Ingredients
- 4 hearty chicken breasts
- A whole lot of salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with water, high enough that it will completely cover the chicken breasts, but do not put the chicken in the bowl yet. Mix a ton of salt in the water.
- Submerge the chicken breasts in the salt water, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put them in the fridge to brine for at least fifteen minutes, up to overnight (but not any longer than that or they will start to break down!).
- Preheat the oven to 450°.
- Drain the chicken breasts of the brine water, then coat them in olive oil and the listed seasonings (or seasonings of your choice).
- Bake the breasts for about 15 minutes to start.
- After 15 minutes, start pulling the chicken out of the oven and checking the largest breast for temperature with a meat thermometer. You want them to reach 150°.
- Once the largest breast has reached the desired internal temperature, pull the breasts out of the oven, and cover the dish you cooked them in loosely with some tin foil. Let the breasts rest for at least 10 minutes under the foil before serving.
Additional Notes
- I never measure how much salt I use for my brine, I just do it by feel. If you're uncertain about doing that, you could use a kitchen scale to measure out how much water you're using, and search online for a salt ratio to use for a chicken brine.
- An internal temperature of 150° is slightly below the official food safety recommendation for chicken (165°), but don't panic. Your breasts won't be undercooked! The internal temperature will continue to rise out of the oven, bringing them to the safety zone. Pulling them out at 150° ensures they don't dry out too much. Doing this along with brining them will give you a nice juicy chicken breast every time.
- The seasonings in this recipe are just a rough approximation for the default flavor I go for when I don't want to think about it. This recipe is more about the preperation method, really. You can use any seasonings you want to suit your dinner or your tastes! :)