How to Keep Chicken Moist and Juicy In Soup
As we all know, soup is one of the best and healthiest food that we can have. Be it in your lunch or dinner, having some coup can be refreshing as well as filling. Talking about soup, chicken soup is certainly a favorite for all the non-vegetarians.
Well, there can be different types of soup that you can prepare with the chicken. But one of the most important things that you need to ensure is the chicken is not drying out and is still moist and flavorful. If you have already tried making some and the chicken turned out to be dry, do not worry! We are here to help you with some great tips on how to keep the chicken moist in your soup.
To keep chicken moist in soup you can use a combination of relatively simple methods ranging from timing your boiling to marinating chicken. I described these methods below.
Have you ever had a soup in the restaurant or at home with chicken being dried and chewy? That does not taste well. Isn’t it? But, sadly, that is a major concern and a quite common problem that many people face. Some of you may not be aware of some of the smallest details and technicalities about preparing the soup.
There are many things that you must consider and keep in mind. Starting from how to prepare for the chicken before cooking to how you will know the chicken is done, there are few important steps.
Read on to know exactly how to keep chicken moist in soup.
Why Does Boiling Chicken Dry it Out?
Besides preparing soup, there are many recipes where you must boil the chicken. Is your boiling chicken making it dry and chewy? Well, you are not the only one! There are many people who face the same issue.
Cooking is an art, and you need to master it by first learning technicalities. But you may think that how something as simple as boiling the chicken can be an art. You need to know that there are many technicalities that you must know and keep in mind when cooking or boiling anything.
Just like undercooking can keep the chicken raw, overcooking can also make it too dry. But why does boiling chicken dry it out?
The main reason why the chicken pieces dry up when you boil it is because the process of boiling can take away all the oils from the chicken. Chicken breasts or any pieces, for that matter, contain some natural oil in it. This oil helps in holding the moisture of the chicken in it.
When you boil it, the process pulls the oil away from the chicken. Hence, the chicken also starts losing the moisture slowly. Also, chicken contains a high amount of protein in it. When the protein comes in contact with high heat, it tends to contract and tighten.
As the proteins of the chicken contract more tightly, it squeezes the moisture out of the chicken when you are boiling it.
Methods to Keep Chicken Breast Moist in Soup
No one likes to have dry and chewy chicken piece in the soup. Ideally, if you are using chicken breast in the soup, then it must be moist and juicy containing all the flavors in it. But many people complain about how the chicken dry out in their soup resulting in a chewy and rubbery texture.
Of course, no one wants that as it tastes awful. Hence, you need to know how to keep the chicken breast moist in the soup. Here are some of the important and easy-to-follow tips that can help you:
Tip 1: Use marinade
No matter what dish you are cooking, you can marinate the chicken properly. Using the marinade before cooking the chicken is extremely helful as it helps to keep the piece moist and retain the flavors. While marinating, make sure to use a marinade which is moist. After that, you have to seal the chicken for at least 3 hours and let the marinade to soak up completely.
Tip 2: Perfectly boil the chicken breast
Of course, you must boil the chicken breast first before you can add it to the pan. This is the main part which you must be very careful. Over-boiling the chicken breast can lead to losing all the moisture from the piece making it dry and mushy.
For the chicken breast with bone-in or skin-on, boil it for about 25 to 30 minutes or until it reaches 165 degree Fahrenheit. For the skinless and boneless chicken breast, you have to cook it for 12 to 15 minutes or till it reaches 165 degree Fahrenheit. Hence, it is best if you have a thermometer with you to keep the track.
Try it with the fork while it is cooking. Fork penetrates easily or chicken is still stuffy? Sometimes, just sometimes, you just need to cook for a long time. Depends on the chicken.
Homegrown chickens, which are grown without any artificial food additives, may sometimes (rarely) require even 1-2 hours of boiling on low heat on gas stove, or electrical stove. Just slightly above boiling temperature. You can watch whole movie while such chicken is cooked.
And I meant only when boiling, not when frying or baking for so long.
Tip 3: Cook at the right temperature
If frying or baking, one of the common mistakes that people do is to place the chicken pieces immediately on the cold pan. This is wrong! A lot of moisture or juices of the chicken can get evaporated when the pan is heating up.
Let the pan reach to right temperature first and then add the chicken pieces. This way, the chicken will immediately start to cook and it will not look any moisture unnecessarily.
Tip 4: Use the chicken stock in the soup
Another best way to keep the flavor and moisture intact in the chicken breast is by the chicken stock into the soup. The chicken stock has a lot of flavors in it as the bones have the maximum flavors.
When it is added to the chicken soup, the chicken breast will soak it up and become juicy and moist at the same time. This is one of the most commonly used way to add flavor and juiciness to the chicken pieces in the soup.
It is better to make the chicken stock at home to ensure that you are getting the purest version.
Tip 5: Cook on medium to low heat
Do not cook the soup or the chicken breast in high heat! If the heat is high, it will dry out the chicken breast completely within few minutes. So, when you will cook later, it will tend to give a chewy and mushy texture.
Just to avoid this, you will have to cook the chicken breast on medium to low heat to ensure that the juice remains intact in the chicken breast.
Tip 6: Cover up the lid
One important thing that you have to make sure is the lid is tightly on when the soup is in simmer. If you keep on cooking the chicken soup without the lid, it will take away all the moisture and juices from it.
When the lid is tightly closed, it will ensure that the flavors are not escaping from the pan. This is one of the important tips to keep your chicken breast moist and tender. It traps and heat and moisture inside. So, cover the pan where the soup is cooking on low.
Tip 7: Let the soup sit for 10-20 minutes
After the soup is done, do not open the lid right away. Turn the heat off and let that soup to sit for more than 10 minutes. This is an important step that you have to follow to ensure the chicken breast pieces in your soup are tender and moist.
The soup along with the flavor will soak into the chicken pieces increasing the flavor. Though the chicken pieces will have its moisture, this step will add some more to it.
If no rush, leave chicken in the same liquid in which you boiled it for a 1 hour. Chicken may absorb some of the liquid to become softer and tastier. If it is chicken soup – then you just leave chicken inside anyway. Both chicken and liquid exchange flavors with each other.
One More Easy Tip – Add Onions to Boiling Chicken
Tss…it is a secret. Adding a half of onion may help soften the boiling chicken. Or, any other meat for that matter.
How to know the chicken is perfectly boiled?
After all these tips, hopefully, you have got the answer about how to keep the chicken moist while making the soup. But many of you may ask how you will know if the chicken is properly done or not.
As mentioned above, you can measure the temperature of the chicken to exactly know when the chicken is done. It is best to check the internal temperature of the chicken when cooking or boiling it as it is the best sign.
Ideally, when the chicken does not have the pinkish tint and the juices coming out from it is clear it is time for consuming the chicken. As already stated above, the right temperature is 165 degree Fahrenheit.
Place the thermometer in the thickest chunk of the chicken piece and keep an on the temperature. Remember that even if the temperature touches 165 degree Fahrenheit, the chicken can have a slight pinkish tinge at times.
That does not mean you have to cooking longer. But that does not mean you have to keep on cooking or boiling chicken even after the temperature reaches 165 degree. If you do so then the chicken will definitely start to dry out. You need to experiment and fail a few times to begin recognizing when chicken is cooked.
Final Summary
Now, you already know about why does boiling chicken dry it out! And you also know how you can stop that and retain the moisture in the chicken while preparing the soup. Make sure to follow all the important tips and minute details mentioned above to prepare the tastiest chicken soup with moist and tender chicken pieces in it.
The most important thing that you will need here is a cooking thermometer. If you don’t have one, you can get it easily online or even offline. Keeping it handy can help you to avoid overcooking of the chicken which can certainly lead to drying out. So, you can now make the best soup with moist and juicy chicken pieces!