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.
Rules for choosing fresh poultry
One of the basic rules of a tasty and high-quality dish is the freshness of the product . An experienced chef will say:
- You need to select the chicken with your eyes and nose. If there is the slightest unpleasant odor, refuse to purchase.
- The skin of the chicken should be pale white with a pinkish tint, without gray spots. The skin of an older bird is thicker and rougher.
- The fat of fresh young chicken is slightly yellowish in color.
- Blood clots, ruptures, and fractures on the carcass are not allowed.
When purchasing meat in sealed packaging, be sure to pay attention to the integrity of the package. To examine and determine the quality of chicken, choose only transparent bags. Be sure to look for the expiration date of the product on the label.
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.
Chicken fillet in parchment in a frying pan
This method of cooking breast will take you exactly 15 minutes.
- Cut the chicken fillet into 2 plates.
- Lightly beat off the pieces.
- Grease the parchment with melted butter, sprinkle with dried onions and garlic, add black pepper and salt.
- Place the chopped fillet on one half of the parchment and cover the meat with the other half of the parchment.
- Fry the fillet in parchment in a preheated frying pan for 3 minutes on each side.
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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The benefits of chicken meat
The product contains many minerals, amino acids, high-quality vitamins A, E, B1, B2, B4, B6, B12, which is the basis for the prevention of many diseases.
Chicken fillet is one of the important products for a healthy diet and maintaining normal metabolism in the human body. The high content of nutrients contributes to:
- strengthening bones;
- loss of excess weight;
- normalization of blood circulation;
- improving mood (an amino acid called tryptophan is responsible for this);
- improved vision (large amounts of beta-carotene);
- strengthening the nervous system;
- restoration of strength;
- increasing physical activity;
- accelerating tissue healing from wounds and burns;
- improving the appearance of skin and hair.
Chicken meat contains the vitamin niacin, which prevents the formation of cancer cells, and magnesium helps fight fatigue syndrome. In terms of the amount of potassium, chicken is the richest type of meat.
Energy value of chicken fillet
White meat is a dietary product rich in phosphorus, selenium, copper, calcium, while it contains little fat. Due to its low calorie content, chicken meat is very popular in many diets.
The energy value of raw chicken product is 113 kcal per 100 g:
- proteins - 94 kcal;
- fats - 7 kcal;
- carbohydrates - 2 kcal.
The largest source of energy is proteins, while there are practically no carbohydrates in the composition, and this is extremely important for achieving good results with dietary nutrition. To be friendly with calories and not clog your liver with harmful fats, we recommend harmless white meat with a high content of easily digestible carbohydrates and vitamins.
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.
Useful tips
- There are some rules, without which chicken meat will most likely turn out tough or tasteless:
- Recommendation regarding cooking. You can cook chicken breast in two ways - by placing it in water with spices and vegetables such as carrots and onions, or you can simply boil it in water with the addition of salt, bay leaf and pepper. For salads, it is better to cook meat in water with spices.
- In order to prepare the salad, you need to take already well-chilled or slightly warm chicken meat. If, after the fillet is ready, you take it out onto a plate and allow it to cool in this way, then almost all the moisture will evaporate and the meat will become dry. To prevent this, it is better to leave the chicken breast to cool slowly without removing it from the finished broth - this will prevent it from drying out too much.
- Chicken breast can be boiled whole, with bone and skin. But this will take more time - 40-50 minutes. Just keep in mind that the skin slightly increases the calorie content of the fillet itself, since the fat from it is transferred to the meat during cooking. A skin-boiled chicken breast will be soft and quite juicy.
- Boiled chicken meat will turn out juicier if the breast is not cut into small pieces before boiling. Of course, it will take a little longer to cook, but the result is worth it.
- If for cooking you will use not a chilled breast, but a frozen one, then a few hours before cooking you must allow the meat to thaw well at room temperature. Only in this case the fillet will turn out more tender and juicy.
- During the cooking process, you can optionally use various spices that will give the meat a unique taste and aroma. But you need to add them in small quantities, as you can kill the whole taste of chicken meat.
- In order for the meat to retain all its juiciness, salt the water in which it will be cooked not at the beginning of cooking, but 10 minutes before the end of cooking. The thing is that the salt will penetrate into the fibers of the meat, which is why they will begin to coagulate much more strongly. If you salt the almost finished breast, it will retain all its softness.
- If you need to cook chicken meat for a salad as quickly as possible, then it is important to pay attention to the volume of water in which it will be cooked - for normal cooking, it is enough to take an amount that will cover the breast by only 2-3 centimeters.
Knowing how many minutes to cook chicken breast before adding it to a salad can help you use it more often in many recipes. And the main thing to remember is that white chicken meat is considered dietary, and during cooking it is important to maintain its juiciness and prevent it from becoming tough.
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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Guest of honor at the festive table
The universal taste of chicken meat allows you to combine this ingredient with other products - vegetables, smoked meats, fruits, cereals, sauces. As practice shows, boiled chicken breast is one of the most popular products that we add to salads. Let's prepare a simple but surprisingly tasty salad.
Advice! Diet supporters can replace mayonnaise with low-fat sour cream or natural yogurt. This will significantly reduce the calorie content of the treat.
Ingredients:
- fresh frozen chicken breast – one piece;
- selected chicken eggs - four pieces;
- Russian cheese – 200 g;
- walnut kernels – 50 g;
- table mayonnaise;
- canned pineapples – 50-70 g.
Preparation:
- Before cooking, remove the film from the chicken breast, remove the bone and rinse.
- Boil it in salted water for 25 minutes. Before further use, cool the fillet and cut into strips. Can be shredded by hand into fibers.
- We peel hard-boiled chicken eggs and grate them on a finely perforated grater.
- Strain the juice from canned pineapples. Cut the fruit pulp into small cubes.
- Grate Russian cheese or other hard product on a fine grater. You can also use processed cheese.
- Grind the peeled walnut kernels in any convenient way. The best way to do this is with a rolling pin.
- First put the boiled chicken breast in the salad bowl. We will cover each layer of salad with mayonnaise.
- Next in line is the fragrant and juicy pineapple.
- Sprinkle cheese mixture on top of everything.
- Be sure to grease this layer with mayonnaise and lightly compact it.
- Next come boiled eggs.
- The finishing touch is chopped nuts.
Advice! Before enjoying the taste of such a salad, let it brew and soak thoroughly.
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.
Features of choosing ingredients
Looking at the size of chicken fillets on store shelves, it’s hard to even imagine what size the bird was. They really don't correspond to reality. Is this ingredient safe and can it be consumed at all? We invite you to familiarize yourself with several recommendations that will help you choose high-quality and safe chicken meat for consumption.
Chicken fillet in supermarkets is presented in a wide range - with or without the bone, with or without skin. The most expensive option is boneless, skinless fillet.
If you plan to make soup from fillet, it is better to give preference to chicken fillet on the bone. The cost of this product is much cheaper and the broth will be rich. Chicken meat should be elastic and without damage.
If you purchase meat by weight, be sure to check the expiration date. Press the meat with your finger; if the imprint does not disappear for a long time, then the chicken was frozen. You should not purchase chicken breasts that are too large, because in this case there is a high probability of purchasing the brine that the manufacturer pumped into the chicken. Give preference to medium-sized options without noticeable damage.
Chicken fillet diameter
It is very important that the size of the chicken fillet is natural. Huge chicken fillets are a clear indication that the chicken was fed hormonal drugs. You should avoid such meat, because regular consumption can have a bad effect on your health.
Color
The chicken fillet should be red-pink in color. If gray color predominates, it is better to refuse to purchase such a product. A fillet that is too white indicates that the meat is not fresh.
Aroma
Never buy meat that has a strange smell! It can be dangerous to your health!
Frozen or chilled?
If you have a choice, it is better to give preference to a chilled product. This makes it less likely to purchase expired goods. When defrosting, a large number of beneficial microelements are washed out of meat.
The shelf life of chilled chicken fillets is only 5 days. If a longer expiration date is marked on the packaging, it means that the product was not without preservatives. If the meat is too flabby, it means it has already been frozen several times.
Often, in order to save time, housewives boil meat without defrosting it before. You shouldn’t do this; at best, you should defrost the meat by filling it with cold water. Although the ideal option is, of course, defrosting at room temperature.
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.
