Weeknight dinners just got easier. There’s no need to thaw chicken breasts when you’re strapped for time. Here’s how to cook chicken breasts from frozen. Yes, directly from the freezer!
Strangely enough, one of the most popular blog posts on this website is the one with instructions for how to cook fish from frozen. That post was revolutionary for me. I had never thought of cooking fish from frozen until I was approached by a company that wanted me to experiment with it. It was such a successful and convenient technique that now I always have frozen fish fillets in the freezer ready to go straight into the oven for a quick dinner.
- Video: How To Cook Chicken Breasts From Frozen
- Can You Cook Chicken From Frozen?
- How Long Do You Cook Frozen Chicken Breasts?
- Preparing Chicken Breasts For The Freezer
- Cooking Frozen Chicken Breasts, Step-By-Step
- Podcast Episode: Cooking Chicken From Frozen
- How To Cook Chicken From Frozen (and Bread It)
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Video: How To Cook Chicken Breasts From Frozen
Can You Cook Chicken From Frozen?
Those quick dinners got me thinking, could I do the same thing with chicken breast? Is it safe? Yes!
I checked with the USDA and sure enough you can cook chicken breasts straight from the freezer. No need to panic about dinner if you’ve forgotten to thaw them ahead of time.
How Long Do You Cook Frozen Chicken Breasts?
When cooking chicken straight from the freezer, you want to cook for 50 percent longer than you would with unfrozen. The average unfrozen chicken breast weighing 5-7 ounces usually takes 20-30 minutes at 350°F. So for a frozen chicken breast, you’re looking at 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breast.
If you are adding breadcrumbs (like in the recipe below), or if you want the chicken to brown more while in the oven, you can cook it at 425F for 30-40 minutes. Note that we are using chicken breasts that are of a medium size, 5-7 ounces. If yours are larger, it will take longer for them to cook.
Preparing Chicken Breasts For The Freezer
When you bring the chicken breasts home from the grocery store, you need to pack them properly. The reason is that when it comes time to cook them you can’t have a big heap of frozen breasts in the pan. They will not cook evenly at all.
When you get your fresh chicken breasts home from the grocery store, put them in a single layer in a freezer bag. Lay the bag flat in the freezer, making sure that there is space around each breast. Alternatively, you can freeze them flat on a tray or plate and then transfer them to a freezer bag. Whichever way you do it, after they’re frozen you can jumble them up and put the bag upright in the freezer. The key is that the breasts stay separated.
These chicken breasts were frozen on a tray and then put in a freezer bag. You can see that even though they were touching in the bag they aren’t really stuck together.
Cooking Frozen Chicken Breasts, Step-By-Step
Step#1
Preheat the oven to no lower than 350°F. If I’m doing breading, as I’ve done with the recipe below, I use a higher temperature, like 425F, to help brown the crumbs.
Step#2
Put the frozen chicken breasts on a pan in a single layer. It’s best to use a broiling pan or a rack over a foil-lined pan. This way, any liquid from the chicken breast doesn’t leak out to steam them. But I’m usually lazy and just use my regular sheet pan. Mine’s this really good heavy-duty one and it works great and is ideal if you’re doing a high temperature like I often do.
Step#3
Doctor them up! Season them with salt and pepper and anything else you like.
If you want to use a sauce (like BBQ sauce), it’s best to wait until the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time so it doesn’t dry out on the chicken.
If you want to do a breading, see the recipe below. But basically, I brush them with mustard (this acts to help stick the breadcrumbs to the chicken). You can use any kind of mustard that you like the flavor of, even honey-mustard.
Why use mustard on there? I use mustard because it’s easier to brush on and have the bread crumbs stick then it would be to dredge frozen chicken breasts in flour and then egg wash. The egg wash freezes to the chicken too quickly and then the crumbs don’t stick. This is a very simple solution.
Then sprinkle on some bread crumbs that have been mixed with a bit of oil to help the browning process. You can also add whatever seasonings you’d like. Italian seasoning with a bit of salt and garlic powder works really well.
Step#4
Bake the chicken breasts for 50 percent longer than they would normally take. Average-sized (5-7 ounces) unfrozen chicken breasts usually take 20-30 minutes at 350°F. So for frozen chicken, you’re looking at 30-45 minutes.
If you’re doing a breading, as I have done in the recipe below, the oven temperature needs to be higher (425F). But it will still take nearly the same amount of time.
Tip: Use an instant-read thermometer when you think the chicken breasts are done. The temperature needs to be 165°F. A thermometer is the safest bet to make sure that they’re done. But if you know what you’re doing and trust yourself, you can cut into the thickest part of one and make sure that it’s not pink inside.
Step#5
Once you discover how easy this is and how delicious the chicken turns out, make plans to try another from-frozen recipe. In fact, my favorite way to cook shrimp is straight from frozen, and frozen lobster tails too. Enjoy! -Christine xo
Podcast Episode: Cooking Chicken From Frozen
Listen to me explain briefly about how to cook this chicken from frozen, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintHow To Cook Chicken From Frozen (and Bread It)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
There’s no need to thaw chicken breasts when you’re strapped for time. You pretty much cook them like normal but add 50% more cooking time.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs (panko crumbs turn out way better, if you have them)
- 1 Tbsp. cooking oil (olive oil, vegetable oil, etc.)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts (5–7 ounces each) that have been frozen individually
- 4 tsp. mustard (yellow or dijon)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
- In a small bowl combine the breadcrumbs, oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.
- Put the chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet. Spread or brush 1 teaspoon of mustard onto each breast. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, pushing down to help them adhere to the mustard.
- Bake until chicken is 165°F according to an instant read thermometer, 30-40 minutes.
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This post was originally published in April 2017 and was revised and republished in February 2021.