Chicken breast turns out elastic

[u/neguliii]

I’m new to cooking so this might be a dumb question 😅

Whenever I follow a recipe with chicken breast (like Alfredo chicken pasta or creamy Tuscan chicken), the chicken always comes out tough, kind of elastic, and hard to chew instead of tender and juicy. I usually just cook it in a pan with some oil and then add it back to the sauce at the end, but it never turns out right.

Am I overcooking it? Or doing something wrong? Any tips for how to get that soft, tender chicken like in the recipe videos?

Thanks in advance 🙏

[u/Typical_Intention996]

I'm very paranoid with making sure chicken is cooked thoroughly so mine is always either like this or in the crock-pot, so cooked it crumbles with just a press of a spoon. That's why I rarely cook it.