Cooking chicken breast with cast iron skillet is one of my favorite recipe from my Nana. I just love how the cast iron skillet can evenly cook both sides of the chicken. The chicken is usually cooked evenly throughout and is juicy and flavorful. Additionally, using a cast iron skillet for cooking chicken breasts can also help to create a crispy skin on the chicken, which many of us enjoy.

However, it’s challenging to know how much time I should cook each side of the chicken. This is especially true for someone who’s not yet familiar cooking with cast iron. Luckily, I have my grandma Maggie, who’s perfected the art of cooking chicken breast with cast iron. She told me everything she knew about cooking chicken breast with cast iron.

Why cook chicken breast in cast iron?

My Nana is a traditional cook and loves using her seasoned cast iron over any other cookware. I wondered why she enjoyed cooking with this type of cookware so much, especially when it came to chicken breast.

After talking with Nana, I discovered that she loves using cast iron because it provides even heat distribution to the food. That’s why she would always serve us a beautifully browned and juicy chicken breast. Additionally, she mentioned that most of her cast iron cookware is well-seasoned, preventing the chicken from sticking to the pan.

How to keep chicken from Sticking?

Seasoning cast iron is important to keep the chicken from sticking on the pan, but Nana also shared other tips to prevent this from happening.

• The first tip from her is to let the chicken rest until it’s not cold if you got it from the fridge before cooking it. If you cook the frozen chicken, the inside will still be cold by the time the outside is cooked through.
• Adding oil and chicken breast to an iron skillet that hasn’t been thoroughly heated over medium-high heat will result in less-than-ideal cooking. To avoid this, make sure the skillet is hot before adding either ingredient.
• After adding the chicken breast, my Nana always turned the heat to medium. She said that would also keep it from sticking.
• One way to keep the chicken from sticking is to avoid trying to flip it too soon. My Nana told me this technique so the chicken wouldn’t stick to the cast iron. If you wait until the chicken is cooked on one side, it will be much easier to flip and less likely to stick.

How much time do you cook each side of a chicken breast when cooking with cast iron?

To be honest, I’m not very patient when cooking. When I cook chicken using my cast iron skillet, I usually flip it too soon. So, it often comes out uneven. And then it sticks to the pan because I haven’t let it cook long enough on that side. And I figured this always happens because I’m not sure how much time I should wait before flipping the chicken breast.

So, I asked my Nana about how long chicken breasts need to cook before being flipped over. She answered that it can vary depending on various factors, such as the heat and thickness of the chicken. But usually, chicken breasts will need at least 6 to 7 minutes before you can flip them over. This allows each side of the chicken breast to cook evenly and prevents the meat from drying out.

Cooking time for 200g chicken breast on medium heat is usually 20-25 minutes. This is due to the varying thickness of chicken breasts. I recommend to use a meat thermometer to check if the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This will ensure that the chicken is cooked all the way through.

But, if you would prefer to cook the chicken in the traditional way, like my Nana, you can pierce the thickest part of the chicken breast with a skewer and check to see if the juices from the chicken run clear. This will let you know that the chicken is cooked through.

How to Cook Chicken breast in cast iron?

There is no denying that cooking chicken breasts on a cast iron skillet is the best way to cook them evenly. However, as an aspiring cook, I still feel like I have a lot to learn from my Nana. After all, she has been cooking for far longer than I have! So, I always follow her techniques when it comes to cooking.

Luckily, she’s always willing to share her cooking knowledge with me, which I also love sharing with you! She even invited me to her kitchen last night to show me how she cooks chicken breast in cast iron. Which I would gladly share with you today.

Here’s the step-by-step process of cooking chicken breast in cast iron

Step 1: Before cooking chicken breast on cast iron, she always prepares all the ingredients she needs. This includes marinating the chicken beforehand so that everything is ready to go when she starts cooking.

Step 2: Her next step would be to preheat the cast iron on medium heat for five minutes. Including enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. This would allow the oil to get hot enough. So that it would not stick to the bottom of the pan when she added the food.

Step 3: She would set the chicken in the hot cast iron skillet. Then, leave it alone to cook for about 5–6 minutes. I don’t know how she does it, but she doesn’t need a timer. She just knows when to flip the chicken over, which is why I love watching her cook. Her intuition with food is remarkable. And I’ve never seen anyone else be able to cook without using some sort of timer. It’s a skill that I admire greatly.

Step 4: She then adds honey, sliced garlic, and lemon juice to a small bowl while the chicken is cooking. She then thoroughly blends everything together and sets it aside for later.

Step 5: Once the chicken is fully cooked, she bastes it with the honey glaze and cooks it for another 4 minutes. This gives the chicken a lovely golden color and an amazing flavor. How much time do you cook a chicken breast when you are cooking with a cast iron