Forget dry chicken with our Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe! Deliciously seasoned before being cooked in the oven until golden with mouthwatering crisp edges!
Tender and full flavoured, our simple and easy baked chicken breast recipe uses skinless and boneless chicken breasts baked in the oven until golden and caramelised. For extra flavour, garlic butter mixes through the cooked pan juices to serve your chicken drizzled in the best sauce!
THE JUICIEST OVEN BAKED CHICKEN BREAST RIGHT HERE!
For years I tried so many recipes and techniques for a juicy baked chicken breast. Disappointed every single time and having to chew though mouthful of dry chicken, dipping each forkful in mayonnaise just to get through it. If you love food as much as I do, this is usually a completely heartbreaking experience.
Enter our recipe: easy, fast and simple. No weird steps, no wrapping, tenting, brining or marinating needed. Just a good flavoured seasoning rubbed all over our chicken and let your oven do all the work.
This is how I make the most incredible baked chicken breast that retain all of their natural juices!
The best part about this recipe are the pan juices that mix through the seasoning to give you a little something extra to drizzle them with when serving.
CHICKEN BREAST SEASONING
You only need a handful of seasoning ingredients for this one: paprika (mild, sweet or smoky), brown sugar (or a brown sugar substitute for Keto readers), oregano (or Thyme), onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Adapted from our Cajun Butter Chicken recipe without the heat! Of course, you can add the heat if you desire!
All of these ingredients together smothered all over your chicken breasts makes MAGIC and the perfect balance. The brown sugar lets the chicken sweat while baking, making our baked chicken breast even juicer! Much like our your favourite Chili Lime Chicken.
HOW LONG TO COOK CHICKEN BREASTS
Large chicken breasts (7oz or 200g) take about 20-22 minutes to cook. Medium-sized breasts (5 – 6oz or 150 – 180g) take about 18-20 minutes. You also have the option of throwing on your broiler in the last 2 minutes to get crispier edges!
Cooking them at high heat ensures the crispy, caramelised edges, while keeping your chicken super juicy on the inside. Once the chicken is golden and caramelised, it’s cooked! Let it rest for about 5 minutes to recirculate all of those natural juices through the meat.
COOKED CHICKEN TEMPERATURE
If unsure your chicken is cooked through, use a meat thermometer. It should read 165°F (75°C) when inserted in the thickest part of the meat.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BAKED CHICKEN
So many options go with this recipe!
- Mashed potatoes
- Mashed cauliflower for a low carb option
- Simple tomato salad
- Black beans and rice
- Smashed potatoes
MORE CHICKEN BREAST RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE
- Balsamic Baked Chicken Breast With Mozzarella Cheese
- Caprese Stuffed Balsamic Chicken
- Crispy Chicken Parmesan (Parmigiana)
- Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts
- See all chicken recipes here
Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 1 heaping tablespoon light brown sugar FOR KETO: use brown sugar substitute
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mild paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or dried Thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, (or chili powder) for an extra kick. OPTIONAL
- 4 large chicken breasts (7oz | 200g each)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
OPTIONAL:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 large clove garlic, minced or finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F | 220°C (standard ovens) or 390°F | 200°C (fan forced or convection ovens).
- Using a meat mallet or rolling pin, pound each chicken breast to 0.8-inch | 2cm at the thickest part. Make sure your fillets are all the same thickness to ensure even cooking.
- Combine sugar, paprika, oregano, salt, powders and pepper(s).
- Line a baking pan with parchment (or baking) paper. Transfer chicken to the pan and toss chicken in the seasoning. Drizzle with the oil and rub seasoning all over to evenly coat.
- Bake chicken in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until internal temperature is 165°F (75°C) using a meat thermometer. It should be golden with crisp edges.*
- For crispier chicken, change your oven setting to broil (or grill in Aus/UK) on high during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking until golden.
- Remove pan from oven, transfer chicken to serving plates and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- OPTIONAL STEP: While chicken is in the oven, melt butter in a small skillet. Sauté garlic until fragrant (30 seconds), and remove pan from heat. Stir in parsley, then pour butter mixture into pan juices, stirring well to combine all of the flavours together.
- To serve, drizzle pan juices over the chicken and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.
Christina says
Chicken turned out really good and tasty. I used the “optional” ingredients which was a good choice
Tracey W says
Best juicy chicken I’ve cooked. Thank you for this recipe. The family loved it. I will be cooking this again. Love love love the flavor…….. 😊
Steve Rhin says
Killer recipe. The broil at the end really put a nice finishing touch to it. Fiya!
Lorraine Garcia says
I am diabetic so I was thinking about putting like 3 tablespoons of flour in the mix to cut down the sugar would that be ok?
Margie says
What kind of pan do I cook it in? A cookie sheet?
Kelly says
WOW. It was fantastic and everyone loved it! Chicken has always been iffy for me, so I’m happy how well it cooked and how juicy it was!
Kate says
Do I cover the chicken while I bake it? Or leave it uncovered?
Tracey W says
I left mine uncovered.
qqtpie says
The pan matters! I didn’t have parchment paper. Half the chicken went in a glass pan and the other half in a dark metal pan. The glass pan was full of liquid and the chicken was dry. The chicken cooked in the dark metal pan had no juice in the pan, and the chicken was moist. Lesson learned.
Mary Mcpherson says
This was a favorite even for my picky eaters! I was so surprised how much they ate. This will be a weekly recipe in my house.
Fiona says
This was delicious! My family (incl. 2 young children) all loved it. Thank You!!!!!
Teresa says
Really juicy indeed! Tastes great too! I will definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe!
Karen Marie Kunkel says
Absolutely the best baked chicken recipe ever. It was soooo moist, tender and tasty. This is going to be my go to recipe for chicken from now on.
Roslyn says
This recipe is just what I was looking for. My family will not chicken breast because it always turns out very dry. The chicken breast were juicy and tender… and the taste was absolutely delicious.
Rachel G says
Hi! I have a question regarding the seasoning. I made three large chicken breasts and had to make the combined seasoning for each chicken breast, is this correct and does it still make it low cal? Or is the seasoning amount listed in the recipe used for all three chicken breasts?
It was delicious !!!
Thank you!!
Martha says
This was fantastic! My kids even liked it more than my husband’s famous grilled chicken! Perfect, easy family meal, and the only way I will bake chicken moving forward. Thanks!
Carrie says
OMGoodness! Delicious!! Thank you for sharing this recipe. This will definitely be a go to for me from now on!
LeeAnn says
This. Is. Amazing. Sliced it for chicken and cabbage slaw sandwiches and it was perfection. Thank you!
Deb says
I don’t really like cooking but this recipe makes me want to cook more! This recipe is awesome!! Thank you so much! I plan to pull more recipes from you & try them. I love quick, low carb/low sugar & easy recipes. I agree with the post of why is there not a cookbook yet?
Rena says
Can I substitute thighs instead? If so, will the oven temp and time to cook be the same?
Vitya Vijayan says
Chicken was indeed moist and rather enjoyable to eat.
Thanks you for this awesome recipe!
Diane McLavish says
Made this a couple weeks ago and the family loved it, even my son who is in Culinary School said awesome chicken. They are asking when I will make it again, so it is on the menu for dinners this week. Best Chicken Breast Recipe out there in my opinion.
Don says
Getting ready to try this recipe now. I hope it turns out ok !
Margot says
This recipe is delicious!! I highly recommend trying it— I did not add the cayenne pepper.
lauren says
I had to bake the chicken 3 times longer than the recipe calls. It was yummy though!
christie says
the recipe said to pound the chicken to 1/8″ (super thin). Did you do that and STILL have to cook it 3x as long?
Christa says
I am making it as we speak and I’ve already surpassed the cook time by 10 min and still not ready. And I did beat the chicken first.
Jenn MacPhee says
So so good!!! First recipie I made with your site and loved it!!!! Thankyou💗
Kate says
This came out amazing!! This is the only way to go for chicken breast from here on out, seriously. I never comment on recipe blogs but this one is a legit winner winner chicken dinner.
Melissa says
I work in a residential facility and everyone here loved it! Definitely staying on rotation
Pam says
I agree with all of the above, these were fantastic and more! Thank you very much.
Amy says
Excellent recipe. Moist and tasty.
Even my 14 year old daughter enjoyed
Jade says
I can agree that this is the BEST chicken breast recipe I have ever used. I LOVE this I will for sure use again. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Rena says
Oh my goodness. I’ve always had trouble making chicken breasts cause they’d come out dry, so I primarily stick to thighs. Well…after tonight, breasts are back on the menu. This recipe is delicious. Made it tonight and my husband already gave the thumbs up. Will make this again.
Kellie says
This was amazing and so easy! My husband raved about it and even had seconds. Thanks for the recipe! Definitely a keeper!
Helen Milchling says
My first one of your recipes.
Yummy and moist!!
I used oregano but I think I will skip it next time. I made the sauce.This is a keeper!! Thank you!
Valerie Salter says
I made this tonight and it was amazing. I broiled them for a few minutes at the end of cooking and made the garlic butter topping mixed with the pan drippings. This recipe is quick, easy and definitely a keeper!!
Vicki Schmitt says
I was looking for a baked chicken recipe that didn’t rely on a high calorie coating to keep the chicken moist. Even though I wasn’t sure how this recipe would keep the chicken moist, I decided to try it and am so glad I did! It was surprisingly moist, had a good flavor and the short cook time was a plus.
Dennie says
I made this last night, wow…so tasty and very easy.
Sandra Ruble says
Oh my! This was everything you wrote and more. It was quick. It was moist. It was full of flavor. I’ve made other recipes of yours too and they are so delicious. Excuse me I have to go make those fabulous looking chocolate cookies covered in confectioners sugar…
Shona says
For some reason my stars disappeared so I’m commenting again to make sure they stay. If I could give this 100 stars I would!
Karina says
Wow that was quick! Thank you for your feedback, I’m so happy you liked the recipe!
Shona says
Made this for our Sunday lunch as soon as I got your email and I couldn’t believe how they turned out! These really are the best baked chicken breasts. So good my family is asking i cook them again tomorrow! Thank you for making me look good in the kitchen lol
PLEASE COME OUT WITH A BOOK ALREADY! Publishers should be banging down your door!