Honey-Brined Fried Chicken Breasts

Chef John (note the chef title) is able to fry a large chicken breast without it turning black. I, however, know my limitations. I decided to cut the breast into medallions to enhance my chances of having a dish that was edible. Other than that slight change, I made the recipe exactly as instructed. This is a great recipe. The chicken had wonderful flavor was very moist and absolutely perfect served on greens. This is a keeper.

It's sometimes risky trusting internet recipes, but this is a definite winner. I subbed breast tenders for breasts, 2% for buttermilk, and garlic and onion powders for garlic and onion salts. Because I used tenders, I cut the brine ingredients in half and soaked the chicken for 30 min instead of 1 hr. I would suggest that you stay very conscious of the brine. Even though I cut my soaking time in half, my chicken ended up just a tad salty. Granted, I subbed the buttermilk and I didn't dry my chicken COMPLETELY post-brine. I'd say it's definitely safer to sub garlic and onion POWDERS for salts, and just keep salt at the table. At any rate this is a fantastic recipe on its own (and I imagine it makes a great template as well). Thanks, Chef John! Cheers!

This chicken was awesome. I followed the recipes with one minor change, I only used 1/8 c kosher salt. Turned out perfect, moist and juicy.

Great recipe. Moist and flavorful. Was a bit skidish about the salt so cut the brine soak time to 45 mins and sub'd garlic & onion powder for garlic & onion salt. Only other comment is recipe says "Ready In: 25 Min" Well... an hour to soak in the brine, 15 mins to soak in the milk, 15 mins to "dry", 30 - 40 mins in the pan... This is a couple of hours project... Oh well - Worth the effort...

Delicious! 5 stars! I made minor adjustments based on reading all the reviews. Because there was a consistent theme of "too salty", I reduced the kosher salt to somewhere between 1/4 c and 1/8 c. and used garlic and onion powders instead of salts. This worked perfectly. **Keep in mind the recipe calls for kosher salt, so if you use table salt (Morton's, etc), it will yield a saltier meal than if you use kosher salt so you might back-off a bit more** So the breasts would cook thouroughly before burning the crust, I pounded the chicken to around 1" thickness. I will make them thinner next time as the crust was pretty dark by the time the internal temp raised to 155F. (watched Chef John's video and he recommends this temp as the internal temp will continue to rise to around 165F after being removed from the oil - which it did). The taste was superb! Very flavorful and moist. I will definitely make these again. Served with Cowboy potatoes from this site and a Kale Salad. Great meal!

The whole purpose of brining is to help the white meat be more tender and flavorful. Keep in mind that you discard the brine after the meat has marinated in it for an hour. Only a tiny bit is absorbed into the meat. The salt is what helps the meat hold it's moisture. If you marinate it more than an hour it will probably be saltier. IF you cut back on the salt there is no real need to brine it so don't bother. I made this exactly like the recipe called for and it was not salty at all. It was delicious and moist. I usually cut my chicken breast in half horizontally instead of pounding them. Each breast is like less than an inch thick. It makes cooking them easier and it helps cut the portion size down. Letting it sit for 5 minutes after cooking also helps the meat hold it's moisture. This is an awesome recipe. My family loved it, it was moist and very tasty. I will be making it again.

Amazing recipe! Followed it exactly.. Except added extra seasoning to the flour mixture. Highly recommended

DEFINATELY 5/5. This was my very first attempt at fried chicken, and it was phenomenal! Everyone (boyfriend/fiance, parents, and little sister) polished it off before anyone had time to get seconds. The only thing I will criticize is that it was indeed a little salty, but I used onion powder instead of onion salt. Regardless, this was VERY good and went well with the carrots and dinner rolls we had with it. I will most definately make this again. >:D

Wow! This was wonderful. I followed exactly with the exception of substituting half-and-half for the buttermilk (I had some I wanted to use up). I was a little afraid I would burn them to a crisp, as my chicken breasts were pretty big, but I just turned them a couple of times and they turned out well. This is definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing, Chef John!

I have been an unimpressed critic of Chef John's recipes in those I've tried to date but this one offered me fresh hope. It is simple perfection. In fact, it has been awhile since I've tried a recipe that has impressed me as much as this one has. The meat is unusually tender and juicy and immensely rich and flavorful, the coating a crunchy complement - the two partnering into something mouthwatering good. I would only suggest that the chicken is only as good as what you choose to season it with, and that could be a variety of choices. I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Monterey Steak Seasoning. I want some more. (Note: A splatter screen when frying reduces mess and clean-up considerably)

My family and I really liked this recipe. I did make alterations-added corn muffin mix and instant potato flakes to the flour, and tripled pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder (not onion salt or garlic salt). Also added season salt and paprika to flour mixture.

Chef John, this dish is one of the many reasons you are my favorite Chef. This dish is 5 star awesome! Prepared exactly as your video, it was easy and everyone absolutely, hands down loved every bite! Even my picky eaters ate every bit and wanted more. *I also prepared it using Gluten Free Bisquick instead of flour, onion powder instead of onion salt & Canola oil instead of vegetable. PERFECT! THIS IS A MUST MAKE DISH!

Maybe I did something wrong? I like salt, and this was very salty. The only thing I did differently was the chicken soaked for 24 hours in the marinade. I'll try this again and reduce the salt and cook the chicken a little longer (it doesn't seem as if you can overcook this chicken).

I am going to have to try this again. I used chicken quarters instead of breasts, and left the skin on. The skin started to burn so I had to bake it to finish cooking. Next time I will see if the skinless bonelss chicken cooks like it should. And I will brine the chicken over night. Otherwise... EXCELLENT.

I have tried this recipe a few times and absolutely love it! The chicken is always moist and tender, and the coating is always crisp and delicious. The last time I made this I decided to double-coat it, so I doubled the coating recipe (basically made the mixture twice in two separate bowls) and then dipped the chicken in the buttermilk after the first coating. It was a little tougher to cut through, but the chicken within was still just as delicious and the two coats were very tasty! I'll be double-coating this from now on. :)

Except for Rosettes (a Swedish cookie), I don't think I've ever fried a dish! But I did this one. I used a Costco packet of two boneless skinless chicken breasts and so halved the rest of the ingredients. I brined the chicken for about five hours, using only half the (kosher) salt. For the flour mixture I used only 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne (could have used more). This was totally delicious! The next time I make this, I'll try brining and lightly frying the chicken without the flour in a mixture of olive oil and butter and see how that works. Frying doesn't work for all people! I suspect that the secret to this recipe is the brine after all. Thanks once again, Chef John. I'm a loyal fan!

For all of the prep time and messing with frying, the result was moist chicken with a bland coating. Not worth repeating.

excellent!! only changes were to slice breasts in half (thinner), didnt have buttermilk so used 1/4 cup milk added 1 tbsp white vinegar set aside for 5 min.

For a Kosher substitution for milk/buttermilk, I used 1/4 cup of almond milk with one-half teaspoon white vinegar.

Holy moly -- this was a little bit of work but worth every minute! This chicken was truly to die for. The recipe says it's ready in 25 minutes - NOT. First, you have to let it marinade at least an hour in the fridge, then it has to sit out for 15 minutes in the buttermilk, and then another 15 minutes in the flour mixture. If I had waited that long for the 15 minutes parts, this might have been even better but as it was I gave about 10 in the buttermilk and 5 on the rack with flour and then cooked it up. WOW. I just can't say enough about how juicy and delicious this was. The only thing I think I did wrong was setting it on paper towels when I took it out of the oil --- immediately out it was succulent (hard to stop eating it as I was plating!) but with dinner it was a bit drier. Next time I won't let it blot. So darn good I'm already putting it on the list to make for both sets of parents when they visit this holiday. Thanks Chef John!!!

I followed the directions, but the coating end up sticking to the pan. The chicken was juicy and tender though. Maybe I need to try this in a deep fryer.

Such an excellent recipe!!!

This is my first review here. This turned out soooo good that I had to comment on it. I had 3 chicken breasts, and used 1/8C kosher salt in the brine. I cut the chicken into strips before soaking in buttermilk. I used on- hand ingredients for my breading: Italian bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and Season All. I fried in butter shortening/olive oil and turned once. Seriously the most delicious chicken I've ever had. My daughter, who is not fond of chicken, LOVED this. So did my husband. They were happy to hear this would be in the dinner rotation on a regular basis. For me, I'll never pine for KFC or any other fried chicken again. YUM

IF you let these soak long enough, they are AMAZING. However, if your chicken is too thick, they have a hard time cooking through without really overdoing the outside coating. I would recommend using thinner breasts, and letting them soak in the brine at least an hour.

The secret to this recipe really is the brine. Without it, it's just a normal fried chicken recipe. I used garlic & onion powders, not salt in my breading - also added in a dash each of paprika and dry mustard powder. Used 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, could definitely have used more. I didn't do it this time because I was in a rush but HIGHLY suggest that you do a double breading on these. Nearly all of my flour coating flaked off while frying and I did let them dry for 15 mins before cooking. Next time I may do a panko breading on top of the flour. This was a great recipe and I'll be making it again. I may also try upping this brine and doing a whole turkey breast.

By far the best fried chicken I've made. Using relatively uniform pieces like these boneless breasts seems to take a lot of the guess work out of the process and prevent burning. I found that smaller breasts cook the most uniformity without burning the crust. Probably a good idea to halve large breasts filet style.

So juicy and delicious! Will use this over and over again! Thank you

Just made this and I'm very impressed...Crunchy in the outside juicy in the inside. My #1 fried chicken so far. I even posted a pic of the chicken on here and it looks awesome. Only thing I would suggest is that u make sure its drenched in the flour cause I kept seeing peeling on the chicken

Wondering if you can put this in the oven? time and temp? anyone?

Very good and delicious. Didn't have buttermilk on hand so I used soured milk. 1/2C milk (i had 1%) add 1T vinegar and let it sit 5 min. I will certainly make again.

I have had limited success with fried chicken, but I had skinless chicken breasts and needed something interesting to do with them. This caught my eye since it had such an interesting brine. WOW! The brine really was easy and did really leave a tiny hint of sweetness and certainly juiciness. I didn't have buttermilk and scrambled to create some with low-fat milk and vinegar with 1 T of butter whipped into it. That worked well and the breading was perfect (though I did cheat and add maybe 1/4 of italian bread crumbs to the mix for crunch). My breading stayed on, but my oil was a little too hot to start, so I had to flip more than once to keep from burning. Family LOVED it so much! In fact the daughter who dunks everything in Ranch dressing wished she hadn't put it on top the chicken because it was so good without it. I don't know if this would ever be a regular since it does take some prep, but on a Sunday when I have the time to do the brine and the buttermilk soak I'll remember it.

Followed recipe to the tee! I slightly over cooked it but it still was so so good! Can't give it any less than 5 stars because of my failure at frying! Seved it with garden salad and fried eggplant.... I didn't over cook the eggplant! Thanks John!!!!

The honey tastes great. I like the sweet and salty flavor of the dish. I would like it better with less salt.

Made this last night and really enjoyed it!I cut back a bit on the salt and added Tony Catchers to the flour for a bit of spice.I was a bit disapointed in the amount of honey flavor so I gave it a light drizzle just out of the pan.Served it over a bed of arugula.The sweet honey and the spice of the arugula was a very tasty combination. I will be making this again!

The family really liked this fried chicken. It was tender and moist. I cut the kosher salt in half and used garlic and onion powders with 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Very tasty!

I did not care for this recipe.

"The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the brine ingredients. The actual amount of the brine consumed will vary." Apparently the reviewers citing the sodium content don't know how to read. Most brining doesn't consume much of the brine - similar to marinating. Marinade content would be appalling if completely consumed as well much of the time - but most of it ends up thrown away, as the meat absorbs only a little. Didn't have buttermilk, so used 2% milk, it still came out just fine. I also pounded the breasts to an even thickness to avoid my usual issue of the thin part overcooking while the thick part is still pink. Works well for b/s pork chops as well- had a loin I couldn't think of anything special for, cut it into 1/2 inch thickness, and followed the rest. Worked great.

This is fantastic! I use it all the time & the whole family loves it. I have one question for anyone who is savvy about nutritional content...My dad needs to watch his sodium intake, but I really want to make this for him. I usually use granulated garlic & onion powder instead of the onion salt & garlic salt. Does anyone know how that changes the (very high) sodium level in this recipe?

This is a recipe that I've wanted to try for quite a while. I rarely fry chicken (seriously, it has been years), and after looking at the stove and the mess in the kitchen, I know why. However, this one's worth the cleanup. Dumb, dumb, dumb, and that's what I'm calling myself, should have known better. Had very large (actually HUMONGOUS) chicken breasts, and I either should have pounded them out a little or sliced them horizontally. My chicken breast was so thick that it ended up over-browning to reach the magical 165. Not to worry, it still tasted good. Who knew a boneless chicken breast could taste like good old fried chicken??? It was a nutritional splurge and caloric treat!

Wow! This recipe is fabulous! It didn't turn out the way I was expecting. I thought it would end up a little sweet, like my favorite Tyson honey-battered chicken strips... not so much. It was still delicious, though! I followed the recipe exactly, except I didn't dry the chicken after I dredged it. Also, I used scallopines from Sprout's, so it cooked really quickly and didn't get overdone on the outside or dry out. Also, I used fat free regular milk instead of the buttermilk. Really a wonderful recipe for fried chicken that is easy and doesn't take too long!

Yummo! Pound your chicken breasts thinner so the outside will not burn and it will be cooked through! Use garlic powder and onion powder instead of salt. Otherwise, I followed exactly! Delicious! Making again this week!

Thought this would be just another fried chicken recipe, but it was so much more! Very tasty, didn't even need any sauces or gravy with this recipe. Hubby and I agreed this is a definite keeper! (Although I did use onion powder and garlic powder instead of the salts and added a dash of salt and paprika to the flour.)

This was a great recipe that the whole family loved. Just make sure you allow plenty of time to do the "resting" otherwise your dinner might not be served until close to bedtime. :D

This chicken was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!!!! Yum yum yum!!! I followed the direction almost exactly as instructed. I added a little paprika, and cumin to the flour mix and the result was amazing. It came out tender on the inside and a bit crispy on the outside. I will definitely make this again.

Chef John's comment about boneless skinless breast halves and their lack of inspiration immediately caught my attention. Not sure how it happens, but this recipe is amazing -- the meat was incredibly moist, and the flavor, scrumptious. The whole family raved about them right before returning for seconds. A new favorite, for sure!

OMG! This was AMAZING! I didn't have Kosher salt but used 1/8 of table salt in the brine as suggested by another reviewer. I also used garlic powder & onion powder in the flour mixture. (We are watching our salt intake). I used 1 teaspoon of cayenne and it gave it the right amount of pop. After frying, I placed the chicken on a cooling rack. I will have Kosher salt on hand from now on as I see a lot of recipes that call for it. I love this recipe! Thank you so much!

Perfect! I rarely fry anything but my husband favors fried chicken over any other, so I decided to give this a try. The only thing I tweaked was to cut all salt ingredients in half. The breasts were huge and I too was worried about doneness all the way through. No problem! Very moist and flavorful throughout. This will definitely be my "go too" recipe for boneless breast halves. Well worth the prep time too. We both loved it.

Bland, bland, bland. And the outside was pretty charred by the time the inner chicken was cooked. I will not make again. Definitely NOT WORTH THE TIME it took to make it. When you start prepping dinner 2 hours before you eat - it should be great, or at least good.

My family and I loved this Chicken! I read some of the reviews before I started and listened. I did use 1/4 cup Kosher salt and know that useing table salt in a brine can make a huge difference in flavor. So I did brine for a hour, but still did not use salt in the flour. Mainly because I don't have "salted" garlic and onion powder and added paprika also. I did pound out the chicken breast (they were really thick) to about 1&1/2" for a more even cook time. As far as the sticking goes, I started with a professional pan that can be put in the oven and the chix stuck. So I switched to a non-stick pan, no sticking! The dish turned out PERFECT. I severed it with roasted russet and sweet potatoes, baked beans and grilled corn. A+ Dinner!

made this tonite - probably would have given it a 5 star - except i could not completely cook the chicken without burning the coating - next time i will deep fry the chicken until golden and then finish cooking in the oven - i did this with 2 pieces and it worked great. the chicken was really moist - even my husband thought it was great - burnt coating and all - which says a lot as he is NOT a chicken fan.

Not enough water for that large amount of chicken, but absolutely the moistest wonderful chicken. The salt water brine is the trick to making the moistest chicken,turkey or any other meat whether you bake. broil, roast, grill, or fry it.

OMG! Who knew boneless, skinless chicken breasts could taste so good! My husband said this was one of the best chicken dishes we've ever had. Thanks!

This was my first attempt at fried chicken and it came out amazing! My dad wanted to know if we could have it once a week. I did increase the recipe by 1/2 (2 extra chicken breasts) and so had to do two batches. The only change I made was to skip the cayenne and use only a dash of black pepper as I'm not really a fan of it's aggressiveness. For us the seasoning was perfect, well salted but not overly so.

This was delicious! Like others, I used onion and garlic powder, added a sprinkle of Lawry's seasoning salt and cayenne pepper. I also used chicken tenders, a bit easier to work with. A lot of prep, but its so tasty!

My kids and husband love this recipe. I did make the mistake once of leaving them in the brine longer than an hour and they were too salty. Also, the smaller the piece of chicken, the less time needed to brine it seems.

Excellent! I didn't measure but used my eye, however, it turned out great and the whole family was impressed!

So delicious! Made as is :)

We've had this twice and loved it. First time I used the exact ingredients, but it was a bit on the salty side. Today I used onion salt and garlic powder. The result was less salty, but next time I'm going to stick with onion powder and garlic powder. It is well worth the time and effort and for an old lady with arthritis in her feet that's saying a lot!

Amazing - even with 3 different things changed. 1. I did not have any buttermilk ready so thinned down some greek yogurt with milk and soaked them for about 20 min. 2. I also accidentally grabbed some marmalade and added 1 Tbsp to the brine before realizing. Left it in and still added 2 heaping Tbsp of honey. Do not believe it changed a thing. 3. As some other reviewers did, I used powders not salted for the garlic and onion. And I too was a bit worried about the length of time to fry chicken breasts that were not flattened or halved but felt I had to trust Chef John's judgement especially seeing as he specifically mentioned it would work! IT DID!!! Absolutely delish with the thin (not burnt and NOT greasy!) fried coating.

loved this!!

followed the recipe to the letter. it was perfect and delicious

This recipe is good. We followed it except let the brine sit for 6 hours and it came out perfect! We paired it with Chef John's marble potatoes. 5/5 Stars!

What a surprisingly tasty way to prepare the ever tasteless,dry boneless skinless chicken breast!! I found it to be easy as well!! I will use this recipe over and over and even play with variations since im sure there are plenty of ways to do so! Thank you for making me a star in my home tonite! My family loved it!!

Honestly speechless over how good this was. We served a fresh romaine tossed salad with some homemade buttermilk dressing on the side. It was true perfection. Now one of our traditional "SundaySuppers!" MAKE THIS!!!

A little salty. Will definitely make again but will add less salt to the flour. Very moist and tender!

Used half the salt. Jada loved this!!!!!

A nice change from your average boneless skinless chicken breast recipes yum! Only thing I did differently is use 2% instead of buttermilk and I used lowerys season salt in the flour

Loved this!

This recipe is delicious! I was a bit timid using our electric skillet, but it did a great job frying the chicken. I think 7 minutes on each side will be enough next time. As far as any suggestions, I would use no more than 1/8 of a cup of the Kosher salt. That's all I used and it was salty enough. I think I would also double my seasonings, but that's because I like a bit more flavor. Someone suggested I use peanut oil, so I did. I don't know if it made any difference, so vegetable oil will work. This is definitely a keeper!

The brining made the meat moist but having honey in it left, to me, an odd after taste. There is too much flour with too few spices. Use half the amount and increase spices considerably. Don't think I would make again.

Delicious! My husband loved this recipe.

This was excellent! I used breast tenderloins, soaked it a little longer in the buttermilk and hot sauteed (sp) with olive oil and butter. The crunch was great. we ate all 4 servings. Making it again tonight and using leftovers for salad with arugula and honey mustard dressing. It takes time but the actual 'prep' is little. Great recipe.

Very good. I can't wait to have the leftovers tomorrow on a sandwich. My husband wanted me to order Pizza Hut for dinner. I made this instead and not only did he not complain, he had two servings! Thanks for sharing.

Can't wait to make this again! My family raved about this meal tonight. Stayed moist not dry at all, just melts in your mouth. My chicken stayed in the brine for 2 hours, and used garlic and onion powder and used celery salt instead of the other seasoning.

This was delicious! Everyone loved it and wanted to know how the breast stayed so moist. A definite keeper. Thank you.

This is not worth the time it takes to prepare. My entire family said they would rather have the chicken coated in Italian bread crumbs.

We really liked this recipe! The only change I made was to use almond flour instead of regular flour. It added a nice nutty flavor.

I made this for the family and they loved it!! I prefer to pouind out the chix breast first.

I followed the recipe to the letter and the breading fell off and what was left was no where close to fried chicken. It's to bad too, I had high hopes

Yum

The only change I made was using regular salt as I was out of kosher. This is absolutely excellent & I will use it over and over again.

This was delicious and so easy.

Loved it. Really easy.

Followed recipe, but cooked in a combination of crisco and bacon grease. Southern style!

I followed the recipe as best I could. For example, Kosher salt, garlic salt and onion salt are not available where I live in South America. Consequently, I finely minced fresh garlic and added paprika to the flour mixture, along with a bit of thyme. I decided to oven fry the breasts. They turned out so tender, juicy and delicious and I'll definitely make them again. Chicken breasts are not my favorite piece of chicken because they are usually so dry. No hint of dryness with this recipe! :-)

This was a nice change to standard fair boneless breasts. The only changes I made were not using buttermilk, I used what I had, organic skim, and I hammered thicker part of the breasts to even thickness & cut each breast into 3 equal sized pieces. Made cooking a little faster & Hubby loved it! Yum!

Too salty for me

This recipe is amazing! The kids had seconds. Very moist and flavorful.

I did sub garlic and onion powders for salts. But I got "best fried chicken I ever ate" comments from everyone who has eaten this.

Usually my fried boneless breasts come out dry and hard. That wasn't the case with this recipe.

I made this and it was light and crispy. My new favorite way to make chicken.

So far I am not impressed. I know I am not the most practiced at frying chicken in order to make a skin. The skin was nice & crisp while the chicken inside had a nice moisture to it; but I burned the skin...which to me suggests that I had the stove on too high a temperature while frying it. I need to try this again after I research a little more into finding out stove top temperatures so I can ensure the chicken is being crisped at the proper temperature. Also, the skin was bland...again, a possible result of burning the skin slightly, but perhaps that means I need to increase the amounts of the ingredients. I tasted nothing of the honey in the chicken at all.

good!!!!! :) :) :)

This chicken was good.. it was moist and tasty, but nothing special. Will make again sometime.. but when I have time for the steps to make it. The prep time is alot longer than 10 minutes, so if your looking for quick.. this is not it.

Delicious. I would make it again. I didn't have buttermilk so I substituted whole milk w/lemon juice. This worked fine but I would love to try it with buttermilk the next time.

Usually my fried boneless breasts come out dry and hard. That wasn't the case with this recipe.

Wow! Great recipe. I used half breast with ribs, so I had to cut them in half so they would cook to the correct temp - had to used a thermometer because they were so thick. I did remove the skin and these came out juicy and o so flavorful. A winning recipe! Thanks Chef John!!!!

I didn't have buttermilk so I substituted 1 cup milk with 1 tbsp white vinegar.

I loved the fried chicken with no skin and boneless. I always use that type of chicken and this was the very best way to fry it. Thanks for the recipe. It wasnt too hard to prepare either.