This Clever Trick Makes the Chicken Breast Every Time, According to a Pro Cook

One food that home cooks often ask me for advice about is chicken breast. They say that it’s often kind of dry and boring, or they have run out of ways to make it interesting. My one chicken breast tip that makes a huge difference and takes almost no effort is “the slash.”

Why You Should Slash Your Chicken Breasts

Chicken breasts vary in size, and each breast has a thick part and a thin part. The chef-y way to solve this is to pound the meat flat, creating an even, thin slab, but you probably don’t have time. The slashing technique creates a thinner, faster-cooking piece of chicken by allowing the heat of the cooking oil or the oven to penetrate the center of the meat from the very beginning of the cooking time. 

The first time I encountered this move was in a recipe for tandoori chicken. After I stirred up a seasoned yogurt mixture, the recipe instructed me to cut slashes evenly across the grain of the breast filet. Once opened up, the slashes cradled the tangy marinade, and as a bonus, the chicken cooked all the way through faster and more evenly, preventing the meat from drying out. My clients loved it.

Since then, I've used the slashing technique to make plump cuts of meat cook quickly and create little valleys of flavor filled with marinades and sauces. I’ve also branched out to the “cross-hatch slash,” in which you make another set of perpendicular slashes, creating diamond shapes across the breast.

How To Slash Chicken Breast

First, make your spice rub or marinade. 

Pat dry and trim your chicken breasts. The “grain” of the muscle fiber runs from the fattest part—the part closest to the wing—across the breast to the breastbone. Place the breast skin-side up on a cutting board and press flat with your palm. Using a sharp paring knife, cut slashes across the grain, about halfway through the meat. Space them about three-quarters of an inch to an inch apart. To crosshatch, turn the breast and cut perpendicular slashes, creating squares or diamonds.

Sprinkle the open cuts with spice mixture, or place the breasts in a bowl or zip-top bag and pour the marinade over them. Use your fingers to rub the seasonings or marinade into all the cuts and over the back of the breast. 

Let marinate, then sauté, bake, broil, or grill as usual, but start checking for doneness five minutes early. Serve with a tasty sauce, drizzled in those browned, open slashes for extra flavor.