easy pan chicken!
(soft, edible, tasty, not at all rubbery or chewy, youâll wow your guests but also just like. Have some chicken, which is a cheap and easy and delicious protein)
this works best with about as much raw chicken as you can fit in the bottom of the pan youâre using. I really do cram it in there. If youâre only cooking for yourself, you can use a small pan, or just have leftovers, or just only put one piece of chicken in there, but I find itâs easier to burn it or make it too dry that way.
Also I like using boneless skinless thighs best, but it does work with any cut of chicken, bones or no bones. You can dice it before you start, stirring instead of flipping when you get there, but I find it easier to dice afterwards.
(your pan should be cast iron or enamelled or non stick. If youâre using one that isnât, you will basically need to turn the chicken into a soup base to keep your pan from being a nightmare to wash.)
once you have obtained suitable chicken and a pan to put it in!:
Heat the pan over medium heat and put in enough butter to cover the bottom of the pan. Wait till the butter melts.
over the melted butter, put a layer of salt. Youâre unlikely to do too much, meat needs a lot of salt.
add the chicken. You want it to sizzle when you put it in, but itâll turn out fine if it doesnât.
to each piece of chicken add a splash of vinegar. I like rice wine vinegar, but literally any works. So does vodka.
layer of seasoning. My favorite is a bottle of pre mixed âgarlic butter and white wineâ seasoning, but anything works. Chicken is not picky. Options include:
Paprika and garlic powder
Italian seasoning and garlic powder
tarragon, coriander, and garlic powder (noticing a theme here?)
garlic powder and parsley
whatever you feel like today
then put a lid on it. If you donât have any lids that approximate your pan, a sheet of tinfoil works. Heck a plate works. Just cover the chickies loosely.
then forget about them until they start to brown on the bottom. This takes like 5-10 min depending on how much chicken is in there and how thick your pan is. Youâll be able to smell it before it burns irreparably (itâs artistically blackened, thank you very much) and itâs fine if it fails to actually brown, so donât worry too much about this step. Just leave the lid on for a little while while you do other stuff (boil noodles, make veggies, stuff like that.)
Flip the chickens over. Add butter or vinegar if the pan is for some reason completely dry, but this should not happen. Turn the heat down if it does. Cover it back up.
when you come back to it, again 5-10 minutes later, check if itâs done. Do this by cutting into the two biggest pieces and making sure the inside is white like cooked chicken and not at all pink like raw chicken. No pink is allowed. This is not burgers. Put the lid back on if thereâs any thing that looks raw. If youâre paranoid about this and unsure, you can just like. Dice the chicken up in the pan. Or use a thermometer I guess.
your chicken is edible! If thereâs seasoning stuck to the pan add a tablespoon of water or lemon juice or wine if youâre feeling fancy (do not use rice wine it caramelises. Which actually tastes ok) while itâs still hot and scrape the seasoning up. You can then mix it back into the chicken. This chicken can be served like this, or you can dice it up, or you can turn the heat down a little, cook it a little longer, and then shred it with a fork for shredded chicken.
cool till brown, flip, cook till done.
voila, you can pan fry chicken! I have never yet made it inedible doing it this way, you really wonât mess it up.
