Desperately seeking a different recipe for chicken breasts (ingredients, cayenne pepper, paprika)

[Ruby Wilfong]

We eat a lot of chicken breasts here. My husband and I don't care for dark meat, so it's breasts and wings for us. We eat other meats too, but chicken is a mainstay. I've made all the ususal versions of bbq, mayonaise, salad dressings, baked under stove top stuffing, in salads, but I'm hoping some kind person out there who has an amazing imagination, has come up with something different.
The only thing I can't use is hot peppers or anything like that. Both my husband and myself can't eat it.
Thanks so much!

[lubby]

Chicken picatta, chicken marsala, stuffen chicken breasts with ricotta and spinach, chicken cordon Bleu. Chicken fricasee.The fricasee, picatta and cordon bleu recipes can be found in the recipe forum, They are mine.

[OpenD]

A very simple technique that you can use a million ways is what I call herb-stuffed chicken breasts.

Simply split the breasts almost in half, horizontally, leaving a bit of a hinge... open them up, apply herbs or sauces or cheeses or almost anything, then close them back up and sautee the normal way until fully cooked. This way you can get all kinds of favorite flavors going that would just get burnt to a crisp if you tried putting them on the outside.

Lessee, at various times I have used whole sprigs of rosemary (remove before eating) this way, also cheese and jalapeno, bacon jam, pesto (see the current recipe thread on pesto), smoked tomato sauce, and others.

Experiment, have fun!

[Capt. Cave Man]

Fillet the breast, pound somewhat flat, and use as the "bread" for a chicken pizza. start grilling/cooking then add sauce, cheese, veg later as they need to cook. good stuff, and low in carbs

Use in stir fry, in pho, wrap in bacon on grill. cajun dishes like po boy, gumbo, etc.

grind and make a chicken sausage for "bratz" on the grill. be sure to add alot of fat to mix.

[asitshouldbe]

We eat alot of chicken too, it gets boring, we eat chicken tacos, shredded bbq chicken, chicken as the crust for pizza, chicken alfredo, sweet and sour, fried, baked, stuffed peppers or shells, you name it we've tried it.

[Ruby Wilfong]

All of your suggestions sound wonderful ! Some of them I make farily often, but each of you had something I haven't tried, and will be adding them to my weekly mix. I especially love the idea of "Chicken Pizza" !!! I've never seen anything like that before and will be making it on the grill tonight. AWESOME !
I know my family will be delightfully surprised when they all come in for dinner. I've decided to dub this dish, "Cave Man Pizza" in your honor, CApt.. Now, off to get my toppings together, and light the grill (My kids, even now fully grown still call my grill, "the Gorilla". LOL This is gonna be a great day, because I will be "Mom the Bomb"!
Again, a great big thank you to all of you!

[TexasHorseLady]

Try this sticky chicken recipe. Note in the comments that some use it for chicken breasts successfully, adjusting the time. I've made it using a whole roast chicken and it is absolutely wonderful - and easy!

[TheJagMan]

Most folks who focus exclusively on chicken breasts want low calories and/or low carb. Here's a secret method in the dieting community for those who eat chicken breasts on a daily basis and only want to be in the kitchen once a week. Cook the breasts all at the same time, throw them into the food processor for a rough chop. You then portion it them off into individual sandwich zip top bags. Now here's where you add the flavor, to prevent dry chicken, add liquid. BBQ sauce, salad dressing, soy sauce, etc. If you're trying to go healthy, you can added spices to chicken stock or broth and pour spiced liquid into the bag. Put the bags of chicken in the fridge or freezer, when it comes time to heat them up the liquid allows for fairly even microwaved reheating. The whole premise of this method is that more surface area is exposed compared to a whole breast where there's only a top and bottom.

[7G9C4J2]

We got a really wonderful recipe for Chicken Piccata from another C-D member a few years ago, and it has become a favorite in steady rotation in our kitchen. Very easy, quick, and truly wonderful stuff.

Chicken Piccata

This serves 2 if they're REALLY hungry. Otherwise, four.

4 boneless chicken cutlets, rinsed, pat dry pounded between plastic wrap to 1/8" thick--dusted in flour & s/p
2 T olive oil
1/4 C dry white wine
1 t minced garlic
1/2-3/4 C chicken broth
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T capers
2 T unsalted butter
Fresh lemon slices
Fresh parsley to garnish

Assemble all the ingredients in measuring cups next to the stove

Coat a sauté pan with olive oil over med. high heat. Sauté chicken 2-3 minutes on both sides. Transfer cutlets to plate & pour off fat. Deglaze pan with wine, add garlic and simmer until garlic is translucent and liquid is nearly evaporated 2-3 minutes. Add broth, lemon juice, capers. Return cutlets to pan and cook 1 min. each side. Transfer to a warm plate.
Finish sauce with butter and lemon slices, pour over cutlets and top with parsley.


Another of our favorites is Chicken Paprikash, and my spouse has a wonderful version scaled nicely for two people.

Quick and Easy Chicken Paprikash for 2

2 boneless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 C (1/2 lb) sliced mushrooms
1/2 C chopped Onions
1 clove Garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 C chicken broth
1 Tbs. Sweet Hungarian Paprika
1 tsp Half-Sharp Paprika*
1 C Sour Cream

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Heat oil in saute pan, add chicken and saute for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and onions. Saute another 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add garlic, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Bring broth to boil, then reduce heat. Allow to simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Add Paprika and sour cream. Heat until bubbling but don't cook over-long.
Serve over noodles.

* If you don't have half-sharp paprika, substitute 1 tsp of sweet paprika and 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper.


Another one we like a lot started out as a stuffing for a whole chicken, and evolved into a base for chicken pieces. This is one where you'd want to use bone-in chicken breasts; the bone adds gelatin to the potato/olive/caper base that really makes a flavor and mouth-feel difference.


Chicken stuffed with Potatoes and Olives

3-4 medium red potatoes, unpeeled and cubed
8-10 green olives chopped
1 Tbs Rosemary
3-4 Tbs chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic minced
3 anchovies mashed
1 Tbs chopped capers
3 Tbs Olive oil
1 3 lb chicken

Mix everything but chicken. Put in roasting pan. Cut up chicken (halved or jointed) and lay over potato mixture. Bake at 375 for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

Most folks who focus exclusively on chicken breasts want low calories and/or low carb. Here's a secret method in the dieting community for those who eat chicken breasts on a daily basis and only want to be in the kitchen once a week. Cook the breasts all at the same time, throw them into the food processor for a rough chop. You then portion it them off into individual sandwich zip top bags.... etc.

I do something similar, but sans the chopping.

I typically buy a package of 4 or 5 breasts at a time when they are least expensive. Then I cook them all at one time, and after they have cooled, I bag them individually. But I keep them whole for most flexibility in use. Once cooked they keep nicely.

To use, I quickly slice them up before reheating... sometime lengthwise into long slivers, sometimes crosswise into thin slices, sometime chunked up into bite sized pieces. That can easily be done in far less time than it would take to clean the food processor.

If I want to add a marinade or sauce I'll toss it in the zip bag and let sit for maybe 30 minutes, but for reheating I then put it in a small microwaveable dish. There's clear evidence that microwaving a sandwich bag is never a good idea.