How to cook chicken breast

Do you know how to cook chicken breast?

Have you ever cooked chicken breast only to have it turn out dry as a bone?  I certainly have.

I used to hear people raving about chicken breast and honestly I preferred dark meat simply because it wasn’t soo dry and tasteless.

I’ve learned a few tips over the years that have helped immensely and now I can consistently make chicken breast that is moist and tender.  I think these tips will help you out as well.  They work with pretty much any recipe involving chicken breast.

Make you chicken breast all an even thickness of about 1/2 inch

• Use a meat mallet and if you don’t have one buy one.
• You could probably flatten a whole breast at a time but I normally cut mine in smaller chunks or slices before I flatten it.  One breast cut into about 3 or 4 pieces is about what I do.
• When everything is the same thickness it all cooks evenly and you don’t have the edges overdone before the center is done.

Cook at medium to high heat quickly

You may have to experiment with kitchen appliances you normally use to see what temperature setting works best for you but generally you want your chicken to cook quickly and not stay on the heat to long.  Having your breast on a low slow heat will just dry it out.  You want to cook it for no more than 5 minutes per side.  If a table knife or fork slides through the meat easily, it’s done.  You can feel a bit of rubbery resistance if it’s not done yet.  Another clue to doneness is the juices coming from the chicken.  If the juice is still pink it may need a bit more time.

Just remember that a few minutes can make the difference between juicy chicken and dried up chicken, so you can’t just walk away and forget it.  Ask me how I know 🙂

• My favorite way to do chicken breast is on the grill.  I just turn the heat up to high and cook it 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• You can also do this in a skillet on the stove top.  This is where you may have to experiment with the temperature to figure out what works on your stove.  You want it to cook quickly but you don’t want it to burn.
• Any other kind of grill appliance would work well.  I’ve used a little George Foremen grill we have and that works well.
• I personally don’t cook chicken breast in the oven anymore just simply because it cooks so quickly on the stove top.

Marinade 

 This step is sort of optional.  I’ve made chicken breast successfully without it but it definitely can help with flavor as well as making a more juicy final product.  You can find marinade recipes all over the internet with many different flavor profiles and I’m sure they all would work fine.

When I am busy and just want something quick, I marinade it in store bought Italian Dressing and grill it up quick when we are ready to eat.  It’s one of our families favorite ways to have it! It’s super easy and if I use the grill there is very minimal clean up afterward.

I’m going to include a homemade Italian Dressing recipe here that you can use for marinade if you don’t have Italian Dressing on hand or want to be sure the ingredients are clean.

Italian Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 garlic clove, pressed or 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

This should be enough marinade for one pound of chicken breast.  Double or triple the recipe if you plan to make more.  Marinade anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight.

This marinade also works great for grilling legs and thighs.  Just marinade overnight and then grill.

Purchase Chicken Thighs                  Purchase Chicken Legs

Quick Tip: If you want to prepare the chicken ahead of time you can.  Just prep the chicken, cover it with marinade, and put in the freezer right away.  When you are ready to use it, set it out to thaw and it’s ready to go.  We like to camp and this work perfectly.  I put the frozen chicken in the bottom of our cooler and once it’s thawed we cook it over the fire.  It doubles as ice in our cooler and food to eat!

Brining

If you don’t want flavored chicken another good option for added moisture is brining.  This is a simple salt and water mixture that permeates the chicken and helps retain moisture.

Brine recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp Kosher salt
• you can add dried herbs, garlic, peppercorns, a bit of sugar or any other spices if you wish

Dissolve salt in warm water.  Cover you chicken completely with the brine. Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours.  Remove, pat dry and cook as usual.

Once you learn how to cook chicken breast the right way, it will become your favorite go to meat.

Happy Cooking!