Perfectly Juicy Cast Iron Chicken Breasts

This Cast Iron Chicken Breast recipe makes perfectly cooked, juicy pan-roasted chicken breasts in under 30 minutes with only five ingredients! It’s easy, it’s reliable, and you don’t need fancy kitchen cookware or gadgets.

But the best thing about these cast iron skillet chicken breasts is the infinite number of ways to mix it up with different spice combinations or sides. So turn on your oven, grab your cast iron skillet, hit that Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make pan-roasted chicken breasts for dinner!

Ingredients

Why boneless chicken breasts

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are great for convenience. Boneless breasts cook quickly and don’t need much trimming. The downside is also that they cook quickly, so you need to be careful not to overcook them until they’re dry.

One other super easy alternative to cooking chicken breasts in a cast iron skillet and oven is by poaching (simmering in a liquid over low heat) like in my Moroccan chicken and dates. This is a great alternative for shredded chicken for tacos or chicken pot pies. Or you can bread and bake sliced boneless breasts to make coconut panko chicken.

In addition to chicken breasts, you’ll need a cast iron skillet. Cast iron skillets go beautifully from stove top to oven, so they’re great for making cast iron skillet cornbread or a bacon frittata. You can even cook with cast iron on a camp fire!

Variations and substitutions

• Use this cast iron chicken breast recipe with any dry rub. Try one teaspoon crushed fennel seeds, one half teaspoon thyme, one half teaspoon salt, and one eighth teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Or make taco seasoning with one teaspoon cumin, one half teaspoon paprika, one half teaspoon salt, one quarter teaspoon pepper, and cayenne or other ground chili pepper to taste.
• Make an Asian-inspired marinade with three tablespoons of lime juice, one tablespoon of vegetable oil and a tablespoon of fish sauce, a smidge of sugar, and equal parts of minced garlic, ginger, and chili pepper. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for an hour before cooking.
• Substitute a pork tenderloin for the boneless chicken breasts. Trim the tenderloin, and treat it otherwise the same. Cook the pork to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and give it a three minute rest after cooking.

It’s super easy to learn how to cook chicken in a cast iron skillet:

Step 1: Turn on your oven the minute you decide to make these cast iron chicken breasts!

Step 2: Heat your pan over medium heat, and add a splash of vegetable oil even to a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. This thin coat of oil will keep the chicken from sticking to the pan.

Step 3: Rub half of the spice mixture over both sides of the chicken breasts. The infectious disease doctor in me needs to tell you not to dry meat and not to wash chicken, because it spreads bacteria. Wash your hands!

(You can read more about other hazards in your kitchen. There will be at least one to surprise you!)

Step 4: When the oil is hot, put the chicken breasts in the cast iron pan, and don’t touch them for 5 to 7 minutes until the bottoms have browned.

Step 5: Turn off the heat and use tongs to flip the chicken breasts. You don’t need to cook the second side on the stove top because cast iron retains heat to brown the second side while the chicken breasts roast.

That also means that the cast iron pan will be hot! So use an oven mitt or pot holder to transfer your cast iron skillet to the oven.

• Use a taco seasoning as a rub for your cast iron skillet chicken breasts and make a chicken taco salad with lettuce, a chunky guacamole, black beans, frozen corn, mango pico de gallo or spicy pickled onions, and toasted sunflower seeds.
• Indoor barbecue! Serve with apple pie baked beans, a purple cabbage slaw or carrot salad, cornbread, mac and cheese waffles, and my peach BBQ sauce on the side.
• Nestle parboiled potatoes or cauliflower around the chicken in the pan before you put it in the oven. They’ll absorb the juices released from the chicken as it roasts.
• Use cumin, coriander, and cardamom as your rub and serve with a Mediterranean inspired pumpkin couscous salad with a creamy lemon herb tahini sauce or sumac dressing.
• Sub chicken breasts for turkey in a cozy Thanksgiving dinner with maple roasted Brussels sprouts and a homemade jalapeño cranberry sauce.
• Add cooked chicken to quick pasta dishes to make a chicken alfredo pasta or chicken pesto pasta.
• Make a fabulous chicken salad with cranberry and pecans.
• Use it in a chicken pot pie or a tamale pie topped with brown butter cornbread.

Recipe FAQs

Related poultry recipes

If you love this cast iron chicken breast recipe, check out other recipes from the poultry archives like these chicken meatballs: