Meat Morgan: Chicken Breast Basics

Whether you’re a lover of cooking meat or just of eating it, it’s time that you formally meet our in-house meat connoisseur, Morgan Bolling. She’s worked at a few different test kitchens across the United States, gracing those who will listen with her meat knowledge. When she’s not at work developing a new meaty recipe, there’s a likely chance that she’s hosting a homemade sausage dinner, running a half marathon (to cancel out those sausage dinners), or planning her next pig roast.

Salt and oil are two must-have ingredients for a successful marinade. Soy sauce, sugar, and honey are some of the other flavor boosters I’d recommend mixing into the marinade to help enhance the juiciness and add complexity to the chicken.

In the test kitchen, we use soy sauce in place of salt to get more of an umami/meaty taste. We add sugar or honey to our marinades for sweetness; these two flavor boosters also help foods brown during cooking.

By using a thermometer. Chicken breasts get dry when you overcook them. So you want to cook them to 160 degrees internally (their temperature will rise to 165 degrees once they're removed from the heat—this is called carryover cooking).  If you don’t use a thermometer, you’ll likely overcook them when trying to ensure they’re fully cooked.

No. We’ve tested this and can confirm that it doesn’t make a big difference. There is this theory that if you let refrigerated meat rest on the counter to start raising its internal temperature toward its target cooked temperature, it will make a difference to the meat. This is not true. Doing so puts the meat in the food-safety danger zone as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The easiest and safest way to defrost frozen chicken breasts is to place them in a zipper-lock bag, seal it, and submerge it in very hot (140-degree) water. The chicken should thaw in 8 to 12 minutes.

We prefer Bell & Evans Air Chilled Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, which weigh 6 to 8 ounces each. They are aged for 12 hours before being boned, which makes them “mega-juicy” and “tender” and gives them “clean, chicken-y” flavor (according to our tasters).

The beauty of boneless, skinless chicken breasts is that they don’t require much prep. Most are very clean. But if you see any white or yellow fat clinging to the sides or any bloody areas on the outside, trim them using our winning chef’s knife.

With few seasonings, in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Well, that’s definitely one of the easiest ways to cook chicken breasts. Try this foolproof method with our Paprika Chicken with Garlicky Greens and White Beans recipe.

If you’re looking for more chicken breast recipes, view our inventory.