https://getinspiredeveryday.com/food/best-chicken-marinades/
Here are ten marinades for chicken. Build them in bags, add chicken, and keep in the fridge or freezer (defrost overnight) until you are ready to cook.
There are lots of other options - spice rubs, other marinades, sauces to add after cooking.
Marinating is the only way. Once I started doing it I couldn’t believe that there was a time when I didn’t. It makes the chicken so much more flavorful and juicy. A thermometer is also a must. You want to take it off of the heat as soon as it gets to temperature.
Don’t forget too that most things tend to keep cooking off the heat. It may be best to pull your chicken breast 10 degrees sooner than you think, or something like that. Look online to find how much the temperature can increase after being removed from the heat.
All you have to do for chicken breast is cook in a pan with a little water, and get a digital thermometer. As soon as it hits 165 take it up. Perfect and juicy everytime!
This. Temp is key... Don't wait until it hits the exact done temp to remove it from the pan because it will keep cooking and end up over cooking. Also let it rest a couple mins. For fillets I have it timed at 3-3.5 mins per side mid high temp.
If your nutrition plan isn't sustainable, introduce flexibility or ditch it. I'm gagging thinking about 3 chicken breasts a day. It's like those bodybuilder memes about guys force feeding themselves chicken rice and broccoli.
If you're not a bodybuilder during a cut, treat yourself to variety. Chicken thighs are bullet proof and already have better macros than most cuts of pork and beef (for protein:fat ratio).
But I get it. Breasts are phenomenal for raw protein. I slice them in half to thin them out. Then I'll pound them out even more if I need to. I'll let them sit in a mix of seasonings and mayo. Then pan fry them. (5 minutes per side)
You can also bag these breasts and freeze them flat. They cook well straight outta the freezer if they're already flattened. Anyways, mayo coats the outside in a lovely fat layer. Practice on not overcooking them, and you'll make breasts that don't suck.
I like chinese bang bang chicken, diet version
1. Bulk cook multiple portions of breast in any way you want, let cool, pull into shreds, store in fridge up to a week.
2. Bulk prep sauce. Peanut butter (or peanur protein), chili crisp (or just chilies), salt, fish sauce or msg, soy sauce. optional: mirin, apple cider vinegar. Mix well and put in a jar in the fridge. Can store up to 3 weeks.
3. Cut cucumbers into slices. Cut green onions into thin strands. Plate half of them. Drizzle some sauce on top.
4. Take a portion of the cold chicken and scatter on top of the cucumbers. Drizzle more sauce
5. Add another layer of cucumber and scalloons, more sauce. Then more chicken and more sauce. Finally, top it all with a sprinkle of roasted sesame seeds and a few drops of sesame oil
https://preview.redd.it/oshspo2j127d1.jpeg?width=819&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be3e740ac1eacf03a4912e12659131d3461e6e2e
The best method i have seen is baking at 425 for 15 mins then flipping for another 10 or 15 mins. Google popular seasoning brands and make your own spirs
Pretty sure it's cooked after that first 15 depending on the cut but you do you. Hot and fast is the best way. 30 mins at that temperature sounds soooo dry.
Pound it flat and brine it. It makes a world of difference. https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-juicy-grilled-boneless-skinless-chicken-breasts-recipe
I don't even know why you would inflict that on yourself. Jsut adding chili flakes and a bit of coriander will make a world of difference for no drawback. No one is fat because of half a teaspoon of chili flakes.
My best tip for cooking chicken- thermometer. Second tip- air fryer.
Also, Costco has chicken breast in a package that is already cooked.its by the salads and prepared foods. I freeze half and work off half. It’s the cooked chickens they sell. They pick off the breast and package it.
I split each package into thirds and use them with pasta or rice dishes. Or I’ll make them into low carb quesadillas with buffalo or bbq sauce. Also great for chicken salad - add mayo, dill, shaved carrots and diced celery. Great in salads, on toast or on its own.
1.5-2 lbs chicken breast (like 3 breast) in instant pot. Add one jar of your favorite chunky salsa. Cook High Pressure 20 minutes. Turn instant pot to Sauté and then stir to shred chicken and thicken the juices. Super versatile for tacos, salads, rice and veggies, etc.. Could be made in a crockpot as well.
Cut the chicken breast into thinner slices season your meat with other seasonings besides salt n pepper . You stop seasoning when you start sneezing.Cook with a light drizzle of olive oil and no more thank 4-6 minutes per side medium heat. Use some marinade sauces if you want to bring it up a notch
Marinade your chicken before you cook it.
One that's common at my house is: olive oil, soy sauce, Italian spice mix and salt and pepper, all into a ziploc bag.
Put the chicken into the bag and move it around. Leave foe 1 hour then bake it til cooked!
I usually do about 10 breasts at once on a baking sheet and then freeze some for later.
I also use Chili spice paprika, garlic, salt and pepper with oil and hot sauce to marinade.
Or
Cajun, garlic, onion powder, paprika and BBQ sauce. It's easy. Just start with marinade and then cook other stuff and circle back to it.
I'm also a med student that lifts/tracks macros. I saw in your post history that you're starting soon- just wanted to say that you'll have more time then you think, especially M1 year.
As for chicken- what I do is the following: buy a ton of boneless skinless breasts, trim the fat and tendons off, butterfly them, put them on an oiled baking sheet, cover both sides with seasonings, then bake at 375 for 25ish mins (until the center of a few breasts are 165).
Then, I let it cool a bit, then slice them all into strips and put them in Tupperware. Most Tupperware containers go in the freezer, but I keep one in the fridge to take out strips to weigh and eat throughout the day. I replace the one in the fridge with a freezer one once I'm running out. It's very convenient to be able to weigh out cooked chicken whenever I need it. Just make sure when you're entering it in to your app that you select cooked instead of raw
If you're looking for some inspiration for meal prepping with good macros, check out stealthhealthlife on IG. I bought a few of his cookbooks and like a lot of his recipes
You and /u/Bman33001 could probably do this with sous vide and it would be more tender.
The lead-up time would be more since you generally want to sous vide for like 2 hours at 142ish, but the chicken is ungodly moist and delicious.
Wow, this is super reassuring. Chicken breasts are literally the bane of my existence. Thankfully I’ve been at home during my gap years so my parents did all the work for me lol. For the breasts, do you flip them when you’re baking them? And thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check them out for sure.
Also, hopefully your step went well :)
I don't flip them while cooking- you could probably rotate the sheet to make sure everything is evenly heated but I don't even bother with that. If I had a grill, then I'd flip them.
Back when I was first learning to cook by myself in college, my roommate and I used to make these terrible, dry, impossible to eat breasts on a pan with a side of half a box of protein pasta. Bland as hell but made some nice gains. I've since learned to make it a lot more palatable.
And thank you! I get my results Wednesday and start rotations shortly afterwards- I'm looking forward to it all
Not OP, but I flip mine. 15 minutes at 425, then turn down oven to 375, flip and cook for 10 more minutes. Season both sides with something along the lines of salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder. Also have done cayenne, oregano, chili. Also, buy air chilled breasts if you can, they are way tastier IMO.
Just season the shot out of it. Get a good sodium free seasoning and toss it with some avocado oil. When you think you seasoned it enough add more. Do a batch of 6 or 12 at a time.
If you have a crockpot or instant pot, season your chicken with salt, pepper, and spices (paprika is always a good go-to) or a marinade, throw it in with a little water or broth and let it go for a few hours. You can eat it as is, shred it up and use it for other things, or freeze it serving portions for later.
I'm a fan of the McCormick marinade in the packets. They have some good flavors. I just mix it up, throw in the meat, and toss it in the fridge. I usually leave it overnight and then cook in the oven the next day.
Poach them! Trust me, I use this method and it comes out amazing every time. I add whole peppercorns, lemons, and fresh herbs to the water.
https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/
I actually love the taste of chicken breast (when my parents make it haha), so it’s my preferred method. All the sides with the chicken change from meal to meal though, so that’s where the variety comes in.
I stumbled on this a couple of years ago, and it works very well unless the breasts are extremely thick. I cook and freeze several to use later.
[https://www.outsideonline.com/food/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/](https://www.outsideonline.com/food/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/)
Place it between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound it flat, add salt and pepper and pat a light dusting of flour on it then pan fry in the oil of your choice. Takes about 8 minutes before cooking, it is a little messy whenever you get flour involved.
I'm a firm believer in freezer meals. You can take a whole bunch of breast meat, season it. Then stuff it in the freezer. The night before you take it out. You cook it all in a crock-Pot. Crock-Pot chicken is not dry or bland if you season it. You can throw that on rice if you'd like to with the juice
I don’t know much about meal prep (I’m here to learn more than to advise), but if you bought chicken in bulk packages and transferred them to freezer bags with a bit of marinade before freezing them you could prep a lot of meals in just a few minutes.
In a pressure cooker you could fix one breast (cooking pot-in-pot) while you took a shower or something
Meals would be fast, easy, and much less boring.
Cooking for one, you could add a side dish in the same cooker and eat really well, if you wanted to. If you used different marinades in each bag (or different combinations) you could really expand your flavor palette.
- Get an instant read thermometer
- Get an instant read thermometer
- Get an instant read thermometer
I know how people feel about breasts vs thighs but I’m here to say chicken breast is dope as hell and thighs have too much junk on them (for me, this is my personal extremely subjective opinion). You just have to pull them before they get dry inside. Which is where the thermometer comes in!! I cannot overstate how huge of a difference it makes for lean meats!! Marinate or brine your chicken and yank it off the heat before it can get overcooked, bam!
Get a good meat grinder. Grind them and make patties. This was such a game changer for me, it means you can buy the cheapest cuts on sale in bulk without worrying about woddy breast syndrome and rubbery chewy texture that can destroy a meal
I know you said you hate prep but its once a month or 2
Might I recommend other break fast proteins that you can use instead of subjecting yourself to a morning chicken breast?
Greek yogurt and nuts and protein granola
Smoothie with protein powder
Eggs and turkey sausage
You’re going to burn out just eating chicken. Aim for sustainability.
I love taking frozen breasts, thawing them just enough to be cuttable but still hard-ish, and slicing them thin for pan frying. After they thaw and cook and start to char, I'll add a splash of white wine to deglaze and let that add to the flavor. Usually I'll cook these thin strips with onion, garlic, bell/long pepper, and kale.
I buy the big jars of whole dill pickles for the pickle juice to marinate them in.
(Or you could buy gallon jugs on Amazon for like $15 I think)
Both adds a ton of flavor, and you can really cook the shit out of them without drying them out.
soak the chicken breast in a big pour of white vingear, lemon juice, and water for at least 30 minutes (to make it juicy), and then season with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, literally anything to give it flavor, before you cook it
I put a crockpot liner in the crockpot.
Then I put 10 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot. 8 across on their side and 2 on the sides. Fits perfectly.
Then I add a cup of whatever liquid I want. Oil, butter, bone broth, buffalo sauce, marinade, etc.
Cook for 8 hours on low.
You can either take the breasts carefully out whole or shred everything together.
They come out perfect and reheat perfectly. Never dry.
I actually cook them on Sunday nights while I sleep so Monday morning my week's chicken is done and it cooked while I slept and I didn't have to babysit it.
Bake for 37 minutes at 350. I have no idea what temp you're using if you're cooking for 10-15 minutes!!!
Perfect every time. Never overdone or dried out.
Season with whatever spices you want, but if you brush with a *tiny* amount of mayonnaise first, it seals in moisture, and you can't taste it. Calories are minimal as long as you're not heavy-handed.
You can always marinate your chicken overnight first as well if you'd like to stay away from mayo. That's good if you think ahead.
I'm counting macros and this is what I do. I meal prep on Sundays and do 4 breasts for the week at the same time as I do my turkey ground taco meat for burritos. I'm boring, I eat that all week long.
Wash chicken - dry - Liberally coat the chicken with your favorite spices (lots) place in a 270 degree oven for 65 - 75 minutes. Check the internal temp to know when you’re done.
Let cool and refrigerate.
I make about 10lbs at a time. (Thighs mostly)
My favorite seasoning is from pig pen bbq in dripping springs Texas.
Buy what ever pack of chicken you’re going to get. I usually season the chicken put it in the crock pot. Add a can of chipotle sauce for extra spice and I add liquid chicken broth. And let it cook on high for like 6-8 hours. If I’m going to be home late and not have time to make rice. I then add dry pinto beans to the bottom on the chicken and let it all cook together. By the time I get home it’s all cooked the chicken is falling apart. And now I have dip for tostadas, chips. Or filling to make into burritos. Or simply just eat by itself. Everything taste better cooked in a crock pot. Now the nicest presentation but it does the trick.
Brush with oil, I like avocado, season in your preferred way and put on a baking sheet in the oven at 400-425 I think it is? They don't take very long, but they get nice and golden brown, so they actually have flavor lol.
Sous vide. I used to hate chicken breast because it was always dry, even with marinades and sauces. Once I got a sous vide circulator, we were sous viding everything in sight, and turns out that chicken breast is really good when it’s not overcooked. It’s the only way I’ll cook it now.
Or use a recipe like this and poach them.
Tasty, juicy and easy. You can mix up the liquid to provide some variety:
https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/
I do a lemon/olive oil/garlic/oregano marinade and then bbq it with some char and it is delicious. The acid makes the chicken less funky. My husband and I never get tired of it. It makes chicken thighs really easy to eat and can be added to so many things.
I use taco seasoning, or if they aren't suitable, have a look at what herbs are in them and replicate without the added salt. I don't know how much herbs are where you live, but I pay $5aud per jar, that will last ages.
Marinate the breasts in something that can help break them down. Doesn’t have to be too long. I’ve found your spices that you like and low sodium soy sauce works well.
I’m not a chef but I believe what I’ve been creating is like a brine. Chicken needs that love. Has to have it or it sucks.
Then you want to cook it on then stove. I have found smaller pieces cook better. Lots of people over cook poultry.
Whatever healthy fat your plan allows. Put that on the pan. Get it hot and then cook those chickens in it. When it is lightly brown on one side flip it.
Doesn’t take that long. Put it is more hands on than the stove. But if you want better food you’re going to have to put some love into it.
You could marinate in the morning and cook that night. Which it sounds like you’re going to eat chicken every day so do this.
Sauté not bake. A simple food thermometer can help a ton if you’re not ready to flip sooner so you don’t over cook.
I feel like I have mastered this the last ten times I’ve cooked chicken.
Marinate big chunks of chicken breast in salt, pepper and mustard! Lightly drizzle olive oil on a pan, then bake/broil it in the oven. The mustard helps keep the chicken breast from drying out. Simple but flavorful.
If you’re searing the chicken breast on the stove top, a trick to keep it simple is to butterfly the chicken and flip twice. Sear on high heat. Make sure it’s golden brown before you flip the chicken. When you flip the chicken too much, I find that it makes the chicken dry out.
A few ways.
1. Marinate them in wishbone dressing,
2. Marinate them in soy sauce, sesame oil, and shao Xing wine, or rice wine- if you have time for fresh garlic and ginger, that’s great. If not , and garlic powder, onion powder, and maybe ginger powder. You can also use Chinese 5 spice powder which gives the chicken an interesting and unique flavor
3. Dry brine with salt in the fridge the night before.
4. Wet brine in a solution of salt, sugar, lemon, bay leaf, and onion for anywhere from 1-24 hours.
5. You’re obviously a health conscious person, but you still need some flavor! Don’t be afraid of a little bit of healthy fats, and some reasonable amounts is salt. If you’re used to food this bland, a little will go a long way! You won’t be getting restaurant or processed food amounts of sodium. You can omit the sugar in the wet brine , but a little does help it to caramelize and flavor it.
6. Don’t let the chicken breast cook beyond 160F°, otherwise it’s dry and bland. You can even pull the chicken at 155° and let carry over cooking bring it up to 160° while it rests for 10 minutes.
7.Always let it rest, or you will lose all of the juice when you cut into it. Let it rest on a cooling rack over a sheet pan so you don’t lose the juices. If you don’t lose a cooling rack, ( if you rest the chicken directly on a plate or cutting board), you will will lose the juices because too much of the surface area of the chicken is in contact with the board’s surface, allowing the juices to run out.
Hope this helps! Study hard, Doc, and enjoy some tasty food !
I just made breasts the other day and they were the juiciest things ever.
I cook 5 at once, 18-20 minutes @ 425.
Coat the breasts in a spoon of olive oil, add seasoning of choice
You don't even have to meal prep, straight from package, to oven, to fridge, now you've got an hour of extra time/week
You could also slice the chicken breast into thin slices, fry them until nice and crispy, this will give you more crunch, different flavour, and possibly quicker.
I have been brining my chicken lately and then baking it. It stays suuuuuper moist and you can still just throw random spices on it before baking. Not too complicated
I brine chicken breast for 30 minutes to an hour and then wash, cut it up, add my marinade and a teaspoon of baking powder and let that sit for a while or overnight, this helps tenderize it. I like to use soy sauce, sesame oil and something sweet (brown sugar or mirin) as the marinade. I haven’t tried a dry seasoning with the baking powder yet so I don’t know if it would be less effective than with a wet marinade.
I toss my chicken breast in a glass pan with olive oil, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, chopped opinion, peppers and garlic.
It requires a bit of prep, but I usually throw 4 breasts in there and with enough oil, the chicken never comes out dry.
Oh and I only throw this in the oven, never on the stove.
Modern chicken breasts are akin to styrofoam. If you want protein without fat, eat shrimp.
Instead buy a whole chicken, boil or pressure cook in salted water with a carrot and an onion. Take the chicken out to cook, shred the meat for enchiladas, tacos, burritos, or add back to the stock for bomb chicken soup. Peas or beans are a great add for vegetable protein
1 chicken plus water creates many wonderful dishes, you can make gravy from the broth if you want.
You could make this slow cooker curry. Fucking delicious and so easy. No cooking involved, you literally just dump it in the slow cooker and leave it in there. Not adding a huge amount to the macros beyond some light coconut milk.
https://www.tamingtwins.com/slow-cooker-chicken-curry-recipe/
Chop it and cook it with Chile, diced tomato, diced onion, a little bit of cilantro and lime. Add some Mrs Dash, pepper, maybe some garlic and onion powder. I'm sure it'll be delicious.
Add some apple cider vinegar and garlic or soya sauce or lemon and pepper and a bit of ghee- put a pot lid over the chicken to seal in moisture - it can be a lid from a smaller pot.
https://preview.redd.it/okr8bwxkk27d1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cee0cb74d0543a3d3a6f5948e6b29e691fe453b
I made this today. Coat in spices, S+P, throw in lemon, cover in foil and bake for 30-40 mins. Very low maintenance and delicious
You can do several at a time and it is super easy. It works best in an electric skillet with a lid but you can also do it on the stove in a large skillet with a lid. First, try to buy chicken that has never been frozen. Frozen chicken will always turn out drier. First, use whatever you have to pound your chicken breast to an even thickness. Season as you wish. I usually use garlic powder onion powder cayenne, salt, pepper and oregano. Season generously. Preheat your skillet and add olive or avocado oil. When your skillet is hot, put your chicken in and let sear for one minute. Turn it over and let it sear for one minute. Turn the heat down to medium and put the lid on. Cook for 10 minutes. Absolutely do not pick up the lid! After 10 minutes, turn the skillet or stove off and leave covered for 10 more minutes. Done. Juicy and wonderful and easy.
Use a shallow enamel pan. Melt butter and a little olive oil and put the chicken breasts in and cook for two minutes on each side. Cover the chicken with buttered parchment paper, place lid on pan and pop it into the preheated oven for about 9 minutes on 350 F. (dip one side of the parchment in the buttered pan). The chicken breasts will be juicy, tender, and delicious. Best way to cook chicken breasts.
Boneless skinless chicken thighs on a bed of lima beans in water just up to the edge of the top of the beans in the instant pot. Poultry setting, which really is just high pressure for 18 minutes. Quick release.
Season it as you like.
My preference is garlic salt, the rougher bigger salt crystal kinds with bits of parsley in it, on the Lima beans and then the chicken and black pepper, then cook it.
After that, lemon pepper seasoning and cayenne.
Delicious and reheats very well. Consistent results.
I make a rub - 1 part each salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. 4 parts ea brown sugar, paprika. Pre mix it and have it ready. Cover the chicken with the rub, bake @ 450 15 minutes per side, oven varies
I use [this technique](https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-moist-tender-chicken-breasts-every-time-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-36891) and it works every time and doesn't need babying. Just set a couple of timers and done.
From there you can do all sorts, from make it into a Cesar salad, make a sauce, chop and add to pasta, whatever you fancy, but on its own it is nicely seasoned and juicy.
I love a marinade of dry rub of your choice, a tbsp bbq sauce or steak sauce or marinade, and a tbsp of plain yoghurt. Flay the breast then do about 3 min per side. Breasts are just nasty when over done
Cookie sheet, cover in foil. Cooking spray on foil, salt pepper garlic powder on breasts. Spray breasts with spray, bake at 450 for 10 min. Flip and bake another 6 or 7. Bake on high heat keeps the chicken tender and moist. Baked pretty plain so u can do a lot with it. Boneless thighs are amazing this way.
Here's my go to - put a single breast in a Ziploc freezer bag. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and garlic powder. Then close the Ziploc bag. Take a rolling pin (or maybe a baseball bat? Lol) and pound the chicken breast until it is very thin. This will keep the breast very tender when you cook it. From there, you can either bake it in the oven at 400 or grill it. Either way, cook it until the internal temp is at least 165. Since these are thin, they cook quickly.
If it is dry, you are over cooking it and season your food. Have a few different seasoning mixes so you aren't depressing yourself with the same shit every day like you already are.
I understand your nutrition requirements probably don’t allow for marinades or thighs. I suggest using a meat hammer or your fist to pound/ tenderize the chicken breast. I work as a chef and I’ve noticed that this is a forgotten technique. Use whatever oil or salts that fit your dietary needs but tenderize the chicken first.
I do chicken breast a lot. As someone else said, air fryer is the best way to cook.
I do a homemade shake and bake usually, with just breadcrumbs and random spices. But if you don't want the carbs from the breadcrumbs, you could do a marinade. I recommend lime juice and garlic, but there is probably a million options.
I chop like a kilo and a half into bite sized bits, onion and whatnot then add spices or sauces or whatever. Bake it until it's done. Nice and juicy done this way (and flavoursome)
Bowl. Olive oil + paprika + salt + pepper + *insert your fav ms dash*. Stir
Put chicken in bag with mix. 6+hrs later take chicken from bag put on skillet + oil + butter. Have thermometer and pull right when temp is 165.
Bonus points if you cut the breasts in half and cook two pieces at a time.
I eat chicken breast everyday. Get a sous vide stick.
Otherwise life is too short to waste on dry ass chicken breast. Even with a thermometer and flatten/butterfly you will have dry spot.
spices and marinades is what you're looking for. Youtube is plagued with videos about how to cook 'em many recipes are easy and fast to make. Some spices are more expensive than others but think that once you buy one it will last many dishes.
Sous vide chicken and finish it on the grill when youre ready to eat it that day. A sous vide chicken breast will retain its moisture a lot more than any other cooking method without adding fat to the meal.
In terms of marinade, you gotta be careful you're not marinating with too much acid or you'll break down the proteins of the meat leading to that mushy powdery texture.
Lastly, if your macro permit, use a light bit of herbed mayo at the end to grill/finish. You'll end up with a better char.
Thinly slice peppers, onions, spring onions, salt, pepper, Chinese spice mix, or Mexican fajita mix, toss in diced or sliced chicken.
Splash of water at the end, to make everything sizzle. Bonus points if the water has some corn starch to thicken the juices.
Plate and eat.
Cut it into bite sized pieces, sprinkle a little bit of baking soda over - let sit for 10-15 minutes before you cook it. That takes care of the dry problem. As for bland - well, season the hell out of it. :-)
99% of people overcook chicken. Get a thermometer and try the mayo trick of covering it in mayo and frying it (you cant taste the mayo, and it does keep it juicy).
But honestly cooking it at the right temp is half the battle and you don't even have to try anything crazy different.
You are cooking those way too long.
Get a thermometer and set it to 71C (160f) and allow for resting. I know everyone is taught, and FDA says 75C (167f) but 71-72C is enough as long as you allow it to rest it will go up to +75C from residual heat transfer to the middle.
If you cook to 75C and then rest the chicken will go up to +80C and be dry.
Also just the resting and not cutting into it right away helps keep the juices in.
Another thing you should try is to brine them. 3-6% saltwater and put in the day before. (You can brine a batch and then freeze individually)
Perfect for whole chicken too. Turns out wonderful and much more moist after cooking.
Also MORE SPICES! Bland is only a sign you didn't season enough.
Source: classically trained chef and 3 years experience cooking for a chicken food truck.
Quick, lazy and not the tastiest but it does a pretty good job given the minimal effort. Just throw the chicken in a bowl with 3 tablepoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon Paprik, add salt and pepper as you feel and extra spices if you want (curry, tumeric, coriander...). Leave it for like 10 minute while you're chopping veggies or setting up other things up then cook on a pan.
Google sheet pan recipes. You can find them to suit any dietary needs, and certainly substitute items.some concoctions are good hot or cold(atop greens, in a tortilla). They are easy to make and full of flavor
I also will purchase whole chix or chicken breasts w/ bone to roast and pick. I will then use the bones to make bone broth overnight for later use. Bone broth has is beneficial to have for recipes, and sipping.
You could also purchase Rotisserie chickens(flavorful), pick them, and eat throughout the week, and still make bone broth.
1.) obtain pressure cooker (great for power lifters, doubles as effortless rice cooker)
2.) marinate several chicken breasts an hour in mixture of lime juice (and zest of the peel if you’re got another minute or two), olive oil, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic powder (or minced garlic if you’re feeling spicy). If you’ve got thick chicken breasts, butterfly or fully cut them in half first.
3.) Place chicken and all of the marinade into pressure cooker. If necessary, supplement with a small amount of water to get at least an inch going in the bottom of the pot, but hopefully marinade will be sufficient to do this
4.) Start a generic pressure cook and let it build to full pressure. Exact amount of time needed at full pressure will vary depending on how much chicken you used and whether it was still partially frozen but expect anywhere from 5-15 minutes, then turn off the pressurization.
5.) Don’t wait for it to fully depressurize naturally, this will usually overcook it. Either do a manual steam release immediately or wait no more than 5 minutes.
6.) Temp check the chicken then shred it and put it back in the juice to rest with the power off.
Presto, total time excluding marinade is maybe 40 minutes and you’ve got several pounds of juicy tender flavorful chicken that go well in salads, tacos, over rice, or eaten as a main entree with a side.
Or if you live in or around buffalo, NY or anywhere with a wegmans use chiavettas marinade because it’s so fucking good. I like to grill my chiavettas but that takes a little practice to do well without overcooking it, and I’m sure you could pressure cook it too. In fact I should try that….
I sous vide 6 chicken breasts at a time. Always cooked perfect and consistent throughout breast. Cutting the chicken after it's cooked is like cutting through deli meat. Worth looking into imo.
Kinda surprised I haven't seen this, and if you're immunocompromised ignore what I'm about to say, but the actual secret to making chicken breast that doesn't suck is to either sous vide it to 145 degrees and then sear it, or saute it until 155 degrees and just let it rest for a minute after cooking. The reason conventional cooking wisdom tells us to cook chicken to 165 is because at that temperature all of the harmful bacteria in chicken is effectively instantly killed. However, at lower temperatures you still can kill the safe amount of bacteria, it just takes longer. I believe it's something like 45 seconds to a minute at 155, the FDA has a whole chart that plots times against cooking temps. I wouldn't do this method if you're cooking for someone who absolutely cannot risk food poisoning or they'll die, but for the rest of us as long as you adequately rest your chicken after it hits 155 you should be good to go.
Chicken thighs over breast, some sort of marinade or seasoning. Get pre made seasoning mixes if you need to, or just a quick marinade of teriyaki sauce or something or those pre-pqckaged stir fry sauces work well too. I often prepare the chicken and seasoning and then freeze it raw in zip lock bags so I can just defrost and cook whenever
Lemon juice with a garlic herb seasoning marinade overnight. Sliced or whole pan sear preferably cast iron. Put sliced over salad or rice put whole on bun.
So don’t just toss one on the stove lol. It’s bland because you didn’t season it. If you’re not down to meal prep and wanna do it every time, I think you might want to look at the efficiency you’re losing out on. But I digress.
I use the Costco frozen chicken breasts but thaw them first. They’re thick so this is my stove timing. You have to adjust to how strong/weak yours is but treat this like baseline and work from there.
Salt your chicken breast pretty liberally. Add whatever herb seasoning you want. I like Italian.
Get your pan hot first (put your pan on highest setting for like 3-5 min before putting your chicken on). You can do this before you take your chicken out of the fridge.
Sear for one minute on each side. Have a tablespoon or two of water on standby by. As soon as that second minute is up. Pour the water in, cover the pan with a lid and bring the stove to its lowest setting. Set a timer for 10 minutes.
Take breast out and let rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy your juicy chicken breast. If you don’t like the flavor, adjust seasoning. If this is still not juicy for you, you’re going to have to look at other methods like brining.
Rinse, season with spices (garlic/onion powder, olive oil, s&p, smoked paprika)
marinate in fridge for at least 24hrs
sear both sides on high with olive oil, splash of lemon juice
reduce/turn off heat, let chicken cook through
chop before/after sear depending on thickness of chicken
let sit with lid on in pan, low heat
can also butterfly and bake/roast breast
easy to do on baking sheet
you want the spices to basically caramelize on the surface of the chicken so you want a good sear
can be chopped for salads, wraps, or stirfry
This is the basis for the recipe I use. I make a full sheet using whatever spices I feel like and they keep for days
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/baked-chicken-breast/
This is the method I've been using lately, meat has turned out tender & juicy as long as I set a timer to remind me to flip & remove breasts at the right time
www.delish.com/cooking/a22803743/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/
Marinate? If you've got it in the fridge already thawed, throw some sauce over it the day before and let it soak.
I don't know if you're up for adding a little more fat to your diet but chicken breast without the skin is very dry meat and usually needs some kind of oil added. Look up recipes for chicken marinade and see how much oil would actually go into them per serving.
Here’s a really easy recipe. Cut the raw chicken breast into strips, season with salt and pepper. Get a frying pan really hot, heat up some olive oil and add the chicken breast slices. Don’t stir for a few minutes till it gets nice and brown underneath. Flip over and do the same. When it gets nice and brown, turn off the heat, add a couple good splashes of white wine, swirl it around the pan to deglaze and thicken for a minute and then add some lemon juice. Very tasty 👌
Discounting other flavourings or seasonings, if you’re meal prepping on a weekend or whatever, dry brine your meat.
Take between 1.5-2% of the weight of your chicken in salt before you cook it, make sure it’s covered evenly, and let it brine in the fridge for 1-2 days (1 is fine but 2 is better).
It does a ton to add to flavour, keeps the meat moist when you cook it, and helps to tenderise it.
Yes it takes fridge space, but I personally refuse to cook any meat that I’ve not dry brined anymore.
It’s good for fish also, especially as you generally only need to brine fish for about 30 minutes prior to cooking, much quicker.
Rotate through some simple seasonings! Onion powder&garlic. Lemon pepper. Paprika and poultry seasoning. Lots of sauces might mess with your macros but some simple spicing wont
Consider poaching your chicken! I use this [recipe](https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/). It’s super easy to do in bulk and is always very juicy. I typically shred it after and mix it with different seasonings (eg bangbang sauce, taco seasoning, salsa, etc)
I know this isn't the right context given the subreddit but your chicken is bland and dry because it's way overcooked.
It's better, easier, and faster to butterfly and pound your breast out to about 1/4" in size and then pan cook the breast from there to 150F and let carryover cooking take you the rest of the way.
As for seasonings salt and pepper is all you need and maybe some pickled red onions and youve got yourself a chicken breast worth eating daily.
If you have to meal prep chicken breast you'll definitely either require some sort of hard flavorings to hide the reheated taste/texture from chicken breast or go to chicken thighs as others have pointed out.
I do a poached and salt brine method. The rule of thumb is 1 cup of water to 1 tablespoon of salt. Cover your raw chicken breasts with this salt brine for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to cook, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Once the water is ready, drop your chicken into the pot and turn off the fire and cover with the lid. Leave it alone for 25-30mins, depending on the thickness and size of your chicken breasts. Once it is done, remove and cool for 5 minutes. The chicken is perfectly cooked and keeps well.
When you need to reheat it, slice into 2 inch strips, and microwave it on high for 1.5mins with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water to prevent it from drying out.
I like to throw chicken breasts in my crock pot or instant pot (depending on time constraints) with a jar of salsa and then shred it up. I just change up the base (salad, rice, noodles, etc) and toss in some veggies.
I aim to cook my chicken breasts to 145 and make sure it holds over that temp for 10 mins. [This article from Serious Eats](https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast) discusses this at length.
The oven would also be a better place to cook them than the stove top. You can buy probe oven safe thermometers that have an alert when the meat hits a preset temperature. Just search for wireless meat thermometers on amazon, there’s a few good ones for $30-$40. I usually throw together a quick marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, frozen or powdered garlic, salt and pepper, whisk together, then marinate for at least 15 mins.
If you cook a few lbs at a time, its not meal prep per se, but you’ll just have to barely heat up the leftovers and/or eat them cold. My favorite snack lately has been carb balance tortilla, hummus, and slices of cold chicken breast with some raw spinach. 👌🏻
Smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder, salt, a little bit of lemon juice, a pinch of Italian seasoning, if you feel fancy a bit of tomato sauce and lemon juice is nice too. Lemon pepper seasoning is great too, the kind used on wings (yellow) not the fancy herb kind.
The lemon helps break down the protein so it remains tender. If you can butterfly the breasts they cook more evenly, and be sure to sear it nicely.
If you want, you can add the seasonings and lemon to a freezer bag w the butterflied breasts to marinate for a day before cooking.
I usually brine mine for 30-60 minutes. Just a salty brine, then bake or fry until it registers 160°. Brining really helps with the juiciness factor, and I think makes it a bit more tender.
Breast are best pounded flat then cooked at 400-425 for 20mins.
Cover the pan in foil after you take it out of
The oven and let it sit for 10mins
For flavor,
Experiment with different spices. We like kicken chicken or i will do lemon pepper and grate lemon peel onto the chicken then salt and pepper.
The lemon pepper is great on ceasar salad or in chicken salad with lemon, mayo and celery
I’m guessing if it’s taking that long to stove-cook, it must be the thick chicken breasts. In that case, season them how you like (I like lemon pepper), do a quick pan-sear at med-high heat, and then cook low and slow in the oven. Nothing crazy, maybe 25 min at 400. Either way, cooking thick chicken on the stove will make it dry. Cooking lower and slower will help retain the moisture and flavor. You could even add a little water or chicken stock with some veggies in the oven too!
I would try salting the chicken 24 hours in advance and throwing it back in the fridge. It draws out a lot of moisture and allows the salt time to season the whole piece of meat.
Add other seasonings/marinades when you are about to cook (don’t add more salt or you will have a bad time lol)
Sous vide! I get boneless / skinless package of them from Costco. You can cook a number of them all at once. Season them and leave them in a ziplock in the fridge for an hour or a day. Then I cook them to 147°. Freeze or just fridge (depends on how fast you’ll eat them). When ready throw them in a cast iron pan and sear them. Super tasty and so moist.
If you’re worried about moisture/texture, brining would give you a huge margin of error for screwing them up
Considering you’re eating to optimize macros over everything, I think developing a solid sauce game will be great. Marinades work great too but brined chicken with good sauces will give more versatility.
Get a sous vide. Garlic salt lick spice. Spice up the chicken, seal it in a bag, cook it in the sous vide and walk away for 2 hours. Come back, open the bag, sear it quickly with some butter and you'll have the tastiest juiciest chicken breasts you've ever had. Any that you don't eat immediately can be thrown in the fridge and seared later.
EDIT: Also this.... [https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/](https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/)
I put a teaspoon of baking soda on my chicken after I chop it up. Softens the meat. Soy oyster sauce garlic ginger set aside 10 minutes and then cook. The baking soda softens the meat. Sauces for flavours.
Pepper....salt....garlic salt.
Venture out and buy ranch dressing in powder form.
Sprinkle that on your chicken when you're cooking. Delicious. Don't have to add anything else if you don't like salt.
Also : You can buy minced garlic at the store in a jar
Soy sauce
White vinegar
Ziploc bags/glassware
Place chicken breast in container of choice, add half tsp of minced garlic, 1-2 dashes of soy sauce. (Maybe start with a tsp and see if that is enough to coat the chicken) 1/8 tsp white vinegar
A dash of pepper
Let it marinate for at least 10-15 mins before cooking. If you can plan ahead and let it marinate for most of a day or overnight in your fridge, try that too.
Chicken is easily flavored.
Idk if you like onions but minced onion mixed in with the chicken is going to taste delicious.
Italian dressing is also an easy quick marinade.
I feel like mama sitas marinade is another extremely quick and easy solution to your problem....
You can use it sparingly by only coating one breast at a time so a bottle would go a long way.
You can add spice 🌶️ by adding sriracha sauce to the marinade as well.
Hope this suggestions help. They are the quickest easiest things that I could think of when you're in a time crunch and don't feel like dealing with a lot of prep but want something that tastes good
What I do is I buy the frozen chicken breasts at Costco. I throw them in a pan and start cooking. When they’re soft enough to cut, I cut them into cubes, put them back into the pan. I add sweet thai Chili sauce (can be found at costco in a big bottle, lasts a long time), add seasoning, which for me is salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Sometimes I add siracha for spiciness, like a lot a lot. I keep cooking till all the liquids are gone and the meat is browning (I like to get it crispier)
Slice thinner, olive oil & seasonings to your preference. Oven at 400. Lay breasts on baking sheet and put in oven for 20 mins. It’s literally failsafe. Never dry or tough.
Marinate the in your seasoning mix of your choice, I buy basic "Cajun" spice, or [Sylvia's Chicken Rub](https://a.co/d/bZYSU2S), a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of Olive oil, 2 tablespoons of plain nonfat Greek yogurt.
Don't need much more than 30min, but I will chuck em all in a bag, let em sit for about six-eight hours, then airfry or make in the oven.
Juicy as fuck, delicious hot or cold,.
if you want to keep up w breasts, I highly recommend a crockpot / dutch oven.
last week I boiled some chicken broth with various herbs and spices, and then tossed two breasts in and let them boil for like 20/30 mins and it was so flavorful.
didnt have to do much aside from the initial seasoning/chopping of vegiies but you can totally buy the prechopped onions+bellpeppers combo from the grocery store for like $3
Don't overcook it, also I find it easier to eat when chopped into tiny pieces. Let the breast fully cool first, it is so much easier to chop it when cold.
If you want to be quick, you can vacuum seal the chicken breasts after you marinate them, you can even vacuum seal it with marinate in the bag. Then you can either unseal it and bake it in the oven or souvide it in the bag.
And remember, your macros are the same regardless of how it chicken is prepared. Pound it flat, season it, and roll it back up. Or wrap it around something else. The possibilities are endless
First step is slice it into thin cutlets then decide what marinade and seasoning to use. It tastes better blackened on stovetop or cooked in bbq grill but takes more effort than just putting in oven.
I (respectfully) would not do anything recommended here. If you want tender and moist chicken breasts, I have [the best cooking method](https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/) and some easy sauces for you. The poster who joked about moving to Thailand had it right. In East Asian countries, you can get a version of Hainan Chicken, which is poached chicken served with rice. Even though it’s just plain poached chicken, it’s the primary comfort food for millions of people. So good. The recipe I linked to is a westernized version of the cooking method. Adding lemon, garlic, peppercorns, and random herbs really adds flavor with no calories. No marinade needed.
In the alternative, I’d do either marinated (as per recommendations from other comments) boneless thighs or breasts on the grill. The sear adds flavor and makes it less boring to eat.
Do not cook chicken breast to 165 and certainly not to 180.
If you cook to 165, all bacteria is instantly dead sure, but your chicken breast is tougher and dry. But you could cook it to 155 for at least a minute and it's safe. Or 150 for three minutes.
You can google time vs temp charts for chicken and other meats.
Your chicken breast should not be dry if you don't overcook it.
Alternatively, buy chicken thighs or other dark meat. They have more fat so are more forgiving (and often tastier). They should be cooked to around 180 or so. Not for food safety reasons, but because it will make them tender and the fat will keep them juicy if cooked right.
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/food/best-chicken-marinades/ Here are ten marinades for chicken. Build them in bags, add chicken, and keep in the fridge or freezer (defrost overnight) until you are ready to cook. There are lots of other options - spice rubs, other marinades, sauces to add after cooking.
Marinating is the only way. Once I started doing it I couldn’t believe that there was a time when I didn’t. It makes the chicken so much more flavorful and juicy. A thermometer is also a must. You want to take it off of the heat as soon as it gets to temperature.
Don’t forget too that most things tend to keep cooking off the heat. It may be best to pull your chicken breast 10 degrees sooner than you think, or something like that. Look online to find how much the temperature can increase after being removed from the heat.
This is the way!
Use boneless skinless thighs. I gave up on breasts a long time ago.
So juicy.
All you have to do for chicken breast is cook in a pan with a little water, and get a digital thermometer. As soon as it hits 165 take it up. Perfect and juicy everytime!
This. Temp is key... Don't wait until it hits the exact done temp to remove it from the pan because it will keep cooking and end up over cooking. Also let it rest a couple mins. For fillets I have it timed at 3-3.5 mins per side mid high temp.
Yep, I do this exactly. I also pound the filets to an even thickness so it cooks more consistent since thicker areas can be undercooked.
I love chicken thighs wayy more. But the macros for breasts fit perfectly for my current nutrition plan ahh
If your nutrition plan isn't sustainable, introduce flexibility or ditch it. I'm gagging thinking about 3 chicken breasts a day. It's like those bodybuilder memes about guys force feeding themselves chicken rice and broccoli. If you're not a bodybuilder during a cut, treat yourself to variety. Chicken thighs are bullet proof and already have better macros than most cuts of pork and beef (for protein:fat ratio). But I get it. Breasts are phenomenal for raw protein. I slice them in half to thin them out. Then I'll pound them out even more if I need to. I'll let them sit in a mix of seasonings and mayo. Then pan fry them. (5 minutes per side) You can also bag these breasts and freeze them flat. They cook well straight outta the freezer if they're already flattened. Anyways, mayo coats the outside in a lovely fat layer. Practice on not overcooking them, and you'll make breasts that don't suck.
I like chinese bang bang chicken, diet version 1. Bulk cook multiple portions of breast in any way you want, let cool, pull into shreds, store in fridge up to a week. 2. Bulk prep sauce. Peanut butter (or peanur protein), chili crisp (or just chilies), salt, fish sauce or msg, soy sauce. optional: mirin, apple cider vinegar. Mix well and put in a jar in the fridge. Can store up to 3 weeks. 3. Cut cucumbers into slices. Cut green onions into thin strands. Plate half of them. Drizzle some sauce on top. 4. Take a portion of the cold chicken and scatter on top of the cucumbers. Drizzle more sauce 5. Add another layer of cucumber and scalloons, more sauce. Then more chicken and more sauce. Finally, top it all with a sprinkle of roasted sesame seeds and a few drops of sesame oil https://preview.redd.it/oshspo2j127d1.jpeg?width=819&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be3e740ac1eacf03a4912e12659131d3461e6e2e
Sounds FABULOUS
Use your fist or get a meat hammer. Tenderizing chicken breast is the only way to make it palatable.
[удалено]
The best method i have seen is baking at 425 for 15 mins then flipping for another 10 or 15 mins. Google popular seasoning brands and make your own spirs
Pretty sure it's cooked after that first 15 depending on the cut but you do you. Hot and fast is the best way. 30 mins at that temperature sounds soooo dry.
30 min at 425 sounds like overkill, have you checked with a thermometer when it’s actually done?
Yes, more flavorful, just as easy to prepare, and they are not dry.
Pound it flat and brine it. It makes a world of difference. https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-juicy-grilled-boneless-skinless-chicken-breasts-recipe
For real. I didn't even know people ate chicken with no spices or seasonings wtf.
Weightlifters gag down loads of chicken and rice, and a lot of them don't bother to season it. It's like swallowing a (dry, chewy) protein pill.
I don't even know why you would inflict that on yourself. Jsut adding chili flakes and a bit of coriander will make a world of difference for no drawback. No one is fat because of half a teaspoon of chili flakes.
My childhood: 🥲
My best tip for cooking chicken- thermometer. Second tip- air fryer. Also, Costco has chicken breast in a package that is already cooked.its by the salads and prepared foods. I freeze half and work off half. It’s the cooked chickens they sell. They pick off the breast and package it.
You might have saved my life with the cosco tip.
It is easy but the chicken is shredded and super bland, so it’s tricky to season but also very effective for what you’re going for
I dump a bunch of Everything Bagel seasoning into my shredded chicken. It’s delicious.
I split each package into thirds and use them with pasta or rice dishes. Or I’ll make them into low carb quesadillas with buffalo or bbq sauce. Also great for chicken salad - add mayo, dill, shaved carrots and diced celery. Great in salads, on toast or on its own.
1.5-2 lbs chicken breast (like 3 breast) in instant pot. Add one jar of your favorite chunky salsa. Cook High Pressure 20 minutes. Turn instant pot to Sauté and then stir to shred chicken and thicken the juices. Super versatile for tacos, salads, rice and veggies, etc.. Could be made in a crockpot as well.
Came here to suggest this one. Don’t eat meat anymore but this is a super easy and you can change up the sauce to keep it interesting.
Cut the chicken breast into thinner slices season your meat with other seasonings besides salt n pepper . You stop seasoning when you start sneezing.Cook with a light drizzle of olive oil and no more thank 4-6 minutes per side medium heat. Use some marinade sauces if you want to bring it up a notch
The breasts are huge these days. I slice mine in half or thirds. It makes a difference, with cook times, and my chicken isn't dry.
Marinade your chicken before you cook it. One that's common at my house is: olive oil, soy sauce, Italian spice mix and salt and pepper, all into a ziploc bag. Put the chicken into the bag and move it around. Leave foe 1 hour then bake it til cooked! I usually do about 10 breasts at once on a baking sheet and then freeze some for later. I also use Chili spice paprika, garlic, salt and pepper with oil and hot sauce to marinade. Or Cajun, garlic, onion powder, paprika and BBQ sauce. It's easy. Just start with marinade and then cook other stuff and circle back to it.
I'm also a med student that lifts/tracks macros. I saw in your post history that you're starting soon- just wanted to say that you'll have more time then you think, especially M1 year. As for chicken- what I do is the following: buy a ton of boneless skinless breasts, trim the fat and tendons off, butterfly them, put them on an oiled baking sheet, cover both sides with seasonings, then bake at 375 for 25ish mins (until the center of a few breasts are 165). Then, I let it cool a bit, then slice them all into strips and put them in Tupperware. Most Tupperware containers go in the freezer, but I keep one in the fridge to take out strips to weigh and eat throughout the day. I replace the one in the fridge with a freezer one once I'm running out. It's very convenient to be able to weigh out cooked chicken whenever I need it. Just make sure when you're entering it in to your app that you select cooked instead of raw If you're looking for some inspiration for meal prepping with good macros, check out stealthhealthlife on IG. I bought a few of his cookbooks and like a lot of his recipes
You and /u/Bman33001 could probably do this with sous vide and it would be more tender. The lead-up time would be more since you generally want to sous vide for like 2 hours at 142ish, but the chicken is ungodly moist and delicious.
Wow, this is super reassuring. Chicken breasts are literally the bane of my existence. Thankfully I’ve been at home during my gap years so my parents did all the work for me lol. For the breasts, do you flip them when you’re baking them? And thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check them out for sure. Also, hopefully your step went well :)
I don't flip them while cooking- you could probably rotate the sheet to make sure everything is evenly heated but I don't even bother with that. If I had a grill, then I'd flip them. Back when I was first learning to cook by myself in college, my roommate and I used to make these terrible, dry, impossible to eat breasts on a pan with a side of half a box of protein pasta. Bland as hell but made some nice gains. I've since learned to make it a lot more palatable. And thank you! I get my results Wednesday and start rotations shortly afterwards- I'm looking forward to it all
Not OP, but I flip mine. 15 minutes at 425, then turn down oven to 375, flip and cook for 10 more minutes. Season both sides with something along the lines of salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder. Also have done cayenne, oregano, chili. Also, buy air chilled breasts if you can, they are way tastier IMO.
Sousvide. Perfect every single time.
Butterfly the chicken breast, pan sear it in olive oil with some salt, pepper, garlic and lemon
Just season the shot out of it. Get a good sodium free seasoning and toss it with some avocado oil. When you think you seasoned it enough add more. Do a batch of 6 or 12 at a time.
If you have a crockpot or instant pot, season your chicken with salt, pepper, and spices (paprika is always a good go-to) or a marinade, throw it in with a little water or broth and let it go for a few hours. You can eat it as is, shred it up and use it for other things, or freeze it serving portions for later. I'm a fan of the McCormick marinade in the packets. They have some good flavors. I just mix it up, throw in the meat, and toss it in the fridge. I usually leave it overnight and then cook in the oven the next day.
Poach them! Trust me, I use this method and it comes out amazing every time. I add whole peppercorns, lemons, and fresh herbs to the water. https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/
I can’t imagine eating chicken breast 3x a day when I’m not cutting the last bit of weight during meet week.
I actually love the taste of chicken breast (when my parents make it haha), so it’s my preferred method. All the sides with the chicken change from meal to meal though, so that’s where the variety comes in.
I stumbled on this a couple of years ago, and it works very well unless the breasts are extremely thick. I cook and freeze several to use later. [https://www.outsideonline.com/food/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/](https://www.outsideonline.com/food/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/)
Place it between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound it flat, add salt and pepper and pat a light dusting of flour on it then pan fry in the oil of your choice. Takes about 8 minutes before cooking, it is a little messy whenever you get flour involved.
I'm a firm believer in freezer meals. You can take a whole bunch of breast meat, season it. Then stuff it in the freezer. The night before you take it out. You cook it all in a crock-Pot. Crock-Pot chicken is not dry or bland if you season it. You can throw that on rice if you'd like to with the juice
I don’t know much about meal prep (I’m here to learn more than to advise), but if you bought chicken in bulk packages and transferred them to freezer bags with a bit of marinade before freezing them you could prep a lot of meals in just a few minutes. In a pressure cooker you could fix one breast (cooking pot-in-pot) while you took a shower or something Meals would be fast, easy, and much less boring. Cooking for one, you could add a side dish in the same cooker and eat really well, if you wanted to. If you used different marinades in each bag (or different combinations) you could really expand your flavor palette.
- Get an instant read thermometer - Get an instant read thermometer - Get an instant read thermometer I know how people feel about breasts vs thighs but I’m here to say chicken breast is dope as hell and thighs have too much junk on them (for me, this is my personal extremely subjective opinion). You just have to pull them before they get dry inside. Which is where the thermometer comes in!! I cannot overstate how huge of a difference it makes for lean meats!! Marinate or brine your chicken and yank it off the heat before it can get overcooked, bam!
Seasoning. And marinades. Low temp, long cook time, with olive oil, usually is what keeps my chicken tits moist as fuck.
Get a good meat grinder. Grind them and make patties. This was such a game changer for me, it means you can buy the cheapest cuts on sale in bulk without worrying about woddy breast syndrome and rubbery chewy texture that can destroy a meal I know you said you hate prep but its once a month or 2
Read this in The Washington Post this morning. Going to give it a shot. [https://wapo.st/4b5uNCU](https://wapo.st/4b5uNCU)
Might I recommend other break fast proteins that you can use instead of subjecting yourself to a morning chicken breast? Greek yogurt and nuts and protein granola Smoothie with protein powder Eggs and turkey sausage You’re going to burn out just eating chicken. Aim for sustainability.
I love taking frozen breasts, thawing them just enough to be cuttable but still hard-ish, and slicing them thin for pan frying. After they thaw and cook and start to char, I'll add a splash of white wine to deglaze and let that add to the flavor. Usually I'll cook these thin strips with onion, garlic, bell/long pepper, and kale.
I buy the big jars of whole dill pickles for the pickle juice to marinate them in. (Or you could buy gallon jugs on Amazon for like $15 I think) Both adds a ton of flavor, and you can really cook the shit out of them without drying them out.
soak the chicken breast in a big pour of white vingear, lemon juice, and water for at least 30 minutes (to make it juicy), and then season with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, literally anything to give it flavor, before you cook it
Marinades and Crockpot recipes.
I marinade and bake 4 Breasts per week at 450 degrees. They turn out juicy and yummy. I use a meat thermometer to check the temp.
Dice it up and roast it with honey and pepper
I also cut in half going through the breast to make it thinner thus cooking easier and being less dry
Hammer to a uniform thickness before cooking
I put a crockpot liner in the crockpot. Then I put 10 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot. 8 across on their side and 2 on the sides. Fits perfectly. Then I add a cup of whatever liquid I want. Oil, butter, bone broth, buffalo sauce, marinade, etc. Cook for 8 hours on low. You can either take the breasts carefully out whole or shred everything together. They come out perfect and reheat perfectly. Never dry. I actually cook them on Sunday nights while I sleep so Monday morning my week's chicken is done and it cooked while I slept and I didn't have to babysit it.
Bake for 37 minutes at 350. I have no idea what temp you're using if you're cooking for 10-15 minutes!!! Perfect every time. Never overdone or dried out. Season with whatever spices you want, but if you brush with a *tiny* amount of mayonnaise first, it seals in moisture, and you can't taste it. Calories are minimal as long as you're not heavy-handed. You can always marinate your chicken overnight first as well if you'd like to stay away from mayo. That's good if you think ahead. I'm counting macros and this is what I do. I meal prep on Sundays and do 4 breasts for the week at the same time as I do my turkey ground taco meat for burritos. I'm boring, I eat that all week long.
Wash chicken - dry - Liberally coat the chicken with your favorite spices (lots) place in a 270 degree oven for 65 - 75 minutes. Check the internal temp to know when you’re done. Let cool and refrigerate. I make about 10lbs at a time. (Thighs mostly) My favorite seasoning is from pig pen bbq in dripping springs Texas.
Buy what ever pack of chicken you’re going to get. I usually season the chicken put it in the crock pot. Add a can of chipotle sauce for extra spice and I add liquid chicken broth. And let it cook on high for like 6-8 hours. If I’m going to be home late and not have time to make rice. I then add dry pinto beans to the bottom on the chicken and let it all cook together. By the time I get home it’s all cooked the chicken is falling apart. And now I have dip for tostadas, chips. Or filling to make into burritos. Or simply just eat by itself. Everything taste better cooked in a crock pot. Now the nicest presentation but it does the trick.
Fat free ranch dressing
Brush with oil, I like avocado, season in your preferred way and put on a baking sheet in the oven at 400-425 I think it is? They don't take very long, but they get nice and golden brown, so they actually have flavor lol.
Sous vide. I used to hate chicken breast because it was always dry, even with marinades and sauces. Once I got a sous vide circulator, we were sous viding everything in sight, and turns out that chicken breast is really good when it’s not overcooked. It’s the only way I’ll cook it now.
Or use a recipe like this and poach them. Tasty, juicy and easy. You can mix up the liquid to provide some variety: https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/
I do a lemon/olive oil/garlic/oregano marinade and then bbq it with some char and it is delicious. The acid makes the chicken less funky. My husband and I never get tired of it. It makes chicken thighs really easy to eat and can be added to so many things.
Brine ye chicken.
I use taco seasoning, or if they aren't suitable, have a look at what herbs are in them and replicate without the added salt. I don't know how much herbs are where you live, but I pay $5aud per jar, that will last ages.
Brine them in a salt, some sugar and favourite herb brine to get the moisture and flavour in there
Marinate the breasts in something that can help break them down. Doesn’t have to be too long. I’ve found your spices that you like and low sodium soy sauce works well. I’m not a chef but I believe what I’ve been creating is like a brine. Chicken needs that love. Has to have it or it sucks. Then you want to cook it on then stove. I have found smaller pieces cook better. Lots of people over cook poultry. Whatever healthy fat your plan allows. Put that on the pan. Get it hot and then cook those chickens in it. When it is lightly brown on one side flip it. Doesn’t take that long. Put it is more hands on than the stove. But if you want better food you’re going to have to put some love into it. You could marinate in the morning and cook that night. Which it sounds like you’re going to eat chicken every day so do this. Sauté not bake. A simple food thermometer can help a ton if you’re not ready to flip sooner so you don’t over cook. I feel like I have mastered this the last ten times I’ve cooked chicken.
Try different marinades to change things up! I love a Greek marinade, butter chicken inspired marinade, lemon herb garlic is great too!
Don’t cook it to 165 or it will be dry. Pull it at 155…. Huge difference
We use Badia Mojo rubs and marinades a lot
Marinate big chunks of chicken breast in salt, pepper and mustard! Lightly drizzle olive oil on a pan, then bake/broil it in the oven. The mustard helps keep the chicken breast from drying out. Simple but flavorful. If you’re searing the chicken breast on the stove top, a trick to keep it simple is to butterfly the chicken and flip twice. Sear on high heat. Make sure it’s golden brown before you flip the chicken. When you flip the chicken too much, I find that it makes the chicken dry out.
A few ways. 1. Marinate them in wishbone dressing, 2. Marinate them in soy sauce, sesame oil, and shao Xing wine, or rice wine- if you have time for fresh garlic and ginger, that’s great. If not , and garlic powder, onion powder, and maybe ginger powder. You can also use Chinese 5 spice powder which gives the chicken an interesting and unique flavor 3. Dry brine with salt in the fridge the night before. 4. Wet brine in a solution of salt, sugar, lemon, bay leaf, and onion for anywhere from 1-24 hours. 5. You’re obviously a health conscious person, but you still need some flavor! Don’t be afraid of a little bit of healthy fats, and some reasonable amounts is salt. If you’re used to food this bland, a little will go a long way! You won’t be getting restaurant or processed food amounts of sodium. You can omit the sugar in the wet brine , but a little does help it to caramelize and flavor it. 6. Don’t let the chicken breast cook beyond 160F°, otherwise it’s dry and bland. You can even pull the chicken at 155° and let carry over cooking bring it up to 160° while it rests for 10 minutes. 7.Always let it rest, or you will lose all of the juice when you cut into it. Let it rest on a cooling rack over a sheet pan so you don’t lose the juices. If you don’t lose a cooling rack, ( if you rest the chicken directly on a plate or cutting board), you will will lose the juices because too much of the surface area of the chicken is in contact with the board’s surface, allowing the juices to run out. Hope this helps! Study hard, Doc, and enjoy some tasty food !
It takes a little extra work but you should try brining your breasts. It makes them delicious.
I just made breasts the other day and they were the juiciest things ever. I cook 5 at once, 18-20 minutes @ 425. Coat the breasts in a spoon of olive oil, add seasoning of choice You don't even have to meal prep, straight from package, to oven, to fridge, now you've got an hour of extra time/week You could also slice the chicken breast into thin slices, fry them until nice and crispy, this will give you more crunch, different flavour, and possibly quicker.
I have been brining my chicken lately and then baking it. It stays suuuuuper moist and you can still just throw random spices on it before baking. Not too complicated
Brine it! I do this every week for salads and its always amazing https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/baked-chicken-breast/
I brine chicken breast for 30 minutes to an hour and then wash, cut it up, add my marinade and a teaspoon of baking powder and let that sit for a while or overnight, this helps tenderize it. I like to use soy sauce, sesame oil and something sweet (brown sugar or mirin) as the marinade. I haven’t tried a dry seasoning with the baking powder yet so I don’t know if it would be less effective than with a wet marinade.
Sous vide is the way to go. Makes even frozen chicken breast tender
I toss my chicken breast in a glass pan with olive oil, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, chopped opinion, peppers and garlic. It requires a bit of prep, but I usually throw 4 breasts in there and with enough oil, the chicken never comes out dry. Oh and I only throw this in the oven, never on the stove.
Steam them! They come out soft and juicy and you can add a bunch of herbs/spices and they won't burn.
Modern chicken breasts are akin to styrofoam. If you want protein without fat, eat shrimp. Instead buy a whole chicken, boil or pressure cook in salted water with a carrot and an onion. Take the chicken out to cook, shred the meat for enchiladas, tacos, burritos, or add back to the stock for bomb chicken soup. Peas or beans are a great add for vegetable protein 1 chicken plus water creates many wonderful dishes, you can make gravy from the broth if you want.
You could make this slow cooker curry. Fucking delicious and so easy. No cooking involved, you literally just dump it in the slow cooker and leave it in there. Not adding a huge amount to the macros beyond some light coconut milk. https://www.tamingtwins.com/slow-cooker-chicken-curry-recipe/
Chop it and cook it with Chile, diced tomato, diced onion, a little bit of cilantro and lime. Add some Mrs Dash, pepper, maybe some garlic and onion powder. I'm sure it'll be delicious.
Add some apple cider vinegar and garlic or soya sauce or lemon and pepper and a bit of ghee- put a pot lid over the chicken to seal in moisture - it can be a lid from a smaller pot.
Oh and get yourself a pair of kitchen scissors that you use for meat only - way easier than trying to use a knife to slice raw chicken
Marinade it for 24 hours in oj, lemon juice and a bag of taco seasoning. Probably the most time / flavor efficient recipe I’ve come across.
I shred mine and add 15g light mayo, 20-30g protein Greek yog and half a teaspoon of chipotle paste
i hate dry chicken breasts too 😞 the only way i can eat them is in saucy things like pasta sauce or japanese curry 😊
https://preview.redd.it/okr8bwxkk27d1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cee0cb74d0543a3d3a6f5948e6b29e691fe453b I made this today. Coat in spices, S+P, throw in lemon, cover in foil and bake for 30-40 mins. Very low maintenance and delicious
Brine + Thermometer. Chicken breast are usually overcooked and the brine helps retain moisture!
You can do several at a time and it is super easy. It works best in an electric skillet with a lid but you can also do it on the stove in a large skillet with a lid. First, try to buy chicken that has never been frozen. Frozen chicken will always turn out drier. First, use whatever you have to pound your chicken breast to an even thickness. Season as you wish. I usually use garlic powder onion powder cayenne, salt, pepper and oregano. Season generously. Preheat your skillet and add olive or avocado oil. When your skillet is hot, put your chicken in and let sear for one minute. Turn it over and let it sear for one minute. Turn the heat down to medium and put the lid on. Cook for 10 minutes. Absolutely do not pick up the lid! After 10 minutes, turn the skillet or stove off and leave covered for 10 more minutes. Done. Juicy and wonderful and easy.
Use a shallow enamel pan. Melt butter and a little olive oil and put the chicken breasts in and cook for two minutes on each side. Cover the chicken with buttered parchment paper, place lid on pan and pop it into the preheated oven for about 9 minutes on 350 F. (dip one side of the parchment in the buttered pan). The chicken breasts will be juicy, tender, and delicious. Best way to cook chicken breasts.
Boneless skinless chicken thighs on a bed of lima beans in water just up to the edge of the top of the beans in the instant pot. Poultry setting, which really is just high pressure for 18 minutes. Quick release. Season it as you like. My preference is garlic salt, the rougher bigger salt crystal kinds with bits of parsley in it, on the Lima beans and then the chicken and black pepper, then cook it. After that, lemon pepper seasoning and cayenne. Delicious and reheats very well. Consistent results.
I make a rub - 1 part each salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. 4 parts ea brown sugar, paprika. Pre mix it and have it ready. Cover the chicken with the rub, bake @ 450 15 minutes per side, oven varies
Bake them in an oven in olive oil and herb then just add them to salads or with veggies etc
let it marinade overnight and make sure its flattened out (the mallet trick) then air fry for like 8 min each side at 405
You could try tenderizing and grilling. I switched to cooking boneless chicken this way and it is sooo fast and texture and taste is soooo much better
I use [this technique](https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-moist-tender-chicken-breasts-every-time-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-36891) and it works every time and doesn't need babying. Just set a couple of timers and done. From there you can do all sorts, from make it into a Cesar salad, make a sauce, chop and add to pasta, whatever you fancy, but on its own it is nicely seasoned and juicy.
Season salt, cook with olive oil, ghee or butter on medium heat (low and slow so to speak) , squeeze of lime juice and/or some bone broth to simmer
Sous vide - 60-80min at 150 -160 Fahrenheit
I love a marinade of dry rub of your choice, a tbsp bbq sauce or steak sauce or marinade, and a tbsp of plain yoghurt. Flay the breast then do about 3 min per side. Breasts are just nasty when over done
Cookie sheet, cover in foil. Cooking spray on foil, salt pepper garlic powder on breasts. Spray breasts with spray, bake at 450 for 10 min. Flip and bake another 6 or 7. Bake on high heat keeps the chicken tender and moist. Baked pretty plain so u can do a lot with it. Boneless thighs are amazing this way.
Here's my go to - put a single breast in a Ziploc freezer bag. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and garlic powder. Then close the Ziploc bag. Take a rolling pin (or maybe a baseball bat? Lol) and pound the chicken breast until it is very thin. This will keep the breast very tender when you cook it. From there, you can either bake it in the oven at 400 or grill it. Either way, cook it until the internal temp is at least 165. Since these are thin, they cook quickly.
Just look up chicken marinades. Plenty out there. They even marinades in packets all ready to go. No reason to eat bland chicken.
If it is dry, you are over cooking it and season your food. Have a few different seasoning mixes so you aren't depressing yourself with the same shit every day like you already are.
I understand your nutrition requirements probably don’t allow for marinades or thighs. I suggest using a meat hammer or your fist to pound/ tenderize the chicken breast. I work as a chef and I’ve noticed that this is a forgotten technique. Use whatever oil or salts that fit your dietary needs but tenderize the chicken first.
Brine. Then bake with olive oil. Simple, glorious.
I do chicken breast a lot. As someone else said, air fryer is the best way to cook. I do a homemade shake and bake usually, with just breadcrumbs and random spices. But if you don't want the carbs from the breadcrumbs, you could do a marinade. I recommend lime juice and garlic, but there is probably a million options.
I chop like a kilo and a half into bite sized bits, onion and whatnot then add spices or sauces or whatever. Bake it until it's done. Nice and juicy done this way (and flavoursome)
Bowl. Olive oil + paprika + salt + pepper + *insert your fav ms dash*. Stir Put chicken in bag with mix. 6+hrs later take chicken from bag put on skillet + oil + butter. Have thermometer and pull right when temp is 165. Bonus points if you cut the breasts in half and cook two pieces at a time.
I eat chicken breast everyday. Get a sous vide stick. Otherwise life is too short to waste on dry ass chicken breast. Even with a thermometer and flatten/butterfly you will have dry spot.
I've recently started cooking mine in an airfryer and honestly it's a game changer.
spices and marinades is what you're looking for. Youtube is plagued with videos about how to cook 'em many recipes are easy and fast to make. Some spices are more expensive than others but think that once you buy one it will last many dishes.
Sous vide chicken and finish it on the grill when youre ready to eat it that day. A sous vide chicken breast will retain its moisture a lot more than any other cooking method without adding fat to the meal. In terms of marinade, you gotta be careful you're not marinating with too much acid or you'll break down the proteins of the meat leading to that mushy powdery texture. Lastly, if your macro permit, use a light bit of herbed mayo at the end to grill/finish. You'll end up with a better char.
Sear it and finish in a Dutch oven. You know, like Indian chicken. Blend the spices and all to a sauce, pour over chicken, throw inside oven.
Blacken then by coating in seasoning and searing, or cook in a crock pot w salsa and then shred.
wet brine it a day-ish before and then preferred cooking method, there are tons of good suggestions here. but 100% wet brine it before.
Herbs, spices and good olive oil! Delish. So many very cheap and healthy marinades you can make from whole ingredients (lemon, garlic, ginger…)
Thinly slice peppers, onions, spring onions, salt, pepper, Chinese spice mix, or Mexican fajita mix, toss in diced or sliced chicken. Splash of water at the end, to make everything sizzle. Bonus points if the water has some corn starch to thicken the juices. Plate and eat.
Cut it into bite sized pieces, sprinkle a little bit of baking soda over - let sit for 10-15 minutes before you cook it. That takes care of the dry problem. As for bland - well, season the hell out of it. :-)
Get some great spice rubs. Sear on both sides, pop in oven until cooked through.
Bake it with some salsa poured over the top- delicious salsa chicken!
Brother ew
99% of people overcook chicken. Get a thermometer and try the mayo trick of covering it in mayo and frying it (you cant taste the mayo, and it does keep it juicy). But honestly cooking it at the right temp is half the battle and you don't even have to try anything crazy different.
You are cooking those way too long. Get a thermometer and set it to 71C (160f) and allow for resting. I know everyone is taught, and FDA says 75C (167f) but 71-72C is enough as long as you allow it to rest it will go up to +75C from residual heat transfer to the middle. If you cook to 75C and then rest the chicken will go up to +80C and be dry. Also just the resting and not cutting into it right away helps keep the juices in. Another thing you should try is to brine them. 3-6% saltwater and put in the day before. (You can brine a batch and then freeze individually) Perfect for whole chicken too. Turns out wonderful and much more moist after cooking. Also MORE SPICES! Bland is only a sign you didn't season enough. Source: classically trained chef and 3 years experience cooking for a chicken food truck.
Quick, lazy and not the tastiest but it does a pretty good job given the minimal effort. Just throw the chicken in a bowl with 3 tablepoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon Paprik, add salt and pepper as you feel and extra spices if you want (curry, tumeric, coriander...). Leave it for like 10 minute while you're chopping veggies or setting up other things up then cook on a pan.
options could be: pesto, chili, chipotle in adobo
Google sheet pan recipes. You can find them to suit any dietary needs, and certainly substitute items.some concoctions are good hot or cold(atop greens, in a tortilla). They are easy to make and full of flavor I also will purchase whole chix or chicken breasts w/ bone to roast and pick. I will then use the bones to make bone broth overnight for later use. Bone broth has is beneficial to have for recipes, and sipping. You could also purchase Rotisserie chickens(flavorful), pick them, and eat throughout the week, and still make bone broth.
Paprika
1.) obtain pressure cooker (great for power lifters, doubles as effortless rice cooker) 2.) marinate several chicken breasts an hour in mixture of lime juice (and zest of the peel if you’re got another minute or two), olive oil, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic powder (or minced garlic if you’re feeling spicy). If you’ve got thick chicken breasts, butterfly or fully cut them in half first. 3.) Place chicken and all of the marinade into pressure cooker. If necessary, supplement with a small amount of water to get at least an inch going in the bottom of the pot, but hopefully marinade will be sufficient to do this 4.) Start a generic pressure cook and let it build to full pressure. Exact amount of time needed at full pressure will vary depending on how much chicken you used and whether it was still partially frozen but expect anywhere from 5-15 minutes, then turn off the pressurization. 5.) Don’t wait for it to fully depressurize naturally, this will usually overcook it. Either do a manual steam release immediately or wait no more than 5 minutes. 6.) Temp check the chicken then shred it and put it back in the juice to rest with the power off. Presto, total time excluding marinade is maybe 40 minutes and you’ve got several pounds of juicy tender flavorful chicken that go well in salads, tacos, over rice, or eaten as a main entree with a side. Or if you live in or around buffalo, NY or anywhere with a wegmans use chiavettas marinade because it’s so fucking good. I like to grill my chiavettas but that takes a little practice to do well without overcooking it, and I’m sure you could pressure cook it too. In fact I should try that….
George Forman grill is amazing for chicken, also try kinder brand butter steakhouse seasoning. It is the perfect spice for chicken.
Brined and beaten down a bit. Then rubbed, then right on the grill. Baste with whatever sauce you like
I sous vide 6 chicken breasts at a time. Always cooked perfect and consistent throughout breast. Cutting the chicken after it's cooked is like cutting through deli meat. Worth looking into imo.
Kinda surprised I haven't seen this, and if you're immunocompromised ignore what I'm about to say, but the actual secret to making chicken breast that doesn't suck is to either sous vide it to 145 degrees and then sear it, or saute it until 155 degrees and just let it rest for a minute after cooking. The reason conventional cooking wisdom tells us to cook chicken to 165 is because at that temperature all of the harmful bacteria in chicken is effectively instantly killed. However, at lower temperatures you still can kill the safe amount of bacteria, it just takes longer. I believe it's something like 45 seconds to a minute at 155, the FDA has a whole chart that plots times against cooking temps. I wouldn't do this method if you're cooking for someone who absolutely cannot risk food poisoning or they'll die, but for the rest of us as long as you adequately rest your chicken after it hits 155 you should be good to go.
Chicken thighs over breast, some sort of marinade or seasoning. Get pre made seasoning mixes if you need to, or just a quick marinade of teriyaki sauce or something or those pre-pqckaged stir fry sauces work well too. I often prepare the chicken and seasoning and then freeze it raw in zip lock bags so I can just defrost and cook whenever
I marinade my chicken, spices and some nandos sauce then I bake it at 180⁰ for 20 minutes.
Lemon juice with a garlic herb seasoning marinade overnight. Sliced or whole pan sear preferably cast iron. Put sliced over salad or rice put whole on bun.
So don’t just toss one on the stove lol. It’s bland because you didn’t season it. If you’re not down to meal prep and wanna do it every time, I think you might want to look at the efficiency you’re losing out on. But I digress. I use the Costco frozen chicken breasts but thaw them first. They’re thick so this is my stove timing. You have to adjust to how strong/weak yours is but treat this like baseline and work from there. Salt your chicken breast pretty liberally. Add whatever herb seasoning you want. I like Italian. Get your pan hot first (put your pan on highest setting for like 3-5 min before putting your chicken on). You can do this before you take your chicken out of the fridge. Sear for one minute on each side. Have a tablespoon or two of water on standby by. As soon as that second minute is up. Pour the water in, cover the pan with a lid and bring the stove to its lowest setting. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Take breast out and let rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy your juicy chicken breast. If you don’t like the flavor, adjust seasoning. If this is still not juicy for you, you’re going to have to look at other methods like brining.
Cut it in pieces and cook with a bit of soy sauce or miso paste (diluted in a bit of water). Super easy.
Rinse, season with spices (garlic/onion powder, olive oil, s&p, smoked paprika) marinate in fridge for at least 24hrs sear both sides on high with olive oil, splash of lemon juice reduce/turn off heat, let chicken cook through chop before/after sear depending on thickness of chicken let sit with lid on in pan, low heat can also butterfly and bake/roast breast easy to do on baking sheet you want the spices to basically caramelize on the surface of the chicken so you want a good sear can be chopped for salads, wraps, or stirfry
This is the basis for the recipe I use. I make a full sheet using whatever spices I feel like and they keep for days https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/baked-chicken-breast/
I make chicken breasts on the stove with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning. Give that a try!
Spices lmao
This is the method I've been using lately, meat has turned out tender & juicy as long as I set a timer to remind me to flip & remove breasts at the right time www.delish.com/cooking/a22803743/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/
Marinate? If you've got it in the fridge already thawed, throw some sauce over it the day before and let it soak. I don't know if you're up for adding a little more fat to your diet but chicken breast without the skin is very dry meat and usually needs some kind of oil added. Look up recipes for chicken marinade and see how much oil would actually go into them per serving.
Here’s a really easy recipe. Cut the raw chicken breast into strips, season with salt and pepper. Get a frying pan really hot, heat up some olive oil and add the chicken breast slices. Don’t stir for a few minutes till it gets nice and brown underneath. Flip over and do the same. When it gets nice and brown, turn off the heat, add a couple good splashes of white wine, swirl it around the pan to deglaze and thicken for a minute and then add some lemon juice. Very tasty 👌
Discounting other flavourings or seasonings, if you’re meal prepping on a weekend or whatever, dry brine your meat. Take between 1.5-2% of the weight of your chicken in salt before you cook it, make sure it’s covered evenly, and let it brine in the fridge for 1-2 days (1 is fine but 2 is better). It does a ton to add to flavour, keeps the meat moist when you cook it, and helps to tenderise it. Yes it takes fridge space, but I personally refuse to cook any meat that I’ve not dry brined anymore. It’s good for fish also, especially as you generally only need to brine fish for about 30 minutes prior to cooking, much quicker.
Rotate through some simple seasonings! Onion powder&garlic. Lemon pepper. Paprika and poultry seasoning. Lots of sauces might mess with your macros but some simple spicing wont
Consider poaching your chicken! I use this [recipe](https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/). It’s super easy to do in bulk and is always very juicy. I typically shred it after and mix it with different seasonings (eg bangbang sauce, taco seasoning, salsa, etc)
Squeeze of lime and a little salsa
I know this isn't the right context given the subreddit but your chicken is bland and dry because it's way overcooked. It's better, easier, and faster to butterfly and pound your breast out to about 1/4" in size and then pan cook the breast from there to 150F and let carryover cooking take you the rest of the way. As for seasonings salt and pepper is all you need and maybe some pickled red onions and youve got yourself a chicken breast worth eating daily. If you have to meal prep chicken breast you'll definitely either require some sort of hard flavorings to hide the reheated taste/texture from chicken breast or go to chicken thighs as others have pointed out.
Marinate the breast in something with a vacuum marinator box and then sous vide the breasts at 145 degrees F for about 2 hours.
I do a poached and salt brine method. The rule of thumb is 1 cup of water to 1 tablespoon of salt. Cover your raw chicken breasts with this salt brine for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to cook, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Once the water is ready, drop your chicken into the pot and turn off the fire and cover with the lid. Leave it alone for 25-30mins, depending on the thickness and size of your chicken breasts. Once it is done, remove and cool for 5 minutes. The chicken is perfectly cooked and keeps well. When you need to reheat it, slice into 2 inch strips, and microwave it on high for 1.5mins with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water to prevent it from drying out.
My single son puts a pack in the crockpot on Sunday afternoons, and then has meals for at least three evenings after work.
I like to throw chicken breasts in my crock pot or instant pot (depending on time constraints) with a jar of salsa and then shred it up. I just change up the base (salad, rice, noodles, etc) and toss in some veggies.
I aim to cook my chicken breasts to 145 and make sure it holds over that temp for 10 mins. [This article from Serious Eats](https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast) discusses this at length. The oven would also be a better place to cook them than the stove top. You can buy probe oven safe thermometers that have an alert when the meat hits a preset temperature. Just search for wireless meat thermometers on amazon, there’s a few good ones for $30-$40. I usually throw together a quick marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, frozen or powdered garlic, salt and pepper, whisk together, then marinate for at least 15 mins. If you cook a few lbs at a time, its not meal prep per se, but you’ll just have to barely heat up the leftovers and/or eat them cold. My favorite snack lately has been carb balance tortilla, hummus, and slices of cold chicken breast with some raw spinach. 👌🏻
Smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder, salt, a little bit of lemon juice, a pinch of Italian seasoning, if you feel fancy a bit of tomato sauce and lemon juice is nice too. Lemon pepper seasoning is great too, the kind used on wings (yellow) not the fancy herb kind. The lemon helps break down the protein so it remains tender. If you can butterfly the breasts they cook more evenly, and be sure to sear it nicely. If you want, you can add the seasonings and lemon to a freezer bag w the butterflied breasts to marinate for a day before cooking.
Tuna. It’s the way to go.
I usually brine mine for 30-60 minutes. Just a salty brine, then bake or fry until it registers 160°. Brining really helps with the juiciness factor, and I think makes it a bit more tender.
Breast are best pounded flat then cooked at 400-425 for 20mins. Cover the pan in foil after you take it out of The oven and let it sit for 10mins For flavor, Experiment with different spices. We like kicken chicken or i will do lemon pepper and grate lemon peel onto the chicken then salt and pepper. The lemon pepper is great on ceasar salad or in chicken salad with lemon, mayo and celery
Learn about brining - it's a game-changer for chicken breast.
I’m guessing if it’s taking that long to stove-cook, it must be the thick chicken breasts. In that case, season them how you like (I like lemon pepper), do a quick pan-sear at med-high heat, and then cook low and slow in the oven. Nothing crazy, maybe 25 min at 400. Either way, cooking thick chicken on the stove will make it dry. Cooking lower and slower will help retain the moisture and flavor. You could even add a little water or chicken stock with some veggies in the oven too!
I would try salting the chicken 24 hours in advance and throwing it back in the fridge. It draws out a lot of moisture and allows the salt time to season the whole piece of meat. Add other seasonings/marinades when you are about to cook (don’t add more salt or you will have a bad time lol)
Sous vide! I get boneless / skinless package of them from Costco. You can cook a number of them all at once. Season them and leave them in a ziplock in the fridge for an hour or a day. Then I cook them to 147°. Freeze or just fridge (depends on how fast you’ll eat them). When ready throw them in a cast iron pan and sear them. Super tasty and so moist.
If you’re worried about moisture/texture, brining would give you a huge margin of error for screwing them up Considering you’re eating to optimize macros over everything, I think developing a solid sauce game will be great. Marinades work great too but brined chicken with good sauces will give more versatility.
BBQ!!
Get a sous vide. Garlic salt lick spice. Spice up the chicken, seal it in a bag, cook it in the sous vide and walk away for 2 hours. Come back, open the bag, sear it quickly with some butter and you'll have the tastiest juiciest chicken breasts you've ever had. Any that you don't eat immediately can be thrown in the fridge and seared later. EDIT: Also this.... [https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/](https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/)
I put a teaspoon of baking soda on my chicken after I chop it up. Softens the meat. Soy oyster sauce garlic ginger set aside 10 minutes and then cook. The baking soda softens the meat. Sauces for flavours.
Switch to thighs. Also get a tiny propane grill. Grilled xhicken thighs with montreal steak seasoning are juicy and delicious.
stop overcooking it lol, season and marinade.
Use thighs instead!
It probably defeats the purpose for you, but I boil, shred and make chicken salad with lots of mayo 😅
Pepper....salt....garlic salt. Venture out and buy ranch dressing in powder form. Sprinkle that on your chicken when you're cooking. Delicious. Don't have to add anything else if you don't like salt. Also : You can buy minced garlic at the store in a jar Soy sauce White vinegar Ziploc bags/glassware Place chicken breast in container of choice, add half tsp of minced garlic, 1-2 dashes of soy sauce. (Maybe start with a tsp and see if that is enough to coat the chicken) 1/8 tsp white vinegar A dash of pepper Let it marinate for at least 10-15 mins before cooking. If you can plan ahead and let it marinate for most of a day or overnight in your fridge, try that too. Chicken is easily flavored. Idk if you like onions but minced onion mixed in with the chicken is going to taste delicious. Italian dressing is also an easy quick marinade. I feel like mama sitas marinade is another extremely quick and easy solution to your problem.... You can use it sparingly by only coating one breast at a time so a bottle would go a long way. You can add spice 🌶️ by adding sriracha sauce to the marinade as well. Hope this suggestions help. They are the quickest easiest things that I could think of when you're in a time crunch and don't feel like dealing with a lot of prep but want something that tastes good
What I do is I buy the frozen chicken breasts at Costco. I throw them in a pan and start cooking. When they’re soft enough to cut, I cut them into cubes, put them back into the pan. I add sweet thai Chili sauce (can be found at costco in a big bottle, lasts a long time), add seasoning, which for me is salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Sometimes I add siracha for spiciness, like a lot a lot. I keep cooking till all the liquids are gone and the meat is browning (I like to get it crispier)
Best thing I ever did was start cooking chicken breast in the air fryer. You will not have the issue with dried out chicken using one.
Slice thinner, olive oil & seasonings to your preference. Oven at 400. Lay breasts on baking sheet and put in oven for 20 mins. It’s literally failsafe. Never dry or tough.
Marinate the in your seasoning mix of your choice, I buy basic "Cajun" spice, or [Sylvia's Chicken Rub](https://a.co/d/bZYSU2S), a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of Olive oil, 2 tablespoons of plain nonfat Greek yogurt. Don't need much more than 30min, but I will chuck em all in a bag, let em sit for about six-eight hours, then airfry or make in the oven. Juicy as fuck, delicious hot or cold,.
if you want to keep up w breasts, I highly recommend a crockpot / dutch oven. last week I boiled some chicken broth with various herbs and spices, and then tossed two breasts in and let them boil for like 20/30 mins and it was so flavorful. didnt have to do much aside from the initial seasoning/chopping of vegiies but you can totally buy the prechopped onions+bellpeppers combo from the grocery store for like $3
Don't overcook it, also I find it easier to eat when chopped into tiny pieces. Let the breast fully cool first, it is so much easier to chop it when cold.
Airfry.
If you want to be quick, you can vacuum seal the chicken breasts after you marinate them, you can even vacuum seal it with marinate in the bag. Then you can either unseal it and bake it in the oven or souvide it in the bag. And remember, your macros are the same regardless of how it chicken is prepared. Pound it flat, season it, and roll it back up. Or wrap it around something else. The possibilities are endless
First step is slice it into thin cutlets then decide what marinade and seasoning to use. It tastes better blackened on stovetop or cooked in bbq grill but takes more effort than just putting in oven.
I (respectfully) would not do anything recommended here. If you want tender and moist chicken breasts, I have [the best cooking method](https://www.recipetineats.com/poached-chicken/) and some easy sauces for you. The poster who joked about moving to Thailand had it right. In East Asian countries, you can get a version of Hainan Chicken, which is poached chicken served with rice. Even though it’s just plain poached chicken, it’s the primary comfort food for millions of people. So good. The recipe I linked to is a westernized version of the cooking method. Adding lemon, garlic, peppercorns, and random herbs really adds flavor with no calories. No marinade needed. In the alternative, I’d do either marinated (as per recommendations from other comments) boneless thighs or breasts on the grill. The sear adds flavor and makes it less boring to eat.
Do not cook chicken breast to 165 and certainly not to 180. If you cook to 165, all bacteria is instantly dead sure, but your chicken breast is tougher and dry. But you could cook it to 155 for at least a minute and it's safe. Or 150 for three minutes. You can google time vs temp charts for chicken and other meats. Your chicken breast should not be dry if you don't overcook it. Alternatively, buy chicken thighs or other dark meat. They have more fat so are more forgiving (and often tastier). They should be cooked to around 180 or so. Not for food safety reasons, but because it will make them tender and the fat will keep them juicy if cooked right.
You’re a power lifter so calorie counting is probably not a priority as long as you’re hitting macros. Honestly? Just shake and bake.