Skillet Split Chicken Breast with Mini Potatoes

One pot dinners are the best. This is a weeknight one pot dinner that’s easy to make and clean. Split chicken breast is cheap, which makes this dinner budget friendly. And mini potatoes are delicious, soft, buttery and full of the chicken flavor they absorb. So here is skillet split chicken breast with mini potatoes

Cast iron helps here. Everyone loves the crispy crackly skin. So by laying the skin side down in a hot skillet you get that. Then, when you lay the split chicken breast rib side down on the little potatoes, they absorb that wonderful chicken flavor.

So we start with a cast iron skillet big enough to handle three split chicken breasts, and a bag of those little potatoes you see in the produce section of the store. They come in white, red or mixed. I prefer the mixed, they add color to the plate. There is a slight flavor difference, the red are a little more earthy in taste. Try them and see.

We’re going to leave the potatoes whole. I also prefer to leave the skins on, they’re good for you and the brown up nicely. If you don’t like them, peel them and keeping the approximate same size follow the recipe. They’re small anyway. So the secret to having everything ready at the same time is to par cook the little potatoes first for 10 mins on the stove top, then saute them in the skillet before adding the chicken

As I’ve mentioned in my other recipes, prep everything before cooking. It’s easier just to add an ingredient while cooking than to cut up and then add an ingredient while cooking. But the wonderful thing about this recipe is there’s really no prep. So let’s get started

First thing is to get the skillet ready. If you read my Cast Iron, The Good The Bad and The Ugly post, here’s the Link I explain about preheating cast iron and why. So, put your skillet in the oven, turn it to 400 and go prep the ingredients

Now for the chicken. The secret to crispy skin is making sure it’s dry. Pat down the chicken breast with a paper towel, you want it to be completely dry. Season generously with salt and pepper.

I would like to mention here, while we’re talking about chicken, the importance of maintaining a clean workspace. When handling raw meat. it is very important to wash up and keep surfaces and utensils clean during the prep process. Wash up between handling meat and anything else. Keep the utensils you use to handle meat separate from everything else and wash everything well after use. Also, keep the counter tops clean. Cross contamination is very real and can make you very sick. Please read my post on safe food prep

So the Skillet is warming, put up a pot of water for the potatoes, when the water boils, add the potatoes and cook for no more than 10 mins, and drain into a colander.

Take the skillet from the oven to the stove top on a medium high heat, add the oil and heat till shimmering. Now, lets discuss oil selection, Oils have a smoke point, that is when they start to smoke. Butter oil has a low smoke point and olive oil has a higher smoke point and there are many in between. We’ll use olive oil here.

Now add the chicken skin side down and let it cook for 10 mins. Note, there will be some splatter from this, as with anything cooking in a pan over medium high heat. A lid probably won’t work here, won’t fit over the chicken. I usually cover the area with foil for easy clean up after.

Once the chicken has cooked for 10 mins, flip it. You’ll see the skin is nice and crispy. So put it rib side down for 5 mins. Remove from the skillet and put on a plate to the side. Add the potatoes and garlic and herbs to the skillet, and saute till you have some browning of the potatoes. Lay the chicken breast rib side down on the potatoes and put in the oven til the chicken is cooked, approx 25 mins

Here is a very important part of cooking. making sure what you’re eating is cooked. The only way to know is with a thermometer. I have a cheap one I picked up a few years ago. There’s a probe you stick in the meat and a cord goes to the display that sits beside the stove An alarm sounds when the temperature is correct. You can also get leave in thermometers at most grocery stores. Always cook your food to the correct temp.

When the chicken gets to 165 degrees, remove from the oven. I will usually cut the split breasts into three to serve, sometimes a whole split breast is too much for one person.

Serve and enjoy