I think maybe you should cook them in the oven. When you sear them in a pan it creates a crust which is delicious but not soft like you would want. Or even if it doesn't create a sear like in your case.....direct high. heat like on a stove tends to toughen up protein. Chicken can be tricky. I like to get bone in skin on chicken breasts and roast them with a little butter salt and pepper and it turns out tender and juicy everytime. If you want to do boneless skinless breasts I would find a recipe for a sauce to dump over them and put them in the oven. I remember my mom mixing mayo sour cream dill chives and milk and putting that over them and it was pretty good.Seriously skip the brine......froo froo foodie people like to say that it makes a difference but if you know how to cook chicken and how to properly season it it will be perfect without the extra step. I have also had good luck cooking the boneless skinless type in the crockpot and it was very tender.

Hmmm...so oven?
So far I read that chicken breasts are most likely to come out hard if cooked in the oven because it dries them. But maybe that's wrong.

I suppose the trick is to cover them in something.

I am trying to figure out what exactly turned them so rubbery this time. Maybe the temp was too high for too long? I was trying to get a bit of color on them and I think I may have left the high heat on for too long trying to evaporate all that water quicker.

I controlled the overall cooking time but I am afraid I may have left them on high for too long.

It will only dry them out if you overcook them. Covering them with a sauce will make them yummy but if you overcook them they will still be hard. Maybe you're right about why your last attempt came out rubbery. Chicken is not very forgiving. When its overcooked and dried then there is really no bringing it back. But again the best most tender chicken for me has always beena whole roasted on the bone with the skin. Its like butta. The white meat especially shreds really well and I think that's the texture your six year old might like.

It sounds like overkill at first, but if you eat (or want to eat) a lot of chicken breast, you *have* to try cooking it sous vide. It gets fully cooked, is moist and flavorful. Cookers from Anova are under $200 with coupons now and then. I use a vacuum sealers but a ziploc and some patience also work fine.

I don't know how cooking "sous vide" is done.
My French tells me "in a vacuum" but how this should be done, I have no clue...:)

I like to rub the chicken breasts (with skin and bones) with olive oil, then salt and pepper. Place in dish or pan and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes before skinning and deboning. This makes great chicken salad and should also meet your son's needs for soft meat.

"Admittedly they were a bit crowded but not too much... but the chicken ended up leaving a lot of water... I ended up leaving it more than a minute so the water will evaporate - but it seemed to take a long time... it seemed to rather be boiling/steaming rather than searing, from all the water it was leaving."

We've all done this. This part shows overloading the available heat to do some very cold "frying". The pan could not supply enough heat to that amount of meat properly. Too cold meat and/or too much meat and/or a pan not preheated enough and/or not a big enough burner for the load. It's not the amount of moisture in the meat.

Are these 'tenders' boneless and skinless?

If they are boneless/skinless, sauteing, then dry oven roasting, is not a good method.
Boneless/skinless does poach well at a simmer. No boiling --- that high a heat will toughen!
Microwaving on a low setting, covered with a piece of wax paper, also works (after experimenting with quantity, power setting and time).

I have had some tough boneless/skinless breasts this past year. No method of cooking would change that. Try a different brand or store. The frozen "Tender Bird" brand has been the best I've found. Consistently flavorful, very tender and not full of added liquid.

If they are boneless/skinless, do not expect 'golden'. 20 lashes to a recipe writer who uses euphemisms.

If you want really soft meat for your son, try roasting a whole chicken in a slow cooker - it can really mushy!

I'm not surprised the brined tenders gave up a lot of water as you brined them for far too long. For skinless boneless chicken two hours is about the most you want to brine them for.

You said these were "chicken tenders". Do you mean the thin strips of meat that lay between the chicken breast and the breast bone? Cooking time for those in a hot pan is like 30 seconds . . .

Anyway, let's assume you are cooking chicken breast, about 1" thick. This is a very lean cut, meaning it dries out and overcooks easily. It will typically overcook before the surface gets "golden brown" unless you use some tricks.

Try this.
1. Brine if you want, it is optional.
2. Pat the breast dry with a paper towel. Dust lightly with flour or cornstarch, let sit awhile, and pat again. You're not trying to coat it, so much as really dry the surface.
3. Poke the breast with your finger, feel how soft and squishy it is. It feels like there is jello inside. Remember that feeling.
4. Take a cast iron pan, or if you don't have that then a stainless steel pan. No nonstick pans, please. Put it on the biggest burner, flame as high as it goes.
5. Put quite a lot of oil in the pan. For an 8" pan, use two full tablespoons. Heat until the oil is shimmering and starting to move around. If you can't tell when that is, keep heating until the first hints of smoke come off the oil. Might be three or four minutes on full high flame.
6. Place, don't drop, the breast into the pan. An 8" pan holds two breasts only, a 12" holds three, maybe two if they are from monster chickens - anyway there must be at least 1" of space between adjacent pieces. Leave flame on high. Do not move, slide, or flip the breast. It will be stuck to the pan anyway.
7. After one full minute, gently lift the breast (ideally use tongs) to check the underside. If the breast is stuck to the pan, wait another minute. If still stuck, wait another minute. You want the breast to brown, and browning is also what unsticks it from the pan, so as long as the breast remains stuck, there is no point checking it. Full high flame the whole while.
8. As soon as the breast can be lifted without sticking and tearing, do so and verify the underside, that was touching the pan, is browned. If so, remove the breast and set aside. If not, put it back down on the same side for only one minute more, then remove and set aside. The result of this will be about two to four minutes cooking, depending on how hot your flame and pan are. (If they are not hot enough, or you crowded the pan, the breasts won't brown for a long time and will be rubber by that point. Sounds familiar?)
9. Take pan off heat, reduce flame to medium low, pour off the oil, put pan back on the lowered flame, pour in 1/2 cup of water, then place the breast back in the pan with the browned side facing up.
10. Cook breast in this little bit of water, which will be steaming away, without flipping. Poke it with your finger. It should still have a bit of squishy, jello, soft sensation. The moment it feels firmer than that, you're done. Remove breasts, cut one in half to check - take a bite. Return it to cook gently in the pan if needed.

What's going on? By using high heat, a proper pan, lots of hot oil, you are getting as much heat into the surface of the breast as fast as you can, thus browning it before the interior overcooks. By using lots of oil and not crowding the pan, you prevent liquid from collecting and steaming rather than browning the surface. Then once the surface is browned, you cool everything down and finish cooking gently. And you used feel/touch to determine when the chicken was done.

If this is too much work, then forget about the browning, just cook (braise) your breast on medium flame in 1/2" of simmering water in a covered pan. Still stop cooking the moment that the squishy jello soft feeling goes away.

This is even easier to do with thighs, which don't overcook as easily and taste better anyway. Use boneless if you prefer.

Chicken tenders can't be browned without overcooking, unless you are using a wok or similar really, really hot cooking tool. Don't bother trying.

I dont' know that I really understand what you mean by "soft" meat, because chicken breast just isn't a piece of meat that will ever become falling off the bone tender -- especially when it's skinless, boneless, fatless and detached from the rest of the doggone chicken. I can cook chicken breasts so that they don't dry out and become tough as a cob, but they're never going to be melting pot roast or pork butt. I typically grill chicken breasts. I season them the day before with some kind of dry rub, get the grill smoking hot, brush them with a little olive oil, and sear them. It's important to not overcook them and to let them rest before slicing and serving to ensure palatability. I can also do a decent cutlet with chicken breast (pound thin, bread, pan fry). It seems to me, however, that you may have more luck with chicken thighs. They're much more forgiving, much more tasty, much more "melting" and, conveniently, typically much cheaper. My grocery store carries boneless skinless thighs regularly, although I tend to prefer the kind with bones and skin.

We love boneless breasts breaded and baked.

Combine some melted butter, dijon mustard and a splash of worcestershire sauce, and minced garlic.

Roll the breasts in the mixture then in bread crumbs.
Bake at 375 about 45 minutes. I guarantee they'll be moist and juicy.

Thank you so very much everyone. This feels like chef school here - I did learn a lot from your posts.
This whole "chicken breast thing" has been very confusing to me for the following reasons:

1. Although I know boneless, skinless breast is a lean piece of meat that will never act like the thighs by falling off the bone, I cannot understand why some people/restaurants (especially asian) seem to be able to make such meat very juicy and soft, whereas I invariably turn it into rubber. I know it's possible to obtain a different, juicy texture from chicken breast because I ate it elsewhere.

2. The heat thing: some say cook it at lower temp and slow (in oven), others say make sure pan is hot enough so the high temp will penetrate the meat quickly before overcooking it. Somewhere in here I think I am making a mistake. Might have that pan either too hot and cook the meat on high for too long; or not hot enough when the meat hits the pan. The info I get is conflicting.

3. The liquid thing: I did brine the chicken tenders for a long time. It might have in fact been over 24 hours because life got in the way and I kept postponing the cooking. When I took them out of the brine the pink was almost gone and they had become almost white, as if they had already started cooking a bit; and no the brine was not warm when I put the breast in it - it was 100% cold.

4. Pan I used: it is a multi-ply clad stainless steel, larger, thick at the bottom, on the heavy side, that doesn't seem to heat through that fast or that well. By comparison, a smaller vintage Revere pan I have (with copper bottom) heats like crazy in just a few seconds. I noticed that when I use the Revere I get that sizzling oil and golden brown sides very fast. By contrast the multi-ply clad takes forever to heat and then it ends up steaming/boiling the meat anyway even when I think I waited long enough and the smoke starts coming out from the oil. I just don't think this pan cooks meats very well. The only reason I used it was because it was larger and I had more quantity to cook.

Johnliu,

Thank you so much for the detailed instructions - I will follow them to a T next time I cook chicken breast.

The meat itself might not have been the greatest either; picked it up from Kroger - it was taken out in the front for promotion. Who knows?

Thank you again for all the tips!

The ONLY way I can eat chicken breasts is by pounding the life out of them, almost to double their orig size . Then I can use any
Recipe or cooking method and it is a tender delight. If I don't pound it, it is a dry flavorless mess no matter what I do. Only time I don't pound is when I use to make soup. I use a cooking mallet

If the kidderoo wants soft, I think you ought to try poaching as someone above mentioned.

I was going to suggest poaching too. Most chicken you buy at the store has salt water injected, so brining may not be adding anything (I brine my turkey to add other flavors, but not chicken breasts. Some folks use buttermilk or yogurt to marinate chicken -- you could try that, but as mentioned, not so long. And tenders will cook very quickly. Breats will vary more with their thickness. For me, tough chicjen is generally overcooked. Pork chops are also easy to overcook.

Slow cooking methods with a whole chicken -- boiling, roasting or cooking in a crockpot might give you a more tender and predicable result.

As a mom who has been through orthodontia with her son -- if he wants really soft meat, consult with a dentist to make sure he doesn't have a dental issue brewing or a bit alignment that makes chewing difficult for him. We went through some similar issues. It could be that he will have to grow before you can address the solution, but it will help if you know what you need to do and what the best timing would be.

"cook 1 minute on medium-high on one side until golden, turn and cook another minute on the other side, then cover with lid, turn to low and leave for 10 minutes".

===>>> very high heat ... cut a small piece off one of the tenders... and test the oil ....if the oil doesnt sizzle it immediately ... its not hot enough ..... brown side one ... flip.. turn off pan.. cover .... remove from heat and let stand 10 mins ... there should be enough retained heat in the pan... to do the rest of the job ... never over fill the pan ... you immediately lose too much heat ... do 2 batches ... all restaurants serve food WARM .... you do not need to get them to the table blistering hot ... and do let all meats .... REST ....

if after you have added the meat... it stops sizzling.. at any time.. you lost .. you dropped the pan temp too far.. to do what you wanted to do... flash fry ....

1. I brined the chicken tenders in a solution of salt, ..... for 24 hours.

==>>> thats a long time in salt.. for a TENDER ... perhaps it would have worked for bone in.. or a whole breast .. you really dont explain.. how big your tenders are ... i have seen them run the gambit from small to nearly half a breast ...

the chicken ended up leaving a lot of water (probably from being brined overnight)

== by the time the heat forces the moisture out of the meat... you lost... right then and there ... and its usually from pan heat loss as per above ...

now listen ... lol ... i have spent 20 years trying to figure this out ... and only did...last week ... when i was in a hurry.. and needed the chix ... and was putting it into a combo dish which would then be cooked.. and i really didnt care.. if it was slightly undercooked ... and crikey if it didnt end up perfectly cooked.. like i always dreamed ...and my conclusion was i was cooking the life out of boneless not very moist meat ...

one thing i wondered about... is they say to cook until the juices run clear ... but by the time the juices run out... you have lost this battle ... is that terminology more for bone in cooking????

do experiment on yourself ... lol ... maybe hubby also ... and learn how to manage heat in your pan .. i really think.. that is where you win or lose ... and its what is nearly inexplicable in words or TV shows ... and again ... my time estimates might be off by the size of your tenders .... and even over cooking while experimenting.. can give you chix for soups... chix salad ... shredded chix etc ... so simply take the time to practice ....

one other thing.. from TV shows.. you will see them brown a piece of meat in extreme high heat ... and then shovel it .. pan and all ... into the oven.. .. to finish cooking at lower heat .. and that is sorta what i was trying to recreate by covering and letting it stand .. [if only i had a salamander] ... [well.... and a sous chef... and a waiter.. and a dishwasher ... and some pleasant man like ramsey to lead them all ... why.. i would be all set .. in the kitchen .... lol]

ken's adventures in cooking.. edition 1 ... good luck.. lol

Follow Johns instructions if you want to pan fry.

HOWEVER, tenders and breasts will cook differently so know what you have. Tenders you toss in, stir around, and they are done. Breast will need the time to cook through because they are thicker...unless you pound them thin with a mallet as BossyVossy does - I do this for Schnitzel.

When I use SS pans, which is all the time, I wait for the Leidenfrost effect (video below), poor in a little oil, wait for it to get to temp, then add meat WITHOUT CROWDING.

Things I would change from your list.
1. Brine - Not necessary for skinless/boneless but if it hasn't been brined during processing (check the package) I usually salt any meat with Kosher salt, place on rack in a sheet pan in the fridge to dry out, can leave it for a day or two. I don't care for wet brines for most meats.
2. Remove meat from fridge about 30 minutes before cooking.
3. Start heating SS pan on med-high about 10 min before you're ready to cook. Check for Leidenfrost, add oil, leave plenty of space between pieces of meat. As John pointed out, they will release after browning sufficiently.

Your chicken turned white and didn't brown because you crowded the pan. It was tough because you waited for browning that just wasn't going to happen. The texture suffered from an extended wet brine (most chicken has excess liquid from the processing, already).

It's OK, we've all done something similar in our cooking! Boneless chicken breasts are the least forgiving. Lean meats need quick, high heat cooking.

For best results, and more leeway for timing, chicken that has skin and bones and is roasted in the oven is your best bet. Tastes better, IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leidenfrost effect

My suggestion is that you are cooking it too long. Get a good thermometer and take it off when it's 165. I use a Thermapen.

Hi - the moistest, tenderest chicken breast I've ever cooked is from a Martha Stewart recipe for chicken salad & it's for bone-in breasts w/ skin on.

Chicken is placed, skin side up in a buttered baking dish (I use a pyrex casserole w/ a cover), sprinkled all over w/ salt, pepper & juice of 1 lemon (or lime), covered & baked 25-40 minutes @ 350F. Once done, I leave it in the dish, covered, to cool in the liquid that forms. Storing it in the liquid will keep it from drying out (& don't be surprised; it will form an aspic).

Smaller breasts will cook faster, large ones take longer.

Hope this helps...

This post was edited by carolb_w_fl on Mon, Dec 15, 14 at 22:08

Leidenfrost effect! Cool video, alex! Thanks for increasing my food knowledge.

I pound boneless skinless chicken breast very thin. I wrap the thin pounded chicken around bacon and cheese. I dip in flour, egg and cornflakes. Chill for a while. Fry in hot fat until the crust is set and bake until done, I think abt 30 minutes or so..

I never seem to measure or time anything. I just judge by color and smell but it works ok mostly.
I think there is a name for this but I don't know what it is.

You might try pounding the chicken very thin, slicing, coating and frying/baking.

I don't know if this is more tender because all my chicken is tender as chicken usually, whatever that means

The only tough chicken I ever had was an old rooster that we butchered ourselves. I boiled it all day and you could still bounce it off the linoleum. I swear that rooster was never good for anything but imitation rubber balls.

The Asian tender chicken OP refers to was probably velveted. It's a style of poaching. Here's a link to the technique:
But I can't help but feel that by 6 children should be eating solids.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Velvet Chicken

i want to see a thermometer in a chix tender ...

i will add to my above.. room temp... or you will never perfect the method .... cold meat is hard to cook ... because there is no predictability .....

and dont kill your bird by blistering the coated pan .... see link

i only use coated pan.. wallyworld... and its really adds a hard variable ... never could perfect SSteel ... nothing like welding a piece of meat to my pan.. but then.. maybe i should practice... lol ...

high heat.. oil ... low volume ...

BTW... speaking of oil .... it should be at least.. as deep as 1/3 the product needing to be fried .... take your first cooked off to a plate with paper towel .. and when the pan comes back to temp.... throw in batch two ....

you need the oil to cook.. you dont need to eat it all ...

very hot [but dont kill the bird] .. extremely fast.. and let it rest ... songs in the key of life .. as stevie wonder once said ... what i do ... is let it heat.. on med heat for about 5 mins.. while i am prepping the meat ... i then add oil ... and having a number of small cuttings.. i throw one in.. and when it crackles.. i know the pan i hot enough.. to throw in a few pieces ... and i monitot the pan .... i dont wnat to smell burnign oil ... and i dont want to burn meat...

i keep the oil in a dollar store cruet... and splash in.. what i need .... i do not put in a quarter or half inch ....

again... prep a dozen.. and practice.... it really cant go to waste ..... and you will learn. how to manage heat. in your pan .. on your stove....

lesson 1a ...

ken

ps: for some strange reason.. i had a craving to roast some chix toady .... no clue why .. lol .. tomorrow i add it to a can of chic soup cut with chix gravy.. and serve it over the beloved noodle ... throw some fresh broccoli on the side .... and call it dinner .... yeah i know.. heresy to you cook from scratch peeps.. but hey.. i deal with teens.. they wouldnt appreciate a real effort ... dad!!! .. stuff my pie hole.. and let me get back to my techno gizmo ... yeah.. i love you to ... i think its time to sign off.. and be embarrassed ... lol

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I'm probably going to stir the pot with this one but I don't believe that children should be deciding what's for dinner or how it's cooked. My approach was "this is what's for dinner, eat, don't eat, that's up to you but breakfast is tomorrow morning." It's tough on everyone but usually takes about one time as long as the adults stick to their guns.

With that said, poach and use a thermometer. Poultry needs to be cooked to
165 degrees for safety. After that, breasts meat just gets dry and tough.

I happened to make a chicken "casserole" earlier this week that contained boneless, skinless breasts cut into chucks along with some other ingredients. Basically I browned the chicken in a skillet but didn't fully cook it. Tossed the chicken into a dish along with the other ingredients and finished it in the oven. The chicken was amazing - very tender and perfectly cooked. The chicken came from the farmers market, not the grocery store. I don't know if that had something to do with it or I just got lucky.

Did you see my thread here on mushy chicken? Obviously you and I should trade where we shop.

Really I think it's the luck of the draw whether one batch is dry and tough or tasteless and mushy.

Is this a recent thing with your child, only eating such soft foods? Has he/she been to the Dentist lately? Chewing tougher foods is important for tooth and jaw development. Language can be impaired if a baby is not weaned off soft foods and into more chewing at a certain age. Your child is past that age of course but maybe this is something to check out.

"I cannot understand why some people/restaurants (especially asian) seem to be able to make such meat very juicy and soft."

Colleen has the answer--velvet chicken. I came across this method recently for stir-fry. I haven't used it for chicken tenders, but the breast sliced thinly comes out moist and very tender.

I cook chicken to 150-155, depending on whether it's whole or parts, pull and let rest 15-20 min. The internal temp will continue to rise over the next several minutes as it rests. Pasteurization occurs in 15 seconds at 161.

Cooking poultry to 165 is recommended by the USDA because they have to give advice to the masses, individuals who may or may not be educated in the art of cooking. It's really a function of how long a certain temperature maintained to kill bacteria. "Safety" occurs at more than one point on the temperature scale when you factor how long the food is held at or above a target.

Scroll down for an overview about bacterial growth/kill chart in the link. Further down is another chart with recommended temps/times for sous vide, if you're curious.

Here is a link that might be useful: Charts

I use a pressure cooker for any meat I want very tender. Sorry to use this example, but I place chicken breast with some veggies in mine for dog food. The chicken does come out extremely tender.

Couple more thoughts. More general ones.

Chicken breast (and other lean meats) get tough/dry if they are overcooked. Doesn't matter if they are overcooked by pan frying, roasting, poaching, or any other dry or wet or low heat or high heat method. And they are tender/juicy if they are cooked just enough. Again, doesn't matter what the cooking method is.

(Well, if you overcook the meat long enough that it breaks down, then it will eventually go from tough/dry to falling apart and very soft. E.g. you can put a chicken breast in a pressure cooker for two hours, which is like 8 hours normal cooking, and it will fall apart at the touch - but it is more mush than meat.)

If you want browning on the surface, you have to use a dry, high heat method, at least briefly. Low heat will not brown meat. And wet methods can't achieve high heat, so they are effectively low heat and will not brown meat. "Wet" and "dry" refers to how much water is present during the cooking.

So my previous post was high heat initially to brown, then finish cooking on low heat.

You could also initially cook on low heat then finish with high heat to brown. I prefer the former, because for pieces that are small/thin enough, by the time the surface is browned, the piece is fully cooked and any additional low heat cooking will overcook it.

If you don't need browning, then you can use all kinds of low heat methods. Poaching, braising, pressure cooker, etc. The timing is easier because the meat won't get overcooked so quickly, but it will still get tough/dry if it overcooks.

Begonia, the next time you make chicken breast, why don't you get four breasts and cook them in different ways. Roast one in the oven, braise one in stock, fry one as I described, and simply boil the fourth. Stop cooking each one the moment that the squishy jello soft feeling is almost gone away. Or get a $15 probe thermometer and stop cooking at 140F. A lot of work but in one night of experimenting, you'll learn how you prefer to cook chicken breast.

The easiest, most tender and flavorful chicken I make is done by using bone-in breasts with skin on, put on a foil-covered baking sheet, depending on their size, put two or three halved slices of bacon on top of each (to cover skin), a little pepper or preferred seasoning sprinkled over, put in a 350* preheated oven for 1 hour (if medium size, add about 10 minutes if large). The bacon gets a deep brown, you can discard or leave on the skin if calories aren't a problem, or debone the chicken when it cools a bit. The chicken is amazingly moist, tender and tastes terrific, a little smoky from the bacon but not overly so.

I usually just buy the inexpensive boneless, skinless breasts at Costco for convenience. They turn out best for me if I marinate them in buttermilk overnight. They get very tender and stay moist. I have a tendency to overcook them so I need to be vigilant in checking the temp as I cook.

wow, lots of complicated recipes here. I get the best results with chicken breasts when I bake them en papillote -- that is, in a folded up parchment paper envelope. Sounds fancy, but it's incredibly easy.

I made chicken tenders tonight.

First I mixed minced garlic and ginger, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Chinese wine, salt, pepper, and a little soy sauce and black vinegar. I marinated the chicken tenders in this for an hour.

Then I sauteed chopped mushrooms, more minced garlic and ginger, in oil. I drained off the marinade and poured that into the pan, brought it to boil, simmered awhile, and stirred in a little flour to thicken. That was in a non stick saucepan.

I was heating a cast iron pan in the meantime. When it was really hot, I added some oil and browned the marinated tenders. My pan fit four tenders without crowding, so I did a few batches.

As you can see, the tenders got browned. You can't see, but they weren't overcooked.

{{gwi:2135932}}

Then I put the browned tenders into the saucepan, tossed with the sauce, and served. Uh, straight from the pan. C'mon, it is just Monday night dinner for family. SWMBO ate standing up and ran off to an errand. Son ate his dinner in bed while doing his homework. Daughter san nibbled on her dinner while decorating the tree. I sat alone at the dining table and read a magazine as I chewed. Sigh.

{{gwi:2135933}}

Forgot to mention - daughter made a tangy drizzle, from soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, red pepper, etc.

This post was edited by johnliu on Tue, Dec 16, 14 at 13:30

There's also steaming. Put the chicken on a rack in a shallow pan with water, broth, wine or beer in the bottom. Cook in the oven for the recommended amount of time. An alternate to the rack is carrots and/or sliced onions. :) Enough to keep the chicken out of the liquid. Don't overcook.

John, your chicken and mushrooms looks fantastic; I could lick the screen. I could treat myself by making this, hubby detests mushrooms, so I could make enough for myself.

I just cooked chicken breasts to take to our church to be made into pounds and pounds of chicken salad for our Christmas fundraiser. Here's the method I used...it worked perfectly.

How To Cook Moist & Tender Chicken Breasts Every Time
What You Need
Ingredients
1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, of similar size
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil, unsalted butter, or combination of both

Equipment
Heavy Mason jar or wide drinking glass
Wide (10-inch) sauté pan with lid
Tongs or spatula

Instructions
Flatten the chicken breasts: Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the bottom of a wide jar or glass. You can also (carefully!) use the handle of a heavy chef's knife.
Season the chicken breasts: Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.
Prepare the pan: Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil (or butter, if using). Swirl the pan so it is lightly covered with the olive oil.
Cook the chicken breasts for 1 minute without moving: Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them).
Flip the chicken breasts: Then flip each chicken breast over.
Turn the heat down to low: Turn the heat to low.
Cover the pan and cook on low for 10 minutes. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek.
Turn off the heat and let sit for an additional 10 minutes: After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. (If you have an electric stove, remove the pan from the heat.) Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek.
Remove lid and take temperature: After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and your chicken is done. Make sure there is no pink in the middle of the chicken breasts. If you want to be absolutely sure it is cooked, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check (the chicken should be at least 165°F). Slice and eat. Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to cook moist, tender chicken breasts every time

Oh, Johhhhhn. (said in a Marilyn Monroe breathy voice). Or, maybe the Homer Simpson drool is more appropriate!

That looks simply wonderful!

Funny! I do prefer the Marilyn imagery to the Homer drool.

I think our next discussion should be, how do you cook fish to be browned but not overcooked? That is, I think, more challenging than chicken breast. I'm all ears - dcarch?

Okay, I am going just come out and say that I haven't read all the responses....and I flat out HATE WHEN PEOPLE SAY/ DO that! But I am feeling lazy and in a hurry tonight so I am just gonna spit this out. I make boneless chciken breast the same same way every time and it is always, always moist and yummy, and satisfying.

First, I pound it to between 1/4" and 1/2", evenly...that's 3/8 of an inch if you want to pull out a ruler. But i probably go closer to 1/4"- in other words, thin, and even( most important part) I dont deal in tenders, just full or trimmed breasts.( If i was doing tenders I would shave a couple minutes off the cooking time. ) Then I dip the breasts into a beaten egg with a little milk and then dredge into a mix of one part seasoned bread crumbs: one part plain Panko crumbs. Just cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with vegetable oil. Heat oil for 3.5 minutes on medium high. Cook chicken on one side for exactly 3 minutes. Turn chicken over, turn heat down to medium, and cook for exactly 3 minutes on other side. Done. Not as healthy as steaming or poaching, baking etc, but tastes good and should appease most six year olds and non dieting adults.

Eta -just wanted to clarify that this was a skillet with no lid. . Also, I am NOT an intuitive cook...I do things by the book, pull out the meat thermometer, etc. but dry chicken is one thing I haven't produced, based on this method. The key is maintain uniform size and thickness.. If, after I pound out a breast, it produces an exceptionally large chicken land mass, I will cut it in half to maintain a smaller size. If I look at my hand, with fingers closed tight to each other, that size chicken breast should take 6- 7 minutes to pan fry in med-high.

This post was edited by coll_123 on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 21:49

JohnLui
Mom always applied a light coating of very fine cornmeal on fish before pan frying. It was especially good on trout with skin on, fried in oil. I think olive oil. The fish always browned and the corn meal was not readily apparent to taste or texture.
I prefer butter or lard for most pan frying but not for fish. I think mom always used olive or maybe sesame.

I have always felt i needed to apologize for this, but my favorite way to cook chicken cutlets is to coat them in mayo and then breadcrumb/panko mixture, then bake at 350 to 375.

They come out very tender. I use glass oven dish. Be sure to pound to even thickness so they cook evenly..

If I'm making chicken parm, I add sauce and mozzarella during last 5 minutes.