If you’re following a specific diet or a certain recipe, it might be necessary for you to know the exact weight of your chicken breasts. Not everyone has a food scale available in their kitchen, after all.
So, how much does a chicken breast weigh?
In this post, you’ll find the weight of every variety of chicken breasts so you can cook your recipe with no worries. Let’s get started!
The Weight of Chicken Breasts
The weight of a chicken breast depends on several factors, including whether it’s:
- Boneless or not
- Skinless or not
- Cooked or raw
- Frozen or thawed
Boneless or Bone-In Chicken Breasts
Boneless chicken breasts are the classic chicken breasts you normally buy from supermarkets. The average weight of a boneless chicken breast is 6 ounces.
Note that sizes tend to vary from smaller cuts that can weigh about 4 ounces and larger cuts that can weigh from 8 to 10 ounces.
Bone-in chicken breasts, on the other hand, weigh more since they still have the bones. An average bone-in chicken breast weighs about 10 to 15 ounces.
Many people prefer bones in chicken breasts because the bones pack more flavor. They also keep the meat moist while cooking.
Keep in mind that boneless chicken breasts are more expensive than bone-in options.
Skinless or Skin-on Chicken Breasts
Chicken breasts that come with the skin on weigh more than skinless varieties. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts weigh about 4 to 10 ounces, whereas boneless, skin-on chicken breasts weigh about 7 to 12 ounces.
Bone-in and skinless chicken breasts weigh about 10 to 15 ounces, but with the skin on, they weigh about 11 to 16 ounces.
Many people like skin-on chicken breasts because they contain healthy fat that gives more flavor and leaves the chicken moist. You also won’t need to use a lot of salt with skin-on chicken breasts.
Cooked or Raw Chicken Breasts
Of course, when you cook chicken, it shrinks a lot, so you expect its weight to differ from when it’s raw to when it’s cooked. Even Chicken Wings, so you need to factor this in when feeding a crowd.
Raw chicken breasts weigh more and are larger. When they’re cooked, they lose about ¼ of their weight.
This is because the cooking process evaporates a lot of the fat and liquid out of the chicken breasts. A typical 4-ounce chicken breast will shrink to 3 ounces when cooked.
If the chicken breast is larger, it shrinks more. For example, an 8-ounce chicken breast will shrink down to 6 ounces when cooked.
So, it’s important to check your recipe to know whether you need to measure the chicken breasts cooked or raw. Also, keep in mind that grilling and roasting cause more shrinkage than boiling or braising.
Deep frying is the number one cooking process that draws the most moisture and fat out of the chicken breasts.
Frozen or Thawed Chicken Breasts
The last thing that affects the weight of chicken breasts is whether they’re frozen or thawed. Frozen chicken breasts will only weigh more than thawed or defrosted ones if there’s a lot of frozen water in the bag.
Otherwise, frozen and thawed chicken breasts weigh about the same. So, you don’t have to defrost your chicken breasts first before weighing them for your recipe.