Chicken breasts – especially the boneless, skinless variety – all too often get a bad rap for being dry, ho-hum and bo-ring. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. These Pan Roasted Chicken Breasts with Cuban Mojo Sauce are so wonderfully moist, juicy and flavorful, you’ll be excited to eat chicken again!
Recipe Notes✏
How to prevent drying out your chicken?
Forget about skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Instead, buy skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts – even if you don’t plan on eating the skin. The skin and the bone insulate the chicken meat and help prevent it from drying out.
Don’t over flip. When pan searing your chicken breasts, start with the skin down first and make sure not to flip the chicken over until the skin has released from the pan. Otherwise, the skin may stick to the pan, causing the chicken to lose its protective insulation.
Don’t overcook. One of the common mistakes that people make when cooking chicken is to cook it longer than necessary, which dries it out. Although the USDA recommends cooking it to an internal temperature of 165°F, there are several reputable sources who recommend a lower temperature to preserve the moistness of the chicken. Among them is Howard McGee of National Public Radio (NPR) and J. Kenji López-Alt of The Food Lab who recommend internal temperatures of 150°F for chicken breasts, and 160°F and 170°F, respectively, for chicken legs. These science-backed recommendations have served us well, resulting in super moist and juicy chicken every time!
One of the easiest ways to prevent overcooking your chicken is to invest in a good quality instant-read thermometer, which takes all of the guest work out of the equation. We really like the ThermaPen from ThermoWorks (pictured above in pink).
Allow it to rest. After removing your chicken breasts from the oven, transfer them to a plate or cutting board, cover them loosely with foil and allow them to rest for about 10 minutes. Resting allows time for the chicken’s muscle fibers to relax so that the juices can be reabsorbed and redistributed into the meat. If you don’t rest your chicken breasts, the juices will flow right out when you cut into them.
What is Cuban Mojo Sauce?
Mojo (pronounced mō-hō) is the name of a variety of sauces used in the cuisines of Cuba, the Canary Islands (Spain), Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries customarily made with a base of olive oil, garlic, citrus and one or more local herbs or peppers. Cuban Mojo Sauce is typically made with a base of olive oil, Seville orange juice, and garlic (lots of it!) to which onions, cumin and/or oregano are usually added.
Cuban Mojo Sauce is used as a marinade or sauce for meat, seafood and poultry dishes, and it also makes a deliciously addictive dipping oil for bread. In this recipe for Pan Roasted Chicken Breasts with Cuban Mojo Sauce, we take advantage of the flavorful remnants in the chicken pan (referred to as fond) as the starting point for making the sauce. The sauce is then poured over the cooked chicken breasts, exalting them to another level of deliciousness! Serve them with a side of white rice and black beans (the traditional Cuban way), a simple green salad for an easy weeknight meal or with nothing more than a glass of Spanish red wine (our favorite!).
Recipe 🍽
Pan Roasted Chicken Breasts with Cuban Mojo Sauce
• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced in half circles
• 7-8 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup fresh Seville orange juice (or 1/3 cup fresh sweet orange juice and 1/3 cup fresh lime juice)
• 1/2 cup Spanish extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
• kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Step 1: Adjust oven rack to the center position. Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper.
Step 2: Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed, oven-safe skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat until just barely smoking. Swirl the oil to coat the pan, remove the pan from the heat and carefully place the chicken in the pan, skin side down. Return the pan to the heat and cook, without moving the chicken, until the chicken is golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue to cook until the second side is lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes.
Step 3: Transfer the pan to the oven and roast until the thickest part of each chicken breast registers 150°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Step 4: While the chicken is resting, using the same pan, discard any excess fat from the pan (leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan) and return it to medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until softened, about 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30-45 seconds.
Step 5: Slowly add about one-third of the juice and continue to cook while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, about 30 seconds. Slowly add the olive oil, stirring until well combined.
Step 6: Stir in the oregano, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes (if using) and remaining juice unit well combined. Remove pan from the heat, stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the chicken and serve immediately.
