Baked Chicken Breast (Easy Flavorful Recipe) - Cooking Classy (2024)

Published March 30, 2019. Updated April 13, 2019

This Baked Chicken Breast recipe couldn’t get any easier! You’ll love this quick oven method and that you get flavorful, tender, juicy chicken every time by following these simple steps and using this delicious seasoning blend.

Easy Flavorful Oven Baked Chicken Breasts

When you need dinner on the table but don’t have a lot of time for prep or lengthy cooking times this chicken is the perfect thing to make! Plus it’s a great year round recipe. We all love grilled chicken but there are plenty of days when it’s way too hot or way to cold out for grilling.

The seasoning I go with most for baked chicken breasts is the one listed here. It’s an all-purpose, rotisserie style seasoning but you can easily swap this seasoning for a favorite blend you may have and just use this same cooking method. Other great options would be an Italian, Greek, curry or cajun seasoning.

It’s also a great recipe for meal prep and leftovers are great for a salad or soup the next day.

Who knew baked boneless and skinless chicken breasts could be so good? I always used to think skillet browned or grilled chicken breasts was pretty much the only way to go but this recipe will tell you otherwise.

Ingredients for Baked Chicken Breasts

• Chicken breasts– look for chicken breasts as close to the same size as possible so they bake evenly.
• Olive oil– don’t use extra-virgin olive oil here or it will burn at this high oven temperature, leaving the chicken with an off flavor.
• Garlic powder – I like to use garlic powder here instead of fresh garlic so it evenly coats all of the chicken, plus at this high of an oven temperature it could burn.
• Onion powder – onion powder is another delicious flavor addition here. It helps give it that classic rotisserie chicken flavor.
• Dried thyme– dried herbs will actually work better here then fresh for a concentrated flavor.
• Dried oregano – you could also try using Italian seasoning in place of the thyme and oregano.
• Paprika – this not only offers a nice flavor but it gives the chicken a nice color, to mimic the look of a roasted chicken.
• Chili powder – chili powder also gives the chicken a nice color, it adds another layer of dimension here too. Chicken breasts are pretty flavorless so it’s all about the seasoning here.
• Salt and pepper – be sure to season properly with salt otherwise the chicken will taste flat.

How to Bake Chicken Breasts

• First you’ll start out by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• Pound the thicker parts of the chicken out so the breasts are almost an even thickness across. You don’t want them pancake thin but they should be no more than 3/4-inch thick.
• In a small bowl whisk together all of the spices.
• Place chicken in a baking dish, brush olive oil over both sides. When in a rush you can just drizzle the oil into the pan and dredge the chicken breasts through it to coat.
• Then sprinkle spice mixture evenly over both sides of the chicken.
• Bake chicken in preheated oven until fully cooked through (it should register 165 in center of each), about 16 – 20 minutes (if you used larger breasts it will take longer). Let rest 5 minutes for juices to evenly redistribute before slicing and serving.

Tips for the Best Baked Chicken Breasts

• Pound the thicker portion(the top portion) of the chicken breasts so they aren’t so thick, you want near an even thickness across. This way thinner portions wouldn’t cook faster than thicker portions and become over cooked and dry. Pounding the chicken also helps tenderize it.
• Brush with olive oil. This gives the chicken breasts a bit of a richer flavor and helps keep them from drying out on the exterior.
• Marinate or season season season. Chicken breasts are pretty boring and basic but when either marinated or seasoned well they can take on a whole new delicious flavor. I like this rotisserie style seasoning for both color and flavor here.
• Leave some space between them in the dish so the hot air can circulate and they’ll bake evenly.
• Careful not to over-cook. Anything much past 165 degrees and the chicken breasts will start to dry out and who wants dry chicken? I highly recommend using an instant read digital thermometer here.
• Let the baked chicken rest about 5 minutes before serving, it’s just one of those food laws of meat and chicken. It lets the juices redistribute and reabsorb into the chicken, rather then ending up on your plate if cut into immediately after baking.

How long to Bake Chicken Breasts?

The baking time will really vary depending on a number of things including oven temperature, chicken breasts size, thickness of chicken breasts, temperature of chicken breasts to start with and the size and type of the baking dish used.

At 425 degrees using 6 oz chicken breasts theearliest they’ll likely be done is around 16 minutes but maybe more so start checking at that time and add more as needed until they’ve reached 165 degrees.

Can I Use Chicken Thighs?

Chicken thighs will work here too, just increase the baking time by about 10 minutes or as needed to reach 165 degrees in center.

What Should I Serve with Chicken Breasts?

• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes or Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower
• Roasted Vegetables
• Steamed Vegetables, like fresh asparagus or green beans
• Side Salad with Ranch Dressing
• Baked Sweet Potatoes Fries or Baked Parmesan Fries
• Stove Top Broccoli Mac and Cheese

More Chicken Breast Recipes You’ll Love:

• Creamy Chicken Piccata
• Avocado Carpese Chicken
• Chicken Parmesan
• Grilled Greek Lemon Chicken
• Chicken with Garlic Herb Butter Sauce