Chicken breasts are rich sources of protein and are widely used in various diets, and are also in demand among athletes, so in this article we will look in detail at how long and how to properly cook chicken breast in a saucepan or slow cooker so that it turns out tasty, soft and juicy.

How long does it take to cook chicken breast?

The cooking time for chicken breasts primarily depends on factors such as the type of chicken used (broiler, or country chicken), whether the breast is cooked whole, or cut into pieces, and also in a saucepan, or using kitchen appliances (multi-cooker, double boiler). Let's take a closer look at how many minutes you need to cook a chicken breast until done in various ways:

  • How long does it take to cook a chicken breast in a saucepan before it's done? The cooking time for chicken breasts in a pan is on average 10-30 minutes: chicken breast with skin and bones is cooked for 30 minutes, without skin and bones (fillet) is cooked for 20-25 minutes, and chicken breast fillet cut into small pieces is cooked for 10-15 minutes after the water boils in the pan.
  • How long to cook chicken breast in a slow cooker? A whole chicken breast can be cooked in a slow cooker in 30 minutes in the “Stew” mode, or in 40-45 minutes in the “Steam Boiler” mode.

Note: it is better to defrost a frozen chicken breast before cooking (so that it cooks evenly), but it is better to defrost it in advance at room temperature or using a microwave oven in the “Defrost” mode.

After we have looked at how long to cook a chicken breast, we will now consider in more detail how best to cook it in a saucepan and slow cooker so that the meat turns out juicy, soft and tasty.

How to deliciously cook chicken breast in a saucepan?

One of the most common and accessible ways to cook chicken breasts is to boil them in a saucepan on the stove, so below we will figure out step by step how to properly boil a chicken breast in a saucepan:

  • The first step is to defrost the chicken breast that we will cook. It is better to do this in advance by defrosting it at room temperature or using a microwave.
  • We rinse the breast under running water, if necessary, removing any remaining feathers if they remain on the skin and the skin itself, subcutaneous fat and bones.
  • Place the chicken breast in a saucepan and fill it with cold water so that the water completely covers it.
  • Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat (so that the water does not boil too much) and skim off the foam that has formed on the surface of the water with a spoon. If the breast is cooked for soup, it must be salted after boiling the water, but if the breast is cooked for salad (or as a finished product for consumption during a diet), then it is better to salt it at the end of cooking (5-7 minutes before the end of cooking). Also, after boiling water, to make the meat tastier, add 1-2 bay leaves, 3 allspice in the form of peas.
  • After the water boils, cook the breast for 30 minutes if it is whole with skin and bones, 20-25 minutes if it is without skin and bones (large fillets) and 10-15 minutes if the fillets are cut into small pieces.
  • At the end of cooking, if the chicken breast was not cooked for broth (soup), take it out and wait until it cools down so that you can then use it to prepare salad or other dishes.

You can also cook chicken breast in a slow cooker or a double boiler, so anyone who has these gadgets will find it useful to read further on how to cook chicken breast in a slow cooker using different modes.

How to cook chicken breast in a slow cooker?

A slow cooker can make the process of cooking chicken breasts a little easier, since you don’t need to monitor the process during cooking. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to cook chicken breast in a slow cooker (steamer):

  • As with cooking in a saucepan, the first step is to defrost, clean and rinse the chicken breast under running water.
  • The washed breast is rubbed with salt and spices (for example, pepper), then placed in a slow cooker and filled with cold water so that it completely covers the meat, or a liter of water is added to the slow cooker and the chicken breast is placed on a special grill for steaming (as in a double boiler) .
  • We set the cooking mode “Stewing” in the multicooker if the chicken breast will be cooked completely in water and the cooking time is 30 minutes, or the “Steaming” mode and the cooking time will be 40-45 minutes if the meat will be cooked under the influence of steam on the grill.
  • After the sound signal, we take the cooked breast out of the multicooker, check it for readiness (the meat inside should be white) and wait until it cools down before eating it or using it to prepare other dishes.

Note: to quickly cook chicken breast meat in a slow cooker, as when cooking in a saucepan, the breast can be peeled from the skin and cut into smaller pieces. In this case, the cooking time may be reduced by 1.5-2 times, depending on the size of the chopped breast pieces.

Useful tips to help boil chicken breast juicy and soft

  • Chicken breast meat after cooking will be more juicy if the breast is cooked whole, and it is also important to salt the breast 5-7 minutes before the end of cooking in the pan, since if you salt it at the beginning of cooking, the meat will be dry.
  • To tasty boil chicken breasts, it is better to add bay leaves, peppercorns (black and allspice), and celery to the water in the pan.
  • If you remove the skin from a chicken breast before cooking, then after cooking the meat will have less calories, but less soft and juicy inside.
  • It is better to defrost chicken breasts (like other parts of chicken) gradually in the refrigerator or microwave, but do not cover them with water, as they will then be less tasty after cooking.

In conclusion to the article, it can be noted that knowing how to cook a chicken breast so that it is soft and juicy, you can always quickly and tasty cook it for any side dish, or for your favorite chicken salad. We leave our useful tips and reviews on how long to cook a chicken breast until done in the comments to the article and share it on social networks if it was useful to you.

Chicken breasts are a versatile product. You can use them to prepare salads and sandwiches or make delicious soup. The main thing is to subject the poultry meat to sufficient heat treatment so that it is not raw, but not to overcook it, otherwise the dish may be ruined. How long should you cook chicken breast so that it is soft and retains its taste and healthy qualities?

White meat from chicken breasts is considered one of the best healthy and dietary options. How to cook it? The first thing that comes to mind is to fry it deliciously. Fried chicken, of course, is very tasty, but if we are talking about benefits and diet, then it is better to boil the meat.

Many people think that boiled chicken breasts turn out bland and even tough. This opinion is wrong; you just need the right approach to cooking. Firstly, it is not necessary to serve just boiled chicken: you can diversify it with a side dish of vegetables, olive oil and lemon juice. Secondly, there are many wonderful dishes where boiled breasts are used as an ingredient - salads, pizzas, casseroles, soups and various cold appetizers.

To make the meat soft and juicy, you need to determine exactly how long to cook the chicken breast. And this, in turn, depends on how large the pieces are and how many of them you are going to cook. It is also important to consider what kind of chicken the breast belonged to - young or old, whether the meat had skin or not, whether it had bones.

How many minutes to cook a chicken breast depends on the cooking method - on the stove, in the microwave or using a pressure cooker. Now about the cooking secrets:

  • If you need chicken breasts not for soup, but for a second course, then to obtain a more harmonious taste, you need to cook the meat in vegetable broth.
  • For flavor, add allspice or black peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves, and for sophistication, pour a little white wine into the broth and add herbs.
  • If you are preparing a dietary dish, it is better to remove the skin and seeds before cooking. With the skin, boiled chicken is softer and contains more calories.
  • For the first course, breasts are boiled with skin, bones, and cartilage.
  • For a cold appetizer, you will need boiled breast without skin and bones. It must cool down together with the broth, otherwise you risk drying it out, which will make the meat tough.

Boil the breast for salad

Let's start acquiring practical skills. If you are going to have a small festive dinner in the evening, then you definitely cannot do without a salad with chicken breast, since such a dish is not only tasty and healthy, but also prepares quite quickly. How long should you cook chicken breast for salad?

Preparation:

  1. Take chicken breasts, wash them, remove the skin and bones and put them in a saucepan.
  2. Add water to lightly cover the breasts.
  3. Place the pan on the stove and wait for it to boil.
  4. Boil? Reduce heat, add allspice, onions and carrots into the pan, do not forget to add salt, stirring the contents lightly.
  5. Next we will cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes.

And to speed up the process of cooking the breast, you can cut it, for example, in half or smaller, and then it will cook 5-10 minutes earlier.

Cooking chicken soup

We use chicken breast for soup along with the skin and bones. Be sure to rinse it before placing it in the pan. How long to cook chicken breast for soup?


Preparation:

  1. Pour water into the pan so that the breast is completely submerged, and put it on the fire.
  2. After the water boils, continue cooking over low heat. In order for the soup to be rich, and for our breast to have bones, we will cook it a little longer than for the salad, that is, 30-35 minutes.

How long to cook a chicken breast until done can be determined using a fork by trying to pierce a piece of meat. A slight piercing indicates readiness. Don't forget, cut breasts will cook faster.

In this case, the chicken breast is boiled either in water or in vegetable broth, after straining it.


Preparation:

  1. Pour water into the cooking container so that it is 3-4 cm higher than the meat ingredients.
  2. Place on the stove and let it boil, then reduce the heat and continue cooking with the lid on for about 20 minutes.
  3. When ready, let the chicken broth and breast sit for an hour.

Cooking in a slow cooker and pressure cooker

For a modern kitchen in the age of space technology, a saucepan is a thing of the past. Many housewives have been using pressure cookers and multicookers for a long time. Using a multicooker, chicken breast is best cooked in the double boiler mode. Firstly, steamed chicken is in no way inferior to boiled meat, and secondly, the breast will retain trace elements that are boiled and remain in the broth.


Preparation:

  1. Pour a liter of water into the multicooker and place the brisket on the steam rack.
  2. Don’t forget to pre-treat the meat with seasonings and salt.
  3. Turn on the desired steam mode and wait 40 minutes until ready.

In a pressure cooker, the process of cooking chicken breasts with 2-2.5 liters of water will take from 15 to 20 minutes from the moment it boils and the required pressure is established.

Boiled chicken is much healthier than fried chicken. It's ideal for salads and sandwiches, it can be added to stews and casseroles, a hot breast seasoned with sauce and a side dish of vegetables makes a wonderful healthy dinner. The culinary technique of poaching - slow boiling in small amounts of liquid at a certain temperature - will help make chicken breast juicy without overcooking.

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How to prepare chicken breast for boiling

The ideal way to retain all the juices in a boiled chicken breast is to slowly simmer it in a flavored liquid just below the boiling point. In world culinary practice, this technique is called poaching (from the French word pocher), this is how they prepare not only chicken, but also other poultry, as well as fish, meat, and offal, if they want to preserve their taste as much as possible without resorting to sealing over high heat. It is known that for a rich broth it is better to take meat on the bone, so if you are preparing a sauce from the broth, then choose a whole breast with skin and bone.

If you don't plan to use chicken stock and are interested in cooking the breasts quickly, use the meat alone. It is better to cut the plump chicken breast in half lengthwise, and if you are in a hurry and you need the meat chopped, then cut it into cubes. Before cooking, the chicken should be quickly rinsed under running water and then dried with a paper towel.

What to cook juicy chicken breast with

You can boil a chicken breast in plain water, without even adding salt to it, if you achieve complete purity of taste, but, as a rule, when poaching, they try in every possible way to diversify the taste and aroma of the product, using various liquids, aromatic herbs, roots and spices. . Chicken is boiled in:

  • chicken broth
  • natural dry white wine or a combination of these liquids

Also put in the water:

  • onion, sliced ​​into wedges
  • leek stalk
  • peeled and sliced ​​carrots
  • celery root or stalks
  • dill, parsley, rosemary and thyme
  • lemon juice and zest
  • garlic cloves
  • cloves
  • Bay leaf
  • peppercorns
To prepare poached breast, you can take an ordinary deep frying pan, high enough to immerse the entire meat in the liquid.

How long to cook chicken breast

Bring the liquid to a boil and immediately reduce the heat, add herbs and spices if desired, and reduce the heat to medium. Place the chicken breast in the cooking dish, making sure that the liquid covers the entire product. Cover with a lid. You need to cook at a temperature of about 85–90 degrees, that is, when rare bubbles form in the water, broth, or other liquid, but not at a boil. Chicken breast on the bone with skin is boiled for about 30 minutes, meat freed from bone and skin is boiled for 15 to 20 minutes, diced chicken breast is boiled for about 10 minutes. Remove the finished chicken using a slotted spoon; if the broth is to be used for sauce, it is filtered.

1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

In a small wide saucepan or frying pan, combine apple juice with dried tarragon, add peeled garlic, bring liquid to a boil and reduce heat. Cover the dish with a lid and cook the chicken for 5 minutes, add the apple pieces, cover again and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and apples, place on a plate and cover with food foil. Stir the water and starch into the broth and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts and serve.

Chicken meat is a very healthy dietary product. The most valuable part of a carcass is the breast. It contains the necessary protein, does not contain fat, is easy to process and is easily absorbed by the body. Boiled chicken dishes are very healthy for children. Breast is no less useful for adults, especially for weakened patients and those who adhere to a diet. In addition, boiled meat is the main component of many salads.

To ensure that breast meat is tasty and nutritious, you need to pay special attention when choosing it. Young chicken breast is suitable for preparing salads. It should be chilled or steamed. When boiling country broiler chicken, add 10 minutes to the specified time. Frozen meat or older chicken carcass will be tough and dry after cooking. During cooking, neither spices, seasonings, nor the duration of the boiling process, nor even the skill of the cook, can save such meat.

Boiled chicken breast

Ingredients:

  • one chicken breast
  • one liter of water
  • spoon of salt
  • three peppercorns
  • one bay leaf

Chicken breast is very easy to cook. Having brought it from a retail outlet, you first need to thoroughly wash it and remove the skin (it is not suitable for broth, and even less so for salad). Boil water, add salt, peppercorns, bay leaf and brisket. Water should be poured so that it protrudes from above by only three centimeters. The cooking process takes 10 minutes over low heat. During boiling, it is necessary to remove the foam. After the allotted time, the pan is removed from the stove and left aside until the broth and meat have cooled completely. In this case, the lid does not come off the pan. Naturally cooled juicy meat is ready for further preparation, including salad.

Boiled chicken breast cooked in the microwave

Ingredients:

  • one chicken breast
  • two spoons of soy sauce

This simple recipe requires no water, spices or salt. All you need is a microwave with grill function. It is necessary to remove the skin, cartilage and fillet from a washed and cut chicken carcass. Then sprinkle the meat with soy sauce (it replaces salt), place it on a high microwave rack and turn on the “microwave + grill” mode. Cooking time: 14–18 minutes. The effect of this preparation is amazing! Fast, simple and delicious! Cooled meat is ready not only for preparing salads, but also as a component for fillings, side dishes, etc.

Boiled chicken breast with vegetables

Thanks to this recipe, boiled chicken will acquire a piquant, delicate taste. And the salad will turn out unusually attractive.

Required Products:

  • two chicken breasts
  • 1.5 liters of water
  • one stalk of celery
  • one small onion
  • one medium sized carrot
  • one bay leaf
  • spoon of salt
  • six peppercorns

Wash and peel the breasts. Take enough water to just cover the meat during cooking. Place a pan of water on the fire and let it boil. Place whole carrots and onions, cut into large pieces of celery, peppercorns, and salt into boiling water. Reduce heat, cover the pan with a lid and let the vegetables simmer a little.

After 10 minutes, you can put the breasts into the vegetable broth, and the heat should be increased to maximum. After waiting for it to boil, the heat is reduced to low and a bay leaf is added to the broth. After 15 minutes, remove the pan with the breasts and broth from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. Do not remove the lid from the pan.

After all these manipulations, the meat can be taken out and cut into portions. The prepared meat broth with vegetables is completely ready for use. When serving, you need to add chopped herbs and a piece of meat.

Chicken breast for salad, cooked with seasonings and garlic

The whole secret of the recipe is that the meat with seasonings is cooked for only 4-6 minutes. The result is a fragrant and tender salad ingredient.

Products:

  • one breast
  • liter of water
  • two cloves of garlic
  • two bay leaves
  • pepper
  • seasonings, aromatic herbs

Pour filtered water into a saucepan and put on fire until it boils. Put salt, garlic and spicy seasonings into boiling water. If the broth will not be used for drinking, you can increase the amount of these ingredients. This will improve the taste of the meat. Then the prepared chicken breast, without cartilage and skin, is sent there. Set the timer for 4-6 minutes and wait for the time. After it expires, the fire under the pan turns off, but do not remove the pan itself from the burner. After 15 minutes, the meat can be removed from the broth. Chilled, aromatic breast is ready for both salad and sandwich.

Video recipe for making chicken breast salad:

Boiled chicken breast makes a very economical salad. It is enough to take the meat of one carcass to make 10 servings.

Housewives rarely think about how long to cook chicken breast. If the component is intended for preparing a salad, broth or cold appetizer, simply immerse it in cold water and wait until the meat turns white. After that, all that remains is to make sure that the product is ready and you can use it for its intended purpose. In fact, although all this is not troublesome, it is not very correct. Those who want to receive not just boiled preparation, but a tasty and healthy ingredient, need to learn a few rules and recommendations from experienced chefs. First, remember that chicken breast cooks for 30-40 minutes, after which it begins to dry out.


Features of the preparatory stage

Before you cook chicken breast, you need to buy it. Despite the fact that chilled meat is usually considered to be of higher quality and healthier than frozen meat, this case is an exception to the rule. Only if it is reliably known that the fresh product is no more than two days old, can it be purchased for making broth or salad. Otherwise, preference should be given to the frozen analogue. If you do not pay attention to this point, you can buy delicious-looking meat, which after cooking will begin to emit an unpleasant odor or become similar in texture to cardboard.

There are a few more features of the preparatory stage that you need to remember:

  • Defrost the workpiece in the refrigerator or at room temperature away from heat sources. Using a microwave oven causes already lean meat to become even drier. Breasts for broth or salad are also not soaked in water. This approach deprives the product of useful components that pass into liquid.

Tip: If you cut the breast on the bone before heat treatment, separating the meat from the breastbone, the broth will be richer and thicker. However, it will remain transparent. After manipulation, you should not try to remove the remaining meat from the bone base, they will still be too dry and tough.

  • Before use, the workpieces are washed in cold water. If the recipe requires it, remove the skin. By the way, the absence of skin does not affect the taste and texture of meat; the quality of the broth depends more on it.
  • If you plan to make broth from chicken, then add cold water to the main component. In this case, you should not use high heat to bring the liquid to a boil; medium heat will be enough.
  • Chicken intended for salad is poured with boiling water, after which the liquid is brought to a boil over high heat. This approach ensures rapid clotting of protein and blood and seals the beneficial components in the meat.

After the product is properly prepared, you can start boiling it. This is done in one of many ways.

Chicken breast in a pan can be boiled in one of two ways:

  1. If you want to get tasty meat. Pour water into the pan, bring it to a boil, wait until it starts to boil. Dip the breast into the liquid, washed and dried with paper towels. As soon as the water boils again, remove the foam and add flavor enhancers (parsley, carrots, celery, laurel leaves). Reduce the heat to low and cook the component under the lid for 30-40 minutes. Remove the container from the heat, add salt and leave for another 20 minutes.
  2. If you need to get a rich broth. In this case, you must initially add meat, salt and additional ingredients to the water. After the composition boils, remove the foam, reduce the heat and cover the container with a lid. With this approach, you can add 5-10 minutes to the processing to make the broth richer, but this will affect the quality of the chicken.

Young chicken or chicken meat takes even less time to cook. Usually 20-25 minutes are enough to bring the fibers to the desired degree of softness.

How to properly poach chicken?

Chicken that will be used in preparing a salad or appetizer can be poached, i.e. Boil in a minimum amount of liquid. This is done in one of the following ways:

  • Wash the thawed or chilled breasts, dry them and place them in a saucepan. Salt the ingredients and sprinkle with lemon juice, then they will turn out to be a uniform white color. Pour boiling water or ready-made broth to a third of the height of the product. Cover the container with a lid and cook until tender over very low heat.
  • Place parsley and celery roots and chopped carrots on the bottom of a small saucepan or stewpan. Place the breast on top, which we fill with dry white wine or vegetable broth. Add salt, close the container with a lid and keep on low heat until the contents are ready.

With this approach, the chicken turns out very juicy and acquires a rich taste. The broth remaining after this treatment can be used to prepare various sauces and dressings.

Before you cook chicken breast using one of the modern gadgets, you need to read the instructions that come with it. Often you can find recommendations in it that can simplify the procedure for boiling the product.

  • Double boiler. Rub the breast with salt and herbs, place in a steamer bowl and cook for about half an hour. Check the meat, if it is still tough, add 10 minutes.
  • Multicooker. Cook the component in the usual way for 30 minutes, using the “Stew” mode. Or we choose the “Steamed” option for cooking chicken, but in this case we put the product in a special basket. In both cases, we use spices and salt at the very beginning.
  • Microwave. Place the workpiece in a container of suitable volume, fill it with boiling water and cover with a lid. First, we carry out the treatment at maximum power for 10 minutes, then at medium power for 15 minutes. After this, there is no need to rush to get the chicken; it should be left for another 10 minutes.

If desired, even old chicken can be cooked deliciously. But it is better not to boil it, but to simmer it, moreover, in fresh milk with the addition of spices. Even steamed, it won’t turn out so tender and juicy.