Sazón Chicken Breasts
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- ¼cup fresh orange juice, from 2 small oranges (preferably mandarin)
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 2tablespoons homemade or store-bought basic sazón seasoning
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- 4medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds), trimmed of excess fat
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
189 calories; 8 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 26 grams protein; 209 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
In a small food processor, combine the garlic, orange juice, olive oil, sazón, salt and pepper; pulse until it forms a creamy marinade. (Alternately, you can finely mince the garlic, then combine it with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a fork.)
- Step 2
Pat the chicken breasts dry, then transfer them to a large resealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade on top, close, shake, then gently massage the seasoning into the meat. Let sit on the counter for at least 10 minutes. (Chicken can also be marinated overnight then set out to come to room temperature before cooking.)
- Step 3
Heat a large nonstick wok or deep skillet over medium-high. Add marinated chicken breasts, one by one, and pour over about half the marinade. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, flipping frequently with tongs and being careful not to let them get too dark too fast. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breast, flipping often to ensure meat is cooked through. Thinner chicken breasts will take less time to cook, so monitor the color and texture of your meat as it cooks. Check doneness by pressing the center with your tongs. If the center is still squishy, continue to cook until meat has a bit of resistance (though not rock hard), and registers 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.
- Step 4
Let rest in the pan off-heat for a few minutes. Serve, pouring over any remaining pan juices if desired.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Carol
Maybe stop telling people to marinate things in plastic bags, and recommend glass containers or reuseable silicon bags instead?
Blake H
I marinaded the chicken for nearly 24 hours and it turned out wonderfully when cooked as directed! I did slice the breasts in half before putting them in the marinade to reduce time needed in the pan, and also took them out of the fridge ~1 hour before cooking. The finished product was great on its own as a main course, and even worked sliced on a sandwich. You could shred them and make great tacos. I will make these again.
Jaclyn, Colorado
As others shared, not enough marinade. Definitely agree about doubling or even tripling marinade. Homemade Sazon blend was easy to make. I will try again, but maybe grill next time. Served with steamed veggies and couscous on the side.
Felicia in Portland
Flavorful, but I used most of the marinade (instead of half, where guided in the recipe). They’re not kidding about turning frequently. My chicken started to blacken fairly quickly, so do turn them every 30 sec or so (more?). I also didn’t need 7-10 min to get to a place where it seemed like the right move to reduce the heat. We had with steamed broccoli and steamed rice and it was a decent weeknight dinner. Making the sazon seasoning was very easy and happily had all the spices in the pantry.
artistwagoodi
Very flavorful and moist! I baked them first in a hot oven, covered for cooking through and then uncovered to brown. The second time, they were cooked in a cast iron pan on the stove top. Both ways really good-depends if you want to warm up the house on a cold day. The homemade sazon spice is delicious and I'll use it with other dishes. Make more marinade next time.
Julio
Okay folks. I changed up the recipe because it was what I had on hand to substitute. Used fresh mango with lime instead of oranges. It was AMAZING!!
EC
Used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Marinated for 60-90 minutes, and wish I could have let it sit longer to improve flavor. Air fried for 11-13 minutes at 400, flipping once. Set some marinade aside that hadn't been in contact with the raw chicken and used that to baste halfway through. Made sazón seasoning based on the linked recipe, which was nice but a little salty for my taste.
Joe
I make this with salmon frequently, delicious every time! Sometimes I sub out the fresh mandarin juice for tangerine juice from Trader Joe’s. Important note: if you’re making sazón from scratch, omit the salt (otherwise the marinade will be twice as salty as intended).
Lori F.
Excellent flavors. The spice mix is easily made (I already had all of the spice) and makes enough for several meals. I sauteed onions and peppers in the same pan, so I added all of the marinade instead of half. I also served it with brown rice. Husband and I really enjoyed it and I am adding it to the rotations. I may also try it as a sheet pan dinner and cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces.
edoescher
Marinade is ample. Do not add salt, sazón is salty. Four packets of sazón = two tablespoons. Sear chicken on both sides before adding marinade to pan.
Alice
I made Sazon from a different but similar recipe. Doubled the marinade. Cut 2 boneless breasts (2 lbs.) into six uniform pieces. Marinated for 5 hours. Used all the marinade for cooking. Bottom line, yes this was easy and delicious! However, I had to add more water and juice to keep it from burning, and it needed watching. I served with broccoli, and french bread. It would have been great with rice, if there was more marinade for a sauce.
zoz
I probably did everything wrong but it was still delicious! I used 2 bone in, skin on chicken thighs marinated ~4 hours and cooked them at 400 degrees in a covered pan for 40 minutes, then uncovered and let go another 20 minutes or so. I added some new potatoes to the pan. In retrospect I should have coated the pan with oil or maybe even lined it with foil, since the sauce made a crusty mess . Still, I’ll do it again because it was so good. Served with green beans with garlic and ginger.
Name
Super good w mods from comments. First I made homemade sazon per the recipe here but halved it to use all for this. Doubled the marinade but skipped the additional salt other than from the sazon. Poured all the marinade to the pan w meat as it wasn’t much. Covered the skillet after turning heat to low to cook through. Chicken was perfectly savory (plenty salty) and flavorful w good amount of sauce. Served w rice and snap pea salad.
MarcL
In today's NYTimes Five Weeknight Dishes email "Rut-busting recipes for freezer staples", Krysten Chambrot writes about this recipe " These flavorful breasts are great to keep on hand to bolster salads or to simply serve with rice and sautéed greens for dinner." I don't understand the freezer part. Is she saying that one can freeze chicken breasts, thaw them, then cook using this recipe? Or cook the chicken and then freeze for later use?
akblueline
The idea is that many people keep chicken in their freezers for use as needed. Certainly, you could buy chicken breasts for this recipe and skip the freezer staples.
Sean H
What about freezing after step two?
Christa Avampato
Used this on chicken thighs that I put into tacos. So yummy! If you don't have sazón, tajín works, too!
Sally
Really like the flavor and consistency of this dish. I marinated for 4 hours and that seemed plenty. Also I pounded the breasts with a rolling pin until the of generally uniform thickness which really helped with temperature regulation.
Calidre
I had a jar of store bought sazon which I used and it was still very salty. So it sounds like whether you make your own sazon or buy it, watch the additional salt! Still tasty...served over white rice. Some sliced fresh avocado on top would have been a nice creamy balance to the tart (salty) chicken and sauce.
Scott E. Schneider
I agree with doubling or tripling the marinade. I cooked about 3 lbs of chicken breasts doubling everything and made it in two waves in the skillet. It was very tasty! The family loved it. We paired it w/ the NYT Cooking Cilantro Rice recipe and a simple tossed salad. We used Badia Tropical Sazon since we had it on hand and it seemed to match perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!
brad
Overall - I thought this tasted Great!! I wish I had read these comments first, though. There was not enough marinade to have any "pan juices" to spoon over. Next time - I'll probably triple the marinade
JH
Loved this; easy, delicious, very moist
ETM
Positively the LAST TIME I try a recipe without looking at the comments first! Terrific as is, but needed to double the sauce and not salt the chicken.
E Gillen
Very tasty. I made the NYT sazon blend but think I’d hall the cumin next time and replace you coriander. I marinated 20 min or so. Easy quick and fam really liked
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