We keep reaching to cook with the humble chicken breast and quite rightly too – it’s so versatile that can’t fail to find a chicken breast recipe you’ll like. They’re also generally quick to prepare and cook, so are great for simple but delicious lunches and suppers.

Picking your chicken breasts
With so many low cost packs of chicken breasts available, it can be tempting to grab the cheapest you can. It really does pay to spend that bit extra on good quality meat though. Not only will you notice the difference in flavour, if you buy well sourced free-range meat you can be confident in the knowledge that your chicken breasts came from a well cared for and healthy bird.

Skin on or off?
If health is your top priority, use skinless breasts that contain less fat for really healthy chicken breast recipes. Bear in mind that without this added layer of skin to keep them moist, breasts can dry out easily while cooking so you’ll need to be a bit more careful when cooking to keep your chicken breasts juicy. Chicken skins are full of flavour and absolutely delicious when roasted and crisp, as well as great at keeping chicken breasts succulent.

Cooking tips
Boneless cuts like breasts tend to dry out much quicker while cooking, so you do need to put a bit more effort in to make sure you don’t dry out your meat. You can use dry or moist heat to cook your chicken breasts.

Dry heat methods include frying, baking and grilling. In general, when using dry heat you should use a relatively high temperature and cook quickly for best results. Grilled chicken is delicious, and using a double sided George Foreman style grill is excellent at giving your chicken that lovely grilled flavour, getting rid of excess fat but keeping the moisture in. When baking or roasting skinless breasts, you can keep your chicken tasty and succulent by wrapping it in a fatty meat like parma ham first.

Moist heating methods include steaming and poaching and are great for keeping the chicken really soft and juicy. These methods don’t add the extra flavour of dry heating though, and chicken poached in plain water can taste rather bland, so you should think about adding a good amount of herbs and flavourings to the poaching liquor to impart plenty of flavour.

So keep these tips in mind when you next cook with chicken breasts, whether you go for a chicken curry recipe, a quick grilled chicken recipe or want your chicken subtly flavoured and poached. Do always remember to make sure your chicken breasts are thoroughly cooked all the way through before eating them, whatever method you use, otherwise you run the risk of food poisoning.