If you’re Greek (or a Feta luvah), you have Feta cheese in your fridge and for the purposes of this recipe, you have Feta brine. The salt content in the brine is similar to that of making your brine.

Brining is a wonderful way to keep your protein juicy and tasty. Feta brine is something that usually gets thrown down the drain after my Feta is all eaten up. Using the Feta brine for my chicken is resourceful and I’ve had wonderful results in the past with turkey.

I am more of a leg/thigh/wing guy when it comes to chicken but if I have a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast and I serve it promptly, it can be a wonderful meal, be it weeknight or weekend.

Feta Brined Roasted Chicken Breast

(serves 2)

2 chicken breasts (bone in, skin on)

approx. 2 cups of Feta brine

sea salt and ground pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic

couple of sprigs of thyme/savory/rosemary

juice of 1/2 lemon, splash of dry white wine

pre-heated 425F

1. Place your chicken in a plastic container cover with Feta brine. Cover and place in the fridge for two hours.
2. Take your chicken out of the fridge (and brine) pat-dry.  Allow to come up to room temperature and season both sides with salt and pepper. Discard brine.
3. Pre-heat your oven to 425F. Place a large oven safe skillet or cast iron pan on your stovetop over medium heat.
4. Add the oil, place chicken skin side down and sear for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Turn the chicken so that it is skin side up, add the garlic and herbs and place in your pre-heated oven.
6. Bake for approx. 15 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer to determine doneness. Chicken is safe to eat when it has reached a minimum 165F internal temperature (I take my chicken out at 155F as temp. continues to rise as it’s resting).
7. Take chicken out of the oven, allow to rest 5 minutes before serving. If you like, deglaze pan drippings with wine, hot water and lemon juice and spoon some of that goodness on your chicken.
8. Serve with my garlic mashed potatoes or rice pilaf.