Recovering Vegetarian Can't Cook Chicken!?!?

butterfly the breast Makay ! slice it down the length but not all the way and flatten it out.... it will look like a love heart or a butter fly, then sear it on a high heat about 6 min on both sides. or you can try to steam it

I would start out by heating your pan on medium for a few minutes until it feels warm enough. Perhaps a little squirt of olive oil will help for a little more flavor as cooking without it can make the meat a little rubbery. Cook your chicken about 5 - 6 mins per side, if it's quite thick. If it's thin, try less. You don't want to exceed a medium heat otherwise, you'll toast it and suffer from BBQ syndrome where it's cooked/burnt on the outside and raw in the middle.

When the meat feels a bit firm and you suspect it's done, poke it with a fork and see what juices look like. If they are all clear, you're good to go. There is also no harm in cutting a small incision in the middle of the breast to see if it's fully cooked. If you find it's still a little pink, cook for a couple of mins more on each side.

I know everyone has their preference on how they like their meat. However, I don't like mine too overly done because it'll kill the flavor of the meat pretty quickly.

P/S: A good digital meat thermometer is always a plus too! As the main goal in cooking meat like chicken and pork is to bring the temperature up high enough to kill any bacteria that maybe in the meat.

Do you have a George Foreman grill? You could just season the chicken and slap it on the grill. That's about the easiest way I can think of to cook it.

It does depend on how thick it is, but I like to cook mine *in* something when I'm doing stovetop. Like a mixture of greek yogurt, lemon juice, and curry. Or just pineapple juice. Or (much less healthy, but I have done this) watered-down barbecue sauce. Not that any of this but the chicken will go on the plate, but it makes it juicy and flavorful. I usually add enough to the pan so that the breast is halfway submerged, set it on medium-low heat for 10-12 minutes, and then flip it for another 10-12 minutes. But it really depends on the breat and I've done as little as 5 minutes per side and as much as 16.

My mom's boyfriend will completely wrap the breast in aluminum foil and place it directly on the pan, medium heat, for about 20-25 minutes. (This is what my mom says; I don't like this boyfriend so I don't really go to her house when he's there and have not actually seen this done, though I have tasted the leftovers.) It makes it surprisingly tender and juicy.

Good luck!

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I need to bump this cuz I'm just an idiot that never learned to cook, I usually cook my chicken in olive oil or something but it'd be nice to learn some more ways.

I recommend a good cast iron pan. You'll have to "season" it to get it to be non stick, but a good cast iron pan is great to have in any kitchen.

Preheat the pan on med, med-high until you can only hold your hand over it for 3 seconds and say "ow that's hot"

Drop the temp down to med, med-low. The thicker the meat, the lower the heat.

You can watch as it cooks till the bottom half is about done, then flip it over and do the other half. A minute or two more the center will be done. You don't have to constantly flip it, you're cooking, not playing with your meat.

If you are short on time, or its particularly thick, you can butterfly it. I sometimes do this as it's cooking, slice right through the sides and make it two halfs that look like angel wings. This will cut your cooking time in half.

You can also cover it with some plastic wrap and pound the *kitten* out of it with the back of a frying pan... this will make it thinner and will help it cook more evenly as most chicken breasts are ginormous thanks to all of the junk that has been put in the feed over the years (Food, Inc.)... I'm a meat eater too... lol

Yesssss!!!! I love finding new ways to release my anger/stress bahahaha :devil:

I am a veggie myself and when I cook my chik'n breasts (Quorn brand) I brush them with olive oil and bake them in the oven for 20 minutes. Very yummy and they don't burn.