Did you know that cooking chicken breasts can be easy? Yes, crispy golden brown outsides and perfectly moist and tender insides aren’t as hard as you think.
Read below to see exactly how to make the most flavorful and juiciest oven-baked chicken breasts for all recipes!
Why this is the best way to cook Chicken Breasts!
The simplest way to cook chicken breast – Getting tender chicken breast and its cooking method right can be challenging for some.
Because chicken can easily be overcooked while trying to reach safe eating temperatures, it’s important to have a quality recipe.
This is that!
This will soon become your favorite recipe for delicious, easy, and “works every time” chicken.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast – Chicken breasts should be boneless, skinless, defrosted, and large breasts pounded with a meat tenderizer to an even thickness to ensure proper cooking.
- Suggested seasonings – Garlic powder, salt, fresh ground black pepper, and paprika.
- Cooking oil – We suggest vegetable oil, but virgin olive oil should also be fine.
How to make Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Add vegetable oil to a large cast iron skillet and heat the pan over medium heat.
- Rinse the piece of chicken with cold water and pat dry the chicken with a paper towel.
- Season both sides of the chicken breast generously with garlic powder, paprika, a pinch of salt, and fresh ground pepper.
- Place chicken breasts into hot oil (in a single layer) and cook on one side for 5 minutes.
- Remove the hot skillet heat and flip the chicken to the other side.
- Immediately place skinless chicken breasts into the hot oven and cook for 10-15 minutes (13 minutes is usually the sweet spot) or until internal temperature measures 165 degrees.
- Let tender chicken breasts rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving hot.
Expert Baked Chicken Tips
- As with all meats that need to reach a specific temperature for safe eating, a good quality meat thermometer is required. The chicken piece should reach a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Depending on the recipe, using other seasonings and spices to elevate chicken can be done. We suggest Italian Seasoning, kosher salt, chili powder, onion powder, or even cumin.
- This cooking method for a boneless chicken breast can easily be used to top fresh salad recipes like Everything but the Bagel Salad, a crouton-filled Italian Panzanella Salad recipe, Fresh Papaya and Strawberry salad, or a seasonal friendly roasted sweet potato salad recipe.
- This chicken is perfect to enjoy as a complete meal (great with a side of mashed potatoes and oven broccoli) or cut up as a juicy chicken salad.
Elevate Your Kitchen
Our Favorite Meat Mallet – For pounding down meat, there really is no other brand name anyone trusts more than KitchenAid. This mallet is great for making sure all chicken pieces are evenly cooked.
Our Favorite Instant-Read Thermometer – Absolutely the best cooking thermometer on the market; the MEATER lets you not only know when your protein is done but exactly how many minutes and temperature right to your PHONE!
Our Favorite Cast Iron Pan – It’s IMPERATIVE to have a large 12.5-inch round cast iron pan for all stove-to-oven cooking (especially with a family of 4). This is not only our favorite but is the #1 seller on amazon.
Related Boneless Skinless Chicken Recipes
- If you want a decadent meal that feels like it’s been just served out of a restaurant, here are two of our worthy favorites. This Creamy chicken and bacon recipe and copycat Outback steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken recipe.
- When it comes to viral choices, we also have a few! Try this ever-popular (and slightly controversial on Pinterest) Slow Cooker Olive Garden chicken recipe. Another new one made famous by social media is the aptly named TikTok Marry Me Chicken Recipe – so good they will want to marry you!
- Ritz crackers go great on chicken!
- Break out the pressure cooker for perfect chicken breasts and Ninja Foodi cheesy chicken pasta.
- One of the most popular chicken recipes on our site.
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Juicy Baked Chicken Breasts (Oven)
Equipment
- cast iron pan
- Meat Thermometer
- Meat Mallet
Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts boneless, skinless, pounded even (but not too thin)
- vegetable oil
- seasonings suggested: Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Add 1/2 inch vegetable oil to a large cast iron skillet and heat the pan over medium heat.
- Rinse the piece of chicken with cold water and pat dry chicken with a paper towel
- Season both sides of the chicken breast generously with garlic powder, paprika, a pinch of salt, and fresh ground pepper.
- Place chicken breasts into hot oil (in a single layer) and cook on one side for 5 minutes.
- Remove the hot skillet heat and flip the chicken to the other side.
- Immediately place skinless chicken breasts into the hot oven and cook for 10-15 minutes (13 minutes is usually the sweet spot) or until internal temperature measures 165 degrees.
- Let tender chicken breasts rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving hot.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying of full recipe to any social media is prohibited.
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