Poached Chicken Breast

A very good and healthy method of cooking all types of poultry and meat is by poaching as no oil or fat is required. When skinless chicken breast is grilled or roasted, the resulting meat tends to turn quite dry and stringy. Poaching gives juicy, succulent and flavorsome chicken breast that can be used as filling for sandwiches, in salads or any other recipe. You can use plain water as well as wine, chicken stock, coconut milk or any other liquid for preparing poached chicken breast.

Basic Poached Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, boneless
• 4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 1 inch piece of ginger

Method

Place a medium-sized pan with a heavy bottom in medium heat and put the chicken breast in. Add the water, sea salt, bay leaf and sliced fresh ginger in the pan. Let the water come to a boil and cook the chicken breast for around 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cover it with a lid. Allow the chicken breast to rest in the liquid for 15 to 20 minutes. To check if it is done, take the chicken breast out from the pan and poke it slightly with your finger. If it is soft and yielding, then it is ready and you can use it for your recipe. This is the most basic recipe for poaching chicken breast and you can slice or shred it to use it in a salad or sandwich.

Chicken Breast Poached in White Wine
Ingredients

• 4 skinless chicken breast
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 cups chicken stock
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 small onions
• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons flour

Method

Chop the celery stalk, carrots and the onions into small pieces and put them in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the chicken stock, white wine, bay leaf, dried thyme and tarragon and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken breast into this liquid and cover the pan and let it simmer in a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the poached chicken breast from the pan and wrap them in an aluminum foil and let it rest for some minutes. Meanwhile add seasoning to the poaching liquid and reduce it to make a sauce. Remove cup of poaching liquid into a small bowl and add the flour and whisk until it is smooth. Add this back to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens.

Place the chicken breast on individual plates and spoon over some of the sauce over it with a ladle. Serve this chicken breast with a sprinkling of chopped chives.

Butter Poached Chicken Breast
Ingredients

• 4 boneless chicken breast, cut in half
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons plain unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• teaspoon paprika
• Juice of half a lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F and rub the chicken breast thoroughly with salt, lemon zest, freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice and paprika. In a large roasting tin heat up the butter until it starts bubbling. Add the chicken breast into this and with the help of a spoon coat it evenly in the butter. Cover the roasting tin with aluminum foil and bake it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the chicken is tender. Serve the chicken breast in a plate accompanied by steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes.

Chicken Breast Poached in Oven
Ingredients

• 2 chicken breast
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Method

In a medium-sized pot, heat the chicken stock and the water and let it simmer over low heat. In a roasting pan, place the boneless chicken breast and layer it with thinly sliced lemon, bay leaves and black peppercorns. Now ladle the simmering hot liquid over the chicken breast making sure that the chicken breast is fully submerged. Cover the pan tightly with an aluminum foil and place it in the oven at 350 C for 25 to 30 minutes. Once the poached boneless chicken breast is fully cooked, remove from the pan and transfer to a plate to let it cool.

To get better flavor of the chicken breast, you can add herbs and spices to the poaching liquid. Do not throw away the liquid that is used for poaching, as it can be used as chicken stock or reduced to make a sauce. Poached frozen chicken breast tastes just as delicious and all you need to do to get the same flavor is to let the chicken thaw completely before cooking. Now that you know how to poach chicken breast you can create some tasty and mouth-watering main course as well as appetizers with them.