The very best buy in a grocery store today is a package of Bone-in, Skin-on, Split Chicken Breasts. Not every store sells them, but I find them at Aldi’s and Food Lion on a regular basis. They run about $1.99 a pound and a package of plump breasts is usually less than $6. Boneless, skinless chicken breast at Kroger’s or Harris Teeter run $6 a pound and more. So, you are paying about triple to have a butcher peel off some skin and separate the breast from the bone.
But the worst part is that when the skin and bone are removed, so is the flavor. Every protein is always better with the bone attached and skin on, both of which help the meat from drying out and adding untold flavor.
Recently – if I need chicken breasts – I buy the split breasts add a little seasoning and cook them in a 350 oven for 50 minutes. Then, if I want a chicken casserole or any dish with chicken breast meat, I simply peel off the skin and pull the meat from the small bones and proceed. The chicken is always juicy, never dry and I save a ton of money.
Take chicken salad, for example. You can pull a pile of meat from a $6 package of Bone-in, Skin-on, Split Chicken Breasts, add a little Mayo, some onions, some chopped celery- and sweet pickle relish and make dynamite chicken salad for $6, plus the small cost of the condiments. And it’s far better than any salad made with the skinless breast filets.
I see no reason to ever buy skinless, boneless chicken breasts when Split Chicken Breasts are the best buy in the grocery store.
