Fast method to cook chicken like a top chef makes it taste ‘perfect’

A former restaurant worker has shared the cooking method she was taught by top chefs to guarantee chicken is moist and tastes “perfect”.

For lots of people, chicken is a staple part of their diets and is added to a string of recipes and dishes. It’s very versatile and lends itself to an array of cuisines, which ensures its popularity all over the world.

Nicole McLaughlin, culinary editor at AllRecipes, shared many of the tips and tricks she picked up while working in a restaurant alongside chefs in a detailed video demonstration on YouTube.

When it comes to cooking the “perfect” chicken, she explained: “My favourite way to cook a chicken breast, which I like to call ‘the restaurant way’ because this is the way I learned how to cook them when I worked in a restaurant.

“I think this is the way chefs do it because it’s just smart. It’s fast and it works every time.”

She laid the uncooked chicken breasts on a baking tray, then sprinkled garlic powder and onion powder over the top.

Nicole then added seasoning, explaining she seasons the top of the chicken first before seasoning the other side once it’s in the pan.

The culinary whizz said the chicken breasts will “start on the stove and finish in the oven”. The oven temperature should be set to 195 degrees, pre-heating while the meat cooks on the hob.

Nicole said: “The first step in achieving flavour to just plain boneless, skinless chicken breast is to get some caramelisation because colour equals flavor.”

She added olive oil to the hot pan then added the chicken to it with the seasoned side down first.

Nicole continued: “I’m going to cook it undisturbed until it releases easily from the pan. And while it’s down, I’ll season the other side.

“Don’t rush the step. It will tell you when it’s ready. If it sticks a little bit, it’s not ready. You’ll also know it’s about ready when you see that it’s starting to cook along the sides.

“If you can’t see anything happening, it’s not ready. You want to try to get as much surface brown as you can.”

Once the chicken is cooked on one side and not sticking to the pan, it’s ready to be turned over.

The base of the pan will be coated in the seasoning from the chicken’s underside, which will be used to help create a “juice” to ensure the flavours remain rich, tasty and “perfect”.

This can be created by adding a bit of water, broth or white wine to the pan. The heat can then be turned off and the pan can be transferred to the oven.

Nicole explained: “The moisture is going to help it just kind of steam and cook a little bit more evenly instead of just really hot on the outside.

“Because a lot of problems people have when it comes to cooking plain chicken is that they’re cooking it so fast on the outside that the inside doesn’t get cooked and then the outside’s dried out – so, this is good insurance.”

Depending on the size of the chicken breast, 15 to 20 minutes in the oven should leave them “perfect” but still needs to “rest” for five to 10 minutes.

Inspecting the chicken, Nicole added: “You can already tell the liquid gold, the deliciousness that has formed at the bottom.

“That is from the natural juices of the chicken mixing in with a little of that wine.”