Chicken breast - How to cook?

djc315

I have no idea how to cook chicken breast, I haven't prepared it in years because I've been a vegetarian. What should the oven be set to? And how long does it take? And how many ounces is a chicken breast, on average? Now a serving size, but the actual size of a chicken breast. These look huge to me.

Also...how should I season it? I have cheese, hot sauce, bbq sauce, pasta sauce and a bunch of spices. For sides I could do rice, pasta or sweet potato. Unfortunately, I don't have any veggies right now. I was thinking chicken parm, but I am open to other ideas.

spaghetti93

My favorite method
http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/chickenbreastrecipes/r/poachedchicken.htm

but you can also grill, broil, bake, etc.

michelle7673

Are you cooking boneless, skinless breasts?
I actually broil them on high, and flip them. I'm not sure how long they cook...16 minutes? 20? I would just check them to see if they are done to your liking....
You can dust them with a little cayenne pepper, garlic salt, whatever you like. The most common thing I do with them is to cut them up, put in a bowl with a cup of brown rice, some enchilada sauce or salsa, lf cheddar cheese, and zap in the microwave...but chicken parm sounds great too.
The breasts I cook are usually between 6 and 7 ounces after cooking.

SloRunner25

I trim the chicken of any excess fat. Set my oven to 350. Coat a pan with cooking spray and spray the top of the chicken with the cooking spray (or rub on some olive oil, which is also very tasty!) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sometimes I put garlic and onion powder on the chicken as well. Cook for 30 minutes. They come out tender and tasty!

Terrytriesharder

I cook them in the oven on 400 for 20 minutes after glazing them with a mixture of honey, garlic and olive oil

djc315

Boneless skinless chicken breast, yes. I have rice, salsa and cheese...that bowl sounds good.

I wish I could grill them, but no grill. Another stupid question - how do I know when it's done? Red meat is easy to tell. Chicken? Not so much.

bettermistakes87

I've been very anti-chicken breast for a while (simple overkill) but recently I tried sauteing one in those new land o lakes satue starter butter/olive oil pods. Trimmed the fat, little salt and pepper, heat the saute starter until it gets melty then saute the breast for 3-4 minutes per side depending on the thickness. Boneless skinless chicken breast came out tasting like fried chicken without the breading and mess. Currently the only way I can hack them.

buffty

I'll put a breast in the oven at 180 (or 350 if you're American!) for 20-25 minutes. I wrap it in tin foil (less washing up!) with some spring onions, red chillis, garlic, coriander and lime juice. It cooks in its own juices so is lovely and tender, and doesn't go dry.

I also cook it in tin foil but with a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of dijon mustard. Delicious!

The chicken breast on its own is roughly 140 calories.

whitecapwendy

with most meat, the lower the temperature you cook it at, the more moist the meat will be. I would cook it at about 300 or 325 and keep an eye on it until it is cooked through and/or a food thermometer say 160 (definitely cooked through--you don't want any pink)

edit: the above poster mentioning a 180 oven would be even better.

ergumm

There are sooo many ways to cook chicken breast! One of my favorite ways.... I put about an inch of water in a deep skillet and bring it to a boil. I put the chicken breast in and cook them 10 to 15 minutes on each side. If you aren't sure if they're done, just cut into the thickest one to make sure there's no pink. Then I spray a baking dish with cooking spray, add the chicken, pour a can of any type spaghetti sauce you want...I like the zesty sauce... top with low fat mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese is melted and sauce is hot. This is amazing!!

You can also you each of the ingredients you mentioned as well. Try different seasonings and topping every time you make it! It will never get old! If I bake the chicken, I rub it with rotisserie chicken seasoning and put it on a baking sheet with no stick spray. I cook it for about a half an hour, turning it half way through. Love love love that seasoning! It's great on the grill too!

My son makes and amazing chicken dish as well. He cooks the chicken like I said in the skillet with water, then he cubes it and adds it to cooked rice and soy sauce! It's amazing too!

Just try what sounds good to you and experiment with different seasonings...garlic, lemon pepper, italian...anything that sounds good!

Good luck and happy eating!!

djc315

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions I will attempt to bake chicken tonight. I swear this is the first time I've ever have, kind of pathetic lol.

I think I will go for low temp and longer cooking. I hate dry chicken. I'm so worried I won't cook it long enough though, and one bite into undercooked meat and I'm done eating. I can't get past it.

ScottishMrs

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions I will attempt to bake chicken tonight. I swear this is the first time I've ever have, kind of pathetic lol.

I think I will go for low temp and longer cooking. I hate dry chicken. I'm so worried I won't cook it long enough though, and one bite into undercooked meat and I'm done eating. I can't get past it.

I boil my chicken breasts using this method: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/handling-meat/how-to-boil-chicken/. Also, I checked the web and my meat thermometer and they said to cook it to an internal temp of 170-180 degrees F. I hope that helps you!

RadioactivePirate

The biggest cause of dry chicken is overcooking. Get yourself a meat thermometer.

If you want to be fancy you can buy a probe thermometer. You put the probe in the thickest part of the chicken and run the cord out to where the rest of the thermometer is (outside the oven) and set an alarm for, say, 165* (or 160* and it will carry up to 165*) and then you know it's perfectly done. Or just get an instant read thermometer and check it when you think it's done, put it back in if it hasn't hit 165 yet.

whitecapwendy

sorry posted in the wrong thread and don't know how to delete

djc315

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions I will attempt to bake chicken tonight. I swear this is the first time I've ever have, kind of pathetic lol.

I think I will go for low temp and longer cooking. I hate dry chicken. I'm so worried I won't cook it long enough though, and one bite into undercooked meat and I'm done eating. I can't get past it.

I boil my chicken breasts using this method: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/handling-meat/how-to-boil-chicken/. Also, I checked the web and my meat thermometer and they said to cook it to an internal temp of 17-180 degrees F. I hope that helps you!

Thank you! Maybe I will do it this way, seems fool proof.

jordanlell

Another way I like to do sometimes is in a crockpot. You can just put them in early in the day with whatever seasonings you want, they come out super tender and will easily shred apart. I like to do this with salsa.

rosemaryhon

I've recently been turned on to skinnytaste.com ~ here's a recipe for chicken breasts that I wanna try:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/search/label/Chicken

whitecapwendy

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions I will attempt to bake chicken tonight. I swear this is the first time I've ever have, kind of pathetic lol.

I think I will go for low temp and longer cooking. I hate dry chicken. I'm so worried I won't cook it long enough though, and one bite into undercooked meat and I'm done eating. I can't get past it.

I boil my chicken breasts using this method: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/handling-meat/how-to-boil-chicken/. Also, I checked the web and my meat thermometer and they said to cook it to an internal temp of 17-180 degrees F. I hope that helps you!

Thank you! Maybe I will do it this way, seems fool proof.

I would keep between 160-170-- I used to work in a kitchen in a nursing home. Health department says 160-165. My experience is cooking to 180 makes the meat a bit dry.

ScottishMrs

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions I will attempt to bake chicken tonight. I swear this is the first time I've ever have, kind of pathetic lol.

I think I will go for low temp and longer cooking. I hate dry chicken. I'm so worried I won't cook it long enough though, and one bite into undercooked meat and I'm done eating. I can't get past it.

I boil my chicken breasts using this method: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/handling-meat/how-to-boil-chicken/. Also, I checked the web and my meat thermometer and they said to cook it to an internal temp of 17-180 degrees F. I hope that helps you!

Thank you! Maybe I will do it this way, seems fool proof.

I would keep between 160-170-- I used to work in a kitchen in a nursing home. Health department says 160-165. My experience is cooking to 180 makes the meat a bit dry.

Good to know. 180 was the temp from on my meat thermometer.

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

I like baking my chicken breasts with rosemary and parsley on top. They're awesome!

ChristineS_51

This is my favourite - quick, easy, delicious!
Spicy Chicken & Couscous (serves 4)

MARINADE
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 – 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce (or ¼ - ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes - flakes make it lower calorie)

4 (800g) single skinless chicken breast fillets

COUSCOUS
1 cup chicken stock (or 1 cup hot water & chicken cube)
1 cup couscous
40g butter
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
150g baby spinach leaves (or box of frozen spinach)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Combine marinade ingredients in large bowl.
• Split chicken breasts sideways – lay your hand flat on chicken, then slice carefully through chicken to make two thinner pieces.
• Put chicken in bowl and mix the marinade all over the chicken so it is all coated. You can cover & put in fridge overnight if you want.
• When ready to eat, prepare couscous:
• Pour boiling stock over couscous in heatproof bowl. Cover, stand for 5 mins.
• Stir couscous with fork to fluff it up.
• Melt butter in pan, fry couscous till hot and separated, add raw fresh spinach and cook until wilted. If using frozen, cook spinach in microwave 4 mins, drain, stir into couscous, heat thru. Add rind, salt & pepper to taste. Toss gently.
• Cook chicken on heated oiled griddle pan or fry pan until browned on both sides and cooked thru – shouldn’t take long – about 6-8 minutes.
• Serve chicken on Spinach Couscous with lemon.

:happy: