Grilled chicken breast tender and juicy because no-one wants to eat dry chicken! Pounding the chicken breasts is not always a necessity. Cook your chicken tender even when it's slightly thicker.
Whether you're making this Herb Chicken Roast or parts of the chicken, it's easy to guarantee juicy tenderness. If you would rather an oven baked version of chicken breasts take at a look at this post Oven Baked Flavorful Chicken Breasts
Grilled Chicken Breasts
- You do not always have to pound chicken breasts to get them juicy and tender, you can also butterfly the chicken breasts (cut in half to thin them out for the same reason you would pound them).
- Yes you can use whatever marinade you choose to use, cream based or not, they do help flavor the chicken even if they don't necessarily help in making it any more tender.
Pounding The Chicken
Try to always use a sheet of cling wrap (kitchen plastic wrap) to cover the chicken so that it doesn't tear.
Here's the thing friends, how to cook chicken breast is the most simple recipe but with all simple recipes comes a technique that takes your chicken from regular to succulent and delicious and wait for it.....it's got nothing to do with just pounding the chicken 🙂
As mentioned when I posted this crusty bread recipe, we are not reinventing the wheel, we are grilling chicken and that can be accomplished with seasoning, spices, oil and the right heating temperatures. That's it!
The fact that we use other condiments is a choice not a necessity. If you like flavorless chicken then good for you but if you want flavor try our Smell and Taste excellent range of 100% all natural all flavorful and fragrant spice blends.
What Makes Chicken Breast A Good Choice?
- They used to be much more affordable but still a lot cheaper than a steak
- Lower in calories than other cuts of chicken (skinless) but still high in protein
- Anyone can cook a chicken breast
- Quick and no fuss to prepare
- Extremely versatile and fit into loads of pasta dishes!
Quick Chicken Prep
Get them onto a board and prep them by either cutting in half lengthwise or pulling plastic wrap over them and give them a gentle pound. If your chicken breasts are a good size and you want to serve them nice and thick start seasoning I will tell you how to grill them so they cook inside and remain tender.
Rinse Or Not To Rinse
The ongoing saga on this topic is exhausting. If you Google right now should you wash your chicken I bet every single article will say no please don't wash your chicken. Those articles will also say washing the chicken 'spreads germs'.
Quality Over Quantity
So you decide. I made some chicken breasts for dinner last night and didn't wash them because they were organically spotless. If I buy chicken that's not organic and its free range or its just free for heavens sake but the paper that's covering it is sticky or it looks poor (you know what that looks like right) - then I wash it. I have a phobia of I don't know who on earth and has touched my chicken and I also don't know how many hands have touched it so for now, I'm washing my chicken when I want.
My suggestion would be to use your own judgement because only you can see your chicken and if it needs a rinse 🙂
Same conversation about quinoa and washing it. As mentioned a while back when I posted my Cooking Fluffy Quinoa Every-Time to rinse or not to rinse.
Seasoning The Chicken Breasts
Super simple and quick with a splash of vinegar, salt and pepper and olive oil. You can also substitute the vinegar with fresh lemon juice. Spice it up with you favorite spices like our Smell & Taste Chicken spice, Garlic & herb and Salt & Pepper.
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The only seasoning required for taste is salt and pepper.
Which other seasonings or spices you add to your chicken thereafter is up to you. To enhance the taste even further these are the ingredients used in this recipe. If you can eat herbs and spices then you should go for it because the taste is evidently a lot more than when you add just salt and pepper.
INGREDIENTS
- Chicken
- Oil
- White wine vinegar
- Salt, pepper and other spices
Succulent Chicken Breasts
My tips and suggestions because yogurt is not the only way to tenderize even though it works ever so wonderfully in this chicken curry and because I'm not big on brining in water and salt.
- Let's get the grill clean so take a piece of kitchen paper towel, dab it in oil and clean your grill. Anything dirt on the grill will burn even more when the grill is hot and that will give your chicken have a burnt 'off' taste.
- Don't leave a lot of oil in the pan, you just want to clean it and then get it to heat.
- Wait until the pan is hot before starting. Once your meat is on the grill it needs about 4 minutes before you touch it or try to turn it. If you do and it sticks its not ready to turn.
Is Oiling The Grill Necessary?
- Yes oil your grill so the chicken doesn't stick.
- Use a brush to quickly oil the grill seconds before you start cooking the chicken.
Marinade
If you can leave the chicken in the marinade for a few minutes (10 to 30 max an hour) then by all means but is not essential if you are strapped for time.
Grilling
How do you get the chicken to not stick to the pan or to the grids? If you've oiled the pan and the chicken there's very little else you can do except wait. Give the chicken a few minutes and not just to cook but also to get all those grid charred lines. If the chicken is not cooked and you try and move it then it may start to stick and tear apart so it's best to give it time.
Summary
- Clean grill
- Heat it up
- Once hot oil quickly using a brush
- Place your seasoned, marinated chicken breasts on the grill
- Don't touch them for the first 3 to 4 minutes if you want the grill lines
- After 4 minutes you can drop the heat if you did not pound or butterfly the chicken because you have the charred lines so now you need it to cook inside.
- Drop the heat slightly and don't move it for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn the chicken and let it cook the other side for not more than 4 minutes. In this time, drizzle the extra olive oil over the chicken while they cook. Don't turn it over and over! Use a spoon to baste it with the remaining marinade or drizzle a little oil over while they cook on the other side.
- Turn the heat off, remove them from the pan otherwise they will get hard.
- Let them rest a plate or board. How long should they rest? Until you are ready to eat because you cant eat them while they burning hot 🙂 so just the time to be edible.
More Chicken Recipes
- Grilled Chicken Salad
- Easy Chicken and Pasta Recipe
- Oven Baked Chicken and Crunchy Rice Casserole
- Herb Chicken Roast
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Grilled Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- salt & pepper mix - Smell and Taste
- Chicken spice - 13 spices Smell and Taste
- Vinegar
- Oil
Instructions
- Get the chicken breasts onto a board. Decide if you want to pound them in which case cover with plastic wrap and gently pound starting on the thicker side of the breast and work to get them more or less the same size right round. They will cook more evenly. Otherwise move onto the next step.
- Combine the oil, vinegar, salt & pepper and chicken spice.
- In a wide flat bowl add chicken breasts and pour the marinade over. Use a pair of tongs to flip them over a few times until well soaked. Let them sit for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile heat the grill pan on medium to high heat and let it get hot. Once hot brush the base with some oil and increase the heat to high. Give it a few seconds on high till hotter, brush another coat of oil and immediately place the chicken breasts down.
- Let them cook for 3 to 4 minutes without moving them. In the last minute pour a little of the marinade on and turn them over to continue cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes on the opposite side.
- After a minute or 2 of cooking baste/pour some of the marinade over and let them finish cooking till done, about 2 more minutes.
- Remove and place on a board to rest till cool before cutting into them. Use any remaining marinade to pour over. Enjoy!
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