Thread: Got any tips for making chicken taste good?

Getting bored with bland old grilled, fried chicken, and those sauces out of the jar it just does nothing for me and now try to avoid including it on the shopping list. Last night I had an attempt at making my own chicken coating with some boneless breast we had in the freezer. So I got an egg and a bit of milk beat em together and soaked the chicken breasts in it for a few hours probably would have been better soaking in the milk and egg over night. So while that was soaking I ransacked the cupboards to find what ever I could to mix up to make a coating, threw together some flour, mixed herbs , paprika, salt and pepper as that was all I could find preheated the oven to 150 coated the chicken and put in a pan loaded with oil and quickly cooked the chicken till the coating was golden brown then biffed in the oven to finish cooking on a rack once cooked it was time for the taste test and I was surprised how much better it tasted but was still missing something, I reckon it could have done with a bit of garlic and a few more herbs for a bit more flavor but I think I am on the right track going to get a few more bits and bobs from the supermarket for a bit more experimenting already in my thoughts are oregano, garlic powder, onion salt and marjoram any other ideas from the tasty grub gurus on here.

Looking at the ingredients on this
Chicken Seasoning
you're on the right track.
I'm lazy and use this stuff - it's pretty good
Gregg's Moroccan Seasoning - Gregg's

More garlic is always a good idea

Y'know the general rule of food is that the more work you do yourself, the more chances you get to make it taste better than a premix (but the more ways ya can go offcourse)

My missus cooks chicken all the time, unless its a roast I just let it sit in the microvave till she goes to work then give it to the dogs.

The best way to improve a chicken meal is to get venison out of the freezer in the morning and leave it on the bench, that way chicken magically becomes venison steak

Chicken is the one meat i cant get for free which is a hassle.

I have 3 chicken meals:
Chicken + Garlic + Butter Chicken mix shit + Rice. Boom.
Chicken + Garlic + Mi-Goreng Noodles = cheap as shit meal.
Chicken + some mexican flavour shit + Tomato + Onion +wraps = mean feed of chicken wrap thingies.

Hey Hunter,

Firstly, a good start if you are grilling or roasting chicken is to brine it first.
Place it in a container full of ice cold water with about a quarter cup of sugar and a quarter cup of salt. Will produce a far FAR juicier bird, works fantastic for grilling.
Of course that's the absolute most basic brine possible, get creative! Play with ingredients and see what works

My personal favourite way to cook a chicken breast is to heat up a pan until it's screamingly hot and add a glug of olive oil a brined chicken breast (seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper), some whole garlic cloves (skin and all), some sprigs of thyme and rosemary and a handful of cherry tomatoes, cook it until the tomatoes are nice and juicy and got some colour on them then throw in a few splashes of white wine and put a lid on until the chicken is cooked.

It's just...awesome on some salad with some feta cheese.

Another great way is to brown the breasts on both sides and put some canned tomatoes in the bottom of a baking pan, place the breasts on top and put some basil leaves on top of them followed by a few slices of mozzarella and the remaining tomato sauce bake it at 180 for half an hour, just an awesome accompaniment to some homemade pasta and a good glass of wine


Nothing beats a good roast however, if you put your finger under the skin of the breasts and loosen it you can season the bird from under the skin while it cooks! i usually soften up some butter and add crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley, a shitload of black pepper, salt, the juice and zest of a lemon and maybe a little bit of paprika for colour.

Push the seasoned butter under the skin and get it as even as possible, under the breast, the legs, everywhere. Chicken skin is water tight so it's good to do this and really makes a good roast.
Stuff some herbs and a couple of halved lemons up its bum and place it on a bed of sliced onions with a healthy sprinkling of salt, pepper and lots of olive oil on the birds skin.

Stick it in a preheated oven at 220 and turn it down to 180 as soon as it's in, cook it for about an hour or until cooked through and crispy on the outside Just beautiful!

Thanks angus much appreciated food at home is pretty simple and bland and the missus and I are really getting bored with the meals we cook which is not a good thing and using the premade seasoning mixes from the supermarket is growing old too as well as expensive , to the other other guys thanks too for torturing my taste buds by mentioning venison I have none in the freezer and won't have any till I can shoot a deer (unless it is at a really cheap price in the supermarket which is once in every blue moon) but when I do get some in the freezer I will be looking up venison tips and tricks in this section because I know there is already some nice tips that have been posted.

Nothing wrong with a good chook Hunter308 and don't let these guys dissuade you. my favourite is rotisseried over a hunting camp fire with lots of roast veges and gravy.

a 50/50 mix of whole seed mustard and salad dressing. Spread over chicken pieces and bake in the oven.

Another good tip is to buy your chickens whole and cut them up yourself, it's super easy (you can do it in about 5 minutes) it saves you a bunch of money and you generally get a better quality bird.
Look for the bigger ones as they are older and have a far more developed flavour.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Try putting it in the smoker. That makes trout almost eatable.

heathen

Try coating chicken breast strips with beaten egg and rolling them in crushed up Kellogg's cornflakes instead of breadcrumbs, then fry them until golden brown. Beautiful!

I get a bag and throw some moroccan seasoning, chilli powder and some mixed herbs. This can be whatever you wish.
I then throw in a breast or two and proceed to roll the breasts around in the seasoning in the bag while giving it a mild bashing with a rolling pin to get all the seasoning into the meat.
End result will be a tenderised breast infused with flavours.
I then sear of in a pan in rice bran oil as whole breasts until cooked through but still juicy. The beauty of cooking whole is you dont dry out the chicken like when searing pieces.
This can then be sliced or torn up and tossed (ha ha stop it!) through a salad or what I do is make a tortilla/wrap with strips of said chook. Add veges and a nice mustard mayo and BOOM!! Epic chicken feed!

Number 1 chicken tip :

Don't buy breasts, buy thighs, the meat is much tastier

You are talking to a man who likes his basics. Hunter308 , mashed spuds, peas and Maggi gravy go well with a chook done in an oven bag. No need for any of this fancy stuff. If you are roasting spuds etc, throw some mushrooms in for the last 15min. Imagine your shopping list to get a pinch of this and that.
If you want to be extreme, a handful of flour in a shopping bag and a good shake of mixed spices then add legs etc and shake to coat before cooking.
I do like the idea of making a herb/spice butter and putting under the skin

Originally Posted by ebf

Number 1 chicken tip :

Don't buy breasts, buy thighs, the meat is much tastier

But but but I like breasts.