Pan-Fried Marinated Chicken Breast
Simple and tasty, with everyday ingredients — even a kid could make it! You can cook this pan-fried marinated chicken breast for lunch or dinner. While it marinates, you've got time to make a side and heat the pan. The pieces of chicken come out juicy and tender. A budget-friendly everyday dish!
Cooking method
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Step 1:
How do you pan-fry marinated chicken breast? Gather all your ingredients. You can use this recipe for thighs, too, not just breasts. Use whatever spices you have or like best with chicken — I used just black pepper.
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Step 2:
Rinse the chicken under running water. If the breasts aren't trimmed, remove the skin and bones (save them for another dish, like a broth). Cut the meat into portions about the size of half your palm and 1/2 inch (1–1.5 cm) thick. Blot the pieces dry with a paper towel so there's no moisture left and less spattering as they fry.
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Step 3:
Make the marinade. In a deep bowl, mix the mayonnaise, soy sauce, and ketchup. Peel, rinse, and mince the garlic (press it or grate it on a fine grater), add it to the marinade, and stir until smooth. Taste and add salt if it needs it.
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Step 4:
Pour the marinade over the chicken and toss so every piece is well coated. Let it marinate at room temperature for at least 20 minutes — the longer it sits, the tastier it gets.
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Step 5:
Take a heavy-bottomed skillet, about 9 inches (22 cm) across. Heat it with the vegetable oil over medium heat and lay in the chicken. Turn up the heat and fry until golden on one side.
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Step 6:
Then flip the chicken and fry for 2 minutes, then lower the heat and fry another 3 minutes, until lightly golden. Don't leave the breast on too long, or it'll dry out and the dish will be ruined.
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Step 7:
If the chicken doesn't all fit, repeat steps 5 and 6 with the rest. If a lot of scorched marinade builds up in the pan, get rid of it — otherwise it'll burn and give the meat a bitter taste. Wipe it out with a few layers of paper towel, or just wash the pan and dry it.
- Serve the chicken breast for lunch or dinner with any side dish. It also makes delicious sandwiches for breakfast or a snack.
- Soy sauce, mayonnaise, and ketchup are all fairly salty, so I don't add any salt to the marinade at all — go by your own taste.
- If you use a ready-made spice blend, be sure to read the label. These blends often already contain salt, so keep that in mind or you risk over-salting the dish.
- Homemade mayonnaise is best — tastier and better for you. You can also use sour cream or plain yogurt as the dressing instead of mayo, on their own or blended with mayo in any ratio you like, which cuts down the calories.
- Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying. Any oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms harmful compounds. Unrefined oils, with rare exceptions, have a low smoke point; they're full of unfiltered particles that scorch quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. If you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, use an oil with a high smoke point. The most common ones are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed oils.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Garlic - 143 kcal/100g
- Soy sauce - 51 kcal/100g
- Salad mayonnaise of 50% fat content - 502 kcal/100g
- Light mayonnaise - 260 kcal/100g
- Provencal Mayonnaise - 624 kcal/100g
- Provencal mayonnaise - 627 kcal/100g
- Table mayonnaise - 627 kcal/100g
- Vegetable oil - 873 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
- Spices dry - 240 kcal/100g
- Chicken breast - 113 kcal/100g
- Ketchup - 93 kcal/100g
