Chicken breasts are one of the most dietary foods. However, the absence of large amounts of fat in chicken breast creates difficulties in its preparation. In order to make this product a tasty dish, you need to know some subtleties. Experienced cooks willingly share secrets of how to make chicken breasts juicy and soft, so that the hostess only needs to follow their advice and follow the recipe exactly. Then she will be able to cook a healthy and at the same time delicious chicken breast dish.
Cooking Features
In order to cook chicken breasts juicy and soft, there are several means. At the same time it is necessary to take into account several important points already when choosing a product.
- Frozen breasts are not the best choice if you want to cook them really juicy and soft. Preference is better to give fresh or chilled meat.
- A breast will be more juicy and tender if it is marinated before cooking.
- If, before cooking, cut the breast into several pieces and beat off, it will be softer, since its fibers will be destroyed.
- Slicing the breast across the fibers, you also destroy them. In this case, the breast will also be softer.
- Salt pulls moisture out of meat. Therefore, salting chicken breast is necessary only at the last stage of preparation. This will help preserve its juiciness.
- When frying in a pan, use batter or breading. They create a protective layer, through which the juice is stored inside the breast. In the end, it turns out tender and juicy.
- When baking chicken breast in the oven, it is better to use foil or a culinary sleeve. These simple devices allow you to bake the breast and at the same time to preserve its juiciness, as it does not allow the fluid to flow out.
- Using fatty sauces and fresh vegetables also helps make chicken breast more juicy. However, this method of increasing the juiciness of a dish can simultaneously increase its caloric content. That is, the dish will turn out very tasty, juicy and soft, but not dietary.
- When cooking breasts, do not exceed the recommended cooking time in the recipe. Otherwise, the breast can be dried out, and it will no longer be as tender as we would like.
Some features of the preparation of soft and juicy chicken breast depend on the method of cooking. Therefore, the instructions in the recipe must be followed without fail. Only in this case success will be guaranteed.
Boiled Chicken Breast
Composition:
- chicken breasts - 1 kg;
- water - 2 l;
- apple juice - 100 ml;
- garlic - 1 head;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the chicken breast, remove skin from it. Separate the flesh from the bones.
- Boil the water.
- As soon as the water starts to boil, dip the breast into it and pour in apple juice.
- Peel the garlic. Without slicing, put the cloves in the pan where the breast is boiled.
- Boil the lid on the pan for half an hour on low heat. 5 minutes before the readiness, add salt and spices to the water.
The breast cooked in this way can be used to make salads or serve as a hot snack with a side dish. It turns juicy, tender, fragrant.
Chicken breasts fried in batter
Composition:
- chicken breasts - 1 kg;
- chicken egg - 2 pcs .;
- wheat flour - 160 g;
- water or milk - 50 ml;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave;
- salt, seasonings for chicken - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash chicken breasts, pat dry, separate the fillets.
- Cut chicken breast fillet lengthwise into several pieces. Put in the bag and repel. Due to the fact that you will beat the breast through a layer of polyethylene, the meat will not stick to the hammer, that is, its integrity will be preserved. In addition, it will protect kitchen utensils from splashes that can fly in all directions when beating meat.
- Rub the chicken breast chops with seasonings and leave to soak in their flavor for 15 minutes.
- In a clean bowl, beat the eggs. Pour the flour to them, stir. Dissolve with water or milk to the consistency of a very thick cream. Add some salt to the batter, stir.
- Pour oil into a cast-iron or thick-bottomed non-stick frying pan. Put the pan on medium heat. After a few minutes, dip the chop into a batter so that it covers it on all sides, and pour it into the boiling oil. Do the same with other chops.
- When the bottom layer of batter is thoroughly browned, turn the chop over to the other side and fry for another 3-4 minutes, then reduce the heat to minimum and then sweat the chops under the lid for another 5 minutes.
- Put chops on a napkin so that it absorbs excess oil. After transferring chops from chicken breasts to the plate and serve.
Chicken breast chops, fried in a skillet in a pan, can be served without garnish. The batter will help “seal” the juice inside, so the chops made in this way always turn out both soft and juicy.
Chicken Breast Baked in Foil
Composition:
- chicken breast fillet - 0, 8 kg;
- lemon juice - 40 ml;
- soy sauce - 40 ml;
- vegetable oil - 40 ml;
- spices, salt, pepper - to taste;
- honey - 40 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Chicken breast fillets wash and blot with napkins.
- Melt the honey to a liquid state, mix it with butter and soy sauce.
- Squeeze lemon juice, measure the desired amount. Pour into marinade, stir.
- Sprinkle spices and spices, lightly add some salt if you wish, but note that soy sauce is already salty, so there is a risk of salting the marinade and spoiling the dish.
- Dip marinated breasts and leave in it for half an hour.
- Prepare 4 pieces of foil, folding them in half.
- In the center of each piece of foil put on the breast, pour it with marinade. Lift the ends of the foil and put it on top, packing the breast in it. Fold the breasts in the foil into the shape.
- Turn on the oven and wait until the temperature reaches 200 degrees.
- Put the mold in the oven and wait 40 minutes.
If you want your breasts to brown a little, 10 minutes before the breasts are ready, tear off the foil and cook without it. Juicy and flavorful breast, baked in foil, is unlikely to please someone.
Chicken breasts baked in the sleeve
Composition:
- chicken breasts - 1 kg;
- kefir - 0, 5 l;
- spicy herbs - 20 g;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Rinse the chicken breasts under running water. Separate the fillets from the bones, after removing the skin from the breasts.
- Add kefir spice herbs, salt, pepper, mix well.
- Marinate the chicken breast fillet in kefir.
- After half an hour, fold the breasts in the baking sleeve. Tie it on both sides. Toothpick, make several small holes through which steam will escape.
- Place the sleeve with the chicken breasts on the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and send a pan with chicken breasts to it.
- After half an hour, turn off the oven, wait another 15 minutes.
- Remove the breasts from the culinary sleeve, cut across the fibers and serve with a side dish.
Chicken breast, baked according to the above recipe, is a truly dietary dish. In this case, no one will say that they are not soft and juicy.
Chicken breasts, baked in sour cream sauce
Composition:
- chicken breasts - 1 kg;
- fresh or frozen champignons - 0, 6 kg;
- hard cheese - 0, 4 kg;
- sour cream - 0.5 l;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- flour - 70 g;
- salt, spices - how much will go;
- vegetable oil - how much will leave.
Method of preparation:
- Rinse your breasts. Remove the skin from them, it is not needed. Separate the flesh from the bone. Cut it into pieces 1 cm thick across the fibers.
- Crush garlic cloves with a special device.
- Chop grated cheese. It is better to use the side where the holes are smaller.
- Pour water on bones and cartilage, add salt and spices, boil broth. Measure out a glass of broth.
- Fry the flour in a pan. When she gets a creamy shade, pour broth in a thin stream, intensively stirring the contents of the pan to avoid the formation of lumps.
- When the sauce thickens a little, add sour cream, spices, salt and garlic passed through the press. Stir.
- Enter half the cheese, stir and simmer for a couple more minutes.
- Cut the champignons into plates and fry in butter in another pan. It is necessary to fry until all liquid evolved from the mushrooms evaporates.
- Lubricate the baking sheet. Put on her breast pieces. Spice them lightly and season with salt.
- Put the fried champignons on top. Smooth with a spoon.
- Fill it with sour cream sauce.
- Place the form in the oven, preheated to 190 degrees, for 40 minutes.
- 20 minutes after starting the preparation, sprinkle the dish with the remaining cheese and then bake until cooked.
Use a sauce in which breasts are baked instead of gravy: it is very tasty and tender.
Chicken breasts, steamed in a slow cooker
Composition:
- chicken breast fillet - 0, 4 kg;
- water - 180 ml;
- vegetable oil - 20 ml;
- soy sauce - 20 ml;
- Provencal herbs - 10 g;
- dried garlic - 5 g.
Method of preparation:
- Mix butter, soy sauce, herbs, and dried garlic. Coat this mixture with the washed and towel-dried pieces of chicken fillet.
- Place the breasts on a multi-cooker rack designed for steaming.
- Pour the multi-glass of water into the multicooker bowl.
- Start the unit in steam cooking mode for 45 minutes.
A juicy and tender dietary dish will be prepared almost completely without your participation.
You can cook juicy and soft chicken breasts in different ways: in a frying pan, in an oven, in a slow cooker. If you follow some simple rules, there are no surprises to expect.
