Does Chicken Cook Faster With or Without the Bone?

By: Rogue Parrish

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If your goal is flavor, you’ll want to keep the bone -- and the skin -- on your chicken. But if you just want a fast meal in the kitchen, boneless chicken cooks more quickly. Expect to spend as much as 50 percent more time in the kitchen if you cook with the bone still in the chicken.

Roasting Chicken Breasts

Breast halves with the bone in, typically weighing 6 to 8 ounces, take 30 to 40 minutes to roast. Once you trim the bones off, the resulting boneless breast, typically weighing about 4 ounces, should roast in 20 to 30 minutes, notes the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Check for an internal cooking temp of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to confirm doneness.

Bone-in breast halves take 35 to 45 minutes to simmer and 10 to 15 minutes a side to grill. Boneless breasts simmer in just 25 to 30 minutes and grill in 6 to 8 minutes per side.