Poached Chicken Breasts With Tomatillos and Jalapeños
- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1quart chicken stock, plus more as needed (or use salted water)
- 1¼pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 medium breasts)
- 1½pounds tomatillos, cut into ½-inch chunks
- 2 to 3jalapeños, thinly sliced
- 6tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ¾cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 3scallions, thinly sliced
- Finely grated zest of ½ lime
- 1avocado, sliced
- Fresh lime juice, to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
572 calories; 36 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 22 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 765 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Place racks in the top and bottom third of the oven and heat to 275 degrees. In the microwave or in a small pot on the stove, heat chicken stock until it comes to a simmer.
- Step 2
Place chicken in a small baking dish and cover with hot chicken stock.
- Step 3
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together tomatillos, jalapeños, 2 tablespoons oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and cumin seeds. Spread into a single layer on the sheet, then nudge the tomatillos aside to make room in 1 corner for a small ramekin. Fill ramekin with garlic and remaining 4 tablespoons oil or more as needed to cover the garlic.
- Step 4
Place chicken on top oven rack until chicken is cooked through (a thermometer inserted in the center should read 155 degrees), 55 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes. At the same time, bake tomatillos on bottom rack, tossing occasionally, until they are tender, and garlic is light golden, 1 to 1½ hours. If chicken is ready before the tomatillos, remove it from the oven and leave it in the pan covered in stock to keep it warm until everything is done.
- Step 5
Use a slotted spoon to remove garlic from oil and coarsely chop. Remove chicken from stock (save stock for another use; it can be frozen for up to 3 months), and slice the meat.
- Step 6
To assemble, toss together tomatillos, chopped garlic, cilantro, scallions, lime zest and salt to taste. Drizzle fresh lime juice and garlic oil all over the chicken and avocado if you like, and season with salt. Serve with the tomatillo salsa.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Sheila
I don’t need to cover the roasting pan as the chicken cooks?
Steph
What might be some good substitutes for the tomatillos, as those are hard to find for us?
jill mack
In Melissa's other very similar poached chicken recipe (in today's article) it calls for the chicken and stock to be placed on the bottom rack, while this recipe says to put it on the top rack. I think some people got dried out chicken with THIS recipe because it was on the TOP rack. It would be nice if someone could verify where to put the chicken.
Michael Cameron
Very nice. My chicken breast was done in 40 minutes, maybe because I flattened the thickest part just a bit. At that point the tomatillos weren't done, so I put them under the broiler for 5 minutes. FYI, the tomatillo recipe is identical to Rick Bayless' tomatillo salsa (minus the blender blitz), which I've made dozens of times for chips. Next time I'll try it with boneless thighs, which I much prefer over breasts. I can even imagine this working with poached firm white fish, like cod.
Amalia
LOVED the tomatillo salsa, though we went light on the jalapeños (1.5). Make sure you either buy thin chicken breasts, or butterfly or flatten them. Mine were thick and after 2 hours they still had not hit 155 degrees.
Margaret
For really delicious broth: 3 c chicken broth, 1 c dry white wine or dry sherry, a little chopped onion or shallot, some sliced garlic (if you have it), 1 lemon sliced as thin as you can. Then just follow this recipe. Makes a lovely sauce on its own, thickened just a little. (This is an adaptation of a recipe published by the Boston Globe.)
OceanBeachSF
This recipe has changed the way I prepare chicken breast for multiple applications: chicken salad, to toss with pasta, to mix into some simple garlic rice... I have never been able to prepare chicken breast that has such a tender texture and is really flavorful. The broth used to gently cook the chicken is also a keeper to use in other recipes.
Jean Goldsmith
I make a similar salsa by roasting the tomatillos, jalapeños and garlic then putting them in the Cuisinart with a very generous handful of fresh coriander. Terrific on both chicken and oven-roasted salmon and in fish tacos.
Pugsam
Someone posted a question on the thread for the other, similar poached chicken: Isn't the recommended done temp for chicken 165F?
Jennifer
Wow! This was was great. Moist chicken you can't get from other poached methods. I used homemade chicken stock. As Melissa's article indicated, using stock creates double strength, rich stock rather than just adding water. This created super rich stock. Next time I'll just add water.
Nora Esthimer
That tomatillo sauce looks like something with a lot of uses, too. Looking forward to doing one or both very soon.
Lemanswinner
Loved the tomatillo salsa. Overshot the chicken, my fault, it was dried out. Next time I'll make the salsa in the oven and sous vide the breasts to 152 f.
spiff ypaws
I would buy a green salsa; it contains tomatillos
D Chapman
Please describe the sous vide method
Marilyn
Had 3 somewhat chunky chicken breasts that I snuggled in a small baking dish. Cooked as written on top rack checking at 50 minutes - middle breast was 155, outside ones were 165. Note to self: check earlier! Didnt do salsa - no tomatillos. Instead shallot, caper, dijon creamy sauce. Roasted combo of small potatoes, parsnips & broccoli. Drizzled sauce over veggies as well as chicken. Really good.
Susan
This was great. I subbed cherry tomatoes for the tomatillos (which are nearly impossible to buy near me) and although I am sure that it changed the flavour profile...it was DELICIOUS! Definitely drizzle that leftover garlic oil over the chicken...it's amazing!
l faust
This method of poaching chicken breasts did work very well. I used the in a different salad.
rhosa
This is the best way to poach skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Our garden tomatillos are all in the freezer. Regardless of whatever else we have going on, poaching the breast-products with aromatics and whatever else is useful yields low fat protein that can be enjoyed for a few more days. Holy.
Corinne
Love this recipe--easy and adaptable. I sometimes add in other veggies to round the meal out...rainbow carrots is one of my favorite additions to add some color and texture.
lotsofstars
Outstanding. Followed to the letter except for chopping the sautéed garlic — my slices were wee and I was hungry and tired of chopping. A will make again!
Ted
The chicken was juicy and tender, and the salsa was delicious, but it lacked the real chicken flavor you get with other methods. Excellent texture, not much flavor. However, my wife loved it, so I'll be making it again.
sandy
The veg mix was OK but the chicken just didn’t work. We threw it out. We save the veg to put on a rice bowl. Next time, poach chix like grandma taught us: on the stove,covered. Faster, more tender and foolproof.
tammy
1. Wonderful! 2. Top third of oven doesn't mean very top rack position - i put mine in the third position of the top third and then the bottom rack of the bottom third. 3. i put the tomatillos, etc. in first and put the chicken in about 20 minutes later and they both were done at the same time. 4. love this method of poaching chicken and will use the technique for other dishes that call for poached chicken.
Marty
This has been a favorite regular for more than a year - especially nice when the wind blows cold and the stove can comfortably run for an hour . Timing varies based on the size of the tomatillo cut and thickness of chicken breasts - check both regularly. As a bonus, chop the leftover chicken and mix with the salsa remains for a top-notch empanada filling.
jessica h
Delicious!!! Cooked exactly as written and the flavors were fantastic. Roasted some broccolini along with it.
Karen Artiaco
Was looking just for a simple fool-proof way to poach chicken breasts. So far, this recipe isn’t it. I followed this recipe closely - used 2C chicken broth, 1 1/2C salted water, and 1/2C white wine for liquid, and organic free range boneless chicken breasts. Chicken was at 160 degrees at 50 minutes, so took it out of the oven then. Sliced the chicken crosswise at an angle to maximize tenderness, but still was no more tender than a simply roasted chicken breast. Back to the stove top!
Bicka
Reading the notes, I decided to sous vide the chicken breasts which is almost a foolproof method. The salsa was amazing. This is one that I will make again.
js
8/2019: Jann cooked this, and though the chicken was overdone, the salsa was outstanding, maybe the best we've ever had. Since the salsa is prepared separately, maybe best to steal that part of the recipe and use the salsa for something else.
Kimberly
Made exactly as described, and am so happy right now :) Chicken breasts took longer than described, and tomatillos/jalapeños shorter. I will adjust respective cooking times, as well as the thickness of jalapeño slices next time. Also, I don’t have a ramekin so made a foil bowl for the garlic, which worked just fine.
JC
The roasted tomatillo salsa is incredibly delicious and I will make it again and again. The chicken was good but not great. I used small chicken breasts but that was a mistake, as they got rubbery. I think my other mistake was putting it on the top rack. It should be further from the heat so that the tomatillos can caramelize and not just weep.
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