Gimme Some Oven

Baked Chicken Breasts

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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!

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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

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3,375 comments on “Baked Chicken Breasts”

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  1. I absolutely love this! This is the perfect recipe for juicy delicious chicken. My kiddos loved it! Definitely making it again….






  2. This recipe is awesome. I may never fix chicken breasts any other way!






  3. This is an awesome recipe that’s easy and wholesome. Perfect for a dinner with some veggies as accompaniment. Thanks for sharing this recipe, the chicken breasts turned out real juicy.






  4. This is an awesome recipe. It’s so easy to make and the chicken turns out real juicy and tasty. I added some lime juice to give it a little more flavour. Thanks for sharing this recipe






  5. This is without a doubt the best chicken recipe I’ve ever made or had!!!! It’s so moist and delicious. I use the brine step everytime I make any kind of chicken… It makes all the difference….






  6. Super recipe. Thank you






  7. This chicken was delicious! I put it over a salad and it was perfect.Thanks for sharing!






  8. I found this recipe about six months ago and can’t even count how many times I have made it. I always make extra for a lunch salad the next morning. The meat is so juicy even cold!






  9. I loved this recipe it was great def. looking forward to try more recipes thank yu much!






  10. Can’t say enough good things about this recipe. It’s the only way I bake chicken now!






  11. This recipe is amazing. I e made it numerous times and every time my chicken comes out juicy and delicious.






  12. Tried this recipe for dinner & it came out great. The chicken breasts were super tender AND moist. Which is very surprising since dryness is the reason why I don’t eat chicken breast. Lol This is my 1st time trying a brine so I will watch my salt seasoning the next time, as they were a little too salty. But that’s my heavy hand, not the recipe’s. Definitely won’t cook my chicken breasts in the oven any other way. Thank you for sharing! ?






  13. Dumb question as this is all new to me: Do you pound the chicken breasts down with a meat mallet for even thickness of the breasts, so they will cook evenly BEFORE you brine them or AFTER you brine them?

  14. How many pounds are the chicken breasts?

  15. Hello, Why is this recipe Bake at 450° and the tandoori marinade recipe is bake at 425°? When I followed the recipe at 450° the chicken was a little dry. When I did the tandoori marinade recipe at 425° it was perfect






  16. Everyone in my family loves my chicken-they come to me for chicken dishes, they don’t know my secret, this is by far the ONLY way to bake chicken!






  17. It came out SO good! My dad was skeptical, but he took one bite and then looked up at me in shock before saying “Wow, this is actually really good.” Will be trying again!






  18. Five stars!!! O M G the chicken was absolutely delicious!! I’ll never bake chicken any other way again!! Thank u so much for sharing!!






  19. This is a great recipe for chicken breasts. Make sure you temp and don’t overcook. Also, they were way too salty brining for four hours and adding the seasoning. I would skip adding the kosher salt in the last step if brining more than three hours.






  20. So easy and turned out awesome! Thank you.

  21. This. Was. Delicious!






  22. I have used this recipe twice before but tonight I used smoked paprika and followed the directions to a tee. It was the best chicken breast I have ever made, just perfect. Thank you!!






  23. Love this . So tender.






  24. Hello, really enjoy chicken recipes, made this tonight, sliced the breasts lengthwise, so they were thinner, and of course took less time to bake, a good recipe, will make again, thanks!!!






  25. This recipe was amazing! Best chicken breasts I’ve ever cooked! Thank you for a great recipe!






  26. Hi! My daughter rubs a whole chicken inside and out with kosher salt but doesn’t rinse it. It comes out so tender and moist, but the next day I am retaining so much water my rings don’t fit; I am afraid my blood pressure may be sky high. Does rinsing the chicken breasts cut down the salt content enough so I won’t have to worry about sodium overkill? I’m anxious to try your recipe but need to know about the salt issue. Thanks.

    Margie

  27. Haven’t been able to figure out how to not get horribly dry chicken, but this did the trick! Super juicy, thanks!






  28. This recipe was great!!!! I am trying to make healthy dinners for my fiancée and daughter and it’s hard sometimes because she is a child and he eats like one. This chicken was a hit and I will be making this more often!!!!






  29. This is my first recipe review ever–I had to comment because the chicken came out so well! It was easy to follow and the chicken was moist and flavorful. I’ve been searching and searching for a way to bake boneless chicken in the oven and I’ve finally found it. Thank you!






  30. Amazing! I have never baked chicken right! It’s always dry.
    This was easy and it came out perfect! So juicy and flavorful!
    My Family raved about my cooking for the first time!
    Thank you!!
    And I have never posted a review for anything in my life but this deserves a 5 Star Rating! I am a fan!






  31. I made this recipe and it turned out perfect!!!!






  32. Holy cow. I’ve never had a chicken breast come out so perfect! I use mayo instead of butter or oil and roasted my breasts for 15 minutes at 450. Delicious!






  33. This chicken was fantastic!! Loved the spice blend. Beautifully juicy and tender. I will definitely make again!






  34. I made these tonight !!!!! They were amazing.
    Will make for company for sure.

  35. Can you do this same recipe with bone-in chicken breast? All I have right now is bone-in but I will definitely try this with boneless.

  36. Cooked chicken breast for 15 mins in a convection oven at 450. It was super juicy! I used salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. I then let it rest for ten mins. It was so moist! I used the rest the next day (still moist) and shredded it, added mayo with a little bit of old bay seasoning, chopped onions and celery. My husband loved it!!! Will definitely cook it again no other way!






  37. I did this with airline chicken or Frenched chicken breasts. I did not skip a step. I did them with herbs de Provence. Roasted them on a rack over blanched carrots and fingerling potatoes for a dinner party. They were fabulous. Follow all the B’s. You won’t be disappointed ! Roasted on high heat.






  38. Definitely foolproof! I somehow missed the brining step and they still tasted amazing






  39. I’m curious about suggesting to pound it, but you don’t show that in your video or pictures?

  40. I don’t cook chicken breasts any other way now! Wonderful recipe! I sprinkle Italian seasoning on them sometimes just for a tiny variation. Thank you for sharing this!






  41. I fixed the dish and loved it. I wasn’t sure about the salt water soak, but it turned out very tasty.






  42. I’ve used this recipe several times for chicken that I want to bake before adding it to other recipes. It comes out great and tastes great!! I always have to sneak a few nibbles while it’s still warm and I’m cutting it up. Thank you! Finally getting around to printing the recipe so I can easily find it.






  43. Thank you so much for this recipe; I’ve been using it ever since I ‘discovered’ it. :)






  44. The chicken is PERFECT!!! A little crispy on the outside and melting in the mouth outside. I thought only restaurants can make something so delicious but I was wrong!






  45. Excellent!






  46. do u cover ur chicken with foil while it bakes at 350? if so how long do u bake it for?

  47. I honestly don’t EVER leave reviews anywhere even if I’m happy with a product but this recipe is amazing! I made this last night quickly with salad and was impressed with the cooking time and the taste. The chicken was moist and juicy. Never like making my chicken in the oven and will be using this again. Thank you!






  48. Amazing this way n soo good on ceaser salad!!!?






  49. When I’m not grilling this is my go to recipe.






  50. Sooooo Good!