Brining is a technique in which chicken or other meat is soaked in a brining solution for a period of time before it is cooked. Over the years, I’ve tried different formulations of brine. However, I keep coming back to this basic recipe which includes only three ingredients: Kosher salt, granulated sugar, and water.
I use this simple technique for chicken breasts, chicken thighs, and even whole chicken like my Roasted Chicken with Vegetables.
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Why You Should Brine Chicken
Many of my recipes call for skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Nothing is worse than going through the steps of making what should be a delicious recipe only to find that the chicken lacks flavor and is tough. Brining the chicken mitigates this by adding the following to the chicken.
- Moisture: During brining, the salt causes the muscle fibers of the chicken to relax. This allows the water to be absorbed into the chicken. As a result, the chicken stays moist during cooking.
- Flavor: Both the salt and the sugar in the brining solution add flavor to the chicken. Salt is a natural flavor enhancer, and the sugar balances out the saltiness, adding a subtle sweetness.
- Tenderness: Without brining, chicken tends to dry out and loses some of its natural tenderness. Salt breaks down the protein structure of the chicken, enhancing its tenderness.
Simple Ingredients for Maximum Benefit
My go-to brine for chicken uses only three basic ingredients:
- Salt: Salt is a key ingredient in brining. I use Morton Kosher salt.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar counters the saltiness of the brine.
- Water: The liquid in the brining solution is ordinary water. I tend to use filtered water from my refrigerator since regular tap water can sometimes contain higher than normal amounts of chlorine.
- Chicken Breasts: This recipe works well on not only chicken breasts but also chicken thighs and whole chicken.
Making the Basic Chicken Brine
My recipe includes not only simple ingredients but also basic techniques.
- Specifically, I add Kosher salt and granulated sugar to water.
- Next, I whisk the mixture until the salt and sugar have dissolved in the water.
- After that, add the chicken to a bowl. Then, I pour the brining solution onto the.
- Finally, I cover the chicken and brining solution with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least an hour but up to six hours.
Before using the chicken, I rinse it well and pat it dry. Then, I proceed with whatever recipe I’m making.
Overall, brining is a simple and effective way to enhance the flavor and tenderness of the chicken. Yum!
Recipe FAQ
This is a basic recipe for a brining solution. However, you can substitute brown sugar or honey for the granulated sugar. Also, you can add different herbs, lemons, or oranges.
Some recipes will call for brining the brining solution to a boil and cooling it before use. With this simple recipe, I don’t find that to be necessary.
You should never reuse the brining solution. The reason is that it can contain harmful bacteria from the raw chicken.
Because the brine alters the protein structure of the chicken, the cooking time may be affected.
It is important to refrigerate the chicken during brining to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.
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Basic Chicken Brine
Ingredients
- ½ cup kosher salt (See Tip 1)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups water
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat (See Tip 2)
Instructions
- Whisk together the salt, sugar, and water.
- Place chicken in a bowl. Pour brine on the chicken. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to six hours.
- Before using the chicken, rinse well and pat dry.
- Yield: 4 brined chicken breasts.
Tips/Notes
- I used Morton Kosher salt. If you use regular table salt, reduce the amount to ⅓ cup.
- Each piece of chicken that I used weighed approximately 8 ounces.
Tim says
I’ve been brining birds for 30 years. The perfect ratio is 1 cup kosher to 1 gallon water. That is what is needed for osmosis to happen and to do it’s thing overnight without being too salty. The reason why people are finding this too salty is the ratio here is double that. This is a great ratio for what I call a quick brine. But at this ratio you would never want it to sit longer that a few hours. I’m not sure exactly sure how long would be too long, but I use this exact same ratio anytime I only have about an hour and it is perfect. The few times I’ve used this and it sat overnight, wayyyy too salty. It would be better if this recipe’s name was Chicken brine, Quick brine formula.
Chula King says
Thanks for the info Tim.
Chula
Joel says
I have a question. You mentioned “and other meats”. What other meats can I use this brine for?
Chula King says
I use it for pork.
Renee says
Previously I have done a brine that was already mixed up and this is the first time I have made my own from a recipe. I thought it would be perfect with just salt, sugar and water, but I have to say that I found it very salty. Too salty for my tastes, but my company did not reject the chicken. I don’t know what would happen if I cut down the salt by 25%, if it would fulfill the function that a brine is supposed to have? Thoughts.
Chula King says
Renee,
I’m sorry that the food was too salty. The two things that likely caused this are (1) not rinsing the food well after brining, or (2) using table salt as opposed to Kosher salt. If neither of these items was the culprit, then reducing the salt by 25% would be effective.
The salt acts to flavor the chicken and also alter the protein structure. The alteration of the protein structure improves moisture retention and also acts to tenderize the chicken.
Reducing the salt by 25% will reduce the saltiness of the chicken, which is what you’re looking for, and will have minimal impact on the alteration of the protein structure.
Hope this helps!
Chula
mardy says
hi, could you give me a tip on how to cook thd chciken after brining ? whats your easy way of cooking ? Thabk you
Chula King says
Hi Mardy,
I generally use the brining on skinless and boneless chicken breasts. After the brining, I rinse the chicken well and use it as I would in any dish. Personally, it works really well in dishes where the chicken is cut into pieces and cooked with some type of gravy like Chicken Étouffée, Creamy Chicken Divan, and Chicken Stew with Vegetables. It also works quite well for recipes where the brined chicken breast is thinly sliced before cooking like Chicken Schnitzel, Easy Creamy Chicken Marsala, and Chicken Scallopini.
Hope this helps.
Chula
Anonymous says
Is it ok to brine for longer than 6 hours? Is overnight ok? Or up to 10 hours?
Chula King says
I’d be concerned about brining the chicken for that long – it would likely become too salty and somewhat mushy.
Sally Robinson says
Hi! If I were to brine a bunch of boneless chicken breasts, can I safely freeze them after cooking them?
Chula King says
Hi Sally,
As long as the chicken was fresh and properly handled before brining, it is safe to freeze it after brining. You should avoid over brining the chicken, rinse it thorouglly to remove excess salt and dry it well before freezing. Package the chicken in an airtight, freezer-safe container or vacuum-seal it to avoid freezer burn and maintain quality.
Hope this helps.
Chula
Marina Gonzalez says
Hi! So I used this on chicken that I had butterflied and tenderized for Milanesa. I had three breasts and followed all instructions except I only did 1/3 kosher salt. How is it that mine came out awfull from the salt? It was extremely salty. The texture was amazing and i want this to work! Maybe I will just reduce the salt to maybe 1/6. Should I reduce sugar too and would it even work? Thank you for sharing here.
Martha Kidd says
1/3 cup is more than 1/4 cup so I would think that is why the chicken was to salty. I also think only have three pieces of chicken could make a difference. Next time cut the salt back to 1/4 cup and maybe take a spoonful out of that.
Marina Gonzalez says
I am not sure how to delete my previous comment but I realized I didn’t follow directions! I let it sit overnight and I didn’t wash the chicken. Going to try this again!
April says
I had been looking for a basic brine to add flavor. I tried this with chicken thighs and it was delicious. Thanks!
Chula King says
Excellent! So glad it worked out April.
Chula
Charlie says
I took another look at your brine recipes to try with another batch of chicken. This page has two errors in the interactive Ingredients section;
1X= 1 quart (4 cups) water – true
2X= 2 quart (4 cups) water – should be 8 cups
3X= 3 quart (4 cups) water – should be 12 cups
Please correct the cups of water in 2X and 3X as it mars an otherwise great article. I plan to use. Thanks!
Chula King says
Charlie, I’ve made the change, and eliminated “quart”, i.e., just “4 cups”.
Thanks for pointing that out!
Chula
Charlie says
I poured a bunch of Kosher salt in a bag and added water and 8 chicken breasts. Due to the weather I wasn’t able to grill them until tonight. Pulled chicken out of refrigerator after three days and rinsed off the salt. Chicken was so juicy after grilling, but was so salty it was almost uneatable. Next time I’ll use your recipe and remove before six hours. Thanks
Donnie Young says
Absolutely. I quit cooking chicken breast years ago because they always came out dry. During the Covid shutdown, I decided to try brining, since it always worked on turkey. Wow, what a difference. Your proportions are spot on. I increase the volume for whole turkey, depending on the size. You get the same great results by brining pork loin or the so called “boneless pork chops.” Keeps them moist and flavorful.
Chula King says
You and me both Donna. Way back, I don’t remember chicken breasts being dry and tough – maybe it’s my memory! However, the chicken breasts seemed to get tougher and tougher through the years. It didn’t matter where I bought them or how I cooked them.
Anyway, thanks so much for your comments and suggestions!
Chula