper the bold spices like cayenne pepper.

Take it up a notch and lean into other cowboy-style pasta dishes, and add diced tomatoes, bell peppers, or corn to the dish for more flavor and texture. You might even want to serve it with garlic bread to soak up the sauce in the bottom of the bowl.