When it comes to things that are difficult to cook, you probably don’t immediately think about chicken breasts. But really, to get a chicken breast cooked to perfection- not underdone but still tender and juicy- is quite the feat! Of course, there are a lot of ways to cook chicken, but the stovetop is tried and true- and convenient when you don’t have a grill or want to turn on the oven! Here’s some basic instructions to follow to get the perfectly done chicken breast.

1. Make sure your chicken is completely defrosted to ensure that it will cook completely evenly. You may even want to pull it out of the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes before you cook it so that it can be closer to room temperature, and thus easier to cook.

2. One of the most common mistakes is not flattening your chicken. Many times your chicken cooks unevenly because half of it is thicker. Use a meat tenderizer or mallet (or a glass jar or mug if you don’t have one) to flatten and spread out the chicken breast until it’s all about the same size. You can do this while the chicken is in a Ziploc bag to keep the mess to a minimum!

3. Make sure the pan is well oiled! It’s hard to get perfect chicken when it’s stuck to the pan ;). To really cover your base, you can pour a little bit of oil directly into the pan and then rub about a teaspoon of olive oil on each chicken breast. You’ll also want to add some seasoning, even if it’s just salt and pepper!

4. Over medium heat, cook your chicken breasts on one side for about 10 minutes. Turn them over and cook for another 10 minutes while covered (you may want to turn the heat down- some people even turn the heat off for this final 10 minutes! You’ll need to experiment with different pans and stovetops to see what works best for you!)

5. Last, but certainly not least, take the chicken off the heat and let it sit for 5 -10 minutes, otherwise you’ll end up letting all those juices out on the plate instead of inside your tender, juicy, delicious chicken breast!

If you’re a worrier like me and you really want to make sure that your chicken is cooked all the way, you can use a meat thermometer to ensure that the middle of your chicken has reached 165 degrees before letting it sit and slicing it.

Now if you really want to get fancy, you can brine your chicken before cooking! This will make your chicken even juicier. For a long brine, you can mix 4 tablespoons of salt with 6 cups of warm water (for about 2 pounds of chicken) and let your chicken soak in this mixture for 4-8 hours (be sure to place it in the refrigerator!) If you’re planning things last minute, just soak the chicken in the same mixture for 15-30 minutes out of the fridge.

Boring, but basic! You can improve so many of your recipes by perfecting the art of cooking chicken breasts ;). For your convenience, there is a link below you can use to put these directions into Cook’n so you can pull it right up next time you want to cook some chicken!

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