Gimme Some Oven

Baked Chicken Breasts

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

My favorite oven baked chicken breasts recipe! It never fails me, thanks to this simple 5-step method that is easy to make and customize with your favorite seasonings.

Perfect Oven Baked Chicken Breast

A few weeks ago on Insta, I asked if you all might be interested in a back-to-basics series about the best ways to bake proteins (i.e. chicken, pork, steak, seafood, tofu, etc.) in the oven. Your answer? A resounding yes, please. Many of you had requests and questions about methods for cooking various proteins, plus more than a few tales to tell about proteins gone not-so-right over the years. And oh boy, I hear ya. My little kitchen has seen more than its share of overcooked steaks, completely dried out pork chops, salmon skin glued to pans, and not-so-crispy tofu over the years too. Which are never fun, especially since proteins can be pricey and intended for special occasions. But hey, it’s all part of the adventure of learning how to cook. And eventually, I’ve trial-and-errored my way to some basic methods for baking proteins that have become super-reliable, super-delicious staples in my kitchen.

So over the next two weeks, I thought we could work our way through each of them, beginning today with the #1 most requested protein here on Gimme Some Oven…

…chicken.

Specifically, boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Over the years, I’ve received countless requests for new chicken breast recipes, and many more for tips on how to bake chicken breasts in the oven. Because anyone who worked with chicken breasts before know that they can be incredibly versatile, yet also incredibly finicky to work with, especially when baked in the oven. Cook them the wrong way and you’ll end up with a dry, rubbery, tough, and flavorless disaster. But cooked the right way?! We’re talkin’ juicy, tender, flavorful, perfectly baked chicken breasts that you will love.

The good news is that they’re also totally easy to customize with your favorite seasonings or sauces. And also, incredibly easy to make with my 5-step baked chicken breasts method. Thousands of our readers have tried it over the years and reported back that this method was a game-changer with cooking chicken. So if you have yet to give it a try, let’s bake some chicken together!

Baked Chicken Breasts Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Baked Chicken Breast Ingredients:

To make this baked chicken breasts recipe, you will need:

  • Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: You can either purchase fresh chicken breasts (my preference) or frozen chicken breasts (which you will need to completely thaw before using). Some chicken also comes pre-brined nowadays, in which case you can skip step one below.
  • Butter or olive oil: Your pick! I like the extra flavor that butter adds, but olive oil will also work well.
  • Kosher Salt: An essential ingredient in our brine, and we will also use salt to season the chicken before baking.
  • Seasonings: I included an all-purpose blend of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper in the recipe below, which is super-simple and goes with just about anything. But feel free to sub in any dry seasoning blend that you prefer.

Also, if you bake chicken (or any other kind of baked proteins) regularly in the oven, I strongly having a cooking thermometer on hand too. It is the most foolproof way to ensure that your chicken is not over- or under-cooked, and works like a charm. I recommend either this:

  • Instant-read cooking thermometer (pictured below): which I have owned and used for years when cooking chicken, which retails for about $9.99 on Amazon.
  • Dual-probe wireless meat thermometer: which I also own and love because it can be used inside of a hot oven (especially helpful for baking steak, salmon and pork), which retails for about $24.99 on Amazon.

How To Brine Chicken to make Baked Chicken Breasts

Baked Chicken Seasoning Recipe

How To Bake Chicken Breasts:

Alright, so here’s the secret! To make perfectly baked chicken bbrrreasts, you simply need to follow this 5-step acronym: B.B.R.R.R.

  1. Brine
  2. Brush
  3. Rub
  4. Roast
  5. Rest

Brine (Step 1): I’m telling you — this step is an absolute must for anytime you want to bake chicken breasts in the oven. Brining chicken is super-easy, it makes your chicken extra juicy, and best of all, it can be effectively done in just 15 minutes. Plus, if you brine chicken in lukewarm water, it also helps bring the chicken to room temperature, which makes for more even cooking. Win-win!

To brine chicken, simply fill a big bowl with lukewarm (not hot) water. Stir in a handful of salt until it mostly dissolves. Then add your chicken breasts and let them sit in the saltwater to brine for at least 15 minutes. If you are doing this in advance, you can cover and refrigerate the bowl of chicken and saltwater for up to 6 hours. But you don’t want to let the chicken brine for much longer than that.

When you’re ready to go, remove the chicken from the brine. Give it a good rinse it with cold water to wash off the salt, and then pat it dry with some paper towels. And voila — your chicken is officially brined.

Really, don’t skip over this step! It makes a world of difference.

Note: That said, some store-bought chicken breasts are now sold pre-brined. So double-check your packaging beforehand. And if your chicken has already been pre-brined in a sodium solution, just move onto step two. :)

Brush (Step 2): Brush your chicken breasts with melted butter. Or at least, I highly recommend using butter. It adds great flavor and helps give a nice golden crust on the outside. But if you’d rather use olive oil (or another favorite cooking oil), feel free.

Brush the breasts liberally on both sides to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan, and also to help the seasonings stick. Then place the chicken breasts in a large baking dish or roasting pan.

Rub (Step 3): If you’re really wanting to keep things simple, you can simply sprinkle some salt and pepper onto the chicken breasts. But again, chicken will pick up the flavor of whatever seasonings you add. So even if you’re making a simple dish that calls for “plain” chicken breasts, I highly recommend the simple chicken seasoning recipe I have included below that includes salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.

Roast (Step 4): So this is the step that causes some squabbles amongst chicken lovers — how long to bake chicken breasts? And what is the correct temperature to bake chicken? Do you bake it low and slow (as in, 30 minutes at 350°F)? Or do you roast chicken high and quick (as in, 15 minutes at 450)? I have tested out both — and just about every interval in between — dozens upon dozens upon dozens of times. And in the end, I fall firmly in the latter camp when it comes to baked chicken.

I like to roast my chicken breasts on high heat.

Depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts, roasting chicken at 450°F should require a cooking time of about 15-18 minutes (depending on the thickness/size of your chicken breasts). It’s speedy and it’s easy. But mostly I love it because cooking at high heat quickly develops a nice crispier “crust” on the outside of the breasts, which also helps to lock in those juices and keep the oven roasted chicken perfectly tender on the inside. It’s the best of both worlds.

I highly recommend investing in a small cooking thermometer to measure the cooked chicken temp in order to tell if it is ready to go (the FDA says that the safe cooked chicken temp is 165°F), versus cutting into it with a fork, which lets those good juices seep out. I use this instant-read thermometer that I bought on Amazon for $10, and it will accurately measure your internal chicken temperature in seconds.

Rest (Step 5): This one is a non-negotiable. You must, must let your beautifully baked chicken breasts rest before cutting into them — a tip which applies to cooking any meat, really. If you cut in right away, you will lose all of the amazing juices and some of the tenderness that we’re going for. But if you give your freshly baked chicken breasts a brief rest, it will finish cooking and lock in all of those delicious juices, resulting in the most tender and juicy and delicious baked chicken.

I recommend loosely tenting a sheet of aluminum foil over the pan to keep the heat in while the chicken rests. And then after 5-10 minutes, you can finally serve and enjoy your perfectly-cooked chicken breasts.

And enjoy every last bite. 

Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

How To Season Baked Chicken Breasts:

Again, I’m a big fan of the classic paprika-garlic-pepper mix in the recipe below. But if you’d like to mix things up, feel free to sub in any of your favorite dry seasoning mixes, such as:

How To Make Baked Chicken Breasts Recipe

How To Use/Serve Baked Chicken Breasts:

The easiest way, of course, is just to serve these roasted chicken breasts fresh outta the oven. But feel free to also slice, shred, or dice these oven baked chicken breasts for use in another recipe, such as these faves:

How To Store Baked Chicken Breasts:

Once the chicken has been baked, it can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. (<– I recommend shredding, dicing or slicing the chicken before freezing for easier use.)

Perfectly Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

Side Dish Recipe Ideas:

Looking for some side dishes to serve with this baked chicken recipe? Here are a few of my faves:

Baked Chicken Breast with Roasted Asparagus

More Baked Protein Tutorials:

Be sure to check out our tutorials for how to bake other meats, seafood and tofu too!

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

Baked Chicken Breasts

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 1304 reviews
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Description

Learn how to make juicy, tender, delicious baked chicken breasts with this simple 5-step method.


Ingredients

Scale

Instructions

  1. Brine the chicken. (Check the label of your chicken breasts. If they have already been pre-brined in a sodium solution, please skip this step.) Fill a large bowl with 1 quart of warm water and 1/4 cup kosher salt. Stir to combine until most of the salt is absorbed. Add the chicken breasts and let them sit in the mixture to brine for 15 minutes, or you can also also cover the bowl and refrigerate for up to 6 hours. Remove the chicken breasts from the brine, rinse them with cold water, then pat them dry with paper towels.
  2. Heat the oven. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  3. Season the chicken. Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in a large baking dish*. Brush on both sides (turning once) evenly with the melted butter or olive oil. In a separate small bowl, whisk the salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika until combined. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture evenly over the chicken on both sides.
  4. Bake. Bake for 15-18* minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken breasts, so I recommend using a cooking thermometer to know exactly when the chicken is fully cooked. The thickest part of the breast should measure 165°F. (If you want the chicken to be a little bit browned and crispier on top, you can turn the broiler on high for the final 3-5 minutes of the cooking time and broil the chicken until it is cooked through and golden on top. Keep a close eye on the chicken, however, so that it does not overcook and/or burn.)
  5. Rest the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the oven, transfer the chicken to a clean plate, and loosely tent the plate with aluminum foil. Let the chicken rest for at least 5-10 minutes.
  6. Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!


Notes

Baking Dish: Please double-check the maximum temperature of your baking dish for this recipe. Glass dishes (such as Pyrex) usually have a maximum recommended temperature of 425°F, so we do not recommend using a glass dish for this recipe. You can also cook this recipe on a thick metal baking sheet.

Storage instructions: Cooked chicken can be stored in a sealed container and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

How To Bake Chicken Breasts

Share this Post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

3,374 comments on “Baked Chicken Breasts”

1 9 10 11 12 13 49
  1. Do you foil it while it cooks?

  2. I have always had a problem with dry Chicken Breasts, NOT anymore ! This recipe has opened up my meal planning .

  3. Brining chicken like this has changed my life inexplicably. I am forever in your debt and I can’t thank you enough! The chicken came out so tender and succulent that it’s hard to imagine eating it any other way. Keep up the amazing recipes!

    • Thanks for your sweet words, Steven — we’re so happy you enjoy this method and recipe! :)

  4. I keep coming back to this method…so delicious. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Thank you so much for such an amazing recipe!!  It was a huge hit at our house tonight!  We prefer the dark meat of a chicken, so we used thighs and legs.   The kids went back for seconds.  Yum!!  This will be my new go-to recipe!!!  Kudos!!

    • You’re very welcome, Kelly! We’re happy you and your family enjoyed it! :)

  6.  Made this a last-minute meal  was easy and delicious I actually changed my seasonings to taste and added lemon pepper paired with loaded red mashed potatoes and corn on the cob 

  7. Is the same method for fried chicken?

    • Do you mean the brining? If so, we don’t have a fried chicken recipe, but a lot of wonderful fried chicken recipes do call for brining your chicken first. We love it, so you can’t go wrong with brining in our books! :)

  8. Fantastic recipe! Really moist and delicious! The leftover chicken is fantastic on a homemade caeser salad a day or two later too!

  9. This is my favorite chicken breast recipe by far!!

  10. Will it still be juicy if eaten cold a few hours after cooking? Thanks.

  11. Aaaaamazing! Going to try this for dinner today! 
    Thanks for sharing! xx

  12. Forgot the website after I found this and cooked the first time last month, but found it again… This is the BEST moist Boneless chicken breast recipe I have come across that does not use a lot of fluid ( soup, broth,etc) while cooking… it is fast and leftovers are wonderful cold and heated and still very moist… Making it again today…

    • Thanks for your sweet words, Ken — we’re so happy you’re a fan of the recipe! :)

  13. Is there a way to print the text but skip the pictures >? I would like to have this in my recipe drawer … or you can send me the text . Email is kasmith2@ix.netcom.com

    • Hi Ken — if you scroll down to the recipe box and just click the “print” icon, it should only print very small photo at the top right of the recipe. If you don’t want that to print, you can highlight and select the recipe text and copy into a Word document (or something like that), and print there.

  14. My husband and I love using this recipe! Although it’s take a bit of waiting it’s so worth it! Thanks for the recipe!

  15. This recipe is amazing! The chicken came out perfect as promised! My kids gobbled it up! Thank you for sharing this recipe! 

  16. Well shoot, I just pounded mine out because they were so thick so they are NOT going to look all pretty like yours. I hope they’re good :)

  17. Chicken was juicy and wonderfully seasoned. I put lemon pepper and seasoned salt on it. Really good

  18. I followed your recipe exactly and my chicken came out perfectly delicious! When I saw brining, I thought ugh! But it was so easy and worth the results!

  19. Do you turn the chicken halfway through baking?

  20. I’ve been making this chicken for a little over a year now.  I am a terrible cook.  I asked my mom for a baked chicken recipe and she found this in an online search and said just try this one.  It was easy to follow and it always turns out great.  As I said I’m a terrible cook but my husband asks for me to make this!  Perfect juicy chicken breasts.  Thank you! 

  21. My husband is on a low salt diet due to heart problems. Does brining make the chicken loaded with sodium?

    • Hi Barbara! Your husband should probably consult with his doctor first, but we did read that properly brined meats can soak up about 10 percent of their weight in brine. That being said, it’s probably not a good idea. :(

  22. This has become a regular on our menu. I’ve fixed it for company too and got rave reviews!

  23. So….I’m a pescatarian and my husband is not. But I always do enjoy making him new dishes, but I’m always skeptical because I am often worried I will not season the meat or poultry properly since I don’t taste these dishes when I cook. Well this recipe here, was an absolutel hit with Mr. Cleveland. He absolutely loved it. Thank you for this recipe, it is now in my repertoire for chicken recipes that he enjoys. Oh and I’ve added to my Pinterest board so my friends too can enjoy. Thank you!

    • Thanks for sharing this with us! We’re so happy it was a hit with your husband! Thanks for sharing it on Pinterest as well! :)

  24. This is perfect helps with my meal preps..imma big chicken breasts fan..I stopped baking em cause of dryness…thanks to these tips I’m bringing it back

  25. Just made these as part of my meal prep for the week. Turned out GREAT! Thanks for the wonderful advice and recipe.

  26. I am so excited to try this!! I avoid making chicken because it always comes out so dry and horrible. If this comes out as good as everyone says, I will be able to make a lot healthier dinners and it won’t be a hassle! Thanks for posting this!

  27. I’m so glad I found this recipe and technique. I was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes and have been having trouble finding a tasty way to cook chicken for most of my meals. This is it plus the hubby loves it too. Thank you so much I had nearly given up. 

  28. I’m using bone-in chicken breasts. How would I adjust the cooking time/temperature accordingly?

    • Hi Amanda! Hmmm, that’s tricky to say since we haven’t tried this with bone-in chicken breasts. However, we do know bone-in will take longer to cook (same temp), but possibly 10-15 minutes longer. Since we don’t know for sure, we’d just recommend setting the timer for 5 minute increments (after 20 minutes), and continuing to check the temp of the chicken with your thermometer. We hope this helps!

  29. Maybe I did something wrong, but mine came out perfect… perfectly RAW

    • It sounds like something definitely went wrong Tim! We’re sorry to hear that, but this should never come out raw (and has never for us). Could your oven temp possibly have been off?

  30. Trying This today for my husband so we will see!

  31. So i made my chicken this way tonight…I bake chicken often, at least 4x a week. my kids are very into the plain, baked chicken so that is part of the reason I make it so often. I made it this new way , brining and then on high heat for a shorter time… my son LOVED it he told me it was “extra good”, at age 5. I will continue to make it this way. Thanks for the great new idea! However, i am sure i will always need an extra 5+ minutes at least. 18 mins in my oven (although a new GE profile) is just not enough. Maybe its my on neurosis – haha. Thanks again for the recipe!

    • Thanks for sharing with us, Leah — we’re so happy you and your family enjoyed this! :)

  32. This was SO GOOD!  My chicken was so juicy – just like in a nice restaurant where I always wonder, how do they keep the chicken breast from not drying out and so juicy!  We regularly brine our chicken when we grill in pickle juice.  But I will be brining chicken breasts for the oven from now on!  Everyone loved the chicken last night … even the three year old!  Thank you so much for this simple, easy tweak.  I even used part of the defrost time in the brine – once they were deflated enough to get out of the freezer bag, I put them in the bowl of salted warm water to finish defrosting on the inside.  Simple and easy!

  33. Hey,

    I love your recipes!! Thanks so much for posting them. I was wondering if basting with barbecue sauce would work at a high heat like this. Would the barbecue sauce burn because of the sugar content? Thanks!

    • Thank you, Hayley (love that your name is spelled the same way as mine, btw)! :) We haven’t tried basting the chicken with bbq sauce for this recipe, so it’s hard to say, but you could lower the temp to 350 and just bake the chicken longer. If you try it, definitely let us know how it turns out!

  34. Wow. I’m really speechless. This is a great recipe and I will definitely try again. My very 1st try and my husband and I love it. Thanks so much. 

  35. I made this recipe for dinner last night and this – without a doubt – the BEST baked chicken I’ve EVER had!!! Very easy to prepare and the seasoning blend tested great! My chicken did have to cook longer because they were large pieces but they were perfect when they were done! This was my first recipe of yours to try and I’m looking forward to trying more. Thank you for sharing!?

  36. This recipe was fantastic. I’ve made hundreds or chicken breaths over the years and these were absolutely some of the best.  The brining…yes.  Thanks for the recipe  

  37. Tried your recipe and it came out really moist and tasty. Yum….Yum….Brine is the secret. Thanks.

  38. I am on a health kick right now, and found this recipe. It turned out better than I ever hoped for! It was as juicy as you promised! BUT I do have a question… do you have any way of finding out how many calories this is, without the chicken? Basically just the butter and seasonings. Trying to keep track of everything!

    • We’re happy you enjoyed it, Erma! As for the calories though, we’re sorry but we currently aren’t publishing nutrition facts on the site. The nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!

  39. I enjoyed following the recipe.
    I tried Paprika but could not taste it probably because it was to old. Does it lose its taste over time?
    What other flavours could you suggest to add to the chicken?

    • We’re glad you enjoyed this, Brian! The paprika is subtle in this, but some spices can lose their intensity over time, so that could be a possible reason why you didn’t notice it. You could also add some chopped fresh thyme and/or rosemary to this, or give this version a try:

  40. This recipe is so fantastic! I only wish I had known about it 40 years ago.

  41. Just tried this and it has changed my life forever!!! Ive never cooked chicken this perfect! Any tips on baking legs and thights  too? 
    Thank you!!!!

    • We’re so happy you enjoyed this, Anne! Unfortunately we haven’t experimented with this method using legs and thighs, but we’ll let you know if/when we do!

  42. I don’t do salt for to brine the chicken. So I used lemon pepper instead..Is that alright?

  43. I am going to try this method asap! I always mess up chicken breast whenever I make it, usually in a pan on the stove top and it comes out like a disaster. Can’t wait to try this.

  44. It was really good and easy to cook, thanks :)

  45. Hi Ali!

    I’m a big fan of brined turkey and make it all the time, however, my go-to weekday meals are boneless, skinless chicken breasts so I decided to search Pinterest in the hopes of finding a brine solution for chicken breasts. Your recipe popped up and I was intrigued to try it, particularly because there weren’t that many ingredients and most of us have them in our pantry. I followed your recipe to the T and the chicken turned out amazing – so flavourful and juicy!

    Even my hubby who is a somewhat picky eater, loved them!

    Thanks to you, I will be able to incorporate this recipe on a regular basis as opposed to my usual kind of bland chicken breast version recipe.

    Thanks so much for sharing!!!

    Deb

    • Thanks for sharing with us, Deb — we’re so happy you and your husband loved the recipe! :)

  46. Without doubt it is the best chicken breast recipe in the whole world! Its the only way i bake it now. Many thanks for sharing.

  47. We made this instead of a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. It was amazing thanks for the recipe ??

  48. I made this in a total rush and completely forgot to rinse and pat dry after brining, will this effect the outcome much?

    • Your chicken may just be really salty :/ we’re not really sure. We hope it still turned out okay though!

  49. I know that this recipe was made for cooking 4 chicken breast at a time. Would it still be the same cook time if I put like 7 chicken breast in the oven at the same time?

    • That’s tricky to say — they may need to bake a little longer, so we’d just recommend checking them and keeping an eye on them. We hope you enjoy!

  50. Tried this chicken recipe this evening. It was absolutely delicious!! It’s always been a challenge to not dry it out, so I usually just avoid using boneless breasts. Now thanks to your recipe we will enjoy them regularly:) also the spices were perfect and I’m thinking of trying a Mexican mix of spices and using the chicken for burritos and tacos:)