This chicken marinated in pickle juice is flavorful, juicy, and tender with an incredibly crispy crust. It’s the tastiest oven fried chicken and the perfect way to use the leftover juice in a pickle jar!
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Brine Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice
Stop throwing away the juice from an empty jar of pickles! Use it to marinate chicken; you’ll be so happy that you did!
The pickle juice imparts a nice little twang of flavor. But most importantly, it makes it super tender and juicy.
Once it’s lightly breaded then baked in the oven until crispy, it becomes a healthier version of your favorite fried chicken. We like to serve it with those little sweet pickles for a nearly real fried chicken experience.
How to Make Brine Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice
Pickle brined oven fried chicken is a fairly simple recipe. The only part that is a little time-consuming and messy is breading the chicken, but even that step only takes about 10 minutes.
- Put the chicken pieces into a bowl and pour the pickle juice over the top. Now put the bowl into your fridge until you’re ready to finish making the recipe.
- Set up three bowls – one for flour, one for the egg, and one for breadcrumbs. Now dip each piece first in flour, then in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs. It’s easiest to work with 3-4 pieces at a time and use one hand for the egg dip and the other hand for the flour and breadcrumbs dips.
- Now put the breaded chicken on a baking sheet, spray or drizzle with oil, and bake until it’s nice and crispy.
How Long Can you Brine Chicken in Pickle Juice
For the best flavor, the chicken should marinate in the pickle juice for at least two hours. But make sure that you don’t leave it for longer than 24 hours or the texture of the meat can change.
We recommend allowing yourself a minimum of two hours to brine your chicken. However, if you have the time, we love brining overnight for the richest flavor. Just make sure you don’t leave it in the brine for longer than 24 hours or it will change the texture of the meat.
What Kind Of Pickle Juice Should I Use
Because your pickle juice will greatly impact the flavor of your chicken, we recommend going with a simple, clean option like the juice from this refrigerator dill pickle recipe.
Can Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice be Frozen
Yes, it can! You have two options for freezing chicken marinated in pickle juice:
Option #1: Freeze the chicken submerged in pickle juice in bags (we love these reusable Stasher freezer bags!) When you’re ready to finish making the recipe, thaw the chicken in the fridge overnight then continue to bread and bake it.
Option #2: Bread the brined chicken but do not bake it. Instead, freeze it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Once the chicken is frozen, you can move it to a freezer bag for storage. Cook the chicken from frozen, adding 10 minutes to cook time.
Recipe to Make Brine Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice
Notes
- *Pickle Juice: the pickle juice you pick will greatly impact the flavor here. I like the pickle juice from these Refrigerator Dill Pickles because it is clean and light tasting – I wouldn’t recommend a pickle juice that is particularly yellow with lots of extra ingredients. I also like the juice from these Refrigerator Dill Pickles because it has garlic and onions in them that also are great to brine with the chicken.
- Chicken Breasts: you can also use chicken breasts, boneless chicken thighs, etc. – this will work with any chicken cut, but I prefer using bone-in chicken thighs.
- Whole30/Paleo: if you use the Refrigerator chicken marinated in pickle juice these will be Paleo/Whole30 – check your ingredients if using store-bought pickles.
Ingredients to Make Brine Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 cups dill pickle juice, from a jar of pickles
- 1 ½ cups breadcrumbs, gluten-free, if needed
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, gluten-free, if needed
- ½ teaspoon EACH: sea salt and pepper
- 1 large egg + 1 tablespoon cold water
- Spray oil
- 1 cup sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles
Method to Make Brine Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice
Marinate the chicken
- Cut the chicken tenders away from the breasts (see notes) then pound the chicken breast so they are ½-inch thick. You can use a rolling pin or give them a few good smacks with the palm of your hand. Then cut each breast in half so that you have 8 smaller pieces + 4 chicken tenders.4 chicken breasts
- Place the chicken into a mixing bowl and pour the pickle juice over top. You want the pieces completely covered. Put the bowl into the fridge and let the chicken marinate for 6-24 hours.
Prep the chicken
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While your oven is warming, put the breadcrumbs onto a baking sheet and put them into the oven to toast for 5-6 minutes. When they’re golden, pour them into a shallow bowl. Line the same baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it well with oil.1 ½ cups breadcrumbs
- Add the flour, salt, and pepper to another bowl and mix well. Whisk the egg with the water in a third bowl.
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour,½ teaspoon Each: sea salt and pepper,1 large egg + 1 tablespoon cold water
- Remove the chicken from the pickle juice marinade and dip the pieces first in the flour, then in the egg, and then in the breadcrumbs. Lay the breaded chicken onto the baking sheet then spray the tops with more oil.
Cook the chicken
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until it is golden, crispy, and cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Serve with sweet pickles on the side. 1 cup sweet pickles
The pickle juice imparts a nice little twang of flavor. But most importantly, it makes it super tender and juicy. Once it’s lightly breaded then baked in the oven until crispy, it becomes a healthier version of your favorite fried chicken.
It’s not recommended to leave Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice or brine in excess of 24 hours. Because of the acidity of the pickle juice, the best results are when you marinate the chicken for 6 hours or less.
As a general rule of thumb, Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice meat for about one hour per pound. You can go longer, but keep in mind that it’s definitely possible to over-brine your meat. Most over-brining simply makes everything a little too salty, and you can soak the meat in cold water to draw out the excess salt.
Rinse off the Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice and pat it as dry as possible before cooking. Remember that wet skin prior to roasting will make for a soggy—rather than crispy and golden-brown—bird, so don’t let your hard work be upstaged by a lackluster finish.
Lay raw tenders into a Tupperware or large bowl, then cover them with the pickle juice and water. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 8-10 hours. The longer the brine time, the more “pickle” taste will come through, but it’s still very subtle after 10 hours.
Conclusion
This pickle brine chicken is flavorful, juicy, and tender with an incredibly crispy crust. It’s the tastiest oven fried chicken marinated in pickle juice and the perfect way to use the leftover juice in a pickle jar! The pickle juice imparts a nice little twang of flavor. But most importantly, it makes it super tender and juicy. Once it’s lightly breaded then baked in the oven until crispy, it becomes a healthier version of your favorite fried chicken.
Rinse off the brine Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice and pat it as dry as possible before cooking. Remember that wet skin prior to roasting will make for a soggy—rather than crispy and golden-brown—bird, so don’t let your hard work be upstaged by a lackluster finish. Lay raw tenders into a Tupperware or large bowl, then cover them with the pickle juice and water. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 8-10 hours. The longer the Chicken Marinated in Pickle Juice time, the more “pickle” taste will come through, but it’s still very subtle after 10 hours.
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