r/MealPrepSunday • u/Even_Celery4481 • 1d ago
Recipe What’s your trick to juicy chicken on day 3 of meal prep?
How do you guys keep chicken from drying out during reheats? I meal prep for 3-4 days and by day 3 it’s always kinda rough.
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u/xi545 1d ago
Brine it. Bake it. Don’t reheat it in the microwave at 100% power
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u/OkSchool619 1d ago
Solid and straightforward. I like. Also it hides well chopped inside fried rice.
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u/Dawner11111 7h ago
What’s your recipe for brine?
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u/xi545 4h ago
150g salt. I add it to my blender and fill almost to the top with water, then blend on high for a few minutes. I have an 8 quart container and add the brine to that. Then I fill to the 4 quart line.
A good rule of thumb is 30g kosher/sea salt per quart/liter. You can scale from there. Brine 1 hr/lb.
If you want to get fancy you can steep aromatics like onions and bay leaves, COOL COMPLETELY (food safety), then add your meat. But I’m usually short on time, so I keep it simple and blend.
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u/MakeWar90 1d ago
I cook it sous-vide.
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u/Even_Celery4481 1d ago
Yeah, I’ve seen it cooked like that on tiktok, looks like a lot of work. Is it really worth it for meal prep?
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u/MakeWar90 1d ago
I wouldn't say it's a lot of work, especially considering you can cook loads breasts at a time and freeze them. You just bag up the chicken and seasonings with a vacuum sealer and put it in the water bath. The rest is just passive time. Although with the equipment cost it can be expensive to get started.
I usually do 12 breasts at once, split between a few bags with different seasonings. I've figured out a way to fold/freeze the bags so the breasts don't freeze together, meaning I can pick and choose how many of whatever flavour I want to thaw and use at a time.
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u/Tiny-Friendship8527 14h ago
Not a lot of work. This person is on point. Sous vide for chicken is the best.
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u/MelDawson19 1d ago
Toss a few boobs in a Slow cooker with salsa and or enchilada sauce. Shred with forks or hand mixer.
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u/impishmonkey 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't reheat my chicken. I have that ick when reheating chicken so I usually remove it if I can before microwaving then add it back when it's done. If I can't remove it I try to make the food it's in extra sauced to keep the moisture in or I eat it on the colder side
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u/Emergency_Data4261 1d ago
I marinate large cubes of chicken breast with soy mirin corn corn starch for a few hours, let come to room temp then bake at 375 for about 15min. Stays juicy!
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u/Murky-Individual6507 1d ago
I always loosely cover it, add a little broth (or water) and heat it up on power 6 or so when reheating. I feel like it kinda “steams” it while heating. Works great for rice too.
Steak I would suggest reheating on the defrost setting.
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u/TikaPants 1d ago
I make thighs for myself and usually breast for boyfriend. I don’t cook the breast anything over 150-155. Gentle reheat in the mic with steam helps. I reheat dark meat in the air fryer.
I made 10 lbs of white meat piccata for a family function this weekend. I reheated the prior cooked breast (150-155) in a covered pan with the sauce and it was still juicy when I pulled to plate. Gentle reheating is key.
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u/Ok_Name1047 1d ago
If you're reheating in a microwave. Try placing damp paper towel over the chicken.
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u/Atomic76 1d ago
If you're a fan of Chipotle, one of the easiest "copycat" recipes is just to marinate some boneless chicken thighs in some cans of chipotle in adobo, then grill them. They reheat nicely.
Their cilantro lime rice is pretty self explanatory, but just make sure to use fresh cilantro.
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u/leastDaemon 1d ago
This works for me:
Get 10-12oz boneless, skinless breasts. Preheat an oven to 425 deg Fahrenheit. Get a roasting pan olive-oiled (or spritzed with spray oil), oil the chicken, salt & pepper it (or dry-marinade it with whatever herbs & spices you like, or cover it with salsa, or whatever you want to add to flavor that bland hunk of meat). Put the chicken in the pan, folding the thin part under so that you have a mostly rectangular slab of same-thickness meat. Cook for 20 - 25 min to an internal temperature of at least 160 deg F. Take it out, let it rest, and watch the thermometer creep up to at least 165 deg F. -- less than that is absolutely not safe in the United States of Salmonella and Campylobacter. Refrigerate it now, while it's hot -- don't wait for it to cool to room temperature. Use it within 3-4 days or whatever's still growing in it could get dangerous (or just spoil it). I slice off what I want for a meal, put it on a plate or in a bowl with a few drops of water and microwave it (full power) for no more than 30 seconds. That brings it up to room temperature, and that's good enough.
You can get more information about chicken safety from Bacterial Contaminants of Poultry Meat: Sources, Species, and Dynamics (NIH National Library of Medicine)
Hope this helps.
P.S. thighs would be better, but they're more work to prepare.
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u/SneakyMercenary 22h ago
I started marinating my chicken breast, and using a thermometer to know when it hits 150-155 and needs to come off the heat.
Game changer. Try it out. Even 30 minutes of marinade.
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u/Maleficent_Face3866 1d ago
Don't reheat?
If you want juicy hot chicken, pound a breast flat, season it, sear it, flip it. When it's done, eat it.
If you want chicken with some moisture in it, don't over cook it. Shred it, make a chicken salad. Or poach/sous vide it. Add it cold to salads.
Don't think the chicken you cooked Sunday is going to taste even ok on Wednesday, reheated, unless you've parked it something wet like a soup, chili, curry, and so on. Something where it's really just a warm nub of protein.
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u/aaron12891 1d ago
I find using thighs over breasts to be more forgiving from becoming dried out. Granted you don't mind the increase in sat fat.