Why are chicken breasts so large these days?

Chickens today are in fact bigger and grow faster! As the demand for chicken as a protein has increased, especially chicken parts like breasts or thighs versus whole birds, farmers have worked to create larger and healthier chickens to meet that demand. read more

The hormones target the breast muscle on purpose, because it will grow the biggest and fastest, and it’s generally the most preferred portion of the chicken. There’s only so much meat that will grow on a leg, while the breast can grow significantly larger. read more

The winning chicken would have more meat all around, but the most important thing was more white meat. The winning chicken should also grow faster. With these criteria in mind, farmers all over set about their work. read more

Most recipes which use whole boneless (or bone-in) breasts are written for breasts iin the 4-6 oz. range. I used to make a lot of stuffed boneless breasts for freezing (such as Chicken Kiev, Chicken Cordon Bleu, etc.) but I can't do that anymore because there is NO way either one of us can eat an entire 12 oz. breast. read more