These easy juicy chicken breasts are gently cooked on the stove top in minutes and drizzled with a simple pan sauce made from the juices in the pan. It’s an easy way to cook juicy chicken breasts that you’ll use in everything from dinner entrees to pasta bowls and salads.

I’ll serve these easy juicy chicken breasts over steamed rice or mashed potatoes and voila! Done. It’s a basic go-to chicken entree that always makes an appearance in my weeknight rotation. Let’s take a quick look at what we can do to cook your chicken breasts easily and evenly, every time.

1. Pound Chicken Breasts

Pound the chicken breasts to a thickness of about 1.5cm or a little over 1/2 an inch thick. I usually just start by covering them with some plastic wrap. Pound the thickest/highest part of the breast first. Then eyeball it to see when the whole piece is now evened out. Continue to evenly pound the breast until it hits the right thickness.

If you use a meat mallet/meat tenderizer, remember to use the flat (not studded) side of a meat tenderizer. The chicken meat is delicate and doesn’t need a hard hit to even it out. Additionally, try using the bottom of a mason jar or even a wide mug with a nice even, flat bottom.

Why pound the chicken breasts?

I’ll start off by mentioning that I always had pieces that were different in size and thickness. I’d put them in the pan and the smaller piece would always cook up first. I was either leaving them both in (and having the smaller piece dry out) or taking one out sooner and letting the bigger piece stay longer. This didn’t really work all that well. I was all over the place until I just decided to make them UNIFORM in size. I realized it was KEY! Pounding chicken to the same thickness and height took all the guess work out of cooking chicken breasts and I had dry chicken no more…

2. Season Chicken Breasts

Season the chicken by sprinkling with pinches of paprika, ground pepper, and coarse sea salt. You can either drizzle them with a nice fruity olive oil or drizzle the olive oil in the pan and drop them in.

3. Sear Chicken Breasts In a Nice Hot Pan

Drizzle some olive oil (or your preferred cooking oil) in a pan over high heat and let it come to a glossy ripple. When the oil is hot, place the chicken breasts (top side face down) in the pan. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. Sear the top side of the breasts until golden. About 1 minute or so.

4. Cover Chicken Breasts and Cook On Low

After the sear time is up, simply flip the breasts over and cover them with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat to low. Set a timer for 15 minutes and keep the lid on at all times. Let cook. When the 15 minute cook time is up, turn the heat off. Now set another timer for 5 minutes. Let the chicken breasts rest in the covered pan for 5 more minutes with the heat off. It will gently finish cooking all the way through without drying out.

5. Let It Rest On A Cutting Board Before Slicing

When the 5 minute rest time in the pan is up, remove chicken breasts from the pan and place on a cutting board to rest for about 5 minutes or so. You’ll notice the chicken leaves a nice amount of juices in the pan…save it! We’ll get to that soon… You can cover loosely with a sheet of foil if desired. The juices in the meat will seal back up inside. Now you’re ready to slice the chicken and serve it over a bed of steamed rice or potatoes. Dare we even top it off with a little sauce?? Yes Please! See below…

6. Make An Easy Pan Sauce With Reserved Juices

To make an easy pan sauce, come back to the pan where we cooked the chicken breasts and reheat the juices leftover in the pan. Start the stove back up to low heat and while the juices come back up to a simmer grab a few ingredients.

You’ll need another little splash of chicken stock to add to the juices in the pan as well as a little all purpose flour and some butter. In a small bowl, combine softened butter with flour using a spoon until a paste forms. Head back over to the juices in the pan and add the splash of chicken stock and flour/butter paste. Whisk everything together until the liquid thickens and flour cooks out. About 7 to 10 minutes. Simmer but don’t bring to a boil. Check for seasonings if needed and that’s it! You’ve got easy pan sauce you can drizzle over your chicken and rice!

7. Slice And Serve

When ready, slice up the chicken or keep it whole and serve! It will be fork-ready!

What to serve with chicken breasts

Wild Rice or simple steamed rice. You can cube it and toss it over a salad with dressing. Add it to a bowl of pasta and veggies and toss this together with the pan sauce (top it with some Parm). You can serve a nice sliced breast over simple mashed potatoes and use the pan sauce as the gravy. I like to drizzle this sauce over everything on my plate! Even the vegetables! Once you’ve got the chicken and sauce down…sky’s the limit.

Helpful Hints

• Use a timer. Either a kitchen timer or the timer on your phone is perfectly fine. The cook times are short so it’s easy to miss the mark if you’re busy or distracted. I know this happens to me a lot so I use this to help me out so nothing overcooks or dries out.
• Use fully thawed chicken breasts that have already come to room temperature.
• Use a pan with a tight-fitting lid. I know this sounds simple enough but you really want a nice seal on the pan so that when you cook that chicken, minimal air is escaping. You’re creating a mini-oven type of environment right over the stovetop in that pan. This (and the pounding of the chicken) is what allows the meat to cook evenly in a short period of time and transform into easy juicy chicken breasts

Seasoning/Marinade Ideas

• Dip them in a little Italian dressing for a quick tasty marinade
• Sprinkle on a little oregano, garlic powder, onion powder and parsley for a quick greek-style seasoning.
• Sprinkle on your favorite chipotle spice blend for a little Spanish-style heat!
• Basic (my favorite which I used here): Salt, pepper, paprika.

Keep It Juicy

Don’t forget to take the chicken out of the pan immediately after the 5 minute no-heat rest period. There are times when I forgot to take the chicken out right away and left it in there for another 5 or 10 minutes, and: yes, it overcooked and dried out. Remember that we pounded these down to make them thinner! They will totally continue to cook inside for however long you leave them sealed in the pan, even with the heat off. So, take it from me. Avoid messing with that highly coveted juicy finish and promptly transfer to the cutting board when time is up.

Serve with…

Check out more juicy chicken breast ideas here!

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