Honey-Lemon-Garlic Brined Chicken Breasts

"These incredibly moist, juicy chicken breasts are brined in a mixture of honey, lemon and garlic, with sea salt, thyme and black pepper. Then they're baked and basted with more honey, lemon juice and pan juices to really bring out the flavor. Absolutely delicious! Prep time includes brining time."
 
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Ready In:
13hrs 54mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
3-4
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ingredients

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directions

  • In a large plastic bag placed in a large, deep pot (a stockpot is good) combine the water, salt, honey, dried thyme, garlic halves, black pepper and sliced 1/2 lemon.
  • Add chicken breasts to brine and tie up bag tightly.
  • Allow chicken to brine in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 12 hours, preferably no more than 18 hours.
  • When brining time is up, remove chicken from brine (no need to rinse) and place in a baking dish.
  • Bake chicken, covered, in a 375 degree F oven for one hour.
  • After one hour, remove cover, sprinkle the juice of 1/2 lemon over chicken breasts; drizzle each chicken breast with just over a tablespoon of honey; gently spoon some pan juices over them, and season to taste with black pepper.
  • Return to oven for 20 more minutes, or until breasts are nicely browned a little.

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Reviews

  1. I would agree with the 1/3 cup of sea salt for this recipe.... I used a whole chicken for this brine, and it turned out wonderfully!!! I cooked the chicken for two hours, one hour on each side, with 1 cup of brine included in the pot while cooking. To brown the skin, I whipped together the honey, lemon juice, and some olive oil & pepper and brushed it on the skin. After 20 minutes the skin was golden brown.
     
  2. This went over very well with my family, but I would like to suggest using only 1/3 cup sea salt in the brine, and only browning the chicken for 10-15 minutes at the end (after about 5 minutes standing, the exterior become tough). This dish had a wonderful aroma while cooking. Thanks for the posting!
     
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