A chicken fillet rubbed with lemon, oregano, garlic and pepper and cooked seven minutes a side on a griddle. Almost nothing beyond the chicken itself.
Seven minutes a side
The recipe said to cook the fillet, turn it after seven minutes, and then serve. What it never said was how long the second side needed.
Seven minutes again, which is what the fourteen minutes on the card implies but never states. That is enough for a fillet of ordinary thickness over medium heat.
The recipe's own note is right that it depends on how thick the fillet is, which is why the signal matters more than the number: pierce the thickest part and the juices should run clear.
Flatten it first
Not in the recipe, and worth doing anyway.
A chicken breast is roughly twice as thick at one end as the other, so by the time the thick end is cooked the thin end is dry. Pressed under a rolling pin or the flat of a pan until it is even, it cooks through at the same rate everywhere and comes out noticeably better.
It also cuts the time, so check earlier if you do it.
The marinade is the whole seasoning
Lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder, pepper and a pinch of salt, mixed in a bowl and brushed onto both sides.
There is nothing else in this recipe. No sauce, no butter, no breadcrumb, and the oil is optional. That is deliberate: pechuga a la plancha is the plain grilled chicken breast that turns up next to rice and salad on Colombian plates every day.
The recipe notes that the mix makes enough for two or three more fillets, which is true and worth using: it keeps a couple of days in the fridge.
Salt is optional here
Both the salt and the oil are marked optional, and the salt is the more interesting of the two.
Without it the dish leans entirely on the lemon, garlic and oregano, which is closer to how it is often cooked for people watching what they eat. With it, the seasoning reads more like a marinade.
Either way it goes into the mixture at the start rather than onto the cooked chicken.
More chicken
- Milanesa de pollo al horno — breaded and baked.
- Crispy parmesan chicken breasts — fried.
- Cabbage salad — what the recipe serves it with.
- Colombian white rice — and what goes under it.
Grilled Chicken Breast FAQ
Seven minutes a side over medium heat. The recipe used to give the first seven and then simply serve, which left the second side unaccounted for.
Pierce the thickest part. The juices should run clear rather than pink. That is more reliable than the clock, since fillets vary a lot in thickness.
It helps. A chicken breast is much thicker at one end, and pressed to an even thickness it cooks at the same rate all over instead of drying out at the thin end.
It is marked optional and in a good non-stick pan it is. The marinade has lemon juice in it, which sticks to bare metal, so a teaspoon a side is worth it otherwise.
Yes, and it improves. The recipe coats and cooks immediately, but half an hour in the fridge lets the lemon and garlic get further in.
Enough for two or three more fillets, which the recipe's own note points out. It keeps a couple of days in the fridge.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast fillet
- Juice of one lemon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- A pinch of oregano powder
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (optional, one per side)
- A pinch of salt (optional)
Notas
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the lemon juice with the oregano, the garlic powder, the pepper and the salt if you are using it.
- With a cooking brush or a spoon, coat the fillet with that mixture on both sides.
- Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add a teaspoon of oil if you are using it, and lay in the marinated fillet.
- After 7 minutes, turn the chicken and add the other teaspoon of oil. Give it about 7 minutes on the second side, until the juices run clear at the thickest part.
- Serve, with a cabbage salad.
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