Juicy, Tender, and Nutritious Chicken Breast Recipe (The Easiest Method You Will Ever Know!)

Chicken is undoubtedly one of the most nutritious, economical, and tasteful food options for many non-vegetarians out there. It enhances brain performance, aids in brain development, and improves the overall cognitive performance of your brain because of vitamins like B12. As it has all the essential macronutrients, it aids heavily in building muscle and induces weight loss. Apart from being rich in nutrition, it can lift your mood by boosting serotonin levels, and isn’t just easy to eat but also very easy to cook.

When it comes to cooking chicken, people usually resort to conventional methods such as grilling, deep-frying, or baking. However, what many people don’t know is cooking chicken isn’t restricted to these methods.

If you’re a calorie-conscious individual who wants to avoid deep frying at all costs and is without an air fryer but also tired of grilling and baking your chicken; or if you’re simply someone who’s looking to innovation in their cooking regime, then we have the perfect option for you- cook your chicken breast in a rice cooker.

Why Rice Cooker?

Rice cookers were made initially to ease the cooking process, by making it hassle-free and time-efficient. Since chicken is cooked because of the steam inside the rice cooker, your food will never be half or undercooked, and your chicken will turn out to be as soft and juicy as possible.

Another reason why rice cookers are amazing is that they help cook your chicken uniformly and prevent them from sticking to the base.  It also gives you the liberty of keeping the settings as per your preference and requirements and tend to other chores, once the timer’s out it stops which also minimizes the risk of food getting burnt.

Basil Chicken

Step 1: Gather All The Ingredients

To make Basil chicken, you will need:

1. Skinless and boneless chicken breast fillets. You can easily get frozen, fresh, or pre-brined chicken from any grocery store. You will need around 2-3 lb. of these.
2. Butter, Olive oil, or Vegetable oil. You can choose any as per your preference.
3. 1 clove of garlic that is finely chopped
4. 1 cup of chicken broth
5. ¼ cup of freshly chopped basil.
6. A few freshly chopped mint leaves.
7. ½ large or 1 medium chopped chili.
8. Seasoning- salt, pepper, white pepper.

Step 2: Marinate

The first step is to marinate your chicken to ensure that it absorbs all the flavor and is juicy once it’s cooked. Rub the seasonings, i.e. salt, pepper, and white pepper, on both sides of the chicken and fillet.  Once you’re done, leave it in refrigeration for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Step 3- Get Your Rice Pot Ready and Cook

• Now in the rice cooker add olive oil, vegetable oil, or butter as per your requirement and preference. Add finely chopped garlic and onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes till the onion is golden brown in color.
• Now put the chicken fillets, side by side, in the pot. After 2-3 minutes, flip the chicken breast fillets and let them cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Take the breast pieces out and place them on a plate. Add 1 cup of chicken broth to the rice cooker and stir for 30 to 60 seconds. Now, place a grilling stand in the pot and place the breast fillets on it.
• Now, place the lid and set the pressure for 5 minutes to Manual/high.
• Once it’s cooked, garnish it with chopped mint leaves and basil.

Your Basil chicken is now ready to eat in just under 30 minutes!

Stew Chicken in Steam

The next recipe that we have in store is stew chicken in steam. Following are the step which you can follow and have your dish ready in less than an hour.

Step 1: Gather All The Ingredients

The required ingredients are as follows

1. 2-3 lbs. of chicken breast, either frozen or fresh.
2. 1- ½ cup of soy sauce.
3. Around 4-5 Smashed or finely chopped garlic cloves.
4. Salt and pepper as per taste
5. 5 tbsp cornstarch
6. 5 cups water
7. 5 tbsp olive oils

Step 2: Marinate

In a zip-lock plastic bag, place soy sauce olive oil, and soy sauce. Rub salt and pepper on the chicken breast. Cut the chicken breast into roughly equal chicken strips and coat them with corn starch such that they are completely covered with it. Place the strips in the zip lock bag. Press the bag with your fingers to remove air and then put it in the refrigerator for a good 1-2 hours.

Step 3- Get Your Rice Pot Ready And Cook

• Prepare a mixture of corn starch and water (around 2 tbsp of cornstarch in 1.5 cups of water. Now, grease the rice cooker with either olive oil or butter.). Add the corn starch mixture to the rice cooker and stir for 3 seconds.
• Add the chicken strips and the marinade in the bag to the rice pot.  If chicken is not completely submerged in the mixture of cornstarch and marinade, then add water such that it is completely covered.
• Now, place the lid and set the timer for at least 15-20 minutes in a warm setting.
• Remove the lid and check if chicken strips are completely tender. If so, then the chicken stew ready to be served.

Conclusion

You can always be creative and unleash your inner chef by trying your hand at a combination of other recipes, apart from the ones we mentioned. Cooking chicken in a rice cooker is truly one of the most underrated and rewarding methods out there. You’re not just eating healthy but also saving up on important resources like gas and coal that you would’ve consumed while frying/ cooking on your stove or grilling the chicken breasts.  So, the next time you decide to cook chicken for yourself, don’t forget to use your rice cooker!