Cajun Chicken Recipe that can be baked, pan fried or part of your healthy grill recipes. Lean chicken breast coated in easy homemade cajun seasoning for a healthy dinner idea with a lot of flavour.
If you love spicy chicken, try our delicious Instant Pot Jambalaya and chili lime chicken.
Cajun Spicy Chicken Recipe
You can never have too many easy chicken recipes like cilantro lime chicken, baked honey garlic chicken, and now this Cajun chicken. It can be baked, pan fried (or use the seasoning on your air fryer chicken breast or air fryer chicken tenders) and even grilled!
This Cajun chicken recipe with the best seasoning gives you a crispy browned crust on the outside and a tender juicy inside. Spices like oregano, thyme, paprika, and garlic powder, and a bit of added heat from the cayenne and red pepper flakes, make this a spice so flavorful that even your kids will love! You can adjust the amount of heat as you’d like.
Use it to make a spicy sandwich on a crusty bun, or enjoy leftovers cold in healthy pasta salad the next day!
Healthy Homemade Cajun Spice Mix
Anytime you’re making a homemade spice rub you’re avoiding all of the added sodium, preservatives, and junky additives you find in a store-bought package. It’s also way cheaper to make it at home which is always a bonus. I love keeping homemade spice mixes on hand, especially these 3 must have homemade spice recipes. It’s super convenient to be able to just grab and shake on all your chicken breast recipes or the kids love them on air fryer chicken drumsticks!
This homemade cajun spice is from Allrecipes.com and couldn’t be tastier. It’s almost as satisfying as spicy fried chicken. Almost! You can always use this butter lemon chicken coating as a base, add cajun seasoning to taste and pan fry.
Ingredients for this Recipe
Chicken: Boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs.
- Oil: Avocado, used for all methods. You can substitute olive oil if that’s what you like.
- Cajun Rub: Paprika. Garlic powder. Oregano. Thyme. Onion powder. Cayenne pepper. Ground black pepper. Salt. Red pepper flakes.
How to Make Cajun Chicken Breast
- Prep: Cut chicken breasts lengthwise into thinner cutlets and place in a large bowl. In a small bowl, add paprika, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, onion powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes; stir to combine.
- Season: Sprinkle 1 1/2 tbsp of the prepared Cajun seasoning mix onto the meat. Use tongs to toss the chicken around making sure all of it the pieces are coated. If you are going to grill or bake them, also add oil to the mix.
- Pan Fried Cajun Chicken: Preheat a large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes or until white edges appear, turn and cook for another 4-5 minutes. It’s a thinner breast, so you don’t want to overcook it.
- Baked Cajun Chicken: Preheat the oven and arrange the chicken in a single layer in a large baking dish to bake. Remove from the oven, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. See baked chicken breast for a video tutorial.
- Grilled Cajun Chicken: Preheat grill on medium-high heat (450-500 degrees F), place chicken on the grill, close the lid, and grill for 8-10 minutes turning once. Do not overcook. Remove from the grill, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. See grilled chicken breast for a video tutorial.
- Serving: Spicy chicken goes very well with mashed sweet potatoes or classic mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot. And creamy cucumber salad will round out the meal nicely.
Tips and Variations
- Adjust the heat: If you find it a bit too hot and spicy, use less of the red pepper flakes and cayenne. Use more if you want it spicier!
- Different meat: This Cajun spice rub can be used for all kinds of protein. If you want to try other cuts of chicken, by all means. You can also use it for steak, grilled shrimp, and baked cod.
- Less salt: Some readers have found it a tad too salty. Adjust the salt to your liking.
- Air fryer: Along with baking, grilling, and pan-frying, others have enjoyed making the air fryer chicken. Try it out and let me know what you think.
- Don’t skip the oil: The oil helps the spice rub coat the chicken and permeate the meat. It also helps with non-sticking when grilling and baking.
- Pound to even thickness: When you cut the breast in half, you may not always get pieces that have an even thickness. If this is the case, you can pound the thicker parts down to get it even. This makes for consistent cooking.
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating
Store: Store in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Lucky you, you can have lunch for a week!
Freeze: If you’ve made lots and have cutlets leftover you can freeze them for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
Reheat: These chicken breasts are pretty thin, so reheating too many times may result in dry chicken. You can reheat in the same way you prepared them. Either that or keep it cold and use in a sandwich or a salad!
More Chicken Breast Recipes
You may also love browsing through all my healthy grill recipes!
Cajun Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts 3 large, boneless & skinless
- 1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
Homemade Cajun Seasoning:
- 2 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/4 tsp oregano dried
- 1 1/4 tsp thyme dried
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts lengthwise into thinner cutlets and place in a large bowl. In a small bowl, add paprika, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, onion powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and red pepper flakes; stir to combine.
- Sprinkle 1 1/2 tbsp of prepared cajun seasoning in the step above on chicken breasts and using tongs toss to coat. If you are grilling or baking cajun chicken, also add avocado oil to the mix.
- Pan Fried Cajun Chicken: Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes or until white edges appear, turn and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Transfer onto a plate, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Baked Cajun Chicken: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F, arrange chicken in a single layer in a large baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Grilled Cajun Chicken: Preheat grill on medium-high heat (450-500 degrees F), place chicken on the grill, close the lid and grill for 8-10 minutes turning once. Do not overcook. Remove from the grill, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.
Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
Reheat: These chicken breasts are pretty thin, so reheating too many times may result in dry chicken. You can reheat in the same way you prepared them. Either that or keep it cold and use in a sandwich or a salad!
Freeze: If you've made lots and have cutlets leftover you can freeze them for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
- Cajun spice mix is from Allrecipes.com
- Adjust the heat: If you find it a bit too hot and spicy, use less of the red pepper flakes and cayenne. Use more if you want it spicier!
- Different meat: If you want to try other cuts of chicken, by all means. You can also use it for steak, grilled shrimp, and baked cod.
- Less salt: Adjust the salt to your liking.
- Air fryer: Follow air fryer chicken recipe with this seasoning.
- Don’t skip the oil: The oil helps the spice rub coat the chicken and permeate the meat. It also helps with non-sticking when grilling and baking.
- Pound to even thickness: When you cut the breast in half, you may not always get pieces that have an even thickness. If this is the case, you can pound the thicker parts down to get it even. This makes for consistent cooking.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes without permission. Nutritional info is approximate.
I altered the recipe slightly; reducing the cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes. I used a fish weight to get a good sear. My husband loved it as did my extremely picky kiddo!
So happy to hear Holly!
This dish was so delicious and simple to make. I was very impressed!
So great to hear Katrina!
Kind of weird how many spices are needed but was pretty tasty, definitely worth a try!
Just made this for the first time and it was delicious. My wife is not a hot and spicy fan so I only used a pinch of black and red pepper in the rub. Perfection!
Awesome to hear this feedback Charlie!
Great info. Lucky me I ran across your site by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve saved it for later!
Hi Chelsey! Don’t be shy to leave a comment once you have tried the recipe!
Made this for my family and they loved it! Thanks a bunch!
10/10!!! Super yummy thank you.
Fantastic flavor, but next time I will use less salt than the recipe called for. Made a combination of chicken and shrimp, and both were super tasty!
It was delicious and easy. Start to finish, maybe, 30 minutes.
Thanks for sharing your positive feedback Dean!