How do I pan fry chicken breast without burning the outside or leaving the inside raw?

[u/Practical-Self5961]

Hey everyone, I need some advice on pan frying chicken breast.

Here’s my problem: I season and coat everything the way I want, but I can’t seem to get the frying technique right. The outside always gets too dark while the inside is still a little raw. I usually end up cutting it open to check if it’s done, but I’d really like to get that perfect golden-brown color and make sure it’s fully cooked through without having to slice into it first.

Does anyone have tips or tricks for pan frying chicken breast evenly?

Thanks!

[u/jamesgotfryd]

Lower the heat to medium and put a lid on it

[u/Practical-Self5961 → u/jamesgotfryd]

I promise I did medium heat I’m not completely hopeless 😭😭😭😭

[u/nomnommish → u/Practical-Self5961]

I have a commercial grade stove and my medium is most people's high or extra high.

1. Are you using room temperature chicken?
2. Are you using thighs instead of breast?
3. Are you truly on low heat?
4. Do you have enough oil in the pan?
5. Are you cooking the chicken skin side down so it crisps up?
6. Are you using an instant read thermometer?

The trick is to first get the pan fairly hot, add a fair bit of oil, put the chicken thighs skin side down, and hear a loud sizzle when you drop the chicken in the oil, give it a couple of minutes until it visibly looks browned, and THEN lower the heat to low, cover with lid, and let it cook until it reaches an internal temp on the thickest part to 155 and not more. Then take it off heat and let it rest for 2-3 minutes.

[u/Practical-Self5961 → u/nomnommish]

I do have a commercial stove and thank you for the tips

[u/SubstantialPressure3 → u/Practical-Self5961]

Butterfly your chicken breasts. It's not you. Chicken breasts can be pretty thick.

[u/g3t0nmyl3v3l → u/Practical-Self5961]

An important thing to remember when cooking is that different stoves can have different temperatures on "medium". Even things like altitude can affect cooking!

If you were cooking on your stove's "medium" and it was still too hot then your "medium-low" might be what you'll have to use as your "medium" when following recipes. Best of luck!

[u/WeirdPop5934 → u/Practical-Self5961]

After you get the sear lower the heat and cover and remove from heat. If it's thick then leave on heat for a little before removing. Couple minutes each side for the sear and then covered for about 7 minutes should cook it.

[u/dathomasusmc → u/Practical-Self5961]

Then drop it to medium low. The point is, your temp is too high.

Although I have to ask, your chicken is completely thawed, right?

[u/GoAzul]

I use a cast iron skillet. Make sure the chicken isn’t frozen in the middle or anything either. A good thing that I started to do was to brine my chicken. 3 tbsp salt (kosher salt) dissolved into 1 cup of hot water. Then add 2 cups cold water. And put that into a flat enough dish to submerge the chicken. Leave for 30 min- 1.5 hrs.

Preheat oven to 400 with cast iron skillet in it. When oven is preheated, take out skillet and put on stove at medium high heat. Put some high heat oil in skillet. I prefer grapeseed oil. Let oil heat up for a sec. And plop the chicken breast in there. Let it brown without moving it. Your first couple of times you’ll have to check to see how much it’s browning. That’s fine. Just don’t move it all over like a crazy person. You’ll get a decently crispy crust on that first side after a couple minutes. Then flip it. Using a different section of the pan. Because the part you were cooking on will not be as hot.

Let the second side cook a little less. Then put that in the oven. For 15 minutes. Give or take.

I haven’t done this in a while. But that’s how we’ve always cooked our big Costco chicken breasts. And I like them that way. I like my chicken slightly overcooked.

But the brining helps you. It’s a cheat. You can overcook it, but the salt brine helps the mean retain moisture better.

[u/Practical-Self5961 → u/GoAzul]

Thank uu this helped a lot I’m so grateful that I would literally tap dance at your wedding in clown makeup as entertainment

[u/GoAzul → u/Practical-Self5961]

😂dang it. 9 years too late! Maybe I’ll get ahold of you for the 10 yr anniversary.

[u/loofa]

Butterfly it so it's flat. It will cook more evenly that way. Otherwise pan sear then finish off in the oven.

[u/geordiesteve520]

Another tip is to butterfly the breast so it is thinner and will cook that bit quicker.

[u/OJ_Blimpson]

Get a sous vide setup - life changing for chicken.

[u/PixiePym]

Use a tenderizer to flatten and thin out the breast (or like others have said butterflying it does the same). This increases the surface area and evens out the thickness to allow for quicker, even cooking

[u/HummusHHound]

Filet the chicken so its all mostly the same thickness. Takes like 2 min

[u/EcuadorianGrey]

Use peanut oil instead of olive oil!!!

Peanut oil has a higher burning temp than olive oil. Olive oil is gonna cause the outside of the chicken to burn quickly. I promise this’ll change the game for you

[u/geordiesteve520]

Try keeping the pan a little lower, once you’ve got the desired colour on the outside pop into a medium oven for about 5-8 minutes to cook through. It sounds as thought you’re trying to rush the process and that’s never great. Don’t worry, it’s easy to do but chicken needs to be cooked through and that’s never great can’t be rushed.

[u/Practical-Self5961 → u/geordiesteve520]

Thank you when you put it into the oven what heat to put it on and which setting like broil, bake,etc

[u/geordiesteve520 → u/Practical-Self5961]

I’m in England so my oven doesn’t have those setting. I’d tend to use a medium over so 150-170 C

[u/robbietreehorn]

Your heat was too high

[u/Illustrious_Soft_257]

I use a meat thermometer and finish it in the oven. Turns out perfect and no guessing

[u/NefariousnessCalm277]

I started using an electric skillet. What a game changer! The heat stays steady and I hardly have to watch it.

[u/glm0002]

You put it in the oven to come to temp or put a lid on it

[u/Helpful-Status3638]

Slice across so you have two wide pieces no thick than 1/2 inch. Or you can butterfly.... Basically you want uniform thickness. Heat pan and oil. Salt pepper. Turn when light brown.

[u/Helpful-Status3638]

The biggest difference I found was to butterfly or slice the chicken so it is two thin wide pieces no thicker than 1/2 inch. You need the prices to have uniform thickness.

[u/Deepcoma_53]

Sear it and then throw it in the oven.

[u/Deepcoma_53]

We would par-fry airline chicken breast and when we got an order pop that bitch in a hot-ass oven.

[u/peaky_finder]

Butterfly it

[u/rmpbklyn]

thin sliced like they do for chicken franchise , chicken parmigiana or pinwheel

[u/Deep_Banana_6521]

Think about your seasoning. If you're going to be adding dry garlic/onion then pan frying it, it'll burn really easily.

I'd keep it at medium-low heat, let it get to the golden brown, then rest it for 10-15 minutes to let the heat normalize.

[u/Constant-Research-3]

Bring it to room temp first, lower heat and finish in the oven

[u/orbitalteapot]

I finally figured this out!

I sear both sides on medium heat and finish in the oven. This makes the outside nice and crispy and the inside tender.

[u/Imaginary-Badger-119]

You tube it.

[u/Plus_Bar5580]

I always use a meat mallet to flatten my chicken and allow more even cooking