Lemon-Herb Chicken Brine Recipe

This lemon-herb chicken brine recipe is my new favorite for brining chicken breasts. This brine couldn’t be easier to throw together and it always makes the chicken breasts extra flavorful, tender, and so juicy. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts in this brine recipe but you can use any cut of chicken with this recipe. Brined chicken can be cooked in any way that you’d normally cook chicken, such as baking, roasting, or pan-searing and it’s seriously worth the extra time and effort.

Chicken Brine

Ingredients

• 6 cups warm water
• ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp kosher coarse salt **Do NOT use table salt
• 2½ tbsp honey
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 3-4 fresh parsley, sprigs
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp black peppercorns

How to Make the Chicken Brine

Mix the warm water with the salt and honey in a large glass bowl or large baking dish; stir until the salt and honey are dissolved. Cool completely then add the lemon slices, fresh parsley, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, bay leaves, garlic cloves, and black peppercorns.

How to Use the Brine

Place chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate for 15 minutes to two hours for skinless breasts, 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 4 hours to 24 hours for whole chickens.

After Brining

Remove the chicken from the brine (discard brine), rinse the chicken under cold water then pat dry. For best results, place the chicken on a plate and place it in the refrigerator for an hour to dry the chicken meat completely.

Take the chicken out of the refrigerator an hour before seasoning then roasting, baking, or pan-searing. Enjoy.