How do I Roast a Boneless Chicken Breast
Tried that Sunday night, with poor results. I ate PB&J that night.
Keep it simple, please.
You’re going to have to be more specific. There are only about a million different ways to cook a chicken breast.
If you just want a plain jane chicken breast (If by roasted you mean baked) just throw it in a 325 oven for about 45 mins. Pour some chicken broth on the bottom of the pan to keep it from drying out then cover the pan with foil.
Probably, one of the most boring ways to eat chicken but there you have it.
Coat it with melted butter, season well with poultry seasoning and seasoned salt, and throw it in the oven until done. Check it after about 20-30 minutes to make sure it’s not drying out, if it is, add some chicken broth.
Yeah, overcooking will ruin it, and it’s easy to overcook them, since we’ve all been told to be afraid of undercooked chicken. There shouldn’t be any pink, and the juices should run clear if you press down on it.
We marinate them in whatever’s handy.
Is it skinless too? If so, then you’re boned, so to speak. Otherwise if you still have the skin, you can try pan roasting it, and finishing in the oven. Hereis a good guideline for it.
The hard part is determining when it’s done. You can use a thermometer, but if you stick it too many times the juices will run out. I’d check the springiness using your thumb; if it gives too much, it’s not yet done. If it’s hard as a rock, it will probably be overdone. Catch it before that, pull it out of the oven, put it on a plate and cover with foil and let it rest.
The most reliable way to keep boneless, skinless chicken breast from drying out is to cover it with some sort of sauce. Barbecue sauce will do of course, but my wife and I enjoy a recipe for a mayo-sour cream sauce that’s pretty tasty. In general, something that serves as a moisture barrier between the chicken and the oven air. Also, briefly pan-searing meat before roasting it helps seal in juice.
Please expand. Sounds tasty.
Nope. Searing meat adds flavor via the Maillard Reactions, but actually reduces moisture content. Harold McGee’s On Food And Cooking pointed this out in 1984 or so, and there have been experiments done since to prove it, but it’s still a widely repeated myth, even in culinary schools.
Roasting is very hard to get right for small cuts of meat. For any cooking method, the difference between underdone and overdone is much smaller on small cuts, and roasting doesn’t lend itself to the sort of continuous observation that mitigates that. My answer to “how to roast a Boneless Chicken Breast” would be: “325 for about an hour, while it’s still part of a whole chicken.” When I cook chicken breasts alone, I either pan grill them or pan fry them (bread with 1:1 breadcrumbs/buttermilk, and fry in enough 375 degree melted Crisco to come halfway up the chicken. 9 minutes/side for an average breast.) According to Alton, this doesn’t absorb much oil and remains relatively healthy.
“Puffy Chicken” recipe: pan-sear boneless skinless chicken breasts. Sprinkle with favorite spice (we use sage). Sauce mix: 2 parts mayo, one part sour cream and one part parmesan cheese. (amount depends on number and size of chicken breasts). Cover breasts with sauce, bake in 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.
Put the chicken breast in a casserole dish and season to taste (I like salt,pepper, garlic and oregano or rosemary). Pour a bit of chicken broth in the bottom for moisture, put a lid on and bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes. Take the lid off and lay a strip of bacon (cut into two pieces) over each breast and put back into the oven uncovered for 15 minutes or until the bacon is good and crisp. Voila! A moist, tasty chicken breast.
Make more than one so that you can cut the leftovers up for chicken salad, stir fry, casseroles or soup.
Yuk. Don’t ever roast a boneless chicken breast.
Pound it flat and pan-fry it, or poach it, or grill it (pounded and with sauce), or cut it into pieces and stir-fry it. But never, ever, ever roast it. Other than that, what TimeWinder said. It’s a difficult piece of meat to cook well and preserve any sort of flavor and texture and not dry out. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but roasting it is gonna kill it.
My wife used to poach chicken breasts. Use chicken broth or water or any combination, and add white wine to taste. Toss in some fresh dill and some celery tops if you have them, or whatever herbs you like. Bring to boiling with chicken just barely submerged, then turn off heat, cover and let stand for at least 20 minutes.
Results are juicy and tender. And delicious.
Roasted boneless chicken breast? Way too little fat/moisture for human consumption. Empty your box of Wheaties and eat the cardboard - it will taste the same.
Pour some extra virgin olive oil in a roasting pan (I line mine with heavy-duty foil so there’s no need to clean the pan afterward) and place the breast on top. Roast in the oven at 325 degrees for fifteen or twenty minutes, then turn the breast over. Roast for another twenty minutes or until juices run clear when pricked into the center with a fork or knife. Then sprinkle with a little salt or other seasoning and enjoy.
I like to keep cooked chicken breasts handy to add bits of chicken to salads or microwavable dishes that don’t come with enough chicken on their own, but if I try a bite of of one of these before letting them cool down and putting them in the refrigerator, I’m likely to wind up eating the whole thing.
Fortunately, I usually cook three or four at a time. 
I put one or two chicken breasts in a casserole dish and dump a can of diced tomatoes on top of it. Maybe add some chopped chilies and onions or use diced tomatoes with those already in it. Cover, bake for 45 mins at 350 degrees (1 hour if the chicken was frozen to start) and you’ve got a tasty dish to serve over rice or pasta. Simplest dinner In The Whole Wide World.
This.
You can roast or broil it nicely with the bone in, but boneless … no, just no. Boneless breasts are mainly intended for being cut up into smaller sections, and pan grilling or frying.
Put some olive oil into a pan to approx 1/8th of an inch depth. Heat on high or near high. Slice the breast into 4-6 pieces. Throw pieces directly into the hot oil. Make sure the pan is large enough to stay hot with all pieces cooking at once. Loading up the pan with too much chicken will reduce the oil temp to the degree that the chicken will absorb oil and get rubbery, vs the high heat making it tender inside with a delicious seared exterior.
Crack some pepper on it while it cooks and maybe give the pieces a light sprinkle of garlic powder. Use tongs to turn the pieces. Remove when golden brown on both sides. Salt to taste. Quick and delicious.
Bingo.
Boneless chicken breast is exactly the type of meat (very lean) that benefits from brining. One tablespoon of salt to one 8 oz cup of water will make a basic brine. You can also add a tablespoon of sugar and some spices to this, if you wish. You don’t need to brine it very long for such a thin piece of meat. One hour should be fine, two hours at the most. This will go a long way to giving you insurance against overcooking the meat.
I personally pan fry or grill my chicken breast. If I were to roast it, I would dry the breasts as best I can, and sear them on the stovetop on a cast iron pan heated up until it just about starts to smoke. Sear for two minutes per side, and finish in a preheated 350F oven until no longer pink (I would guess about another 20 minutes or so).
But the brine will definitely help you out.
I bake boneless skinless chicken breasts all the time. They come out fine for me.
My local supermarket (Wegmans) sells boneless chicken breasts pre-marinated. But if you want a simple marinade just put a couple of chicken breasts in a sealable plastic bag and pour some Italian dressing in on them and let them soak in the fridge overnight.
Put them in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Take them out and let them sit for a couple of minutes.
I love honey mustard chicken. very easy and only dirtys one pan
Honey-Dijon Mustard Chicken
4 Chicken breast halves – skinned and boned
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
Place chicken in an ungreased 11-in. by 7-in. by 2-in. baking dish.
Combine remaining ingredients; pour over chicken.
Bake uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until juices run
clear, turning and basting with pan juices every 15 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings