Chicken is a diet staple for many meat-eaters. It is one o the most affordable and versatile meats, after all.
However, when you eat a lot of chicken, it can get pretty boring. Chicken can be pretty bland if you don’t put the effort in to give it more flavor and make your meals more exciting, which is why I’ve put together a list of some of the best ways to make chicken more interesting right now:
- Marinate it
One of the simple, and most effective, ways to make your chicken more interesting is to simply marinate it for a few hours. Doing so will infuse the meat with lots of delicious flavor so that you can be sure it will be anything but bland, and the longer you leave it marinating, the more intense the flavor will be do., aim to marinade for at least 24 hours if you can.
Looking for a decent chicken marinade recipe? I got you covered:
The best chicken marinade recipe
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
¼ cup muscovado sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients and marinate for as long as possible. This recipe should make enough for 2lbs of chicken.
- Shred it
One of the best ways to ensure that your chicken is juicy, tender, and really tasty is to simply shred it. You can learn how to make shredded chicken here very easily and doing so will ensure that you always have soft, buttery chicken with lots of flavor available for sandwiches, salads, soups, and noodles whenever you want it, so why not whip up a batch today?
- Use broth
A really simple alternative to marinating chicken, which is also a lot healthier than using a marinade, is to simply soak your chicken in high-quality chicken broth for around 30 minutes before cooking.
It will take on the intense flavor of the broth with all of its herbs, spices, and condensed chicken flavor, which means it will have a really intense umami flavor to it that is much less bland than a plain piece of chicken. It’s best to cook chicken that has been marinated in both by broiling or grilling rather than frying.
- Season it
This seems like an obvious point but your chicken will be much more delicious if you season it. However, most people, when seasoning chicken, use little more than salt and pepper, which can still result in a pretty bland dish. If you want to really make your chicken sing you should season it with bolder flavors such as :
- Lemon peel and thyme
- Hot peppers
- Garlic infused vinegar
The benefit of using seasonings like this is that you don’t need to use fat to make the chicken taste good, which means it’s ideal for healthy dinners and snacks.
- Use butter
Of course, if you are not watching your weight and you want your chicken to taste amazing with ass little effort on your part as possible, then cooking it in butter is an excellent way to ensure that it tastes as succulent and creamy as possible. If you are frying, simply use a knob of butter instead of oil. If you are roasting, then simply spread butter onto the top portion of the chicken, and was it melts it will baste the whole chicken and ensure it stays moist and tastes divine. Use herb or garlic butter to add even more flavor.
- Leave the skin on
Many people avoid chicken skin because it has more calories and fat than the rest of the bird. However, if you’re cooking your chicken whole and you want it to be as flavorsome as possible, it is a good idea to cook it with the skin on. This will ensure that it benefits from all the flavor contained in the skin, and help to keep the bord as moist as possible. You can always remove the skin once it’s cooked if you prefer to do so.
- Brine it
One of the most effective ways to ensure that your chicken is juicy, tender, and full of flavor, is to simply soak it in a saltwater solution. This is a technique known as bringing and it is really easy to do.
To make a decent brine for your chicken, simply combine a gallon of water with half a cup of sea salt and half a cup of brown sugar. Heat the solution until the salt and sugar are dissolved and leave to cool before placing your chicken into the brine. Leave for between three and twelve hours and then cook as normal.
- Simple salt and sugar rub
If it’s a tasty dry rub you’re looking for, sugar and salt are your best friends. Simply combine a third of a cup of coarse sea salt with the same amount of muscovado the chicken seasoning and a tablespoon of paprika, a tablespoon of chili powder and a tablespoon of paprika, and rub into your chicken breasts (it’s easiest to do this in a large sealable plastic bag.) Once evenly coated, leave for 8 hours before rinsing the chicken until all trace of the rub is gone, patting dry with paper towels, and cooking your favorite way.
- Coat it
Mixing breadcrumbs with eggs and the herbs and spice of your choice, and then coating your chicken with the mixture before frying is another really simple technique that can add tons of flavor to your chicken, while also helping to retain moisture and giving it a pleasant crunch, lemon and thyme, and cajun seasoning are particularly good for flavoring coatings but the options truly are endless.
As you can see, it’s actually really easy to add more flavor to your chicken and ensure that you never get tired of eating it. So, why not try preparing your chicken in one of these flavorful ways today?
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