Use pickle brine next time you feel like cooking chicken. There aren't a lot of great uses for leftover pickle juice. I recently heard that some people like to drink this stuff after jogging, which I found shocking since I had no idea people still jogged. Like most brined recipes, the payoff is in the texture and moisture content and not necessarily in the taste. But this dish does have a nice little twang. So the next time you have nothing left in the pickle jar but the juice, you now know what to do.
Ingredients
- ½ cups dill pickle juice: 1 piece (to taste)
- brown sugar: 1 Tbsp
- kosher salt: 2 tsp
- black pepper: 1 tsp (freshly ground)
- pinch cayenne pepper: 1 piece
- skinless, boneless chicken breast halves: 2 piece
- olive oil: 1 Tbsp (or as needed)
- salt and ground black pepper: (to taste)
- pinch cayenne pepper: 1 piece (to taste)
- aluminum foil:
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
-
Gather all ingredients. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
-
Whisk together pickle juice, brown sugar, kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 pinch cayenne pepper in a large bowl until sugar dissolves. Place chicken breasts in brine, using a plate or bowl to keep breasts submerged. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
-
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
-
Remove chicken breasts from brine, discard brine, and dry chicken breasts with paper towels. Brush each breast with olive oil; season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook chicken on the preheated grill until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
-
Transfer chicken to a plate, tent with aluminum foil, and let chicken rest for 5 minutes. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
