The aim of this work was to investigate the effect and correlation of boiled, deep-fried and roast thermal processing on N ε -carboxymethyllysine and N ε -carboxyethyllysine formation in prepared chicken breast. The three heat processing results indicated that oxidation was one main reason to affect advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formation. For boiled and deep-fried, protein and lipid oxidation could promote the AGEs (P < 0.05), while protein oxidation may inhibit AGEs formation by roast processing (P < 0.05). Furthermore, Maillard reaction showed an important effect on L*, a* and b* values, and the content of AGEs could be easily determined by the changes of meat color. As conclusion, Maillard reaction and oxidation were two key factors to influence the AGEs formation in prepared chicken breast by thermal processing.