This is a chicken brine that will yield the most succulent, juiciest roast chicken you will EVER have in your life! Brining injects flavour and moisture as well as tenderising – you will be blown away how juicy the chicken breast is!
Once you learn how to brine chicken and taste the incredible results, you will never look back!
Chicken Brine
Brining is the process whereby chicken (or other meat) is submerged in a salty liquid (“brine”) and left to marinate to add flavour, tenderise AND add moisture so the chicken stays juicier when roasted.
It injects flavour and seasoning right into the flesh of a whole chicken in a way that no other method can, even by slathering liberally with herb and garlic butter under the skin which is my favourite non-brining way to roast chicken.
It’s a technique widely used by chefs. In Sydney, there are a handful of restaurants famous for their roast chicken – such as Glebe Point Diner, Boronia Kitchen and Restaurant Hubert – and they are all brined!
This brine recipe is adapted from a recipe by Thomas Kellar, one of the greatest culinary masters of the world.
What does brined chicken taste like?
The chicken is seasoned with salt all the way through the flesh, with a hint of the flavourings of the brine. The brine flavourings are not intended to be dominant – it’s more of a subtle perfume rather than a strong flavour. You don’t need strong flavours when the flesh of chicken is seasoned this way because you’ll taste chicken flavour in a way you never have before!
The juiciest chicken breast EVER!
Here’s an up close and personal of the breast of brined roast chicken – LOOK HOW JUICY IT IS! It’s hard to believe your eyes but it’s true, it IS possible to make chicken breast this succulent – but only with a chicken brine!
What you need for Chicken Brine
To make chicken brine, all you need is water and salt. Everything else is for flavour so it’s optional and customisable – see below for substitutions for each.
Salt and water – the only two ingredients that are non negotiable, they are the brine!
Honey – for a touch of sweet, sub with sugar
Parsley, thyme and rosemary – 100% optional, switch with other herbs, or use dried
Peppercorns – use ground instead
Lemons, garlic and bay leaves – for flavour, optional
How to brine chicken
It’s as easy as this:
Bring all the brine ingredients to a boil with a bit of water – just to bring out flavour a bit and dissolve the salt;
Add cold water to bring the temperature down, then refrigerate until fully chilled;
Submerge chicken upside down (ie drumsticks and breast facing down) and brine for 24 hours in the fridge (even 12 hours is terrific);
pat dry, brush with butter and roast!
How long does it take to roast a 2 kg / 4lb brined chicken?
60 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until the internal temperature is 75°C/165°F or until juices run clear.
The formula is: About 15 minutes for every 500g/1 lb. So a 2 kg / 4 lb chicken will take 60 minutes, and a 1.5kg / 2 lb chicken will take 45 minutes (give or take 5 – 10 minutes, also smaller chickens will take about 20 minutes per 500g/1lb).
Brined chicken roasts about 20% faster than chicken that is not brined. A 2 kg / 4 lb chicken that is not brined takes 1 hour 25 minutes (see classic Roast Chicken recipe).
Can you use this for other meats?
Absolutely. I use this for pork, turkey breast and small whole turkey. For large whole turkeys, the better way is using a Turkey Dry Brine – more convenient, better result.
Difference between brining and marinating?
Brining is different to marinating in that there is a much higher liquid to meat ratio – a whole chicken is completely submerged in the chicken brine. Marinades usually have far less liquid and the chicken is mostly coated in it, rather than submerged (examples: my favourite Everyday Chicken Marinade, Greek Marinade, Vietnamese Lemongrass Marinade).
What to serve with roast chicken
Something carby and something green! Here are a few suggestions:
Potato and Bread sides for roast chicken
Potatoes au Gratin – my favourite make-head-looks-and-sounds-impressive option, “it’s French, darling”
Paris Mash – for something sinfully rich, and very fine dining style
Everyday Creamy Mashed Potato which we will never, ever tire of
Creamy Mashed Cauliflower for a low carb option (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it)
Warm homemade No Knead Dinner Rolls or an easy, crusty, no yeast Irish Soda Bread
Side salad options for roast chicken
Crisp Garden Salad with Balsamic Dressing, French Dressing or Italian Dressing
Classic Rocket Salad with Shaved Parmesan (aka Arugula) – very fine dining / bistro style and also the world’s fastest side salad
Green Bean Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, a crispy, juicy Cucumber Salad with Herb & Garlic Dressing or, for something different, a Carrot Salad (bet you can’t stop eating this….)
The chicken is so moist, you can serve it as is with a tiny drizzle of the pan juices (which are quite salty, so don’t go overboard!). If you’d like a gravy, make it while the chicken is resting – the recipe is in the notes.
I’ve also been known to drizzle with a touch of melted butter and squeeze of fresh lemon juice – it’s divine! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Chicken Brine
Ingredients
Brine
- 2 litres / 2 quarts water , cold tap water
- 1/3 cup kosher or cooking salt, NOT table salt (Note 1)
- 2 lemons , quartered
- 10 sprigs parsley , fresh
- 7 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 5 bay leaves, fresh (or 3 dried)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
Roast Chicken
- 1.5 – 2 kg / 3-4lb chicken , whole
- 3 tbsp / 40g butter , melted
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
Brining
- Pour about 1/3 of the water into a large pot (large enough for the brine and submerged chicken) with remaining Brine ingredients. Bring to boil boil 1 minute, stir to dissolve salt.
- Remove from heat, pour in remaining water. Cool completely before using (I cool about 30 min then refrigerate 1 1/2 hours). DO NOT put chicken in before full cool, this is a health hazard (Note 4).
- Flip chicken upside down (so legs and breast are on underside. Submerge chicken in brine, cover and refrigerate for 12 – 24 hours (Note 5). Don't worry if underside of chicken doesn't stay under water – the the breast side is, that is what matters.
Roasting Brined Chicken:
- Remove chicken from brine and pat dry to remove excess moisture.
- Tie legs with string (if desired), tuck wings under. Drizzle/brush with most of the butter all over, including underside (butter will firm up on contact).
- Sprinkle with pepper and the TINIEST pinch of salt, place chicken on a rack in a heavy based roasting tray. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- Preheat fan forced oven to 220°C/430°F.
- Turn down the oven to 180°C/350°F, then roast chicken for 50 minutes to 1 hour (Note 7) or until the internal temperature at the joint between the leg and thigh is 75°C/165°F, or until juices run clear.
- Check at 45 minutes, rotate the pan if not browning evenly, and brush top with remaining melted butter.
- Remove chicken from the roasting tray, cover loosely with foil and rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Chicken is so juicy, it needs little more than a tiny drizzle of the juices in the pan (go easy, it's salty). Otherwise, make a gravy while the chicken is resting – see Note 8.
Recipe Notes:
- Honey – sub same amount maple syrup, or 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Fresh herbs – use more of one of them, switch out with sage leaves or other fresh herbs of choice. OR use 1 tbsp dried herbs of choice
- lemons – lime, or oranges, or leave out
- Peppercorns – sub 1/2 tsp ground pepper
3 tbsp / 40g flour (any white)
All liquid from pan topped up with LOW SODIUM / Reduced Salt chicken broth to make up 1 cup
1 cup / 250ml water Melt butter over medium heat, add flour, stir for 1 minute. Add half the liquid while whisking. Once incorpoated and lump free, add remaining liquid & water. Continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring regularly, until gravy thickens. Season with pepper – I highly doubt you will need salt! 9. Frozen chicken can be put in the brine once it’s partially thawed. It will finish thawing in the chicken while it brines. 10. Source: Brine based on a recipe by Thomas Keller, one of the great masters of the culinary world! Known for high end iconic restaurants such as Per Se in New York and the French Laundry in the Napa Valley. 11. Nutrition per serving, chicken only.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2014, updated November 2019 with fresh photos, video and most importantly, Life of Dozer added!
Life of Dozer
Dozer taking me for a walk in Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall!
Staying in an Air BNB for a week, cramming in meetings and generally pretending to be a Melbourne-ite for a week. First time I’ve driven down – it’s a long 10 hour drive – but I REALLY wanted to bring Dozer down with me this time and I’m so glad I did. He’s having a blast, more photos to follow – he’s causing a riot down here!
I dont have fresh herbs. Will dry ones work the same?
Always read the note sections. In her notes she says you can substitute fresh herbs with 1 tablespoon of dried herbs of your choice. She gives different substitutions for people who don’t have all the ingredients
April, you have likely tried it already, but just in case…i used dried herbs and it was outstanding!!
Hi Catherine, half the dry herbs as fresh herbs?
Can you use this method if you intend to bbq the chicken?
Yes you can definitely brine meat before BBQing…are you doing a whole chicken on the BBQ or pieces? You won’t need to soak as long if they are pieces as they will get too salty. I haven’t tested pieces so don’t know the soaking time for them. N x
I followed this recipe and then followed this one after it had brined https://promotown.info/roast-chicken/#wprm-recipe-container-25307%3C/a%3E
I just didn’t add any of the salt from the second recipe.
The combination equalled chicken heaven 😋
Thank you for another fabulous recipe, Nagi. Your recipes never fail!
Well done…sounds yum! N x
Hi. If I want to cook some at 5:00 pm when should I begin brining for it to brine for 24 hours? Thanx for your response
Great, all your recipes are awesome. I didn’t have much spare time, about 3 hours to brine and even that made a huge difference
Best juicy roasted chicken ever!!! Well worth the wait. Next time I may pour the herb garlic butter inside and outside the chicken as per your other recipe for more flavour… the bar is too high now, I don’t think we will ever eat supermarket roasted chicken anymore… Thank you Nagi.
Hi Nagi
Can be brine be frozen and reused?
unfortunately not Lily, it’s unsafe 🙂 N x
My go-to formula is 1cup water to 1 tbs sea salt (sometimes I use pink salt when available) plus the ingredients mentioned above. AMAZING FLAVOR and I do 36 hrs in the fridge (we love it salty) but here in the Philippines, I grow all my own herbs in the garden. I do add dill because I love the flavor and also calamansi insted of lemon as i do have a calamansi tree (like small limes) thanks for the recipe for the brine. It’s spot on. To anyone reading this? This is next-level brine for pork, chicken even beef, And fish. Try it. Thanks Nagi. Bookmarked 🙂 Must be appreciated! Coming from the Philippines. TIP: Grow herbs at home and pick them fresh from your garden.
I was referred to Recipe Tin by a friend and now it is my go to cook book – Great recipes, practical and easy!
The recipe for brining chicken gave me the most succulent chicken I have ever eaten. The whole family said the same so now I don’t cook chicken without first brining it! Thanks Nagi.
Hi Nagi,
I like to roast my chicken butterflies, so all skin are exposed and crisp. Can I brine it as butterflied and do you have have advise in regards to cooking time or ways of cooking it this way? Thanks so much in advance
Do i adjust ingredients if chicken smaller?
Hi Maha, you can click the servings and scale down until you reach the size of chicken you have 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi
You have the cook time for chicken as follows
“Cook times: 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for every 500g/1 lb. So a 2 kg / 4 lb chicken will take 60 minutes,”
If a 1lb chook takes 30 minutes then wouldnt a 4 lb chook take 120 minutes or 2 hrs ? (30 minutes x 4) ?
20mins, plus 10mins for every 500g/1lb.
My understanding is the 20mins is the base no matter how big the chicken is.
The 10 mins is multipliable.
For a 2 kg chicken, cook time is
20mins + 10mins x 4 = 60mins.
Hope it makes sense.
Fantastic! We had a small 3lb chicken, wish it was a bigger bird……
Chicken was tasty and moist. I usually find brines too salty but this was just perfect.
My family is really scared of undercooked chicken. I cooked this for 2 hours until 175 and it still came out incredibly juicy. You know its good when you are picking at the bird straight from the fridge cold for breakfast. Amazing brine!
I’m so glad you gave it a go Andrea, it truly is a game changer!! N X
Chicken nutrition chart states per serving, but does not identify how much is in a serving. Please clarify.
Hi Norma, this is based on one whole chicken serving 5 people. Nutrition is per serve. N x
Thank you for your response. I am sorry it could not be more specific. Five equal parts of a whole chicken…didn’t someone have to measure each equal part to make sure they are equal? Otherwise, how can you really know that your nutritional information is accurate?
You can use a food scale to weigh the chicken and individual portions. Chickens don’t all weigh the same, so I’d guess that it would be hard for a blogger to give more detailed responses. Also, she is providing us a free service with this recipe. If you’d like to try a different route, the app My Fitness Pal is very helpful with calories and portions if you weigh your food.
This is by far the JUICIEST best tasting chicken my husband and myself have ever had!! I will definitely use this again and again and for any meat that needs it! Thank you so much!! So happy I found you and your recipes!!
This is the best chicken I’ve ever had. I’ve done 16 chickens using this recipe. I’m just sorry I missed all these years not cooking chicken this way
Amazing!!!!!…My humble thanks…will be following you ❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏
I’m so glad you loved it Sharon!! N X
For keto (I’m new to Keto), would leaving off the honey greatly alter the brining process?
The only two ingredients that are necessary are water and salt. The rest are optimal add ons.
I’m sorry, I meant optional 😂
I forgot I had made chicken with your brine, recipe #4 of yours. As with all of your recipes I have tried, the results were superb!
5 Stars.. made a rotisserie chicken, let it marinade for 24 hrs. Best chicken I ever had.