- Hey guys, in today's video we are going to cook chicken
three different ways.
We are going to pan fry or pan saute.
We are going to bake our chicken, and poach it.
The idea here is that when you cook this at home,
you can get the juiciest chicken breast,
so let's get started.
All right, so, our first method is gonna be
to pan fry, or sometimes you see as saute,
your chicken breast.
I have two chicken breasts that have been thawed out,
and the first thing I'm gonna do is heat my skillet.
I'm using a non-stick skillet, but I often also use
a cast iron or a stainless steel.
Any of your large pans will work.
I'm going to add some olive oil to my pan right here,
and while the olive oil heats, I'm gonna add
salt and pepper to my chicken breasts on both sides.
We want to liberally add salt to our chicken breasts
so that our chicken breasts are juicy,
the salt extracts out all of the juiciness from the meat.
And now that our olive oil is heated through
we just simply place the chicken breast
inside of our pan.
I'm gonna cook this chicken breast for about
five to seven minutes per side.
I'm covering it, not to create a heat dome inside,
but so my kitchen doesn't get fully splattered.
And that is why there's still an air pocket on the front.
We don't want to seal the heat in, unless the recipe
calls for that.
But if you don't flip the chicken breast,
that lets it sit on the pan and then it won't stick to it.
So let's give it three to five minutes.
All right guys, so after our five minutes are up,
you're going to want to flip your chicken breasts
and you're gonna see this golden brown color.
Okay, so now without touching it, we're gonna cook it
again for another five minutes until the internal
temperature is 165 Fahrenheit.
All right, guys so this chicken breast is perfectly cooked.
It's crispy on the outside, golden brown,
perfectly seasoned, and what you wanna do
is let it rest for about five minutes before you slice
it through so the juices stay in there
so hang tight.
I mean, it's not like you're gonna sit here
and wait for five minutes.
You're gonna go serve other plates and the stuff
that is served with the chicken,
and then you're gonna slice it.
All right guys, so our second method is to bake
our chicken breasts.
One of the reasons I love this method
is because typically I can place a lot of chicken breasts,
about six to eight, on a sheet pan,
and also some vegetables or potatoes on the side
and make an entire sheet pan meal.
But today I'm just gonna show you the exact same
seasoning and method so that you can compare
the pan fried one that I just made, crispy on the outside,
juicy on the inside, and our sheet pan method.
So I've got three chicken breasts right here,
thawed on a plate, that I'm going to generously season
with salt on both sides, and as well as pepper.
Typically I love to prep this ahead and marinate
our chicken breasts in a large zip bag
and then place them on the sheet pan and bake it.
So if you need a marinade, I'm gonna put one right below
this video so you can see this lemon olive oil
Mediterranean marinade, that's the one you want.
It's really simple, really basic,
and marinating your chicken gives it extra flavor
and juiciness, so.
Now I've lined my baking sheet with parchment paper,
mostly for easy cleanup.
And I really like the seasoning and flavor of olive oil
in my chicken, so I just simply drizzle some
right over the pan, place my chicken breast
right over the top, and a little bit more on top.
These are gonna go in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes,
it really does depend on the size and thickness
of your chicken breast, which is why typically
it's best to go by internal temperature
of your chicken to 165.
So let's bake these.
All right guys, so our third and last method today
is poached chicken breast.
Now, poached chicken breast gets like a really bad rap
because it's considered diet foot, because it is
a leaner way of cooking chicken.
If you want really good chicken for dinner
or for tomorrow's salads, you don't want it to dry out.
So poaching it is a great method.
The first thing we're gonna do
is now I have an empty pot right here
and to poach it I'm going to place my chicken
inside at the bottom of my pot.
Okay, so two of the chicken in the pot.
I'm gonna add cold water.
And you add just enough water to cover
your chicken breast by about two inches or so.
And then the trick to give it some flavor
is to overly season your chicken water.
So I've got some whole peppercorns right here
but if you don't have whole pepper,
you can grind some pepper as well.
You do want to add salt to your water, generously.
Now, you can also add some bay leaves, thyme, spices.
Let's add something else.
So I'm just going to add a little bit of thyme
to my water.
Once our water comes to a low boil,
we are going to flip our chicken,
then we're going to cover it, turn off our heat,
and let it sit in there for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, let's get the chicken out of the oven,
and let me show you baked chicken.
All right guys, so our baked chicken is plain today
just so you can compare it to that pan-fried chicken.
This is a great method if you're going to put
a lot of things around it and make it a complete meal,
or if you want to batch cook, meaning you can cook some
for today, and for other meals.
When you cook chicken in any method, you always want
to give it a rest for about five minutes.
Now I used to think that resting my chicken
would mean that it would get cold,
but as long as you don't slice it, your chicken breast
is gonna hold all the juices and the heat inside.
Now, as you can see, this baked chicken
is kind of plain, which is why baked chicken recipes
always have seasoning over the top, or some sauce,
but essentially, it's always cooked to 165,
and it's a really great method to let the oven
do all the work.
Now this chicken breast is gonna be used
in my chicken cordon bleu pasta,
and I'm gonna make sure to link that recipe for you as well.
All right guys, so our poached chicken is ready.
So all I have to do is take it out of our pot.
Now I love poached chicken because it's also
a really easy chicken breast to shred.
Shredded chicken is great for making enchiladas
or sliders, tacos, just anywhere you're gonna wanna fit
your chicken in between, a sandwich or a handheld.
Stuff it, roll it, top your baked potato, add some sauce.
Oh my gosh.
I have another video with tons of chicken dinner ideas
that I'm also going to link out for you
so make sure you click on that so you
can use up your chicken.
So that poached chicken breast I shredded,
which I used the handheld mixer method,
and the fork method for our video on that,
make sure you check right here.
And that, my friends, is how you pan fry chicken,
which is really crispy on the outside,
deliciously juicy in the inside.
We have baked chicken, which is great to meal prep
and use in other recipes, like my baked chicken cordon bleu
pasta that I'm about to make right now,
right after this video.
And shredded chicken, well of course, for sliders,
quesadillas, salads, so many different things.
For recipes and more chicken videos,
make sure to check this chicken video ideas
and I'll see you guys next time.
(playful upbeat music)