6 Rad Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Recipes

In the last decade, the beloved boneless, skinless chicken breast was passed over for its neighbor, the chicken thigh. Whether bone-in or boneless, cooks tout the thigh as the tastier, juicer and overall better pick.

We’re calling B.S. It’s not that thighs aren’t great, but we want to take a second to defend the breast. Chicken breasts are superior to thighs in several ways, said Laura Rege, HexClad’s Food Director. “When you want to cook fast or if you’re looking for a leaner protein, chicken breasts are better than thighs,” she said.

If there’s a number-one way to eat a chicken breast, it might just be the pounded cutlet made from half of a chicken breast. “For me, they compete with the juiciness of the chicken thigh,” said Rege.

Even better, it's easily done at home. Place a cutlet on a cutting board and use your chef’s knife to horizontally slice through the center of the cut. Rege recommends placing your hand firmly on top to make the meat easier to cut. If you have the time, stick them in the freezer for 30 minutes to make them firmer. To pound the breasts into cutlets, Rege prefers parchment paper to the popular plastic wrap method. Place the halved breast between two sheets of parchment and use a meat mallet to pound them to desired thickness. Feeling daunted by cutting into the meat yourself? Many brands sell cutlets, or you can ask your butcher to do it for you. 

1. Creamy Skillet Gnocchi with Chicken and Artichokes

This recipe reads like a hit list of all the most delicious dinner ingredients. After searing 3 chicken breast halves in your 4.5QT Hybrid Deep Sauté Pan until golden-brown and cooked through, cook shallots and gnocchi in butter until the gnocchi are toasted and the shallots are soft. All that’s left to do is add a generous pile of kale leaves and simmer everything in a Parmesan-enriched cream sauce. A can of artichoke hearts folded in at the end adds welcome tang to this cozy weeknight meal.

2. Crispy Cheese BBQ Chicken Tacos

These crowd-pleasing tacos get blanketed in a delightful crispy cheddar crust. They’re easy to make–either use the chicken breast meat from a rotisserie chicken or quickly bake an 8-ounce chicken breast to shred and use in the filling. Pickled jalapeños stud the BBQ chicken mixture, but if you want to make this friendlier for kids or those who don’t like spice, simply skip those and serve on the side for chile obsessives.

3. Crispy Chicken Ramen Upgrade

Consider this recipe your go-to for breaded chicken cutlets, Japanese-style with panko breadcrumbs. In this upgrade, you’ll transform packets of instant ramen noodles into a steaming bowl of goodness worthy of a Tokyo ramen house. (Pro tip: Don't sleep on the soy-marinated egg option.)

4. Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza with Jalapeño Ranch Sauce

Tangy BBQ sauce, tender grilled chicken and homemade pizza? Yes, please. This grilled pizza recipe features an all-star roster for the World's Best Pizza Championships. The jalapeño ranch lives up to the hype of all good secret sauces in that it’s easy to make and upgrades every bite with its fiery yet creamy tang.

5. Grilled Chicken & Orzo Salad

The thing that people rarely tell you about a great chicken pasta salad is that to make it truly fantastic, you need a relatively long ingredient list. The work is worth it. Here, first marinate chicken breasts in a garlicky herb-and-yogurt mixture before grilling. The juicy chicken breasts are then tossed with charred cucumber and olives (trust us), a tangy honey vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes and a shower of herbs and feta for a potluck-popular dish. 

6. Skewerless Chicken Kebabs

Forget threading raw meat onto skewers; you can get all the glory of chicken kebabs by cooking the meat in your HexClad Hybrid BBQ Grill Pan. Use the pan to grill both veggies and the meat before serving them with toasted pita and a creamy yogurt sauce. Or, pile the meat and veggies atop white or brown rice to mix it up.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts... boring? Banish the thought.