Updated on December 22nd, 2023
The chicken breast is one of the juiciest and most tender cuts of meat on a chicken. A lot of chicken breasts we purchase from the store tend to be big or thick on one side and tapered to the thinner side. We can all agree that thicker breasts take longer to cook; when they do, they are not even. The problem needed to be fixed, and this is where butterfly chicken breasts come in.
The aim of butterflying a chicken breast is to allow the chicken breast to marinade better and cook a lot faster and evenly. I know the term “butterflied chicken breasts” may be strange to some people. Still, if you stumble on a recipe calling for these types of chicken breasts, there is no need to panic because it is very simple, and in this article, I will be giving you helpful guidelines to butterfly a chicken breast.
How to Butterfly a Chicken Breast
Butterflying a chicken breast is way easier than you ever imagined, but before you get started, there are some things to take note of. Keep reading to learn how to butterfly a chicken breast.
What type of meat to buy – when you want to butterfly a chicken breast, the type of chicken breast you get matters a lot. You cannot apply this method to bone-in breasts as it only works for skinless and boneless breasts. If you also have a pair of chicken breasts attached to the breast bone, you should separate them and take off the skin and any excess fat on the breasts.
What type of knife to use – the knives used to butterfly chicken breasts are usually very thin because thinner knives are considered sharper, and they yield smoother cuts. When it comes to thin knives suitable for butterflying chicken breasts, none fits the bill like a boning knife. A boning knife is made specifically for de-boning poultry meat, but the thing and long structure of the knife makes it suitable for butterflying chicken breasts. If you do not have a boning knife, you may already have a chef knife in your kitchen. A chef knife is also very thin, and it can easily butterfly q chicken breast.
Cleaning chicken breast – cleaning is an important step in the preparation of chicken breasts. If you have a dirty chicken breast, you can wash the breast in equal parts water and vinegar and water. After washing, you should pat the chicken breast dry with a paper towel because chicken breasts tend to become very slippery when wet, which you want to avoid when working with a thin, sharp knife. After drying out the chicken breast, trim off excess fat from the meat if it has not already been removed.
What type of cutting board to use – when cutting the chicken breasts, you would need a flat surface to lay the breasts while you cut, so a cutting board is required. When getting a cutting board for chicken breasts, you should get one that can be easily disinfected. The recommended cutting board is a plastic cutting board, but if you do not have one, you can use a wooden cutting board lined with a plastic wrap or simply cover your tabletop with a plastic wrap.
The cut – the cut is the most important thing when it comes to butterfly a chicken breast. To butterfly a chicken breast, place your palm firmly on the breast to stop it from moving around, then with your other hand, you need to cut horizontally or across the chicken breast, open up the chicken breast like a book, then flatten out by making a shallow long cut across the center of the opened breast.
Flatten out chicken breasts – after making a butterfly cut on the chicken breasts, you can continue to flatten the breasts so they can cook a lot faster. To flatten the butterflied chicken breast, place another plastic wrap over the meat and gently beat the meat with a mallet, a pan, a hammer, or just a rolling pin.
What to Do With Butterfly Chicken Breasts
There are a lot of recipes that call for butterfly chicken breasts, but the two major ways to use these chicken breasts in cooking would be to sear them in a pan or stuff them with some sort of stuffing.
Pan searing – in the pan searing cooking method, you only have to season the butterflied chicken breast and sear in hot oil. You can get creative with this cooking method and add your unique touch to it.
Stuffing – stuffed chicken breasts are one of my favorites, I enjoy them stuffed with cheese, but you can stuff yours with anything you like. After stuffing, you can either pan-sear them or bake them in the oven.
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How Long to Cook Butterfly Chicken Breasts
| Cooking Method | Cooking Time |
| Baking medium butterflied chicken breasts in an oven at 400 | 20 to 25 minutes |
| Searing medium butterflied chicken breast in a skillet | 4 minutes per side |
Quick butterflied chicken breast (2 servings)
Ingredients
- 1 medium size chicken breast
- Dried Thyme
- Dried rosemary
- Garlic powder
- Chicken seasoning
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive oil
- Butter
Instructions
- Start by washing and drying out the chicken breast
- Proceed to cut the chicken breast along one side and open it up so it resembles a butterfly.
- In a small bowl, combine half teaspoon each of dried rosemary, garlic powder, chicken seasoning, thyme, salt, and pepper
- Proceed to rub the seasoning mix on your chicken breast, pat the rub in, and repeat the process on the other side.
- In a hot pan, add a teaspoon each of olive oil and butter, and when it comes to a shimmer add your butterflied chicken breast
- Cook for 5 minutes, flip and cook the other side for about 5 minutes too, you can repeat this process until you get a good sear.
- Use a meat thermometer, and when it reaches 165°, remove the breast from the pan.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve with any side dish of your choice.
This delicious butterflied chicken breast recipe is delicious and easy to make, the icing on the cake is that it takes just under 15 minutes to cook. Make sure you try out this recipe when you have some chicken breasts. If you would like to see other recipe ideas, check out this video recipe.
