How to Reheat Chicken Breast Without Drying It Out

Chicken breast is the food people ruin most often when reheating, mostly because it's already lean to begin with and has very little fat to protect it from a second round of heat.

Why Chicken Breast Dries Out So Easily

Chicken breast has almost no intramuscular fat, so once the moisture cooks out of it, there's nothing left to keep it juicy. Reheating in the microwave makes this worse, since microwaves heat unevenly and tend to overcook the outer edges of the meat long before the center is even warm.

The Best Method: Oven or Covered Skillet

Preheat your oven to 300°F. Place the chicken in a baking dish, add a splash of chicken broth or water, and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on thickness, until it reaches 165°F internally. The broth steams the chicken gently instead of drying it further.

No oven time to spare? Slice the chicken and reheat it in a covered skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of broth, turning once, for about 5 minutes.

If You Have to Use the Microwave

Slice the chicken first so it heats more evenly, place it in a dish with a spoonful of broth or water, cover with a damp paper towel, and microwave at 50% power in 30-second bursts, checking in between. Full power is what turns chicken rubbery, since it cooks the outside several times over before the middle catches up.

The Moisture Trick That Fixes Almost Any Dry Piece

If your chicken has already gone a bit dry from a previous reheat, slice it thin and toss it in a hot pan with a splash of broth and a pat of butter for a minute or two. The thin slices soak up the liquid fast and the dish recovers most of its original texture.

How Long Reheated Chicken Lasts

Cooked chicken keeps for 3-4 days in the fridge and up to 4 months in the freezer. Reheat only the portion you'll eat, since repeated reheating dries it out further each time.

Baking a fresh batch instead? A recipe like baked chicken breasts with olive oil reheats especially well because it's simple enough that a splash of broth brings it right back to where it started.

For the general rules that apply to reheating any protein, see the full meal-prep reheating guide.