Chicken Tastes Watery: Is It Bad? (Explained)

One of the things we love about chicken is its juiciness packed with flavor. Thus, we have so many recipes that benefit from the chicken flavor, and we enjoy it all the time. However, if you eat a chicken that tastes watery, you may wonder if it’s alright or if something is wrong. So, you may ask:

If a chicken tastes watery, is it bad? If a chicken tastes watery, it’s due to a lack of seasoning or improper cooking. Chicken contains a lot of water, so a tiny amount of seasoning isn’t enough to extract, making the chicken bland. Also, when you overcrowd the pan, you may not cook it properly, resulting in a watery chicken.

Since chicken contains water, you should pat it dry before frying to reduce the water on the outside. Then, as it cooks, the water should come out. Thus, poking the chicken can help the moisture out, but don’t overdo it since it may result in a dry chicken dish.

A chicken that tastes watery is alright, but it’s not as enjoyable, so you need to fix it. In this article, you’ll see an in-depth explanation of why it happens. We’ll also give you information on how to fix such to enjoy your chicken without that watery or bland taste.

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Why does chicken taste watery?

A chicken may taste watery because you didn’t season it well or overcrowded your pan that the chicken didn’t cook well.

In general, chicken contains water, and cooking is supposed to take the wateriness away. However, if you didn’t season properly and didn’t cook it well, you may end up with a watery chicken.

Make sure you drain the chicken after cooking, especially when you’re frying. This will allow your chicken to drain excess oil and let any more water drip to keep the skin crisp and dry.

Is watery chicken bad?

No, a watery chicken is not bad. However, you can always fix it by pat drying your chicken before cooking. At the same time, you can prevent it by not overcrowding your pan when you cook your chicken.

Adding seasoning such as salt will also help extract the moisture from your chicken and help lessen the wateriness. However, it would be best if you didn’t overdo it since you may end up with a dry chicken.

Is it safe to eat chicken that tastes watery?

Yes, it’s safe to eat chicken that tastes watery. Since chicken has water inside it, you can have a watery chicken, alright.

The only thing to note is that it may taste bland and lack flavor. In such cases, a marinade works well to prevent such. 

At the same time, if you don’t have time for such, you can always add extra seasoning to the chicken to take away the watery taste and make your dish flavorful.

What happens if you eat chicken that tastes watery?

There’s nothing wrong with eating chicken that tastes watery. However, it may lack seasoning and may taste bland. Thus, you can prevent that by putting your chicken in a marinade or brine. 

Why is my chicken watery when I cook it?

It’s normal for a chicken to be watery when you cook it because its body contains water. So when you’re cooking your chicken, the water will come out of the chicken, and it’s alright to let it drip. 

Now, if you want to maintain the juiciness of your chicken, the brine will be the key since it will help retain the juices as you cook your chicken. It will also add flavor to the juices.

In general, all meat, including chicken, has water in it. Once you’re done cooking, the water should reduce, and you’ll only get the juiciness inside the meat.

How do you make chicken less watery?

If you want to make your chicken less watery, you should pat it dry using a paper towel before cooking. If you’re taking it out of the fridge, you can always put it on a rack to let the water drip before cooking it.

Should you drain chicken after cooking?

It depends on how you cook your chicken. For example, if you fry your chicken in oil, you should drain it to extract the excess oil from the chicken. 

If you have chicken in a soup, there’s no need to drain it since it’s supposed to come with the soup.

Frequently asked questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about chicken and why it may taste watery. You can check them out and see if it helps any of your concerns.

Defrosted chicken is watery

If your defrosted chicken is watery, make sure you pat it dry with a paper towel. However, if you’re not yet going to use it, we recommend keeping it frozen. 

It’s alright for a defrosted chicken to be watery since it likely gathered more water when it’s still frozen. 

Thus, you can fix it by patting your defrosted chicken with a paper towel. It should be enough to absorb the water on the outside and make your cooking easier.

Water coming out of chicken when frying

If there’s water coming out of the chicken when frying, don’t worry since it’s completely normal. Chicken contains water in its body, and it’s alright for it to release whenever you’re frying.

In most cases, you’ll see a lot of bubbles at first, and then you’ll see the oil clearly as your chicken cooks. The more water comes out, the crispier your chicken will be.

Water in a chicken package – is it bad?

If you have water in a chicken package, your chicken is not stored correctly at one point. Thus, it’s a bad thing, and you should check your chicken if it’s spoiled or not.

The thing about chicken packages is that they should always remain frozen until you’re ready to use them. Thus, if your chicken package contains water, it means the package got defrosted at some point, which isn’t good.

Chicken stock tastes watery

If your chicken stock tastes watery, it’s likely due to a lack of seasoning or too much water. When making chicken stock, always make sure to add an adequate amount of spices and aromatics. 

Since chicken contains water, it’s better to get a rich taste from the stock since it’s easy to dilute. On the other hand, adding too much water makes it more challenging to fic since you’ll add more seasoning, reducing the chicken flavor.

Chicken soup tastes watery

If your chicken soup tastes watery, you should add more seasoning to it. When making chicken soup, chances are it will turn out watery since you add more water than seasoning.

You can always fix it when such happens by reducing the soup through simmering. However, if you don’t want to overcook your chicken, you can always add more seasoning to it.

Butter chicken tastes watery

If your butter chicken tastes watery, you likely lack seasoning for it. You can always add more butter, but it’s enough to add salt. When you have butter chicken, and it tastes watery, adding seasoning will fix the problem.

Chicken noodle soup tastes watery

If your chicken noodle soup tastes watery, you should add more seasoning to it. In most cases, a watery chicken noodle soup has too much water or has little seasoning that it tastes watery and bland. 

Thus, an additional seasoning would be enough to fix that. If you don’t want to add extra seasoning, you can simmer it further to reduce the water and give your soup a richer taste.

Summary

In a nutshell, a watery chicken is a sign that it lacks seasoning or was improperly prepared. There is a lot of water in the chicken, so a small amount of seasoning isn’t enough to extract, leaving the chicken bland. In addition, if you overcrowd the pan, the chicken may not cook properly, resulting in watery meat.

To reduce the amount of water on the outside of the chicken, you need to pat it dry before frying it. Once the chicken is cooked, the water should drain out. You can poke the chicken to get the moisture out, but don’t overdo it because it can result in dry chicken.

Related:

• Why Does My Chicken Taste Like Fish?
• Chicken Tastes Rubbery
• Chicken Tastes Sour
• Chicken Tastes Metallic
• Chicken Tastes Soapy

Resources

Image credits – Canva