This pan-fried chicken breast recipe is a simple way to prepare chicken breast for a quick dinner or meal prep. It’s a simple, tasty marinade with some key umami-packed ingredients like oyster sauce and light soy sauce, as well as the key velveting ingredients of oil and cornstarch, which keeps the chicken moist and juicy.
The result is a tasty chicken breast that is still versatile enough for salads, sandwiches, wraps, pasta, and more.
Applying Our Velveting Technique to a Whole Chicken Breast
We’ve received so many reader comments on Bill’s post about how to velvet chicken for stir-fry. No one can believe how such a simple method yields such juicy, silky chicken!
In that case, the chicken is thinly sliced before marinating. In this recipe, we’re applying the same method to butterflied chicken breasts, with similar results: locking in flavor and moisture.
More of you are realizing that this extra velveting step can make or break a dish. We find that cooked chicken breasts, which are used in so many applications, can be dry and lack flavor.
This recipe ensures that you get flavorful, juicy chicken breast every time. While it does use a few Chinese ingredients, like oyster sauce, light soy sauce, and rice wine (you can also substitute a dry cooking sherry), the chicken doesn’t taste “Asian.” It can be added to any of your favorite recipes!
How to Use This Chicken Breast
Serve this chicken breast with simple sides like brown rice and broccoli, or try it in some of these other recipes!
- Use in place of salmon in our Green Goddess Pesto Pasta
- Add to Penne alla Rosé (a different take on Penne alla Vodka)
- Try it in our Nectarine Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
- Add to a Banh Mi Sandwich
- Add to a bowl of Cold Noodles
Tip!
Do take the time (a minute or two) to work the liquid marinade into the chicken breast. As you massage the chicken with your hands, you’ll be surprised at how much liquid it can absorb! This is key to juicy chicken breast, which is very lean.
Recipe Instructions
Carefully butterfly each chicken breast, and then separate the two halves, so that you have 4 pieces that are about half the thickness of the 2 original chicken breasts.
Use the back of your knife to lightly pound the chicken breast on both sides, paying special attention to the thicker areas. This tenderizes the meat and also makes the thickness more even across each piece.
Add the chicken breast pieces to a bowl, along with the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, pepper, and garlic. Use your hands to mix well.
Then, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water (2 tablespoons for 1 pound of chicken, or up to 3 tablespoons for 11/4 pounds), 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with your hands after each addition until the chicken absorbs the liquid.
Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes. Just before cooking, mix the cornstarch into the marinated chicken until evenly coated.
Heat oil in a nonstick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Arrange the chicken breast in the pan in a single layer.
Pan-fry for a total of 8-10 minutes flipping them every 2 minutes or so for even cooking.
Enjoy!
Pan-fried Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (about 2 chicken breasts)
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (or white pepper)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (finely minced; or substitute 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 2-3 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons oil (any neutral oil)
Instructions
- Carefully butterfly each chicken breast, and then separate the two halves, so that you have 4 pieces that are about half the thickness of the 2 original chicken breasts.
- Use the back of your knife to lightly pound the chicken breast on both sides, paying special attention to the thicker areas. This tenderizes the meat and also makes the thickness more even across each piece.
- Add the chicken breast pieces to a bowl, along with the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, pepper, and garlic. Use your hands to mix well. Then, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water (2 tablespoons for 1 pound of chicken, or up to 3 tablespoons for 11/4 pounds), 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with your hands after each addition until the chicken absorbs the liquid.
- Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes. Just before cooking, mix the cornstarch into the marinated chicken until evenly coated.
- Heat oil in a nonstick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Arrange the chicken breast in the pan in a single layer. Pan-fry for a total of 8-10 minutes flipping them every 2 minutes or so for even cooking.
Nice
Thank you, George.
I notice that in Bill’s velveting method he adds a little oil with the cornstarch. Not the case here?
No need, Georage, the pan-fried sear locks in the juice.
Terrific!
Hey! Just wondering if the chicken could be prepared this way (minus cornstarch) and then frozen for future use?
I have never tried it, Sonja, but I don’t think it works in this case as the water will freeze and leak out as it thawed.
Lately I’ve experienced the dreaded “woody” chicken breasts. Do you have experience with this phenomenon; if so, does this preparation really tenderize the meat?
It really should help. Simply work the water into the meat with your hands until liquid is absorbed, then add more water and repeat until the meat stops absorbing. Try it :-)
I’m excited about making this recipe!
Hope you will like it :-)
Can I substitute Hosin for the Oyster sauce?
Yes, you can.
Do you think this velveting technique would work to make chicken piccata?
That was my idea upon reading as well :-)
Yes, Terry, all meats should be marinated with a little bit of water, this explains why marinating meat in liquid brine makes meat much juicier. Simply work the water into the meat with your hand until liquid is absorbed, then add more water and repeat until the meat stops absorbing.
Making it this afternoon, using under-cooked Rotisseried Chicken from Wally. May Split breast or leave whole with skin on for extra flavor. I always have brown rice on hand, broccoli, too. Will sub Bragg’s Amino’s for the Soy Sauce, and a light Chardonnay for the wine.
Reminds me of Hunan Red Simmered Chicken without the Star Anise.
Sounds delicious, but I don’t trust myself to butterfly evenly, do I’ll use turkey cutlets which come close to necessary size.
Hey Punchie, turkey sounds good, but just to let you know from years of practice, the chicken cutlets don’t have to be completely uniform! Just pound the thicker parts as Judy instructs, and take the slightly thinner ones out of the pan first. Works fine! I do it all the time for Chicken Marsala. Also, a trick my mother taught me for cutting the breast: lay your other hand on top of it firmly, start cutting from the thickest side toward the thinnest side with the knife halfway down the thickness of the edge, feeling approximately where the knife is all along with the top hand and keeping it approximately in the middle, and continue through to the thinner end of the breast (with monster breasts I do them in thirds then pound the thicker pieces, or the thicker sides of the uneven pieces.) Whatever pieces you come up with work!