What Are Chicken Breast Halves?

Everyone knows what chicken breasts are, but you are undoubtedly here to know what chicken breast halves are? Many people get confused when they see chicken breast halves used in specific recipes, but you don't need to get confused as we have got this sorted for you. In this article, you will find every vital detail about chicken breast halves, including the types, nutritional detailing, and the deboning method. Besides all this, we have also shared our best recipe for pan-fried chicken breast halves, so read the complete article to find some fantastic tips, processes, and a recipe. Let's get straight into the details,

What are Chicken Breast Halves?

Every chicken has two chicken breast halves joined by a breast bone in a whole chicken breast. In simple words, you will have two chicken breast halves after cutting a complete chicken breast from the center. But after cutting the chicken breast into half, you will find two types of chicken breast halves.

Types of Chicken Breast Halves

There are two types of chicken breast halves, one is boneless, and the other is bone-in. And one chicken breast half can contain both boneless and bone-in portions of meat. You have to choose the type of chicken breast half according to your recipe need. To help you with that, we will tell you some differences between boneless and bone-in chicken breast halves.

Bone-in VS Boneless Chicken Breast Halves

Nutritional Facts

Chicken is one of the supreme sources of proteins and adequately provides calories and fats. A 100 grams serving of chicken breasts supply an average of 171 calories, 4 grams of fats, and 30 grams of proteins. Here is a complete chart of nutrition that boneless and bone-in chicken breast halves provide,

Now, when you know the differences and nutrients of boneless and bone-in chicken breast halves, you can easily buy the one that fulfills your recipe demands.

What is the Best Method to Debone Chicken Breast Halves

Boneless chicken breast halves are pretty expensive than bone-in halves. The best cost-effective way to get boneless chicken breast halves is to buy a complete chicken breast and debone it on your own. Here is a complete step-wise method to debone a chicken breast to get a boneless and skinless chicken breast half,

1. Take an entire chicken breast (not frozen hard or partially thawed, preferably fresh from the grocery store or entirely thawed) and cut any legs and wings if attached to the chicken breast.

2. Place the chicken breast with the flat side on the chopping board and the neck part on your opposite side.

3. Now make a longitudinal cut in the exact center of the chicken breast using a sharp knife. Make sure to cut the chicken breast from start to end.

4. After this center cut in the chicken breast, the skin becomes easy to peel. So, peel the skin from both sides of the cut by using your fingers. You can also use a small knife if you find it difficult to peel off the skin with your hands.

5. Now find the breast bone through the center cut with your fingers. As soon as you feel the hardness of the bone, further cut the chicken breast, leading to one side of the bone. Keep cutting along the bone until the knife touches the chest bones. Now cut on the other side of the breast bone using the same process and join it with the first cut.

6. After the breast bone is prominent, separate the chicken breast halves from the rest of the bones (one half at a time). Hold one half with your non-cutting hand and start sliding the knife alongside the chest bones with the other hand. Keep cutting until the breast is separate from the bones. Use the same method for the second half and cut precisely with the chest bones to avoid wasting any meat.

7. Clean the chicken breast halves by removing any extra skin or fats attached to them.

And that's it. You have two boneless and skinless chicken breast halves by using this ultimate straightforward method.

You can use the leftovers like small meat pieces and bones while cooking chicken stoke to increase the taste.

What Is The Perfect Way To Butterfly Cut The Chicken Breasts?

Many people love to butterfly chicken breasts for grilling, but they don't know how to butterfly a chicken breast half perfectly. Here is a simple way to give a flawless butterfly cut to a boneless chicken breast half,

1. Take a boneless chicken breast half and put it on a clean chopping board.

2. Place your one hand on the breast half and hold a sharp knife in the other hand. Start sliding the knife horizontally from the longer side towards the shorter side.

3. Keep your knife straight and grip your non-cutting hand firm while you cut the chicken breast half.

4. Don't cut entirely to the end and stop cutting, leaving around 1-inch meat of the breast half.

5. Open the chicken breast half, and you will get an ideal butterfly-like shape. You can also cut it from the center to get two perfect-sized breast halves for grilling and frying.

A Simple yet Tasty Recipe

Now when you have perfect butterfly boneless chicken breast halves, you must be looking for a recipe too. There is no need to look for a recipe anywhere else as here we have a fantastic pan-fried chicken breast halves recipe. Let's get started,

Ingredients

• Chicken breast halves boneless - Two
• Butter or olive oil - Four tablespoons
• Ginger garlic paste - One tablespoon
• Black pepper powder - ½ tablespoon
• Paprika powder - ½ teaspoon
• Salt - One teaspoon
• Red chili flakes - as needed
• Dried oregano - ½ teaspoon
• Finely chopped parsley - ½ teaspoon
• Thyme - ½ teaspoon
• Rosemary - ½ teaspoon

Directions

1. Take the chicken breasts and pound them evenly with the help of a meat tenderizer. It is an essential step as pounded meat perfectly absorbs the flavors and aroma of the seasonings.

2. Transfer the pounded chicken breasts into a big bowl and add butter, ginger garlic paste, black pepper, paprika powder, and salt. After adding all these ingredients, give the chicken breasts a thorough mix, ensuring that every inch is covered in the seasonings.

3. After marinating the chicken breasts, let it sit for a minimum of 15 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour.

4. After that, pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of melted butter or oil in the nonstick frying pan or grill pan and turn the flame on. Warm the oil on a medium flame to yield evenly cooked and tendered chicken breasts.

5. Now pick the chicken breasts from the broth and put them in the hot oil.

6. Fry the boneless chicken breasts on medium flame. Fry each side for 5-7 minutes and add a little butter if there is less oil after flipping it on the other side.

7. When the chicken breast halves are half done, add all the dry ingredients and red chili flakes on them and saute for a minute.

8. Check the temperature of the inside of the chicken and make sure it is cooked thoroughly. And transfer the hot fried chicken breast to a plate.

You can also use this recipe to oven-bake or grill chicken breasts. You only have to make sure to use the right amount of heat and pre-heat the oven at the appropriate temperature.

Final Words

Now you definitely know how to debone a whole chicken breast and give it an attractive butterfly cut. Use the above methods and recipe to cut and make perfectly tendered and tastiest boneless chicken breast halves. We have covered all essential things in this article, but you can ask in the comments below if you have any questions regarding chicken breast halves.

Happy cooking!