This is the very best way to make Baked Chicken Breast.
Chicken is one of those things that I’m sure you make quite often for dinner. There are thousands of chicken recipes out there, but do you have a good recipe for making Baked Chicken Breast? This recipe turns out a nice chicken breast that is perfectly moist and tender and lightly seasoned. Use it as your main dish to serve with rice or potato and vegetables, or chop it up and add it to salads.
About Chicken Breast:
Chicken breast varies in thickness. It’s always a good idea to pound your chicken breasts so that they are all an even thickness. This way they will all cook evenly in the oven. You can do this by using a meat pounder (this is the one that I have).
How to make the best Baked Chicken Breast:
Scroll to the end of this post to print out the complete recipe. The first step in making the most perfect baked chicken breast is to give it 30 minutes to brine (soak) in salted water. Don’t worry– this is not going to give your chicken a salty flavor. Soaking chicken in a brine will ensure that your chicken won’t turn out rubbery in texture. The salt in the water works to tenderize the chicken. The salt also interacts with the protein in the chicken and allows it to retain water and help retain moisture while cooking. After a 30-minute soak in the salted water, you will rinse off the chicken and continue with the recipe.
The next step in making perfect baked chicken breast is to drizzle olive oil on top of the chicken breasts, and then sprinkle a simple spice mixture on top of the chicken. The chicken needs about 25 minutes in the oven, and then it’s done!
The best Meat Thermometers:
It’s always a good idea to check the temperature in the center of your chicken breast to make sure you’re on track for cooking it to the correct temperature. You can do this with a meat thermometer. I have two meat thermometers, and I use both of them quite often. The first is a Remote Thermometer that you can insert into the meat and keep it monitoring the temperature of the meat while it’s cooking. And the second one is an Instant Read Thermometer that you can poke into the chicken toward the end of cooking time to see what temperature it’s registering. Either one of these thermometers are good for measuring the safe-eating temperature of chicken- 165 degrees F.
After baking, your chicken is ready to serve. I love to make this baked chicken breast at the beginning of the week and add it to my salads for lunch every day. It’s a nice, healthy way to prep things for the week and have a delicious protein ready to go to add to all of your chopped veggies. Sometimes we make it for dinner and add hummus, pita and a salad to make it a Greek-style meal.
Hope you enjoy this super easy way to make the best Baked Chicken Breast!
Here are a few more chicken dinner recipes you might like to try:
- Thai Curry Chicken
- Easy Chicken Santa Fe
- Sheet Pan Paprika Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Crunchy Honey Lime Chicken
- Chicken Milanese
- Fried Chicken
Baked Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 cups ice water
- 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
- 2 pounds (4 breasts) boneless skinless chicken breast (pound breasts to even thickness for even cooking)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the water and the salt and stir to combine. Add the chicken breasts to the bowl and let them soak in the salt water for 30 minutes. They'll be fine sitting at room temperature since the water is ice cold (unless it is very hot in your house-- then put the bowl in the refrigerator). After 30 minutes of soaking, drain the water and rinse the chicken under cold water.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
- Coat the chicken breast with olive oil, and place them into the pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, rosemary, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
