Hola Mi Gente,

Coming at you today with a recipe that we have in our house on a weekly basis! Sometimes when I’m writing up a recipe I forget about these every day bites, because they come so second nature. In our house this is a really easy weeknight meal that we pair with rice and Mediterranean Salad. The whole thing comes together in about 30 minutes, and can be made with any cut of chicken. While we traditionally stock up on chicken thighs for this meal, I wanted to adapt it to chicken breast, because I know so many of you prefer that cut of meat. If you prefer chicken thighs, this recipe is exactly the same, except you can usually skip brining because chicken thighs are a naturally juicy and tender cut of meat.

Za’atar is a delicious spice I was introduced to in Persian cuisine. Every family has their own za’atar mixture they prefer, but the main flavors and ingredients are a mixture of sesame seeds, dry herbs like mint and thyme, and sumac. I love it because it packs a punch with herby, bright flavors. Look for it in the spice section of your grocery store, online, or at your favorite spice shop. If you haven’t been using it already, I guarantee you it’ll be something you’ll keep reaching for in your pantry!

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Now lets be real, chicken breast gets a really bad reputation for drying out, and I’ll be the first to say that I’m never down for dry chicken. That’s because it’s a lean and thick cut of meat, and without the proper care, it won’t retain any moisture. With dark meat cuts, you have a lot more fat woven in the cut that secures that the rendered fat seeps into the meat, without that kind of protection its completely normal for chicken breast to dry out. Add to that our very real fears of salmonella and overcooking of chicken, and well, it’s a reputation with legs to stand on. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can cook better chicken breast without being bored to death by bland flavor, and chewing for 7 hours due to dryness.

Here are my top three tips to keep your chicken breasts moist and flavorful.

1. Brine, brine, brine. Brining is the process of submerging uncooked cuts of meat in a solution of very salty water. This works two-fold for you: for thick cuts of meat, it gets a head start on seasoning all the way through the cut, so that you don’t just have flavor on the outside. Chemically, it breaks down the protein + muscle cells to allow them to retain more water. That means that your chicken is absorbing this salty water to season it and hold onto moisture during the cooking process, where it typically loses or releases much of it’s retained liquid. A brine is a really simple recipe: my basic brine calls for 1/2 gallon of water and a 1/2 cup fine sea salt. Yes, that much. The salt is what creates the chemical reaction. If you taste it prior to adding the meat, it should taste like really salty sea water. If I’m cooking chicken throughout the week, I start my brine the day before cooking it so that I can just season and cook the meat the next day. It takes like 5 minutes to do, and the payout is incredibly tender, well-seasoned, moist meat.
2. Sous-Vide. A sous-vide is a cooking tool where you cook food submerged in water that circulates it at a very specific temperature over a longer period of time. The reason it is such an efficient way of cooking meats to retain moisture, is that it ensures the cooking is done evenly at a lower temperature, and there is nowhere for the liquid in the meat to evaporate or escape to. When you cook over a stove or in the oven, the high heat can shock the meat and draw out the moisture quicker and more aggressively. The nice thing about a sous-vide is that you know it’s never going to be overcooked, and at the end you can grill or sear the meat in a matter of minutes to finish it to your liking.
3. Using a probe meat thermometer. Because we’ve been taught about the dangers of food bourne illness (very real! and definitely not down playing this), we tend to be afraid of handling poultry in general, and overcook it to not have any doubt about killing out any bacteria. In this aggressive overcompensation though, we’re losing out on the benefit of good technique. Cooking with a meat thermometer can be the best way for us to learn the touch and feel of safe food temperatures. Find a good thermometer that you can stick into the middle of your meat as it cooks (I like to place it laterally vs. from the top) so that you can keep track of where its at and adjust your cooking heat and time to the temperature probe. Keep in mind that most meat will cook an additional 3-5 degrees in residual heat. I generally remove my chicken from its cooking method right after it reaches 160F so that I can rest the meat, and any additional cooking doesn’t go too far above the 165F safe-cooking temperature.

****One final tip: Always rest your meat. Whether its white or red meat, you should always rest your meat for 5-10 minutes after cooking. As the meat rests, the juices that shock to the center at the beginning of a cook have time to rest and redistribute evenly, giving you the juiciest final bite.

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Okay, with all of that said, I think you’re well equipped to move onto this recipe. It is zestyyyy–which means it has a generous amount of acidity, umami, and salt. Every time I make this meal, I take a bite and close my eyes because it is all my favorite flavors in one place! I hope you experience that same satisfaction as you dig in.

Buen Provecho!

MB