Perfectly Poached Chicken Breasts, Every time!

Five reasons to love poached chicken breasts: Useful, Versatile, Easy, Consistent, Healthy.

Poaching might seem like an old-fashioned technique, but it’s a reliable way to cook chicken that delivers on several fronts. Here’s why it’s a great option:

Useful: Poached chicken is a blank canvas for flavor. You can use it in countless dishes, from salads and sandwiches to stir-fries and casseroles. Try them with my Salsa verde, Pantry tomato sauce, Lemon-caper sauce, Romesco Sauce, or Arugula pesto.

Versatile: The gentle cooking method keeps the chicken moist and tender, making it perfect for shredding, slicing, or cubing.

Easy: Poaching requires minimal prep and attention. Simply simmer the chicken in seasoned water and you’re good to go.

Consistent: The low-heat cooking ensures even cooking throughout, resulting in perfectly cooked chicken every time.

Healthy: Poaching is a low-fat cooking method that retains nutrients in the chicken.

Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):

The first deep and chunky plowing of the garden was completed over the weekend. The weeds and garden “skeletons” of past season plants now ground up will provide essential nutrients to the soil. In about a month, we’ll have the garden plowed two more times until the soil is very fine and ready for planting. I love this time of year when it’s officially spring, and garden planning and seed selection is underway, there’s hope and anticipation in the air.

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1. Fill a large pot (4- 6- quarts) with COLD water and stir in the kosher, pickling, or large grain sea salt and stir (DO NOT use table salt or fine sea salt for this recipe or it will be extremely salty!)
2. Add the boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the pot and check the water level. The water should be several inches above the breasts. Turn the heat on LOW. If you are adding any aromatics, add them now. Flip the breasts over a few times while poaching. Continue heating until the water reaches between 165F (74C) and 170F (77C). Turn off the heat, remove the pot from the burner and cover with a lid for 18 minutes. Remove the breasts from the water and use immediately, or store, refrigerated, for several days
3. Read the four notes, below! 😊

Note 1: Use low heat so that the chicken has time to heat through evenly. Don’t rush the process.

Note 2: This recipe scales up to 6 breasts as long as the pot size and amount of water also increases. Regardless of the number of breasts you are poaching, be sure to always have enough water to cover the breasts by 4- to 5-inches. The general rule of thumb is for every chicken breast, use one level tablespoon of kosher, pickling, or large grain sea salt for each breast (DO NOT use table salt or fine sea salt for this recipe or it will be extremely salty!)

Note 3: Technically, chicken breasts are safe to eat once they reach 160F (71C). However, I find the texture to be a bit chewy, which is why I prefer to bring them up to between 165F (74C) and 170F (77C). If you go past 170F (77C) they tend to dry and get tough. Watch the temperature carefully near the end.

Note 4. If you don’t have a meat or candy thermometer, they are very inexpensive and may be found at most larger grocery stores.