Chicken Breasts are a household staple, yes? While you all know I am on a quest to make the world love chicken thighs I do have love for chicken breasts. But WOW can they go from really convenient to really freaking boring in the blink of an eye, right?
So let’s talk about my 3 favorite ways to enjoy that ho-hum chicken breast without falling asleep of boredom mid-meal.
Because no one likes food on their face.
1. Brine It
I have always been sort of scared to brine, it seems messy and hard and like it would only make a negligible difference in flavor, and I am here to say I’ve been proven wrong! Brining a boneless, skinless chicken breast is a surefire way to ensure a flavorful and tender result.
Here is a very easy brining technique, and as a bonus — it comes with a spice rub that you can add right before you throw those suckers on a grill/pan. Moist, juicy and delicious – I may never grill un-brined chicken breasts again!
2. Stuff It
Ew, ew but that means chicken skin, right? Yes! Delicious, delicious AND CRISPY chicken skin. Ina Garten has a recipe (of course she does) for fantastic Stuffed Chicken Breasts with the skin on that is not only easy, but involves two of my favorite ingredients: herbed goat cheese and basil! (If you don’t love goat cheese just substitute cream cheese if you eat dairy, it’s just as delicious.) Sometimes when I feel really crazy (WATCH OUT!) I throw some sun dried tomatoes in there too.
3. Baste It On The Bone
Basting is synonymous with “Keeping poultry from shriveling up into jerky” right? Hmm…maybe that’s just my thesaurus. Regardless the combo of basting along with cooking on the bone is not only notable for keeping chicken moist, but for imparting even more flavor to your meat. Who doesn’t want MORE FLAVOR? Here is one of my favorite on-the-bone chicken recipes that involves an herb basting sauce. It’s got herbs, pan drippings and roasting OH MY! It’s The Trifecta, and one to put in the recipe books for sure.
****
Do you have an Ass Kickin’ Chicken recipes that you swear by? Leave ’em in the comments!
This has become a staple for me…hardly any prep required, paleo, and delicious: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/main-dish/recipe-chicken-in-coconut-milk-081026
THANK YOU for this! I am always, ALWAYS looking for new ways to cook chicken breasts. I’m going to try brining first!
Thanks for the shout out! I’ve been eating chicken breast for breakfast almost every day as part of my new eating experiment, and I was making it the uber lazy way. “I don’t care that much about how it tastes; it’s just breakfast.” But yesterday, I brined it, then used the spice rub… and yeah, I’ll be doing that from now on. It DOES matter, even just for a breakfast I’m eating as fast as possible on my way out the door.
Did you write this for me? 🙂
Just wanted to let you know that last night I made pork chops with onion jam and they were so good!!! Tomorrow night is honey chicken thighs – thank you for the recipes!
I heart tha chicken! Haha. I love all the things you can do with it, but I still haven’t tried stuffing it…and now I feel compelled to do so.