Chicken Breasts Don’t Have to Be Sad Health Food

Healthy cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact? Often the simpler it is, the better it tastes. In Good for You, Test Kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser shares nourishing, craveable recipes that you can pull off in 10 ingredients or fewer.

In 1980s America, fat was out. Labels on packaged foods, from yogurt to snacks to microwavable dinners, proudly declared items were “low-fat” or “non-fat.” Congress even backed a formal recommendation to their constituents to “avoid too much” fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Americans listened, adjusted their grocery shopping accordingly, and found their shining knight in a now ubiquitous cut of meat: the boneless, skinless chicken breast.

Before this, in the mid 20th century, a standard cut of meat at mealtimes was a pork loin or beef steak, smothered in cream sauce. Maybe a whole roast chicken appeared, or its meat was folded into a gooey casserole with a few peas and carrot chunks. But with fat’s waning popularity, Americans were eager to ditch those thick hunks of red meat for lighter poultry.

The opening of a plant dedicated to deboned breast meat was the first domino, leading to an explosion in its availability and popularity. Even McDonald’s boasted about how their chicken nuggets, which first hit the market in 1981, were (and still are) made with all white meat. While it’s more expensive than others, the boneless skinless chicken breast remains the most popular cut of chicken in the US, with sales by volume up nearly three percent last year.

Even as chicken thigh sales continue to climb, health-conscious Americans remain obsessed with the boneless, skinless chicken breast. It is a perennially popular option among bodybuilding communities, as it’s one of the most high-protein (and low-fat, no carb) per calorie foods, with one 3.5-ounce serving offering about 30 grams. For context, a large egg contains just over six grams of protein.

What’s more, the low-fat nature of the cut is typically doubled down on via the cooking technique. Most often, chicken breasts are baked, grilled, or sautéed—or, nowadays, air-fried—with as little oil or butter as possible. The end product is usually tough, dry, and stringy.

TikTok has done little to help. I’ve averted my eyes from creative monstrosities like “chicken bread,” a low-carb meatloaf-meets-actual-loaf of puréed chicken breast, eggs, and sometimes grated vegetables, that gets baked and sliced like sandwich bread. Or, even more frightening: when a Love Is Blind show contestant decided to straight-up drink a cooked chicken breast as a smoothie, blended with water and Crystal Light powder. He was excited to share how low in calories and high in protein it was with his fiancée (they’ve since broken up).

I’m here to say one shouldn’t go so far as to blend chicken breasts. But moisture is important. In fact, that’s usually the reason so-called-healthy recipes often turn out so underwhelming—because the chicken isn’t cooked with enough fat, liquid, and/or seasoning. In my opinion, far and away the most successful way to cook a plain chicken breast is poaching. Stay with me.

When simmered in water just hot enough to bring it to a safe temperature, the meat will be juicy and tender. Such was my method for these Miso Chicken Soba Bowls. The meat is poached in miso-fortified water, which becomes the base for the bowl’s chilled broth. It’s savory and refreshing. And to meal-prep fans’ delight, the chicken can be poached a few days in advance (it’s also a snap to make a few extras for chicken salad lunches). So when you get back from that post-work happy hour or softball game, just shingle the sliced chicken on a tangle of soba noodles and blanched snap peas (both keep well in the fridge for a few days). Even the busiest gym bro could fit it in.