If you are unsure of How to Brine Chicken to perfection, consider this tasty recipe as your lifeline! This basic brine recipe makes deliciously juicy and flavorful chicken that will become the shining star of your favorite recipes.
What’s in This Chicken Brine Recipe?
Learning how to brine chicken isn’t as complicated as it sounds–it’s actually quite simple! This process tenderizes, moistens, and adds so much wonderful flavor to your chicken, you won’t want to prep it any other way.
- Water: Forms the base of the brine, allowing the salt to dissolve and create a briny solution.
- Salt: Coarse kosher salt is best for brining chicken as the crystals make it harder to over-salt your meat. Use 1 tablespoon per cup of water.
- Chicken: We like to brine a 6-8-pound whole chicken, but this brine recipe works for chicken pieces, too!
Variations on Brine for Chicken
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of how to brine chicken, we can start to get creative! Keep it simple with just salt and water or add any of the following:
- 2 lemons, sliced
- ¼ cup sugar (or honey)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3-5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 4-8 sprigs fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley)
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How to Store
Once you’ve learned how to brine chicken, you can prepare the brine up to 2 weeks in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
We do not recommend storing brined chicken without first cooking it. Store cooked chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
How to Freeze
We do not recommend freezing raw brined chicken. Freeze cooked brined chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Notes from the Test Kitchen
To get crispy skin, pat the chicken dry after brining it, then set it on a rack over a pan. Then, place it in the refrigerator uncovered overnight or longer if needed to dry out the skin.
How to Brine Chicken (Chicken Brine Recipe)
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup kosher salt
- 6-8 pounds whole chicken or chicken pieces
OPTIONAL BRINE ADDITIONS
- 2 lemons sliced
- ¼ cup sugar or honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3-5 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 4-8 sprigs fresh herbs rosemary, thyme, parsley
Instructions
- Place the water, salt, and any optional add-ins in a large stockpot set over medium heat. Bring the water to a boil until salt has dissolved, then remove the pot from the heat and cool completely.8 cups water, ½ cup kosher salt, 2 lemons, ¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup olive oil, 3-5 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, 4-8 sprigs fresh herbs
- When the brine has completely cooled down, submerge the chicken pieces or the whole chicken, breast side down. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, but no more than 24 hours.6-8 pounds whole chicken
- Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse it with cool water. Pat it dry with paper towels, and proceed to cook as desired.
Notes
- Only use kosher salt. Do NOT use table salt, or you will end up with extremely salty chicken!
- Feel free to mix up the flavorings to fit your preferences. Use my suggestions or come up with your own!
- Make sure the brine has cooled completely before adding the chicken; otherwise, the chicken may end up in the temperature danger zone, leading to bacterial growth that could make you sick. To quickly cool the brine, add a few ice cubes.
- Make sure the brine fully covers the chicken so that the flavors can penetrate all over. Add more water as needed to cover the chicken completely.
- Once brined, gently pat the chicken dry to remove excess moisture. If you have time, let the chicken sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to dry it out even more. This will lead to crispier skin.
- We recommend roasting brined chicken, but you can cook it any way you like! The general formula for roasting brined chicken is 15 minutes at 350°F for every 1 pound of chicken. So a 6-pound chicken will take about 90 minutes to cook.
- Nutritional information is for display purposes only.
How to Brine Chicken Step by Step
Make the Brine: Place 8 cups of water, ½ cup of kosher salt, and any of these optional add-ins (2 lemons, ¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup olive oil, 3-5 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, and/or 4-8 sprigs fresh herbs) in a large stockpot set over medium heat. Bring the water to a boil until the salt has dissolved, then remove the pot from the heat and cool completely.
Brine the Chicken: When the brine has completely cooled down, submerge a 6-8-pound whole chicken, breast side down. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, but no more than 24 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine, and rinse it with cool water. Pat it dry with paper towels, and proceed to cook as desired.
Chicken is a lean meat, so it is prone to drying out. Brining chicken adds flavor and helps to tenderize and moisturize the meat, leading to juicy roasted chicken!
Brines have a lot more liquid, and the whole chicken is submerged in that liquid. Marinades, on the other hand, are usually slathered on and don’t penetrate as deeply.
While you certainly can, the chicken is already full of brine and will have difficulty absorbing the marinade. We recommend using a dry rub to add more flavor or serving the chicken with a sauce.
A whole chicken should be brined for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Brining any longer than 24 hours could cause the chicken to become too salty. For chicken pieces, you’ll want to brine for about 4 hours for bone-in and 2 hours for boneless.
Nope! By soaking in the salty brine, the chicken will absorb a lot of salt on its own, so there’s no need to add extra.
No! The brine will have touched raw meat and could be contaminated with salmonella or other bacteria, so we recommend making a new brine each time.
Brine will not penetrate frozen chicken, so be sure to thaw the chicken fully in the refrigerator before brining.
More Whole Chicken Recipes We Love
- Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken
- Beer Can Chicken
- Honey Mustard Roast Chicken
- Nashville Hot Chicken
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