Best Chicken Breast Recipes (2024)

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By Pillsbury Kitchens

Updated April 14, 2020

Chicken breasts for dinner doesn’t have to equal “sad and boring.” From cozy casseroles and stuffed chicken breasts to quick skillet meals and crunchy fried chicken, these chicken breast recipes are all simple, easy to prepare and (most importantly) totally delicious. Keep this list on hand for busy weeknights, weekend family dinners or any other time you need a flavorful meal that’s guaranteed to please.

Chicken breastis a popular cut of meat for a number of reasons: it’s usually pretty cheap, incredibly versatile and it’s the leanest cut of the chicken, so you can feel good about serving it to your family and eating it yourself. If you don’t have much experience cooking with chicken breasts, keep these expert kitchen tips handy while you cook.

Tip 1: When you are shopping for chicken breasts at the grocery store, you’ll notice they are sold in varying amounts of weight and thickness. When you take them out of the package, each cut may be thicker on one end and thinner on the other. To ensure even cooking, give your chicken breasts a quick pound with a meat mallet for uniform thickness. The easiest way to do this is to put the chicken breast into a gallon-sized plastic bag and pound until the thickness looks even.

Tip 2: To safely eat cooked chicken, the internal temperature must be at 165°F. Make sure you have an instant-read thermometer handy and stick it in the thickest part of the chicken to check the temperature before serving.

Tip 3: Leftover cooked chicken can be stored in the refrigerator sealed for 3 to 4 days. If you bought raw chicken from the store and don’t intend to cook it right away, throw it in your freezer until you are ready to cook with it.

Still not sure what to make with chicken breast? Whether you are using a skillet, the oven or a slow cooker, read our guide to how to cook chicken breastfor all the best ideas for things to make with chicken breast and more expert kitchen tips and tricks.

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Best Chicken Breast Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to moist chicken breast? ›

Brine. Like a marinade, a brine helps chicken breast soak up as much moisture as possible before cooking. It only requires three ingredients: water, salt, and a pinch of sugar.

What is the best way to cook chicken breast without drying it out? ›

To start, brine your chicken in a mixture of water and a few tablespoons of salt for about 20 to 30 minutes. This will boost the natural flavor and moisture of the chicken breasts and will leave you with a super tender piece of meat. This is the one step that will really ensure your chicken won't be dry or tough.

How to make chicken breast more flavorful? ›

Marinating is good for flavouring and tenderising your chicken at the same time. It's best to marinate your chicken overnight to give the flavours plenty of time to infuse. A faster way to add flavour is to simply brine your chicken in salty water prior to cooking.

What cooking method is best for chicken breast? ›

What Is The Best Way To Cook A Chicken Breast? Cooking a boneless and skinless chicken breast in a hot cast iron pan is by far the easiest and most tasty way to cook the breast. You are far less likely to overcook the chicken breast compared to baking it in the oven or poaching it in water.

How to cook chicken breasts so they are tender? ›

  1. Flatten the chicken breasts. ...
  2. Heat the pan. ...
  3. Cook the chicken breasts over medium heat for 1 minute without moving. ...
  4. Flip the chicken breasts. ...
  5. Turn the heat down to low. ...
  6. Cover the pan and cook on low for 10 minutes. ...
  7. Turn off the heat and let sit for an additional 10 minutes. ...
  8. Remove lid and take temperature.

Is it better to bake chicken at 350 or 400? ›

Guidelines for Baking:
  • For bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, consider baking at 350°F for a longer time (45-55 minutes), checking the internal temperature to ensure doneness.
  • For boneless, skinless chicken thighs, you can bake at 400°F for a shorter time (25-35 minutes), again checking the internal temperature.
Dec 25, 2023

Should I cover chicken breast with foil when baking? ›

When chicken is covered while baking, it traps steam and moisture within the dish, resulting in juicier results. The covering helps prevent excessive evaporation and keeps the chicken moist throughout the cooking process. Preventing dryness. Chicken tends to dry out more quickly when exposed to direct heat.

How do you keep chicken breast moist when baking? ›

Temperature and Timing

Cooking lean meats at a high temperature means they cook more quickly, and this can help capture the moisture and flavor. Adler recommends cooking bone-in chicken breast at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, which can take up to 20 minutes for a bone-in breast.

What dries out chicken breast? ›

6 Chicken Breast Mistakes That Can Easily Leave You With a Dry, Flavorless Meal
  • You Didn't Thaw Them Soon Enough.
  • You're Not Using Skin-on, Bone-In.
  • You're Not Marinating Them.
  • You're Not Adequately Seasoning Them.
  • You're Overcooking Them.
  • You're Not Letting Them Rest.
Jan 4, 2023

How do you get the most flavor out of chicken breast? ›

Flavor Trick #1: Marinate Whole or Sliced Chicken Breasts for 30 to 90 Minutes Before Cooking. Marinating not only adds flavor, but the combination of healthy fat and acid in most recipes also helps tenderize the meat.

What makes chicken taste the best? ›

Here are 7 tricks to make chicken breasts taste better and even totally delicious.
  • Cook them right. Most people get scared and overcook chicken breasts, cooking out all the moisture and leaving them tough and dry. ...
  • Marinate them. ...
  • Cut them thin. ...
  • Fry them. ...
  • Stuff them. ...
  • Shred them. ...
  • Use the right pan.

What brings out the Flavour in chicken? ›

The reaction of cysteine and sugar can lead to characteristic meat flavour specially for chicken and pork. Volatile compounds including 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furfurylthiol, methionol, 2,4,5-trimethyl-thiazole, nonanol, 2-trans-nonenal, and other compounds have been identified as important for the flavour of chicken.

How do top chefs cook chicken breast? ›

Chef's choice is to pan-sear. Pat the brined or marinated chicken breasts dry and cook them over high heat in a skillet. This may sound risky, but a fast blast of heat followed by—and this is the crucial part—letting the chicken rest can help you avoid overcooking it.

Should I cook chicken breast with butter or oil? ›

Can you cook chicken with butter instead of oil? You have to cook chicken at a lower temperature if you bake or pan-fry chicken using butter instead of oil. This is because butter has a lower scorching temperature. Your chicken will cook more slowly, but it's also likely to be juicier and full of more flavor.

What is the best method for cooking boneless skinless chicken breast? ›

The Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover sheet pan with parchment paper. Lay out seasoned chicken on parchment. Bake chicken in preheated oven for 20 to 24 minutes minutes, until it's just cooked through.

What can I put on my chicken breast to keep it moist? ›

The absolute best way to prevent a dry chicken breast is to use a meat thermometer. Remove chicken from heat as soon as the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C). You can also place a pad of butter on top of the chicken while cooking to help keep it moist.

How do I make my chicken breast moist again? ›

Add several tablespoons of chicken stock or water—just enough so that there's a very shallow layer of liquid in the pan. Then cover the pan tightly with a double layer of foil. The steam created by the water will help ensure the meat stays nice and moist.

How to make chicken very soft and tender? ›

The best tenderizer though, is a salted yogurt marinade. The salt has the same effect as in a regular brine, but the lactic acid in the yogurt further tenderizes the meat. A 15-minute marinade with one cup of yogurt and one teaspoon of salt makes for the most tender chicken breasts imaginable.

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