If you have forgotten to thaw chicken before dinner, you may wonder whether you can put it straight into a frying pan. The answer depends on the chicken you have and the cooking method you use.
Is It Fine to Pan-Fry Frozen Chicken?
Yes, chicken can be cooked from frozen on the stove. USDA guidance also allows cooking it from frozen in the oven. For pan-frying, use directions that suit the exact product and its frozen starting state, and check the chicken with a food thermometer.
Plain raw chicken, raw breaded or stuffed chicken, and fully cooked frozen products can need different preparation. A method for one does not automatically work for another, even when the pieces look similar.
What to Check Before Pan-Frying Frozen Chicken
Read the package directions before you heat the pan. Check whether they call for frozen or thawed chicken and whether they include a skillet method. If you do not have a suitable method for cooking your chicken from frozen, thaw it safely and use directions for thawed chicken. However, if the package says to cook the product from frozen, follow that instruction instead.
When your chosen method calls for thawed chicken, thaw it in the refrigerator at 40°F or below. You can also use a leakproof package in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes, or use the microwave defrost setting according to its instructions. Cook immediately after cold-water or microwave thawing, and never thaw chicken on the counter.
USDA says to thaw raw chicken before cooking it in a slow cooker or microwave. Microwave defrosting followed by immediate cooking is different from cooking raw chicken from frozen. Fully cooked frozen products may have their own microwave reheating directions.
1. Choose the Right Size of Chicken
Use the cut, thickness and batch size that the cooking directions describe. Smaller pieces fitting inside the pan does not tell you that the method will cook them safely, and a larger pan does not make instructions for thin fillets suitable for a thick piece.
A whole frozen chicken needs a method intended for a whole bird. Do not substitute a small whole chicken into skillet directions for individual pieces. When checking a whole bird, measure the thickest part of the breast and the innermost parts of the thigh and wing, as described in USDA’s thermometer guidance.
2. Choose the Right Cut of Chicken
Just like size, the type of cut also affects the cooking time.
For plain, unbreaded chicken, check the exact package rather than assuming that all frozen breasts have the same directions. For example, PERDUE’s individually wrapped boneless skinless breasts have a skillet method that starts from frozen. Springer Mountain Farms’ individually wrapped 4-ounce breasts call for thawing before their skillet method. These instructions are specific to those products.
Raw breaded or stuffed chicken needs particular care because a browned coating can make it look cooked. Tyson’s Breaded & Stuffed Chicken Breasts Cordon Bleu, for example, are raw and oven-only. Other raw breaded products can have different directions, so read the label instead of treating all breaded chicken alike.
Chicken nuggets and patties may be raw or fully cooked. If the package says fully cooked, follow its reheating directions, including the starting state and appliance. Do not borrow cooking times from another nugget, patty or stuffed chicken product.
3. Choose the Right Pan
Choose cookware that suits the complete cooking method and the amount of food it specifies. Follow any pan-size, lid and loading directions. A thick base or a particular pan material cannot tell you whether the center of the chicken has reached a safe temperature.
Be careful about ice and moisture around hot oil. USDA explains that water can rapidly turn to steam and cause hot oil to splatter. A skillet method that uses a light coating of oil is different from immersing chicken in a deep fryer, so do not treat permission to cook on the stove as permission to deep-fry icy or wet raw chicken.
Some fully cooked frozen products, such as Tyson’s foodservice whole grain breaded nuggets, do have manufacturer directions for deep-frying from frozen. That does not make the same method suitable for other chicken. Follow the exact product and appliance instructions.
4. Use a Complete Cooking Method
If you want to cook chicken in broth or sauce, choose a complete recipe that is suitable for that chicken and its starting state. Simmering it in liquid is a different method from pan-frying. Do not improvise by adding broth to hot oil or assume that boiling liquid means the center of the chicken is cooked.
Freezing and thawing can affect how much moisture chicken retains, but sauce is not a substitute for a suitable cooking method. Follow the recipe or package directions rather than relying on a promise that sauce will make any frozen chicken tender.
Keep raw chicken and its juices away from ready-to-eat food. Wash your hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling it, and use a clean plate and utensils for the cooked chicken. These food-handling steps still matter when you check the cooking temperature.
5. Check the Internal Temperature of The Chicken During the Cooking Process
Undercooked chicken can cause foodborne illness, so use a food thermometer to check that it reaches at least 165°F (74°C). If the product directions require a higher temperature, follow that endpoint. The PERDUE product mentioned above, for example, specifies 170°F; the general minimum is not a reason to stop at a lower temperature.
Check the thickest part of every piece, avoiding bone. For thin pieces, insert the thermometer from the side so that its sensing area reaches the center. Check more than one location in large or irregular pieces, and follow the thermometer instructions for the depth needed to get a proper reading.
These checks apply whether the chicken started fresh, thawed or frozen. Follow the thermometer instructions for cleaning and use, and do not leave an instant-read thermometer in the food during cooking unless it is designed for that purpose.
6. Don't Judge Doneness by Color
A white interior, clear juices or a browned coating does not prove that chicken is safe to eat. Safely cooked chicken can still have some pink color. FDA guidance explains that color and texture are not reliable ways to judge whether meat or poultry is safely cooked.
Cutting the chicken open cannot replace a thermometer reading. If a reading is below the required endpoint, continue cooking according to the method and check again before serving.
Related Reading: What Size Frying Pan Do You Need? | Can You Pan-Fry Brisket?
7. Follow the Recommended Cooking Times for Frozen Chicken
Frozen chicken generally takes longer to cook than comparable thawed chicken. USDA gives about 50% longer as a broad planning estimate, but this is not a rule for calculating the cooking time of every product or method. Follow the exact directions and verify the internal temperature rather than simply doubling a time.
There is no single cooking time that covers all frozen wings, breasts, strips, drumsticks, thighs and prepared chicken products. The cut, thickness, starting state, batch and cooking method all matter. An oil temperature or appliance setting is also different from the internal temperature you measure in the chicken.
Follow the heat changes in the chosen method. A lower burner setting during part of a suitable recipe is not automatically unsafe, and a higher setting does not prove that the center is cooked. Do not improvise a slower cooking process or partially cook raw chicken and refrigerate it to finish later.
