Brined chicken breasts with garlic butter
The first chicken breast in this library, and the brine is the reason it took so long — without it, breast is the one cut that goes from underdone to dry in about ninety seconds.
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Ingredients
For the whole dish · serves 4
- Chicken breasts1½ lb
- Butter2½ oz
- Olive oil4 tsp
- Garlic clovesfour, crushed
- Fresh thymea few sprigs
- Sea saltthree tablespoons for the brine
- Cold waterabout 4 cups for the brine
- Black pepperto taste
Served with
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+4g net · 140 kcal · 30 min · together 5g net, 520 kcal
Method
6 steps · 90 minutes
- Brine them for 45 minutes in salted cold water, no longer. Past an hour the texture goes spongy and slightly cured.
- Rinse and dry them thoroughly. Brined and wet, they will steam rather than brown.
- Pound the thick end down so the breast is an even thickness. This matters more than any other step, because a tapered breast cannot cook evenly.
- Sear in the oil for 4 minutes without moving them, then turn.
- Add the butter, garlic and thyme and baste for 3 minutes, tilting the pan and spooning it over.
- Take them out at 155F and rest them 8 minutes. They carry to 165F while resting, and cooking to 165F in the pan gives you the dry breast everyone complains about.
Macros are per serving and are estimates worked out from the ingredients. Keto Tracker AI is a food logging tool and does not give medical advice; talk to a doctor before changing your diet.
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