How to properly cook chicken breast: 5 delicious dietary recipes.

Chicken meat is one of the most popular ingredients for salads. It is easy to prepare (at least it seems so to many), inexpensive and very popular. That is, make a salad with chicken - you can’t go wrong, your guests will definitely eat it.

The problem is that chicken meat is not that easy to prepare. Salads are most often made from chicken breast, and it is very easy to dry it out. When boiling, this is easier to do. Of course, the situation can be corrected with more mayonnaise. But it’s still better not to rely on the sauce, especially such a bright and high-calorie one. Plus, there are ways to prepare chicken for salad so that it is juicy, tender and delicious. And there are many of these ways.

Tip : It is best to buy chicken breast on the backbone (bone), with skin. And cook with the bone and skin. This will remove the least amount of juice from the chicken breast. By the way, even if you need to bake or boil strictly fillet (without bones), the flesh cut from the body with your own hands will still be much juicier and tastier than the fillet cut by the manufacturer.

Another tip : Try to add as little salt as possible before cooking. Salt takes away moisture, the chicken breast is already a bit dry.

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Before cooking

It's a good idea to marinate chicken breast. To do this, you can use a set of your favorite spices (various peppers, thyme, rosemary, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric, paprika, and so on), vegetable oil, diluted vinegar or white wine (also mixed with water), yogurt or kefir, mineral water. Soy sauce is often used for marinade, but you need to keep in mind that it noticeably changes the structure of the meat, so you don’t need to keep it in it for a long time, half an hour will be enough.

The breast is rolled in the selected spices and sprinkled with oil. And leave for an hour or two so that the meat is saturated with the smell of spices. After marinating, you can start cooking.

Vegetable stew with pumpkin and chicken breast

What do you need:

chicken breast - 1 pc.;
pumpkin - 100 g;
tomato - 1 pc.;
onion - 1 pc.;
carrots - 1 pc.;
vegetable oil - 1 tsp;
salt - a little.

Recipe:

Peel the vegetables. Cut the pumpkin into cubes, carrots into half circles, onions into half rings, and tomatoes into slices.
Add a little oil to a clay pot, add onion half rings and tomatoes, sprinkle with salt.
Add the pumpkin and carrots, add salt again, and add the chicken breast cut into pieces.
Place a few onion rings on top.
Place the pot in a cold oven, set the temperature to 180 degrees, and simmer for at least half an hour.

Method number 1. Baking

You can easily dry out a chicken breast here. But still, in the oven it will turn out more interesting than just boiled in water.

Take the breast, sprinkle with your favorite spices, add a little salt, wrap in foil (optionally in a baking sleeve) and put in the oven at 150 degrees. After 5-10 minutes in the oven, increase the temperature to 170-180 degrees. And bake for another 15 minutes.

The main thing is not to overcook the chicken in the oven, so it’s better to turn on the timer.

Baked, dietary, juicy chicken breast with vegetables.

Ingredients: 1 piece chicken breast.
Paprika is sweet to taste. Curry to taste. Garlic to taste. Tomatoes 1 piece. Green bell pepper 1 piece. Carrots 1 piece. Onion - leek to taste. Thanks to the dietary recipes group for the recipe. Preparation: 1. We cut the chicken breast into pieces. Now sprinkle the chopped pieces with paprika and curry, and also add a little salt. You can add garlic to taste. Leave for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, turn on the oven at 200 degrees and cut the tomatoes, carrots, peppers, and onions. 3. put the vegetables and breast into the bag, tie it and don’t forget to make holes. We wait 30-40 minutes. We take out our dietary dish and carefully cut the package - just be careful with hot steam.

Method number 2. Multicooker

Lightly salt the chicken breast and sprinkle with your favorite spices. You can put small pieces of butter under the skin (if you are making fillets with skin). Or you can simply grease with a small amount of oil on top, creamy or vegetable - whichever you like best. Place the breast skin side down, set the multicooker to “Baking” mode for 35-40 minutes (depending on the size of the breast), close the lid and wait for the call to finish baking.

Advice: it is better not to leave the breast on the heating mode, this can dry it out. Immediately turn off the multicooker, open the lid and let the meat cool.

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Dietary chicken breast with vegetables in a frying pan. Recipe with cabbage

Components:

Chicken breast – 400 grams;
700 grams of fresh white cabbage;
One medium onion;
One medium carrot root;
One sweet pepper;
2 tomatoes;
Table salt - to your taste;
Spices at your discretion.

The required cooking period is 1 hour 40 minutes.

The number of calories per 100 grams is 115.

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How to cook stewed chicken with cabbage:

Wash the chicken breast, remove the skin if desired;
Cut the breast into medium slices;
Add a little vegetable oil to a frying pan with large sides or a cauldron and heat it up;
Place chicken meat in hot oil, stir and fry until golden brown. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes;
Remove the skin from the onion and cut into thin half rings;
Add the onion to the chicken, stir and fry for about 5 minutes;
Meanwhile, quickly rinse the carrots, remove the skin and chop into strips. Pour all the ingredients into the casserole, add a little water so as not to burn, and leave to simmer;
We wash the pepper, cut off the stalk, and remove the seeds. Cut the pepper into 2 parts and chop into thin strips;
Pour the pepper into the cauldron, mix and simmer;
Rinse the tomatoes and cut them into small cubes;
Add the tomatoes, add some salt, season with spices and simmer for another 5-10 minutes;
Meanwhile, wash the cabbage, remove bad leaves and chop into thin strips;
Pour the chopped cabbage into the casserole, stir and cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir about 2-3 times;
Add about 100 ml of water, close the lid and cook over low heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes;
If the cabbage is young, then during this period it will become soft, but if not, then the time can be increased to 30-40 minutes;
As soon as the cabbage becomes soft and transparent, you can turn off the heat.

Method number 3. Steamer

You can steam it in a multicooker (most modern appliances have this program), use a double boiler, a pressure cooker, where pressure is built up, or put the chicken in a water bath (an iron colander is placed on a pan of water, meat is placed in it, and a lid is placed on top) . The last method is the most unreliable in terms of juiciness, because you still can’t fit the lid tightly, the steam will escape, and the cooking time will increase. Consequently, the chicken will lose more juice.

It is best to steam chicken breast a la naturel, that is, without salt and spices (all this can be put in a salad).

In a slow cooker, a medium breast on the side will last for 30 minutes, in a pressure steamer - 15-20 minutes, but in a saucepan with water, the breast will cook for at least 40 minutes.

Cooking methods

When cooking chicken at home, you should remember to maintain the maximum amount of protein and add a minimum amount of fat. Therefore, the best options would be steaming or grilling, boiling, or baking in the oven. Let's take a closer look at each of the methods.

Boiled chicken fillet

This method is the most common, but it cannot be called the best solution, because during cooking, a fifth of the protein remains in the water. If you are a fan of boiled meat, then the water in which you are going to immerse the chicken must be brought to a boil. This measure will help reduce losses. Onions, parsley, carrots or celery root added during cooking will get rid of the bland taste. You need to add salt when cooking comes to an end. The entire procedure should last about twenty-five minutes.

Steaming

This method is preferable. By choosing it, you will save the maximum amount of proteins. You can diversify the taste of meat with the help of vegetables added to your taste. Before cooking begins, the fillet is cut into medium-sized pieces and placed in a double boiler along with vegetables. After half an hour spent there, it is ready to eat.

Baking in foil

In order to get juicy and flavorful meat, they resort to baking chicken fillet in foil. Place the chicken fillet along with vegetables (e.g. pumpkin, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, bell peppers) and seasonings in a pre-folded foil pocket. To add sophistication to the taste, you can add soy sauce or a little red wine. Then the dish goes into the oven and is baked at a temperature of one hundred and eighty degrees for about half an hour. Here, as with steaming, a lot of variations are possible with seasonings and vegetables. By changing the ingredients and introducing new ones, you will achieve truly stunning results, you will remain full and satisfied.

Grill

The above options are healthier than grilling chicken, but it may happen that you are expecting guests who don’t quite understand the passion for healthy eating. If you want to satisfy their gastronomic needs, but do not want to deviate from your principles, then a grill is the best choice. True, even without using fat, you cannot neutralize the negative aspects due to the release of carcinogenic substances during frying. Therefore, leave this method for special occasions.

These days, sticking to a healthy diet is much easier than in the old days. On store shelves there is an abundance of all kinds of products for every taste. In addition, such a universal thing as a multicooker has become firmly in fashion. With its help, with little time spent, you can create a real culinary masterpiece from an ordinary chicken breast. Moreover, this feat can be accomplished by people who are amateurs in the field of cooking. You just need to read the instructions included with the product, place the fillet and cauliflower inside the device, set the “Baking” mode, wait forty-five minutes and start eating. The beauty of cooking with a slow cooker is that a person with no cooking skills can prepare a decent meal. Another advantage is the impossibility of evaporation of useful substances from food.

Fast, tasty and healthy. Cooking chicken breast with Natalia Medvedeva (Korotkova)

Method number 4. Cooking at low temperature

For this method, we will need a vacuum sealer with special food bags; if we don’t have one, then a zip bag or a lot of cling film. The breast must first be marinated, then packed in a vacuum bag and placed in hot (but not boiling!) water. Cook over very low heat for an hour and a half. Ideally, use a sous vide machine for this method, which allows you to maintain a stable cooking temperature. However, not everyone has it in their kitchens.

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Tips for Cooking Chicken Breasts on a Diet

To avoid spending a lot of time going to the store and save it for training, buy a supply of buzzers for the whole week and wrap each one in a separate bag. Then toss everything in and freeze - this way you can buy the chicken ahead of time and easily defrost it for a quick post-workout meal.

Try our nutritionist's favorite tip for making delicious chicken: Leave the skin and bones on the chicken while cooking, and remove them before eating. You'll get extra flavor and juiciness without adding saturated fat or cholesterol.

Method number 6. Frying

It is best to marinate the breast before frying. And, of course, remove it from the frame and free it from the skin. You can cut the breast into slices, but not too thin, or you can fry the whole breast and cut it afterwards. Fry the meat in heated oil, refined vegetable oil or melted butter. You can throw a crushed clove of garlic into the oil, hold for a minute and remove. This will give a great aroma.

By the way, any of these methods can be used to prepare chicken breast as a hot dish. Add sauce and vegetable side dish and you have a great dinner.

Other breast recipes

Cut the breast into cubes, fry (optional) in vegetable oil and mix for the carcass with canned or pre-soaked beans. Stew. At this time, cut the onions and carrots into cubes (you can first lightly fry them in vegetable oil). When the beans and meat are almost ready, add onions and carrots, as well as salt, vinegar, sugar, tomato, pepper and hot spices to taste. Fast and tasty.

Marinate the meat

Marinated chicken breast means brightness of flavor and not dry meat, this Italian style mix is suitable for a quick meal. Mix olive oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup white vinegar, 1 tablespoon each dried parsley and basil. Add ½ teaspoon oregano, garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper and a little minced garlic. Marinade 500 grams of chicken breast for at least 10 minutes, then place on the grill or bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until the juices run.

Stuff the chicken

Don't be intimidated: stuffed chicken is easy to prepare. Simply pound the meat with a hammer, brush with olive oil, add fresh basil, sprinkle with Parmesan and a little garlic. Seal the edges of the chicken together with toothpicks, place in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Use your imagination – You can stuff chicken with almost anything, including healthy foods like spinach and broccoli.

Bake the chicken

Are you starving after work or after training? Place the chicken on a baking sheet, top with chopped tomatoes, seasonings such as oregano or sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear. See how simple it is? While you rest and take a shower, dinner will be ready.

Prepare chicken shish kebab

Slice vegetables such as peppers, onions, zucchini into rings, then skewer them, alternating with diced pieces of chicken breast, and grill or bake.

Chicken stir-fry

A light Asian-style dinner will certainly beat Chinese takeout.

Toss diced chicken and vegetables into a flavorful sauce for an easy stir-fry. The resulting chicken and vegetable stir-fry recipe is delicious and contains many nutrients.

Bread the chicken

Dip the chicken breast pieces into the egg whites and breadcrumb mixture, place in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the juices run clear. The crust keeps the juices in and adds a nice crunch to the fries—Colonel Sanders can't beat you. (You can also try delicious chicken recipes.)

Caesar salad with chicken breast

Photo: Cafe "Rukola"

Recipe by Viktor Apasiev, brand chef of the Rukkola cafe

35 g iceberg lettuce
35 g romaine lettuce
75 g chicken breast
5 ml sunflower oil
5 g parmesan
40 g Caesar sauce
40 g tomatoes
5 g croutons

Step 1. Marinate the breast in your favorite spices and fry in oil until cooked.

Step 2. Cut into slices.

Step 3. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces, tear the salads with your hands, and grate the cheese.

Step 4. Mix tomatoes and lettuce, season with sauce, sprinkle with cheese and place chicken slices and croutons on top.

Nutritional value and composition of chicken breast

For 100 chicken breast:

Proteins: 23.6 g.
Fat: 1 g.
Carbohydrates, 0.4 g.
Calorie content: 113 kcal.

In addition to a good protein indicator, chicken breast is replete with all kinds of useful microelements (potassium, zinc, phosphorus, iron). American nutritionists who conducted a study of this product came to the conclusion that chicken breast contains a fairly large amount of melatonin, which is responsible for preventing cell aging, prolonging the active period of life and youth. Thanks to all this, chicken meat is considered one of the leaders among nature’s sources of protein.

Anyone who has followed any kind of diet at least once in their life, or who has been seriously involved in sports, knows firsthand about the moral difficulties associated with eating the same food. However, with chicken fillet the situation is different. After all, you can use it to prepare an unimaginable number of delicious dishes that meet all the principles of a healthy diet.

Chicken fillet stewed with mushrooms and sour cream sauce

What to cook with exotic chicken breast? Of course, fillet with sour cream and mushroom sauce! This dish is very juicy and has a pronounced taste, as sour cream enhances the taste of the chicken breast, making it tender. In order to prepare this dish, you will need:

one chicken breast;
300 milliliters of sour cream;
250 grams of cheese;
two large spoons of flour;
250 grams of champignons;
garlic;
dill;
salt.

How much chicken breast can you eat per day?

Mono-diets based on eating only fillet include eating up to 1 kg of meat per day, 160–200 g per meal. Such nutrition promotes weight loss and increases the protein composition of the body's muscle mass.

For daily consumption, chicken is calculated per person at 200 g per day, this is half a chicken breast. The breast is prepared in different ways and according to various recipes, highlighting the taste of the chicken and giving it juiciness.

A fasting day once a week keeps the body in good shape and helps cleanse the intestines. Chicken consumption is limited to 100–120 g per day with a side dish based on vegetables without heat treatment. At the same time, we must not forget about drinking plenty of fluids.

Is it possible to eat at night

Eating protein at night can have a negative impact on your well-being and sleep. Fillet is precisely a protein food. The body will spend a lot of work on digesting and assimilating such food instead of proper rest. During sleep, the body must recover, replenishing the resources spent during the day. All organ functions slow down, and the production of hormones responsible for rejuvenation is activated. Therefore, nutritionists and doctors advise planning your last meal 3-4 hours before bedtime so that the food is absorbed.

Active physical activity in the evening requires the consumption of high-calorie foods to nourish the organs. Anyone who is not overweight, has good metabolism and health, can afford to eat a few pieces of boiled chicken before bed. But it is better to replace this snack with fruit yogurt and kefir.

Your diet and sleep must be balanced so that your body can function smoothly and smoothly. Dinner from 18:00 to 19:00 is the best time for everyone. The favorable time for going to bed is 11-00 pm. A person’s biological clock is set to get rest at this time, so you should try to fall asleep, do not watch TV before going to bed and do not fiddle with your smartphone. After about 2–3 hours, the stage of deep restorative sleep begins, preserving the youth of the body, nerves and the whole organism.

How to quickly defrost chicken breast

Chicken breast defrosts at room temperature in 3-4 hours, but it may lose some of its beneficial microelements.

The most correct approach is to transfer the meat from the freezer to the refrigerator on the top shelf in the evening. By morning the fillet will be thawed. Remove the fillet packaging and place the meat in a container with a lid.
A quick way is to fill the breasts with lukewarm water, changing it regularly as it cools. This takes 2 hours.
A microwave oven with a defrost function defrosts food in 3-5 minutes, but eventually loses vitamins and minerals. There are fewer supporters of microwave ovens in the world due to the proven negative impact of microwaves on the structure of food.
You can defrost in a slow cooker by turning on the steamer mode for 7-10 minutes.
A regular oven does a good job of defrosting in 10-20 minutes if you set the temperature to the lowest setting.

How to prepare the dish “Dietary chicken breast in kefir baked in the oven”

Ingredients: Chicken breast - 500g Kefir 0% - 250g Dill - 5g Parsley - 5g Sunflower oil - just a little to grease the pan. Salt and pepper - To taste (it’s better to omit it if you’re on a diet; I don’t add it) Preparation: 1. Wash the chicken breast thoroughly. Then we make small longitudinal cuts (across the grain). 2. Mix kefir with dill, parsley and other spices (if you decide to use them). 3. Immerse the prepared chicken breast in the resulting marinade and place it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. 4. After this, take out the chicken breast and grease the frying pan (or deep dish) with oil. If you are on a diet, then use the minimum amount of oil (so that the chicken does not burn). Place the breast and pour the marinade on top (make sure the marinade gets into all the slots in the breast). 5. Place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes (if the chicken was homemade, the baking time may be twice as long, watch the preparation). 6. The chicken breast is ready after it is well browned. Bon appetit!

Fragrant chicken fillet soup

Another idea for what to make with chicken breast is soup. Chicken breast soup turns out very pleasant and aromatic, and most importantly, healthy. In addition to chicken meat, this soup also contains a certain amount of vegetables. In this article we will look not at classic chicken soup, but at noodle soup. In order to prepare it, you need the following products:

120 grams of noodles;
100 grams of carrots;
250 grams of potatoes;
550 grams of chicken fillet;
onion;
2300 milliliters of water;
salt;
pepper;
Bay leaf.

To avoid any problems while preparing soup, use the following instructions:

First of all, chop the meat into small cubes and cook it for thirty minutes (salt the water to taste).
While the chicken is cooking, grate the carrots (or cut into cubes) and chop the onion. Lightly fry the onions and carrots in oil until the onions turn golden.
Then chop the potatoes.
Next, add the potatoes and after 15 minutes, add the fried carrots and onions, as well as the noodles.
Lastly, add the bay leaf, pepper and salt.
Bring the soup to readiness.

Cooking recommendations

First you need to grind some ingredients, namely prunes, parsley, garlic, by hand, and also grind the nuts in a blender.
Mix prunes with herbs and nuts, add garlic and pour mayonnaise over the resulting mixture, then mix everything.
Pieces of fillet need to be beaten, pepper and salt.
Place the mixture with prunes into each piece of fillet and twist it, securing it with a toothpick. The resulting rolls should be greased with butter and placed on a baking sheet.
The last thing is to grate the cheese and sprinkle it on the rolls.
Place a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Cook for 30 minutes.
Once the rolls are ready, cut them and serve with tomatoes.

Chicken fillet rolls in the oven

You will need:

2 small chicken breasts (about 0.8 kg);
2 cloves of garlic;
4 teaspoons curd cheese;
1 bunch of parsley;
1 bunch of chives;
sea salt to taste;
a couple of pinches of khmeli-suneli seasoning;
1 tablespoon paprika;
1.5 teaspoons vegetable oil (for greasing the mold).

The rolls are baked in the oven for about an hour. Calorie content: per 100 grams – 108 kcal.

Cooking recipe step by step:

Rinse thawed or cooled chicken breasts well in cool water. Place on a cutting board with the convex part facing up. Using a sharp knife, make a deep cut along the sternum, slightly away from the central cartilage. Helping yourself with your hand, pull the loin away from the sternum, continuing to work with the knife, separating the flesh from the skeletal bones. Repeat the procedure, freeing the remaining pulp from the bones. Trim off the fat (if any), pick up the edge of the skin with your fingers and carefully remove it from the finished fillet;
Wrap all parts of the prepared fillet in cellophane and beat with a culinary hammer on a cutting board without disturbing the integrity of the pieces (do not make holes);
Peel the garlic cloves and pass them through a crusher, turning them into a paste;
Salt the chopped meat, rub with garlic gruel and season with suneli hops;
While the chops are marinating, prepare the filling. Wash the greens in a bowl. Remove wilted and yellowed parts of plants, roots, soil residues and foreign debris. Finely chop the onion and parsley, pour into a convenient container and mix with curd cheese;
Place the chops on the table and spread the filling evenly over them. Roll the spicy chicken pieces into rolls, sprinkle with paprika, and place in a greased baking dish with high sides. Place in a preheated oven and bake for about an hour, adding a little water (basting).

Chicken fillet in a frying pan

The recipe can be used by all happy owners of a non-stick frying pan.

We will need:

Two chicken fillets
Kefir - a third of a glass
Salt and pepper, herbs de Provence seasoning - a large pinch

Wash the chicken fillet and cut it into oblong pieces.
Mix with spices, pour in kefir and leave to marinate for two hours.
Drain off the remaining kefir and place the mixture in a well-heated frying pan without oil.
After ten minutes, turn the gas to low and use it to bring the dish to readiness.

If necessary, you can add a little water during the process.

How to cook chicken breast in the oven so that it is juicy?

Chicken meat is lean and has less calories than pork. Dishes made from poultry are included in many diets. Many different dishes are prepared from lean chicken meat. When the breast is baked in the oven, it turns out especially juicy and tasty.

Ingredient Selection

Every housewife has in her arsenal all kinds of recipes that tell her how to prepare chicken dishes. You can simply boil the fillet or make a dietary soup, and from the thighs and wings you can make jellied meat or aspic. The chicken is fried, stewed, steamed, baked in the oven. The calorie content of the finished dish also depends on how the chicken is cooked. On average, the caloric content of dishes will be 170–210 kcal per 100 grams of product.

Many housewives prefer to cook drumsticks, thighs or legs, believing that such a dish will be much juicier. When choosing a product, you should keep in mind that the legs after cooking will be fattier and higher in calories than fillets. Chicken breast has virtually no fat, which is why people who want to lose weight choose it. But cooking it is not always easy, since the breast often turns out dry and bland.

To get a juicy chicken breast in the oven, it is important to choose a fresh product and prepare the dish according to the recipe you like, following the advice of professionals.

You can buy meat at any store or go and choose it at the market. If meat is bought in a supermarket, the buyer has the opportunity to find out when the meat was delivered and the deadline for sale. You should not buy a product that is about to expire or has already expired. Such meat will only spoil the taste of the finished dish and will not be beneficial.

If possible, it is worth visually inspecting the meat and smelling it. It should not have an unpleasant odor. At the same time, its appearance should be fresh and free of dark spots. It should not be winded. When pressing on the flesh, the finger mark should quickly disappear. If the trace remains longer, it means that the product has already reached the end of its shelf life, so you should not purchase it.