By Published Oct. 17, 2023.
This is Technique #15 from our 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
Each technique is broken into three sections: why it works, key steps, and recipes that use it. Learn these recipe building blocks and you'll be set up for a lifetime of cooking success.
Take everyday chicken cutlets from boring to brilliant by remembering one thing: Don’t wash that skillet! Instead, use all those stuck-on browned bits from sautéing the chicken to create any number of restaurant-quality sauces in less than 10 minutes.
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Pan sauces are so named because you make them right in the pan after searing a protein. Those browned bits left in the pan, called fond, are chock-full of flavor. Knowing how to use them to make a quick pan sauce is a surefire way to ensure that sautéed super-thin cutlets can be treated a different way every night. (Though this technique can be used with nearly any protein, we especially love it for chicken cutlets.)
Pan sauces typically begin with the fond and fat left behind in the skillet after sautéing a protein. Since boneless chicken cutlets are so lean, sometimes we supplement with a little oil to get started. And while we often call for a nonstick skillet when sautéing so that the flavorful browning sticks to the food rather than the pan, a regular stainless-steel skillet is your secret weapon here. This is one instance where it’s fine if that flavorful browning stays in the pan.
Add aromatics, such as garlic or onion, to the skillet and sauté. Then pour in a liquid—usually broth and/or wine—and stir to loosen all the stuck-on bits, a process known as deglazing. Then, let the liquid reduce to achieve a thicker consistency and to concentrate the flavors. We’ve also found that adding an acidic ingredient—such as lemon juice, mustard, wine, or vinegar—near the end of cooking the sauce provides a blast of bright flavor. Add other flavorings, such as fresh herbs, at the end for nuance. Finally, sometimes the pan sauce is enriched by whisking in a bit of chilled butter, which gives the finished sauce a luxurious texture.
Though we used skinless chicken breasts in this example, feel free to apply this step-by-step technique to any lean, quick-cooking protein and build the sauce with whatever you have in your pantry for a convenient weeknight meal.
To make cutlets, cut trimmed chicken breasts horizontally into 2 equal pieces.
Cover chicken halves with plastic wrap and use meat pounder to pound cutlets to even 1⁄4-inch thickness.
Cook cutlets in hot skillet without moving them until browned. Flip cutlets and continue to cook until second side is opaque. Transfer to oven to keep warm while preparing pan sauce.
First cook sauce aromatics such as shallot in fat in skillet, then stir in liquid and other sauce ingredients and bring to simmer, scraping pan bottom to deglaze.
Simmer sauce until thickened. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices from sautéing cutlets.
If recipe calls for it, whisk in butter off heat, 1 piece at a time, until sauce is thick and glossy.
Apply your newfound knowledge of cooking both the protein and the sauce to any of these recipes.
Ready to learn another technique? Choose from our list of 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
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