Pan Fried Chicken Breasts - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

FAQs

How long should you pan fry chicken breast? ›

Pan-fried chicken breast recipe

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan then add the chicken breasts (skin-side down, if they have skin) and cook for 2-3 minutes or until browned. Then turn over, cover and cook on the other side for 7-8 minutes or until cooked through.

Leave the chicken in too long, and you'll end up with an extra-crispy crust, but dry, overcooked meat. By frying once, allowing the chicken to chill completely, then frying again a second time, you end up with extra-crunchy crust and meat that's still plenty juicy.

When the chicken hits the pan, you want to start out with very hot oil—around 360 degrees F. The key is to maintain that temperature between 300 to 325 degrees F as you fry the chicken. This temperature range will cook the chicken through without burning the crust.

The best way to cook chicken breasts for ultimate juiciness

Cook until bottom of chicken is golden-brown, about 3 min. Reduce heat to medium-low. Flip chicken. Cook, covered with a lid, until the bottom of chicken is golden and cooked through, about 7 min.

Covering the skillet does make a racket, though — it's the drops of condensed moisture dropping into the oil that create all that carrying-on.” “I cover the skillet for the first half of cooking time, then uncover it for the second half. As soon as I get all my chicken pieces in the skillet, I cover it,” Anderson said.

A large, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet will pan-fry your chicken without sticking. Using medium-high heat, wait until the skillet is hot before adding the chicken. Let it cook on one side, without turning, until properly browned. When the chicken releases from the pan without sticking, turn to cook the other side.

Cooking chicken on the stove is the fastest way to get both a perfectly cooked AND seared chicken breast. After testing endless thickness and doneness combinations at countless temperatures, we concluded that the best temperature for pan-seared chicken is 375ºF / 190ºC, or "medium" on your stovetop.

Canola Oil

Benefits: With a high smoke point and neutral flavor, canola oil is excellent for frying chicken. As an added bonus, it has high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which makes it healthier than other options.

Dredge meat like chicken or fish in flour first. The flour will help seal in moisture to protect the food from the high cooking heat.

With its mild acidity and calcium content, it works well to soften proteins.

How to stop chicken breast drying out when frying? ›

Place a flat-bottomed frying pan on a medium-high heat and drizzle in a good amount of olive oil. When the oil is nice and hot, place the chicken breasts in the pan and leave to cook for 5 -7 minutes, untouched until a nice golden crust forms. If you have a lid for the pan, pop it on to help retain all that moisture.

Chicken breast contains little fat, and thus if cooked, it dries pretty easily and dry meat + heat = chewy. If you insist on the chicken breast, you can try poaching it in for example chicken stock, first, before cooking it on a pan.

Since their bones have not calcified completely, pigment from the bone marrow can seep through the porous bones. When the chicken is cooked, the pigment turns dark. Freezing can also contribute to this seepage. It's perfectly safe to eat chicken meat that turns dark near the bone during cooking.

Start with a hot pan over mediumhigh heat and a small amount of cooking oil. Season the chicken and add it to the pan. Let the meat sear for several minutes on one side before flipping. A chicken cutlet is ready to flip when it releases easily from the pan and has a nice, golden-brown sear.

Fry chicken pieces until done, about 20-30 minutes, turning pieces so they brown evenly. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 180°F and should no longer be pink at the bone, juices should run clear. Cooking time will vary by size of pieces. Larger pieces will take longer to cook.

Turn the chicken pieces every 3-4 minutes to ensure even cooking on all sides. (You can use ChefAlarm's built-in timer for this!) After about 12-15 minutes of cooking, pull the chicken pieces out of the oil one at a time with tongs, and spot-check the internal temperature of each in multiple areas with a Thermapen.

Use this quick guide on how many minutes to cook fried chicken, depending on the chicken part you want to cook: for chicken breasts: 8 minutes to 15 minutes. for chicken legs and thighs: 10 minutes to 12 minutes. for wings: 6 minutes to 12 minutes.