How to Cook Chicken Breasts

We know you’re cooking chicken breasts and are always looking for new chicken breast recipes. Here, some tips and tricks that will forever put to rest the age-old complaint: that they too often turn out dry. Once you’ve gotten the hang of how to cook chicken breasts, so they’re unfailingly tender and juicy, put your chicken wizardry to work in some of our very best chicken recipes. In our “best” category you’ll have no shortage of options—from slow cooker and casseroles to healthy living and stir-fries. And chicken's always a welcome companion in our quick and easy chicken and pasta recipes. You can even branch out a bit by learning how to cut up a whole chicken. It’s easy, especially with our how-to video. Please do check out our All About Chicken page to refresh your memory about chicken safety—thawing, storing, freezing, and more. Remember: safety first! Followed very closely by the best, most tender chicken breast dishes you’ll ever make.

Perfect Chicken Breast Portions

• Chicken breasts are larger than ever these days; but remember that a serving of chicken is just 3 to 4 ounces. In many cases, a single boneless chicken breast half can weigh over 8 ounces - which means that the chicken will take longer to cook and might cook unevenly. Here are a few tips to assist you when cooking these larger chicken breasts:
• Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound the thicker side of the chicken breast into a thickness closer to that of the thinner side. This will help it to cook more evenly.
  

How to Cut Chicken Breasts

• Consider cutting the larger chicken breasts in half to create 2 thinner breasts to speed up the cooking time. Place each chicken breast, smooth-side down, on a cutting board with the tip end of the chicken breast facing you. Place hand on top of breast. Starting at the thickest side of the chicken breast, carefully cut the breast horizontally in half to make 2 thinner pieces.
• Cutting boneless skinless chicken breasts into pieces can be a slippery task. To make it safer to cut the chicken breasts, partially freeze the chicken before cutting it as desired. The firmer chicken is much easier to cut and handle.
  

How to Keep Chicken Breasts Juicy

• Although boneless chicken breasts are popular, grilling bone-in chicken with the skin on creates a spectacularly moist and flavorful dish. To prevent the skin from burning, be careful that the grill isn’t too hot when cooking the chicken.
• Boneless chicken breasts are popular for grilling but can easily dry out from their lack of internal fat. To lessen this problem, consider marinating chicken breasts in your favorite KRAFT Dressing for at least 30 minutes before grilling. (Be sure to discard the marinade after removing the chicken from the marinade.) Brush the chicken with additional dressing or KRAFT Barbecue Sauce for the last few minutes of the grilling time.
  

Chicken Stir-Fry

• Chicken is a great stir-fry ingredient since it cooks up quickly and works well with a variety of vegetables and seasonings. Try some of our best chicken stir-fry ideas.