I’m excited to share how to make a brine for chicken, because this handy little trick will completely change your chicken dinner game. Brining chicken makes it more tender and juicy, as well as much more flavorful. Trust me, you’ll never go back to regular chicken after making this basic brine recipe.

chicken breast coated in breadcrumbs and baked cut up and dipped into ranch dressing

My friend Will taught me the trick to juicy, flavorful and tender chicken every time, and I’m forever indebted to him. Although he learned his chicken breast brine recipe from the book Ratio, so maybe I’m indebted to Michael Ruhlman ha! At any rate, brining chicken before cooking helps to lock in juices so that you get more tender meat. It also infuses loads of flavor, so you get a much tastier end product. Brining is really simple, totally customizable and only requires a tiny bit of pre-planning on your part. Let me show you what it takes. But first, you may be asking, why brine a chicken in the first place?

hummus crusted chicken breasts with vegetables on a metal sheet pan

Why brine chicken?

Let’s be honest, chicken (especially white meat and breasts), can be plain, boring and tough to cook. It doesn’t have a ton of flavor to begin with, so you usually have to spruce it up quite a bit to make it enjoyable to eat. After all, only weightlifters happily gobble down boiled chicken. Making chicken exciting usually involves coating it with a marinade you hope will impart some magical flavor. Or you add a breadcrumb coating and fry it up to make the texture a little more appealing, especially for little ones. And chicken can be temperamental in the cooking department. Undercook by 5 minutes and it’s still pink and unsafe to eat. Overcook for 5 minutes and it dries out and you have to choke it down with a glass of water. Brining chicken is an extremely powerful tool to have in your cooking tool chest. It helps to lock in juices, break down muscle fibers so it’s more tender, and imparts a great deal of flavor. Resulting in a much more palatable piece of meat that your entire family will love. Trust me, brining works and makes a big difference!

Basic brine recipe

Kosher salt and water are the only true requirements for making a basic brine recipe. The ratio for a basic brine should be 20 parts water:1 part salt. From there, you can customize to your liking. You can add dry herbs or fresh herbs, lemons, peppercorns, garlic or bay leaves. Some brine recipes call for salt and sugar, but I like the cleaner flavor of a simple salt brine. For this simple recipe I’m sharing today, you’ll use

2 cups of cold water
2.5 tablespoons of Kosher salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
Sprig of fresh rosemary

How to make the brine

Whipping up a quick brine takes less than 5 minutes! Simply warm your water, kosher salt, peppercorns and herbs in a sauce pan over medium heat, till salt is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. If you’re in a hurry, you can place the warm brine in the refrigerator till the temperature cools. Or reduce the water by ½ cup, and add in a large handful of ice once the salt is dissolved. The ice method is super convenient, just make sure you are reducing the amount of water you’re using upfront, so your ratios stay in tact. Once your brine is to room temperature, add the chicken to the brine by either placing both in a Ziploc bag or in a deep bowl. You want to make sure your chicken is fully submerged in the brine. Place the chicken in the fridge and allow to soak in the brine for as little as 2 hours or up to 8 to 12 hours. Just be mindful of not going over 24 hours, or else the chicken may become too salty.

water and rosemary and peppercorns in a sauce pan

Preparing the chicken to cook

When you’re ready to cook your chicken, simply remove the chicken from the brine. Rinse the chicken with cool water and pat dry. Prep it for cooking as you then normally would, being mindful to not add too much additional salt. If you’re using an additional marinade like BBQ sauce or coating them with a breadcrumb mixture, you don’t need to add salt. If you’re planning to use a dry herb blend, check the salt content. The point being, you don’t want to over-salt your chicken. Salt packs a punch, so we want to be careful with this powerful cooking tool, as over-salted food can make it almost inedible.

pouring a basic brine with rosemary into a Ziploc bag filled with chicken breasts

Why not just marinate your chicken?

A salt brine touches 100% of the food’s surface in a uniform concentration. Marinades are more focused on imparting flavor, and typically lack enough salt to fully seep into the dense tissue of the meat. However don’t be fooled, brines can indeed add flavor too! A simple 2 ingredient salt brine will make the chicken taste perfectly salted. But add aromatics to your brine and it can actually carry the flavor of the onion, garlic, lemon or rosemary into your chicken. Brining is a great way to have fun and be creative when cooking chicken (imagine that ha?!).

chicken breasts soaking in a a basic salt brine in a Ziploc bag

Important tips when brining chicken

Brine concentration is critical, so use a kitchen scale to measure out your salt, or use the same measuring instruments each time you make a batch of brine.
Your brine should taste like an over-salted soup, or like sea water. It should not feel acrid on the tongue.
You can use this basic brine recipe for any cut of chicken, but it works especially well for white boneless chicken breasts. But feel free to use for pork, turkey, beef brisket and even vegetables.

What if you leave the chicken in the brine too long?

Forgetting about your chicken brining away in the fridge happens to the best of us. If this happens, remove the chicken from the brine, and place it in a cool water bath. Soaking the chicken in a plain water bath for a few hours will slowly remove the salt from the chicken and return it to the water.

Is a wet brine better than a dry brine?

If given the choice, definitely opt for a wet brine rather than a dry brine. Salt must dissolve before it can truly work its magic, so using a dry salt brine is less controlled than using a wet brine. Dry salt brines also take longer to be effective.

What if you don’t have time to brine the chicken for hours?

More time is better than no time, so allow your chicken to soak in the brine for as long as possible. Even just a couple of hours works wonders than skipping the brine all together.

What is a good chicken breast brine recipe?

The one I provided above! This is an all-purpose brine recipe and works for any cut of chicken, from wings to breast to the whole bird! It also works for turkeys, pork and even salmon!

Should I still brine my chicken if I plan to coat it with something else?

Absolutely! I brine before making my oven baked chicken cutlets as well as air-fried chicken cutlets. And even with a super flavorful topping, I still brine my hummus crusted chicken!