I discovered the culinary secret I’m about to share with you guys while I was preparing chicken breasts for dinner one night. Chicken breast is commonly hailed in the healthy eating world for being both both low fat and full of protein. In the world of what tastes good, it’s sometimes avoided for it’s tendency to be a bit dry. Being the type A perfectionist that I am, I was determined to make my chicken breast as juicy and delicious as possible. So, I decided to play around and try something different. I washed my chicken, drizzled it with olive oil, and rubbed my favorite seasonings (a dash of salt and pepper, as well as a few shakes of garlic powder, cilantro, and a few garlic cloves) into it. I then threw it in a gallon sized ziplock bag and proceeded to make a marinade out of…
BEER! For a pound of chicken, you can use one 12 oz. can or bottle of beer. I made two lbs, and so I used Coronas. You can use whatever type of beer you have hanging around in the refrigerator. I chose to add about three squeezes of lime juice to the mix, which is completely optional. I suggest double or triple bagging your beer soaked chicken so that it won’t leak all over the inside of your fridge.
I let my chicken marinate for an hour. If you have more time, that would probably make it taste even better. When I was ready to cook, I set my oven to 375 degrees and greased my baking dish with a drizzle of olive oil. I then placed the chicken in the dish, and poured the beer marinade over it. I chose to poke holes in the chicken with a fork, to give the beer the opportunity to seep into the meat even more.
So, I have great news and I have crappy news. The crappy news is that making your chicken this way means it is probably going to take longer than it usually does to cook. I’m not entirely sure, but I think this has something to do with baking it in the alcohol. The amount of time it will take depends on how thick the cut of chicken is. I wish I could tell you a specific number of minutes, but unfortunately you’ll just have to keep an eye on it. If you’re really unsure, figure anywhere from forty minutes to an hour. I always flip my chicken over when it looks like it’s at the halfway point. I also cut into it when it looks done, to ensure that there is no pink in the middle.
The great news is you’re going to have chicken that’s so amazing, you’ll forget about the extra time it took. I now make all of my chicken this way, regardless of whether it’s breasts, or thighs, or whatever. I have included a picture of chicken drumsticks I made recently 🙂 As you can see, I chose to top them with extra cilantro. FYI, these were still very slightly pink in the middle, I threw them back in the oven for five more minutes after taking this picture.
So there you have it, my secret for making juicy, delicious baked chicken. What are some of your chicken making secrets? I would love to hear them. Kindly share them with me know in the comments below 🙂
If you enjoyed this post and would like to see others like it, please follow my blog. Comments and likes are also sincerely appreciated.
The Blog Of a Twenty-something year old Graduate Student with a humble opinion, a Type A personality, and a story to tell 