ABOUT ME & CONTACT • PRIVACY POLICY & DISCLOSURE

I Wash You Dry

1
Apr
2024

Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

, , , , ,
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe uses very simple techniques to create ultra juicy chicken breasts with an incredible spice rub.

I love to pair this easy baked chicken breast with my Parmesan Roasted Broccoli and Baked Potatoes for a complete meal.

sliced chicken breast on white cutting board

This recipe is my tried and true method for cooking the BEST chicken breasts in the oven every time. You’re going to fall in love with this easy technique.

Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

Yes, it’s true, you CAN have tender and juicy white meat chicken that’s BAKED in the oven!

Ingredients Needed For Baked Chicken Breast

Chicken breast consists of all white meat, which is very lean and, if not cooked properly, can become tough and dry. Here’s what you’ll need in order to whip up some juicy chicken breasts in the oven. You can find the full list of ingredients located in the recipe card below.

  • Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – check out my baked chicken thighs here!
  • Olive oil
  • Seasonings – I’m sharing my favorite chicken rub in the recipe, but you can ultimately season with whatever you like. 

How To Bake Chicken Breasts

The trick to mastering ultra tender chicken (whether baked, grilled or cooked on the stove top) is all thanks to these 3 easy steps…

  1. Even Thickness
  2. High Heat
  3. Resting
Chicken Breast on cutting board with rolling pin on parchment paper

By following these simple steps you’ll be enjoying juicy baked chicken breasts right out of your oven every time.

POUND CHICKEN

Start by using a heavy rolling pin or meat mallet to pound your chicken breast to an even thickness.

SEASON

Season liberally with my special seasoning blend (in the recipe card below).

Season chicken breast with a simple blend of spices before baking in oven.

BAKE

Bake chicken breast for just 20 minutes at 425 degrees F, then let rest for 5 minutes under foil before slicing.

Do I Need To Pound Chicken? 

Is it necessary to pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness before baking?

Yes!

It is absolutely necessary if you want juicy oven baked chicken. Here’s why…

The natural shape of a chicken breast is teardrop, with a thicker, meatier portion at the bottom of the teardrop. Chicken must be cooked to 165 degrees F before safely consuming. If you do not pound the chicken down, the thicker portion will take longer to cook to the safe temperature, while the thinner section of chicken breast will get overcooked and result in a dried out, choke-it-down chicken breast.

White plate with oven baked chicken and juices

The BEST Chicken Seasoning

I spent many, many years working on perfecting my go-to chicken seasoning. It’s both sweet and smoky, while not being too overpowering. The simple, yet complex flavors blend perfectly together and are great served alongside any side dish you’re serving with your baked chicken.

Chicken Seasoning Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make your baked chicken taste like a million bucks! 

  • Brown Sugar – the sugar helps to tenderize the chicken, trust me, it’s a good idea.
  • Chili Powder – adds a delicious smoky flavor, plus gives great coloring to chicken
  • Parsley – great for adding a balanced herb flavor
  • Salt – the seasoning of life
  • Pepper – because it goes with salt
  • Garlic Powder – adds delicious flavor
  • Onion Powder – compliments the garlic powder
  • Cumin – this really gives the chicken something special

Combine the spices together and rub generously into the chicken breast before baking.

PRO TIP: I will usually double or triple the seasoning blend and store any extra in a zip close bag or spice jar for the next time I’m baking chicken. 

Sliced chicken breast in a rimmed dish.

How Long To Bake Chicken Breasts in The Oven?

Make sure your oven is preheated to 425 degrees F before baking. Cooking at a high temperature will help to lock in those juices, resulting in tender, juicy chicken every time.

Cooking Size Chart

  • 4 to 6 ounce chicken breasts – 18 minutes
  • 7 to 8 ounce chicken breasts – 20 minutes
  • 9 ounce and above – 22 minutes

Remember to use an instant read meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

How Long To “Rest” Chicken Breast

One of the biggest rookie mistakes when baking chicken is to immediately slice right into it after it’s done cooking. Chicken breast is a muscle and what happens to a muscle when it gets cooked? It tightens up!

If you cut into the chicken right away it will be tough and chewy, and all the juices that you worked so hard for will immediately run out… resulting in dry, tough chicken. 

Let chicken breasts rest for 5 minutes under a loose sheet of foil before slicing.

Easy Side Dishes To Serve With Oven Baked Chicken

Chicken is one of the most versatile proteins. It pairs perfectly with just about any side dish. Serve it sliced up, shredded, or whole for a pretty presentation. We usually slice all the chicken up before serving so it’s easy for my kids to eat.

Here are my go-to sides for baked chicken…

Slice of juicy oven baked chicken breast on a fork

Easy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipes:

I have so many delicious baked chicken recipes that I’m sure you’ll find one you really enjoy! 

I’m confident that you’ll get fantastic results with this recipe as long as you follow the tips and method I’ve shared here.

Slice of juicy chicken breast on a fork
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
4.94 from 482 votes

Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

This ultra juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast Recipe only takes a few minutes of prep, resulting in tender, juicy chicken breast every time!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 214 kcal
Author: Shawn

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Pre heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non stick spray.
  • Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of parchment paper and pound to an even thickness. Drizzle both sides of chicken with olive oil.
  • Combine seasonings and sprinkle generously over both sides of the chicken breasts. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cover loosely with foil for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Video

Notes
If your chicken breasts are smaller in size, reduce the cook time to 18 minutes. If the chicken breasts are larger, increase cook time to 22 minutes.
Be sure to check that internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Nutrition

Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 393mg | Potassium: 591mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 441IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Keywords: Baked Chicken Breast, Juicy, Oven, Tender
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?don’t forget to share a picture and mention @iwashyoudry on Instagram or tag #iwashyoudry!

PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE

pinterest image of juicy baked chicken on plate.

Related Posts

About Shawn

Shawn is the Owner and Creator of I Wash You Dry. She loves to create and share simple, family-friendly recipes. Mom to 5 adorable children and dwells in the desert of Southern Utah.

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Shawn

      You definitely can. I would just make sure to check them earlier because they’ll cook faster than chicken breasts.

  2. Donna

    5 stars
    Didn’t have parsley or garlic powder but still yummy. Put chicken on spinach, feta, onion and greek dressing. We like it.

    Reply

  3. Kalsey

    5 stars
    I Made this tonight and turned out really well! I enjoy making chicken with easy ingredients that my kids will try and eat and this was a homerun in my house!

    Reply

  4. Megan

    This looks fantastic! I’ll be trying it tonight for dinner and I don’t have any parsley. Could you please recommend a replacement, or would you just omit it? Thanks!

    Reply

  5. Kathy Perschnick

    5 stars
    I love chicken and am always looking for new recipes! I loved this recipe so much! I’m doing weight watchers and am going to share in my next meeting! Thank you for sharing such a tasty recipe!

    Reply

  6. Busy Dad

    I’m a dad looking to learn to make something easy for dinner. I substituted the cumin and chili powder for turmeric and paprika because we had those ingredients. The prep was easy and the chicken was juicy after pounding the chicken. My family and I all enjoyed this. I am definitely flagging this page for the future.

    Reply

  7. Amber Nugent

    5 stars
    This was a great recipe. I omitted the olive oil in favor of Worcester sauce. I also highly recommend adding mint leaves. I added chocolate mint leaves (dried) and it added a refreshing flavor in each bite and complimented the chili powder nicely. Will be using this recipe for a ling time to come.

    Reply

    • Shawn

      I’ve never seen chocolate mint leaves before, I bet that would add a great flavor to it. Thanks for sharing your modifications and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Amber!

  8. Erika

    I made this last night, rubbed with oil and spices, marinated for 5 hours. Heated a cast iron pan on grill with avacado oil got it hit put chicken in, close grill cook 10 min, flip cooked another 8 ( check temp) it was SO DELICIOUS! Thank you.

    Reply

  9. T. Bond

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing. The chicken was very juicy and tender. The olive oil, spices, herbs, and sugar combined to give this chicken an excellent flavor that even my picky eaters enjoyed. This is a must!

    Reply

  10. Steve

    4 stars
    First off, we made this last night, and we liked it. Very juicy considering it is baked in a “rub”. Very different, good flavor! I find one needs to practice it a few times to find the “right” amount of rub to dress the chicken with so that it is not too heavy, not too light. This of course, is all varying personal preference.
    I do however have a question on how the nutrition value is/was calculated. Says this recipe serves 6, but uses only 4 chicken breasts – is each chicken breast 196 calories as claimed, or is there some other math that was used? Keep up the good work!

    Reply

    • Shawn

      The chicken breasts I used in this recipe were very large, and I cut them into strips to serve. To get the most accurate calorie count, you’ll want to adjust it to the size of your chicken breasts that you’re using.

    • Jennifer Protasowicki

      5 stars
      The chicken recipe is beyond amazing. Mine actually turned out like the picture online and that never happens. I have never posted any like this on social media but I feel like I had too.

    • Shawn

      Aw! That means so much to me. Thank you for your sweet comment Jennifer! So glad you enjoyed the chicken!

  11. Kimberly

    Tried this tonight and it came out really good. This is my new way to make my chicken breast! I love the ever so slight sweetness with the brown sugar…finally no dry chicken breast.

    Reply

  12. Scott Hofner

    Hi Shawn,
    I made your recipe today and man it was awesome… I will keep recipe for sure and put it in my box. Thank you so much and God bless.
    P.s. kids loved it also

    Reply

  13. Cindy

    5 stars
    Great recipie! I switched out the brown sugar for coconut palm sugar because that’s all I had. I also switched out the chili power for cayenne pepper. It was so good and just the right amount of spice. Thank you for sharing this recipie. Definitely book marking this to use in the future!

    Reply

    • Shawn

      Hi Nancy, I’m so sorry it didn’t print out well. I would suggest trying to print in grayscale, to make sure you’re printer isn’t using any color. Sometimes if your color is running low it’ll have a hard time printing the dark gray print.

    • Shawn

      Ohhh! I bet that had some nice spice to it with the extra cayenne pepper! So glad you enjoyed it!

  14. Deborah

    5 stars
    Incredible! I made it with Truvia Brown sugar (cuts 75%of the sugar calories with stevia) and both my husband and I both flipped for this! Lots of room to tinker with, my husband isn’t a cumin fan, so I will lower that flavor by cutting that measures in 1/2, but will turn up both the onion and garlic. Yum, yum and lastly – YUM!

    Reply

  15. Gabriel

    I grill the breast on inside cast iron grill instead of oven and use just about the same ingredients except the sugar(gonna try it) and it comes out outstanding!

    Reply

    • Shawn

      Hi Fiona, you really can’t go wrong with any sort of steamed or roasted veggie. My favorite is Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower, but you can also go with a nice salad and side of Vegetable Rice Pilaf.

  17. Katie

    5 stars
    Used chicken thighs because they were all I had and it came out delicious! Thank you! Definitely will make this again.

    Reply

  18. Tony

    5 stars
    Shawn, this was excellent. My son with autism, a very picky eater, loved it, as did the rest of us. Thanks for sharing. I’ve bookmarked for future use.

    Reply

  19. carlotta

    Not sure what I did wrong, but my chicken came out dry. 🙁 I really liked the rub so I will try again. Perhaps, may even put on the grill.

    Reply

    • Shawn

      Oh bummer! Could it be that you didn’t pound the chicken before baking? Or did you over bake them? If your chicken breasts are on the smaller side you’ll want to decrease the cook time accordingly.

  20. Audrey Knighten

    5 stars
    My husband and I have been “dieting” for a couple weeks now and we really really starting to dead eating our boring old chicken. I found your recipe and made it one night and we both could NOT BELIEVE how great it was. Pounding the chicken makes all the difference and the flavor was incredible. I’ve been making it this way every day since! Thank you!!

    Reply

    • Shawn

      So awesome!! There’s such a difference between boring dried out chicken and juicy, flavorful chicken! I’m so glad you two found my recipe! 🙂

  21. Scott

    5 stars
    Single dad and kids made this tonight and it’s was a huge hit! “10 outta 10” from my 13 year old daughter! Love how the brown sugar and spices go together!

    Reply

    • Jessica

      I want to make this recipe, but I don’t exactly have brown sugar on hand. I do have turbinado sugar. Could I use that instead or is there another substitute that I can use?

    • Shawn

      I would not use turbinado sugar as a substitute for brown sugar in this recipe. I’d wait till you have brown sugar.

    • Shawn

      Definitely. You might need to reduce the amount of cooking time depending on how thin they are.

  23. Scott S.

    5 stars
    Excellent recipe! I’ll be using this as my go-to. I subbed chipotle chili powder, and didn’t have parsley, so I used sage. It turned out a bit hotter than expected, but it’s a nice smoky heat. A surprise treat was the gooey sweet-hot “sauce” on the baking sheet that I hoovered up like it was crack.

    Reply

    • Shawn

      Nice! So glad you enjoyed it Scott. That chipotle chili powder will be where that spice came from. I bet it was great!

  24. Leola LAMBERT

    5 stars
    I cooked this recipe tonight and it was delicious! It was so easy to make and quick to cook. My family loved it.

    Reply

  25. Miranda

    5 stars
    I made it without the chili powder. The kids devoured it.
    I liked that it was super quick to make and still had excellent flavor without having to marinade.

    Thank you! It’s definitely a keeper recipe.

    Reply

  26. Rick Villela

    4 stars
    It was very good.. Personal preference but I would have used a little less cumin and a bit more salt. But it’s a very good base. Will definitely make it again.

    Reply

  27. Vicki Lollis

    I loved this recipe. It was perfect. The tip about pounding the chicken prior to seasoning and baking resulted in a nice juicy piece of chicken breast. The seasonings were delicious and just the right amount to use for 4 chicken breasts. This recipe is a keeper. I give it 5 stars.

    Reply

    • Shawn

      Nope! You’ll only cover AFTER it’s cooked for just 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying!

  33. Vickie

    This is the bomb, my son isn’t very big on chicken but he went back for seconds, I used chicken tenders not breast and it turned out great!!

    Reply

  34. Ann

    Made this chicken accompanied by some potato salad and it was the best chicken recipe I’ve ever tried !

    Reply

  35. Renee Cardone

    Hi! Thanks so much for responding so quickly! We LOVED it on our pork chops – my husband thinks he might like it a bit more than on the chicken – either way, I’ll be using this dry rub often!

    Reply

    • Shawn

      He Renee, I have not tested this recipe on pork chops. It could be worth a try! Keep me posted.

  37. Brian Groves

    5 stars
    I just tried this recipe tonight and it is definitely going into rotation in our house!! The chicken was not only delicious but so juicy as well. Thank you for such a great recipe.

    Reply
4.94 from 482 votes (271 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

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

Recipe Rating