how to make tender boneless skinless chicken breast?

Question

Chicken breast is so easy and versatile but it often comes out dry. I have read to soak in buttermilk if frying but how about baking or pan searing. Any clues?

Answer 1

It helps a lot to brine them. You soak them in very salty water with your favorite herbs (in the fridge) for a couple of hours, then rinse them off and prepare them any way you like. They come out nice and juicy.

Answer 2

Yes pan searing is the best. If the chicken breast is fresh and you do not over cook it, it should come out tender. You can even add a little chicken broth when you pan sear to keep it juicy. If the chicken breast is thick you will have to cook it longer and it may dry out. I cut mine in half lengthwise so they are thin and only take a few minutes each side. Or you can use a meet pounder to pound them a little thinner than they normally come, so that they cook quickly and do not dry out.

Answer 3

For baking try this on for size. The breast comes out super jucy and flavorful. Easy, takes about 10 min to prep, and 1 hour to cook (you don't have to stand and watch it either!)

1 carrot finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
3 large mushrooms finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
1 cup champagne or dry white wine
2 chicken breasts, halved, boned, skinned
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup champagne or white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
parsley finely chopped

In a heatproof casserole, make a bed of carrot, onion, and mushrooms. Add butter cut into thin slices and add champagne or wine.
Place chicken breasts on top of the mixture. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, cover the casserole, and bake chicken in a moderate oven (325^) basting it frequently with the liquid from the casserole for 50-60 minutes or until it is tender.
Remove chicken to a platter and keep warm. Cook sauce uncovered over moderate heat until it is reduced by half.
Stir in heavy cream and champagne or wine and pour sauce through a sieve. Season with salt and pepper and a little finely chopped parsley. Pour sauce over the chicken breasts and garnish the platter with braised celery and sautéed pimentos.


***I omit the celery and pimentos

Answer 4

If you like to grill, we use the cookout calculator at charcoalbob.com to figure out the grilling time for boneless chicken breasts so that they come out nice and juicy. Just enter the thickness for each and it will give you instructions for how to grill each chicken breast so that they all come off the grill at the same time.

Another flavorful solution for boneless chicken breasts that turn out dry is to put a little of your favorite barbecue sauce in a dish, and use it as a dipping sauce (like you would shrimp sauce).

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Not tender = over cooked and dried out. I would actually poach the chicken in any liquid you like: milk, wine, broth, fruit juice, whatever. You can add spices or herbs if you want and/or you can use carrot, celery, and onion (mire poix). To poach you keep a low amount of liquid at a low temp and cover. Flip half way through. Temp maybe 155 or so.

Answer 6

If it's dry, you are overcooking it.

Sear either in a screaming hot pan or on a screaming hot grill outside, cooking quickly. You may want to take a knife and level it out, so it cooks evenly. Know how chicken breasts have the big hump on the opposite side from the point? Level that out and grill separately. As soon as the meat is opaque, it's done.

Answer 7

the way we do it at my work is fry it in oil on a grill top.then we put in a pan and put half inch water in the pan put it back in the oven for 20 minutes and it will work much better than buttermilk,we do this every day for 40 nuns and its the only the way they wont complain about it and thats about the only thing they do is complain.make sure you just brown it on the grill top

Answer 8

I cook mine in a crock pot with a can of chicken broth poured on them. It takes longer but they taste really good and they stay moist. You might be able to bake them the same way, never tried.

Answer 9

I brown mine in a little olive oil and then add onions, garlic and mushrooms and saute until they are wilted then I add a can of diced tomatoes, salt & pepper and some fresh basil and simmer until the chicken is cooked through...they are moist and yummy....

Answer 10

yep soaking in buttermilk all day and then coating with flour and frying turns out very moist chicken.....I also like to marinade, in the kens steaks house dressing.....balsamic basil vinaigrette, and throw them on the grill......these too are moist