Soak your chicken in this easy chicken brine for a few hours or overnight, and I'll promise you'll have the most tender, juicy and succulent chicken you've ever tasted. Soaking chicken in brine helps deepen flavor, adds moisture and ensures that it doesn't dry out while cooking.
If you've never brined chicken before, this is your cue to do it!
Chicken is one of my favorite proteins to work with. It is affordable, easy to work with, and cooks pretty quickly, too. My absolute favorites are my grilled chicken wings and Chipotle grilled chicken. On days when I'm looking to put together a quick meal for the whole family, I turn to my butterflied grilled chicken with crispy potatoes.
This time, I also tried my hands at a Cajun roasted chicken using the whole bird. Even though I'm great in the kitchen, I kept worrying about overcooking the chicken and drying it out. That's when I thought about brining it!
Brining the chicken may seem unnecessary, but if you ask me, it is well worth the 10 minutes you spend prepping for it. It guarantees the best flavors and the perfect juicy chicken every single time. For me, that's a big win!
Jump to:
What I Love About this Recipe
Brining adds a ton of flavor to the chicken. Basting the bird while cooking can help too, but there's just a deep, savory flavor that brining lends, which is unmatched.
It's an amazing foolproof way to keep your chicken soft and moist, even if you do end up slightly overcooking it.
It's so easy to put together! You'll just need a few minutes to prepare the brine, and you're sorted.
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken: I used a whole chicken here, about 3-4 pounds. You can also use cuts of chicken instead of a whole chicken if you want to.
Aromatics: Just the basics- ginger, garlic and onion. These add a beautiful savory flavor to the chicken.
Citrus: Use a large lemon or orange- whatever you can get your hands on. This adds a nice citrusy flavor.
Herbs: Use any two herbs of your choice. Rosemary, thyme, parsley and basil are good options.
Seasonings: To season the chicken brine, I used whole black peppercorns and some Kosher salt.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Variations & Substitutions
- To lend the brine some extra citrusy deliciousness, add some lemon (or orange) zest in addition to the juice.
- You can also add other whole spices like bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon and cloves to lend the brine bold flavors.
- Some brine recipes also recommend adding sugar or honey to counter the saltiness of the salt. If you want to add those in, go ahead.
How to Make Easy Chicken Brine
Ready to make the best chicken brine ever? Here's what you'll need to do.
- Combine all the ingredients in a pot and boil for 10 minutes. Once the brine has boiled, remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature before using it with the chicken.
- When cooled, put the chicken inside the brine, breast side facing down. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Storing Leftovers
You may be tempted to store the brine for later and maybe reuse it for another time when you're cooking, but I wouldn't recommend that at all. Reusing brine is pretty risky and not great from a food safety standpoint.
Also, remember that the strength of the brine will reduce when you use it, so it doesn't make sense to reuse it for another chicken.
Tips & Tricks to Make the Chicken Brine
- Never add raw chicken to a hot or warm brine. Let the brine cool completely before adding the chicken. Adding the chicken to a hot brine may cause it to cook slightly and also affect its texture.
- Don't overcook the brine, which can cause the liquid to reduce. Remove it from the heat as soon as it starts to boil.
- Remember that the time the chicken needs to soak in the brine depends on the cut of the chicken. A whole chicken will need anywhere between 8-24 hours for best results.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
I love using this chicken brine for a lot of my chicken recipes. In fact, I'm also going to try brining a whole turkey and then making my favorite herb roasted turkey soon.
This time, I used it for my Cajun roasted chicken, and the flavors turned out incredible. Every bite of the chicken was just so juicy!
Recipe FAQs
I would recommend brining the boneless, skinless chicken for anywhere between 2-6 hours for best results.
For bone-in, skinless chicken, I would recommend soaking for 2-8 hours.
More Easy Recipes to Try
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried these easy chicken brine or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Easy Chicken Brine
Ingredients
- 2 liters Water
- 1 Whole Chicken about 3 pounds
- 3 tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Whole peppercorns
- 1 large Orange or lemon sliced
- 5 Garlic cloves
- ½ thumpsize Ginger sliced
- 3 sprigs of each Fresh thyme, parsley, rosemary and basil. or use 2 types of herbs
- 1 medium Onion cut into large sizes.
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a pot and boil for 10 minutes.
- Once you've boiled the brine remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature before using it with the chicken. If you're in a hurry, you can place the brine in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.Note: Never add raw chicken to hot or warm brine—the brine should be completely cooled to avoid partially cooking the chicken or affecting its texture.
- When cooled, put the chicken inside the brine, breast side facing down. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
- After removing the chicken from the brine, you can choose to rinse or not. Pat it dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture (this helps achieve crispy skin if you're roasting or frying). Let the chicken sit on the counter for about 20-30 minutes to come to room temperature before cooking.
- Cook in your preferred method. See this grilled whole chicken recipe after brining.
Notes
- Never add raw chicken to hot or warm brine. Let the brine cool down completely and then add in the chicken. Adding the chicken into hot brine may cause it to cook slightly and also affect its texture.
- Make sure you don't overcook the brine and cause the liquid to reduce. Take it off heat as soon as it starts to boil.
- Remember that the time the chicken needs to soak in the brine depends on the cut of the chicken. A whole chicken will need anywhere between 8-24 hours for best results.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Bilikis says
Thanks for this ma
Bilikis says
This is so nice
Bilikis says
Thanks for the recipe ma