How to cook chicken breast so it stays juicy

A breast is thick at one end and thin at the other, so one end is often done long before the other. Dry, stringy chicken and chicken that is raw in the thick end are both common results. The steps below even out the thickness, then cook and check the breast so the middle is cooked through without drying the rest.

The order of work

1. Even out the thickness: halve, butterfly or pound, or cut into pieces.
2. Season ahead, at least 45 minutes before cooking.
3. For pan cooking, use medium heat, a single layer and an uncrowded pan.
4. Check the thickest part, and take the chicken off once the middle has held the FSA time and temperature.
5. Rest it for a few minutes, then slice across the grain.

These steps draw on Food Standards Agency (FSA) and America's Test Kitchen guidance and on three Nourishible recipes. We have not run our own cooking tests.

Before you start: handling raw chicken

Do not wash raw chicken. The FSA says washing it can spread campylobacter by splashing onto hands, work surfaces, clothing and cooking equipment. Halving, pounding and flouring all mean handling the raw meat, so wash your hands, the board and the knife after each of those jobs.

1. Even out the thickness first

A whole breast tends to cook unevenly because its ends are different thicknesses. You can handle this by halving or pounding the breast, by mincing it, or by leaving it alone and watching the probe. The three Nourishible recipes below each take a different approach.

The first recipe leaves the thickness alone, so it is the one where a probe matters most: the recipe gives no breast weight, so its time is a starting point, not a promise for yours. The second removes the problem by making every piece roughly as thick as the next; the recipe's own editor note says that pounding to an even thickness is what lets the cutlets cook through in 3 to 4 minutes. The third mixes the chicken with potato and onion in a food processor and shapes small nuggets, so there is no thick end left to worry about. They are still chicken, so the same cooked-through check applies.

To halve a breast, slice it in half through its thickness with a sharp knife so you have two thinner pieces. To butterfly, slice through the thickness almost to the far edge and open it out like a book. To pound one, put it in a zip bag or between sheets of baking paper and tap from the thick end outwards with a mallet, rolling pin or the base of a pan until the piece is a similar thickness all over. Cut or pound until you can no longer find a clearly fatter end.

2. Season ahead

America's Test Kitchen says salt changes muscle proteins so that they hold on to more moisture, and recommends salting at least 45 minutes ahead, with 4 hours to overnight ideal. Salt the chicken on both sides, keep it covered in the fridge while it waits, and pat it dry before it goes into the pan.

None of the three recipes above salts ahead of time, so this step is extra to them. If you flour the chicken as the first two recipes do, season the flour as well. Both recipes do.

3. In a pan, use moderate heat and give the chicken room

Both pan recipes use medium heat for the chicken. A hotter pan tends to colour the outside before the middle is cooked, and the usual response, cooking it longer, tends to dry the thinner parts. Gentle heat is the safer choice for a thick piece.

Cook in a single layer with space between the pieces. The lemon thyme recipe's editor note warns that crowded breasts steam instead of browning, so cook in two batches or use two pans if four will not fit. Let the first side colour before you turn the chicken.

4. Check the middle against the FSA time and temperature

Do not guess from the colour of the surface. The FSA sets the standard as a time at a temperature: the middle of the food should reach 70°C for 2 minutes. It lists equivalent combinations, which are the same standard at other temperatures:

• 60°C for 45 minutes
• 65°C for 10 minutes
• 70°C for 2 minutes
• 75°C for 30 seconds
• 80°C for 6 seconds

Push a clean thermometer into the thickest part. The middle has to stay at that temperature for the whole time, so a probe that touches 70°C for a moment has not met it. The lower lines only count if the middle holds that temperature for the full time, which is hard to check for a breast in a pan, so work to 70°C held for 2 minutes, or a hotter line such as 75°C held for 30 seconds. This is UK guidance.

With no thermometer, the FSA's alternative is to cut into the thickest part and check that it is steaming hot all the way through, there is no pink meat, and the juices run clear. If the middle has not held the temperature or still looks pink, put the chicken back and check again. Once the middle has held the time you chose, take the chicken off the heat. Cooking well past that point is what dries out the thin end.

5. Rest, then slice across the grain

Rest the chicken for a few minutes before you cut it. Of the three recipes, only the nugget recipe says to rest, for a few minutes before serving. When you slice a breast, cut across the lines of the muscle fibres rather than along them; slicing across the grain is the usual advice for easier-to-chew slices.

What went wrong, and what to do next time

If the middle is not cooked when you cut it, return it to the pan or oven and check again.

When you want something else

For a dinner roundup built around chicken rather than technique, see 3 chicken dinners that do not taste the same. For more on the ingredient itself, see the chicken breast page.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency: cooking your food
• Food Standards Agency: Campylobacter
• America's Test Kitchen: keep chicken breast moist
• Nourishible recipes: lemon thyme skillet chicken breast, chicken scallopini with mushroom pan sauce, homemade chicken nuggets