You wouldn’t think so, but poaching is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to prepare chicken breast.
The result is juicy, tender chicken that both preserves the pure flavor of the meat and serves as an excellent blank canvas for spicy chili oil or clean ginger scallion oil (pictured here). In this post, I’ll show you how to poach chicken breast for a quick and easy meal.
A Healthy Way to Prepare Boneless SKinless Chicken Breast
There are a range of healthy dietary choices out there and different motivations, but many agree that chicken breast is a great choice for anyone in search of a low-fat, high protein diet.
Poaching chicken breast is a particularly healthy route as you don’t need extra oil for searing in a pan or on the grill.
Most of all, it lets you concentrate on a supercharged marinade or sauce, while still preserving a very concentrated chicken flavor and tender texture!
Our Best Poached Chicken Recipes
Some of our favorite Chinese recipes involve poaching chicken. Some call for bone-in chicken dark meat or a mix of dark and white meat, or a whole chicken. But you can easily adapt these recipes with only poached chicken breast.
- Poached Chicken with Ginger Scallion Sauce
- Asian Chicken Salad with Lemon
- Bang Bang Chicken: the Authentic Sichuan Version
- Hainanese Chicken Rice
- Cantonese Poached Chicken (Bai Qie Ji) with Raw Ginger Scallion Oil
Or you don’t need a recipe at all! You can toss some chicken over rice and serve it with your favorite chili oils and hot sauces or throw it into your favorite salad.
In recipes like Curred Chicken Salad or Chicken Pot Pie that otherwise call for roasted or grilled chicken, you can also throw in poached chicken breast.
Tip!
Even if you are making a non-Chinese recipe, we feel the small amount of ginger and scallion (aromatics!) in the poaching water brings out the natural flavor of the chicken as the chicken cooks!
Also, before cooking, the chicken shouldn’t be cold right from the fridge. Take it out about 1 hour before cooking so that it cooks more evenly.
How to Poach Chicken Breast
In a medium pot, bring about 5 cups water (enough water to submerge the chicken breast) to a boil over high heat along with the ginger slices and scallion.
Once boiling, lower the chicken breast into the pot. Bring back to a boil (stay close to the stove, as it will happen very fast).
Once the water is boiling again, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and simmer for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your chicken breast.
After 3-5 minutes, turn off the heat and let the pot stand on the stove (still covered with the lid) for 10-15 minutes to continue cooking.
To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the chicken to make sure the juices run clear, not cloudy in the poaching liquid. You can also use a meat thermometer to check that the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F/74°C.
Transfer the chicken to a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and lock in the juices.
Drain and slice right before serving.
We served ours here with a few spoonfuls of a nice salty raw ginger scallion oil. You can use just the plain version…
Or add soy sauce for extra umami:
You can also shred the chicken to use it in dishes like Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken or our Asian-style Chicken Salad with Lemon. You can also use the shredded chicken in Western dishes, like chicken noodle soup or whatever you like!
Enjoy this easy technique!
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Recipe
How to Poach Chicken Breast
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring about 5 cups water (enough water to submerge the chicken breast) to a boil over high heat along with the ginger slices and scallion.
- Once boiling, lower the chicken breast into the pot. Bring back to a boil (stay close to the stove, as it will happen very fast).
- Once the water is boiling again, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and simmer for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your chicken breast.
- After 3-5 minutes, turn off the heat and let the pot stand on the stove (still covered) for 10-15 minutes to continue cooking.
- To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the chicken to make sure the juices run clear, not cloudy in the poaching water.
- Transfer the chicken to a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and lock in the juices. Drain and slice right before serving. Slice the chicken against the grain (i.e., across the breast so you get short pieces) to get the best texture.
