Flattened Spicy Chicken Breasts

Every once in awhile you run across a kitchen tip that changes an ingredient you used to loathe into one you really like. In this case the kitchen tip is flattening your chicken breast before you cook it. Chicken breasts are difficult to cook well because in their natural state there is such a difference in thickness from one end to the other. While you’re waiting for the center to become edible there is a dry, tasteless army marching up from the thin end of the chicken, intent on ruining your dinner.

I’ve tried the brown-in-the-pan-and-finish-in-the-oven technique but it requires a pan that you can put in the oven and that’s extra dishes. I’ve tried butterflying which feels too much like when I had to dissect a frog in high school. Boiled chicken outside of soup is a punishment. Eventually, I gave up and started cooking almost exclusively with chicken thighs because they are cheaper, easier to cook. They also remain juicy and flavorful despite my occasional ineptitude.

But when it comes to summertime grilling I really wanted a chicken breast recipe that would work and not make me want to excuse myself to the other room in tears every time I tried it. The universe answered me in a flash of a video where I saw someone going after their chicken breast with a rolling pin. It was that moment where the clouds broke open and light streamed down onto a beautiful green valley. Of course. The answer is make the chicken breast the same thickness. In the eternally wise words of Regis Philbin on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, “It’s only easy when you know the answer.”

So my flattened spicy chicken breasts have evolved to save summer. I’ve found that the key to flattening your chicken breasts is to start slowly and hit it about half as hard as you think you need to. They’re actually quite yielding to pressure so if you are too enthusiastic you will pretty quickly end up with chicken mash and no one wants that. We’ve done these straight on the grill as is, cut them up into tacos, you can use it in a chicken salad. You don’t need the marinade at all even. If you walk away from this recipe with only the tip of flattening your chicken breasts your day is already better!

Making

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4 flattened chicken breasts

10 minutes to prep, as long as you want to marinate, 6 minutes to cook

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, flattened

Juice from 2 limes

1 red chili, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp Mexican (or regular) oregano

1/2 tsp onion granules

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

6 cloves garlic, chopped

25g fresh coriander, chopped

Instructions

Start by flattening your CHICKEN BREASTS by putting them in a plastic freezer bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can and seal. If you don’t have a freezer bag, you can put them between two layers of parchment paper. Put the chicken breasts on a cutting board and pound with a rolling pin, or something similarly shaped. Start from the thick end and concentrate your energies there. Use the thickness of the thin end as your goal.

In a bowl big enough for the chicken and the marinade, put in the LIME JUICE, RED CHILI, OLIVE OIL, CUMIN SEEDS, OREGANO, ONION GRANULES, CAYENNE PEPPER, GARLIC and CORIANDER. Stir it all together.

Add the chicken breasts to the marinade and massage it in. Make sure all of the chicken is slathered. Cover the bowl and stash in the fridge for as long as you can, ideally overnight.

If you have a grill available to you, I highly recommend doing them there. Put the grill on medium to high and cook the chicken for three minutes on each side on direct heat. If you are doing them in a pan, put it on medium but close to high heat with a little oil. It might take slightly longer in the pan.