I’ve done a series of experiments to find out how best to brine chicken breasts. What kind of salt should you use? Cold or warm water? And, most importantly, how long do the chicken breasts need to brine for? I’ve tested it all and have the answers for you here!
No dry, tasteless chicken here! I’ve done all the testing for you, so you can cook your best chicken breasts ever. It’s quicker and easier than you think. Once you’ve experienced it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start doing this earlier! And if you have thighs instead, read the specifics on brining chicken thighs.
- Video: Brining Chicken Breasts
- What is Brining and How Does It Work?
- What Goes In A Brine?
- Should My Brine Be Warm Or Cold?
- How Long Should I Brine Chicken Breasts?
- Can You Freeze Brined Chicken Breasts?
- How To Cook Chicken Breasts After Brining
- Podcast Episode: Brining Chicken Breasts
- Recipe: How To Brine Chicken Breasts
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Video: Brining Chicken Breasts
What is Brining and How Does It Work?
Brining is simply soaking your meat in a salt water solution before cooking it. It’s been debated in the culinary literature about what is actually happening here, and scientific words like osmosis and diffusion are used quite a bit. But what we do know is that using a brine changes meat in three ways.
First, meats soak up salt water more easily than plain water. Therefore, what you’re doing is adding moisture to the meat, which, once it’s cooked, makes the meat itself seem moister.
Second, the salt changes the texture of the meat. It’s a type of denaturing. So, meat that is brined also has a more tender texture.
Finally, because we’re working with salt and because that salt is dissolved in water and then getting right into the meat, when you brine something, you are essentially seasoning it on the inside.
All of that is going on and the result is meat (or chicken breasts, in this case) that are juicier, more tender, and more flavorful. It’s a win-win-win!
You can read more about the science behind brining and the osmosis debate here.
Note that there is another way that you can brine chicken breasts and other cuts of meat. It’s called a dry brine and doesn’t use water. Instead, you sprinkle the meat with salt and leave it uncovered in the fridge. It’s actually a very convenient technique to learn, but is not what we’re talking about here today. If you’d like to learn more about dry brining, head over here. Note that dry brining is especially useful for large pieces of meat, like turkey, since you don’t need to find a large container to hold them and the water. Learn how to dry brine a turkey here.
What Goes In A Brine?
All that is needed for a brine is salt and water. Sometimes additional seasonings or sugar are added as well. I used my standard brine recipe for testing, which yields enough brine to cover about four chicken breasts.
My standard brine recipe is essentially: 4 cups of cold water and 6 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt OR 4 1/2 tablespoons Morton’s kosher salt OR 3 tablespoons fine or table salt.
Note that it really matters what kind of salt you have and how much you use. The salt crystals in these types are all of different sizes and if you use the incorrect type or incorrect amount, you will end up with a brine that is either way too salty or not salty enough.
To make the brine, all you need to do is mix together the salt and the water. It’s a large amount of salt though so it can take a minute or two for it to dissolve. It will though. Just stir it together and keep stirring until it’s less cloudy and there’s no more salt undissolved at the bottom.
Some people like to add optional ingredients for flavor such as peppercorns, crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme and/or sage sprigs, bay leaves, whole cloves, or other herbs and spices. I don’t think it really adds much flavor to chicken breasts though, because it’s a shorter brine time than you would do for things like a whole chicken or turkey.
However, as you’ll see below, the sweet spot for brining chicken breasts is 30-60 minutes. If I know I’m going to have mine in the brine for 60 minutes, I add in 1 tablespoon of garlic granules. The full hour with the chicken in the garlicky salty brine is seriously amazing! Also, if I’m going to brine for 60 minutes and I want to impart even more flavor into the chicken breasts, I’ll use my extra-flavorful food processor brine, which I developed for brining turkey. It’s the best turkey brine out there, full of onion, garlic, and fresh herbs, combined in a way that really gets the flavors into the meat.
Should My Brine Be Warm Or Cold?
One of the first tests that I did was to compare the use of warm tap water to cold tap water in the brine. The reason for doing this is that there’s a popular baked chicken breasts recipe over here that swears by using warm water in the brine. I was really disappointed that it didn’t work for me though, not with any of the different times that I tested. When compared with the cold water brine, the warm-brined chicken breast was less tender and less juicy than the cold-brined chicken breast after baking.
So, the answer is to use cold tap water in your brine. Why might this be the case?
While I’m not a food scientist, my best guess is that the warm water expanded the molecules on the outside of the chicken which prevented as much penetration of the brine into the chicken. The warm tap water did help the salt dissolve more quickly, but that seemed to be the only advantage to this method.
In one of the 15-minute warm brine tests, I also added aromatics like fresh onion slices, garlic, and herbs to see if the warm water would help these flavors penetrate and infuse the chicken breast the same way they would with longer brining times. Unfortunately, they did not.
How Long Should I Brine Chicken Breasts?
For this part of the brining experiments, I wanted to compare chicken breasts that had been brined for different amounts of time. As mentioned, the brining solution I used for testing is my standard brine recipe, with cold tap water. I’ve also done similar tests for brining pork chops as well as brining pork loin and my pork tenderloin brine, so make sure to take a look at those results as well.
Note that for the 15-minute version, I placed the brine and the boneless skinless chicken breasts into a bowl and left it right on the counter to soak. 15 minutes is a safe amount of time for the chicken to be left out. You can also leave it on the counter if doing a 30 minute brine. Any longer than that, and you should refrigerate the chicken in the brine to keep the food safe from bacteria like Campylobacter and Salmonella.
In the chart below, I share my results of testing the brine for various times. You’ll see that the sweet spot is between 30 minutes to one hour.
Chart: Chicken Breast Texture and Flavor After Different Amounts of Time in Brine
BRINING TIME | RESULTS |
---|---|
15 minutes | Lightly salted flavor, no detectable change in texture. |
30 minutes | Lightly salted flavor, slightly more tender than the 15-min brine, no detectable change in texture. |
1 hour | Perfectly seasoned, juicy, tender, noticeable difference in texture and tenderness. See picture below. |
2 hours | On the edge of being overly salty, but not off-putting, especially if it will be served with a sauce or other things. Very juicy and tender. The texture is similar to the 1 hour brine. |
4 hours | This is too salty for me. It might be okay if mixed with mayonnaise for a chicken salad, but in my opinion, it’s too salty to be eaten on its own. The texture is significantly different, more like deli meat. |
8 hours | I couldn’t get through a bite of this, it’s just too salty, and the texture is almost spongy. |
Can You Freeze Brined Chicken Breasts?
Yes! You can brine and then freeze your chicken to be cooked at a later time. Brine the chicken for 30 – 60 minutes, drain the excess brine, and store in the freezer. The brine gets suspended in the meat as frozen water droplets.
I suggest using the chicken within six months, after that there is a chance that the ice crystals will affect the texture of the meat.
How To Cook Chicken Breasts After Brining
After the chicken has been brined, you don’t have to cook it right away. It can be removed from the brine and kept in the refrigerator, covered, for up to three days, or wrapped well and stored in the freezer for up to two months.
When you’re ready to cook, pat the chicken dry but don’t rinse it off. Why not? Rinsing the chicken doesn’t remove any salt from it. All that you really do when rinsing any kind of meat or poultry is increase the amount of bacteria in your sink and kitchen work area. The water bouncing off of the chicken has been shown to cause more bacteria than helping with anything.
From there, you can bake, grill, or use whatever your favorite method for chicken is. I’ve got instructions for a few different methods for you here:
Remember though, you shouldn’t add any additional salt called for in the recipe since you brined first and the chicken is already well-salted.
I hope you learned a lot about brining chicken breasts and I can’t wait to hear how it all works out for you. Plus, if you loved learning about my chicken breast testing, you’ll also enjoy reading about my best brined chicken wings too. Have a great day!
Podcast Episode: Brining Chicken Breasts
Listen to me explain briefly about How To Brine Chicken Breasts, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintRecipe: How To Brine Chicken Breasts
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
After doing a series of tests and comparisons, this is the recipe and method that I’ve found works best for brining chicken breasts.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cold tap water
- 4 and 1/2 Tbsp. Morton’s kosher salt*
- 1 Tbsp. garlic granules (optional)
- 4 (6oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl stir together water and salt until salt is dissolved.
- If you are planning to brine for over 45 minutes, stir in the garlic granules (otherwise the flavor won’t penetrate).
- Add the chicken breasts. Make sure they’re all submerged. If not, use a narrower bowl or a zipper bag.
- If brining chicken for more than 30 minutes, transfer brine and chicken to refrigerator. If brining for under 30 minutes, leave on counter.
- Allow chicken to sit in brine for 15 minutes to 2 hours. See chart above to determine optimum time. My preference is 1 hour.
- Remove chicken from brine. Discard brine. Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
- Cook chicken immediately (try these baked chicken breasts or these grilled chicken breasts), or refrigerate covered for 3 days, or wrap well for the freezer and freeze for up to 2 months, and then cook.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*Different kinds of salt have different sized crystals so you need different amounts depending on the type. Use 6 tablespoons of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, OR 4 and 1/2 tablespoons of Morton’s kosher salt, OR 3 tablespoons of fine or table salt.
jackie says
Thank you for doing the work of trying different times to brine the chicken! I followed your advice of an hour and the chicken was so juicy and delicious, a major difference from not brining it. Love it!
Christine Pittman says
I’m so glad it was helpful for you, Jackie! I agree it makes a big difference. :)
Natalia Albright says
I tried this recipe for thin sliced chicken breast – doubled the water to 8 cups and added 3 tbsp of fine pink Himalayan salt plus the garlic and left in fridge 60min – texture was great but the chicken came out too salty. I’m thinking it’s because they were thin sliced and not the regular large size chicken breasts. I’m wondering should I reduce the salt to only 1 or 1.5 tbs fine pink Himalayan salt for thin sliced breasts and keep 3tbs when using large breasts. I’m also wondering if the pink Himalayan salt is just imparts a “saltier” flavor than regular salt
Christine Pittman says
Natalia, I haven’t tried this with thin sliced chicken breast. I do know that when I chop chicken breast into 1-2 inch pieces before brining, they don’t need very long at all. 20 minutes actually has an effect. So I would say try reducing the amount of time that you’re brining them for. I also haven’t tried doing this with the pink Himalayan salt so I’m not really sure about that one. If you find out what works best for you, come back and let us know!
Christine Pittman says
Natalia, I haven’t tried this with thin sliced chicken breast. I do know that when I chop chicken breast into 1-2 inch pieces before brining, they don’t need very long at all. 20 minutes actually has an effect. So I would say try reducing the amount of time that you’re brining them for. I also haven’t tried doing this with the pink Himalayan salt so I’m not really sure about that one. If you find out what works best for you, come back and let us know!
Diane Victor says
I will never cook chicken breast without brining again!! I cannot believe the difference it makes. It is definitely worth the extra step and less mess than simply pounding thin. I just shared this recipe with my friends. Thank you Christine!
Christine Pittman says
Thank you for the kind comment and for sharing with your friends, Diane! I really appreciate it.
Sally Champagne says
I stopped buying chicken breast because no matter how I cooked them they were dry with a very dence texture. BUT NOW I GOT THIS RECIPE. I AM AGAIN LOVING CHICKEN BREAST
They are moist and full of flavor.
Thank you, I just love love love this technique.
Christine Pittman says
Thank you so much for those kind words, Sally! I just love the way these turn out.
Brittany says
If I’m only brining 2 chicken breast, should I cut the recipe in half or will it be fine the way it is?
Christine Pittman says
You can cut the recipe in half, Brittany. It’s fine the way it is, but you would have more brine liquid than needed to cover the chicken breasts, so it’s kind of up to you. Enjoy!
Patricia says
Thank you Christine for your prompt reply. As I cannot eat everything as I get heartburn so would appreciate any recipes you send me to consider that. I don’t eat garlic or tomatoes or sauces as I am not sure if they agree. I am just brining now and will let you know. Thanks again,
Patricia 🌞🌻
Judi says
Thank you so much for this. Can I please clarify the amount of chicken to use. Is it 4 chicken breasts (where each breast is 6 ounces)? A single chicken breast in our supermarket is already 300grams (10 ounces), so I will try to go for the free range ones which are smaller or just use 2 chicken breast only. P.S The metric slider doesn’t work on the chicken weight since ounces is on the chicken text.
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for letting us know, Judi. If your chicken breasts are larger, you may end up needing to mix up some extra brine to make sure they are submerged.
Edie says
Hi Christine: I am getting a bit confused over all the brine recipes you have posted. There is one how to brine revised and republished in October 2021 and one dated Dec. 21, 2023 for Pork Chops and another Dated Nov. 22, 2023 for Pork Loin. I have a separate one for Chicken Breasts but no date that I can see to understand if it has been also brought up to date. Could you please tell me which recipe for brining I should be using (I assume the most up to date one) but someone could be confused if they see the brining one dated Oct. 2021 which looks like one brine could be used for all. Perhaps a page on just recipes for the various brines would be helpful and in one place. Thank you so much.
Christine Pittman says
Hi, Edie, sorry for all the confusion!
My original brining post was the general How to Brine one, which includes a lot of good but fairly basic info that can be applied to various meats. Since then I have done extensive testing on some of the most popular cuts of meat such as chicken breasts and pork loin to give detailed information about how the different amounts of time in the brine affects the taste and texture so that readers can do what is best for them.
The good news is the actual base recipe for the brine solution is standard across the posts. 4 cups water, 4.5 Tbsp kosher salt. I would suggest going to the specific brine post for the cut of meat you’re wanting to make to get specific advice on the best timing though, as well as suggestions for how to cook after brining. So if you’re wanting to brine chicken breasts, this is the correct post for you.
Hope that helps, and thank you for your question!
Sue says
I used this recipe the other day, my first time brining chicken breasts, & they were unbelievably juicy! I’ve brined whole chickens & pork chops before, but never just breasts but I will always from now on with this recipe. I find the giant, unnatural chicken breasts we have these days from the store have such a weird texture that I don’t really enjoy a chicken breast anymore – this helped so much! Thank you for making it so simple with no heating up the water to dissolve the salt, etc.
Christine Pittman says
Oh, I’m so glad it helped, Sue! Yes, some of the chicken breasts now are huge and greatly benefit from a brine. Thank you for coming back to let us know how it went. :)
Peggy Alexander says
Going to try this one tonight.
Christine Pittman says
Enjoy, Peggy!
Angela Voss says
Can you do this and then slow cook them in the crock pot?
Christine Pittman says
Angela, I’ve actually never tried it. I think it should work out fine, but I’m not completely sure.
Ramonde says
Thanks for sharing your results! I was wondering how I could improve my grilled chicken without adding too many calories and excited to try this!
Kandyce Lee Anderson says
1 hour is the best time my brine also. Excellent baking recipe!!!
Christine Pittman says
Thank you, Kandyce! So glad you enjoyed.
Rachel says
Terrific recipe and great tutorial. Make the chicken so juicy.
Michael Cheshire says
I made this some of my family said it was too salty but everyone else loved it
Christine Pittman says
Interesting, thanks for sharing, Michael!
Corrie says
The first time I tried your method turned out so well I decided to try brine a roasting chicken, I will try doubling the brine recipe to cover the chicken. You’re a real inspiration and motivating me to step out of the comfort zone. I will let you know how it turns out 😁
Christine Pittman says
Corrie, Thank you so much for the lovely comment. You’ve made my day! Make sure to let me know how the whole chicken turns out. I think you’ll like it!