Easy Skillet Chicken Recipe + Garlic Butter Sauce Cooking Classy (2024)

FAQs

Should I saute chicken in butter or oil? ›

Can you cook chicken with butter instead of oil? You have to cook chicken at a lower temperature if you bake or pan-fry chicken using butter instead of oil. This is because butter has a lower scorching temperature. Your chicken will cook more slowly, but it's also likely to be juicier and full of more flavor.

Pan-fried chicken breast recipe

Take off the cling film and season well. 2. Heat the oil in a frying pan then add the chicken breasts (skin-side down, if they have skin) and cook for 2-3 minutes or until browned. Then turn over, cover and cook on the other side for 7-8 minutes or until cooked through.

Bring a little oil, butter, spray or whatever you'd like to heat over high heat in a skillet. Add the chicken once the oil starts to shimmer and smoke a little. You should hear an immediate pop and sizzle (psshhhhh) when you add the chicken. Now quickly turn the heat down to low and let cook for about 5-7 minutes.

Heat a large stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan, rounded side down; cook 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes or until done.

Think vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil. Don't use olive oil or butter—they both have lower smoke points. The ideal temperature for frying chicken is 350˚ to 365˚, and you'll want to make sure that you bring the oil back to temperature between batches.

Frying chicken in olive oil is indeed possible, but it's important to consider a few factors before proceeding. Olive oil has a lower smoke point compared to other oils commonly used for frying, such as vegetable oil or canola oil.

Mistake: Not Covering Your Pan While Frying

As the chicken cooks, cover the pan with a lid to trap the heat. This helps render the fat and water from the chicken for a crisp crust and evenly cooked meat.

A large, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet will pan-fry your chicken without sticking. Using medium-high heat, wait until the skillet is hot before adding the chicken. Let it cook on one side, without turning, until properly browned. When the chicken releases from the pan without sticking, turn to cook the other side.

If you are cooking a chicken on top of the stove by browning in butter and then simmering, cover your chicken. If baking a cut up chicken in the oven, no cover is needed. If stewing chicken pieces on top of the stove with vegetables, cover the chicken. If roasting a chicken, roast uncovered for 3./4 hour in a 425 oven.

Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a 10-inch or larger skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Carefully add the chicken to the hot pan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Swirl the pan just before adding the chicken to evenly distribute the oil.

How do you keep chicken from drying out in a skillet? ›

If you have a lid for the pan, pop it on to help retain all that moisture. After 5 or so minutes, flip the chicken, and allow the same thing to happen on the other side before removing from the pan. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

“Canola oil is the best all-around oil to use for frying chicken,” she says. “It has a high smoke point and will not impact the flavor of the chicken the way coconut, peanut or avocado oil will.”

Canola Oil

Benefits: With a high smoke point and neutral flavor, canola oil is excellent for frying chicken. As an added bonus, it has high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which makes it healthier than other options.

Unless you are braising, you always should use some type of fat to cook on a stove. Saying this I will go in to also let you know a couple of options. To sauté chicken you should use some oil and / or butter in the pan. With today's non stick you can get by by using some water or a bit of broth as your cooking medium.

For one thing, butter is made up of 63% saturated fat, whereas olive oil only has 14%. Olive oil also contains heart-healthy monounsaturated good fats and antioxidants. Butter's high saturated fat content, on the other hand, is shown in studies to lead to heart disease and other health issues.

Make the chicken thinner

Thinner breasts or cutlets are less likely to dry out, as they won't spend as much time in the pan. A simple option is to pound the chicken until it is 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, using a meat mallet/pounder, heavy skillet or even a hammer. This is best done between parchment paper or plastic wrap.