Try these Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breasts for a tender and flavorful meal. Seasoned to perfection and super simple to make; this classic won’t fail you! So good you can eat them immediately or save them for meal prep!
Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
I think we all know it can be a major struggle to cook delicious, fresh, home cooked meals on busy weeknights. Especially when we’re running from meetings to practice, working on homework, and packing lunches for the next day. Whoosh – I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.
One thing that helps me on my busiest nights is using a protein I prepped over the weekend for an easy dinner. This saves so much time and energy. This is where my juicy oven baked chicken breasts come in. The precooked chicken is perfect on top of salads, thrown in soup, or in a wrap. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s quick and easy to make even if you don’t have time to prep ahead of time!
Ingredients for this Recipe:
The ingredients for this easy baked chicken breasts recipe are simple and straightforward. No surprises here. You’ll need:
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- garlic powder
- Italian Seasoning
- onion powder
- paprika
- salt and pepper
- cooking spray
- parsley
How to Bake Chicken Breasts in the Oven
- You’ll want to get started by preheating your oven to 425˚F degrees.
- While your oven heats, lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside.
- Next, pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in your prepared baking dish and generously spray all sides of your chicken with the cooking spray.
- Season both sides of the chicken evenly with your spice mixture.
- Bake chicken for 17 to 20 minutes, or until the thickest part of the chicken breasts hits 165˚F on an instant read thermometer
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 5 to 7 minutes before slicing.
- Before serving, garnish the chicken with some fresh parsley.
Tips & Tricks for Perfectly Baked Chicken
If you want a perfectly baked chicken breast, you’ll definitely want to follow my top 3 tips:
- Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness of about 1-inch. This will ensure even cooking and it also helps tenderize the chicken.
- Use an instant read thermometer; an internal temperature over 165˚F will result in dry chicken.
- Do not cut into the baked chicken right away; let chicken rest for at least 5 minutes so that the juices reabsorb into the chicken.
How to Store Chicken Breasts
Baked chicken breasts can be stored in an airtight container and kept in your fridge for up to 4 days. Like I mentioned, this makes them perfect for meal prepping for the week!
Can I Freeze Baked Chicken Breasts?
Yes, you can also freeze baked chicken breasts. Simply cool them and then place them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 6 months. A trick for easy portioning is wrapping each individual chicken breast in wax paper. Now you have single serve, precooked frozen chicken breasts!
How to Reheat Chicken
You already know I love to prep baked chicken breasts on the weekend and use them all week for quick lunches and dinners. Often times, this won’t even involve reheating if I slice the baked chicken and throw it on top of a crisp salad or in a wrap. But, if I do want to reheat my baked chicken breast, I’m always careful not to overheat them. No one wants dry chicken – am I right?
When reheating your baked chicken breasts, you’re going to want to go low and slow. Let your chicken breast come to room temperature. Then, place it on a baking sheet, tent it with foil and bake for about 25 minutes in a 225˚F oven.
Another delicious idea is to shred the chicken breast and reheat in a favorite sauce or gravy. This adds great flavor and keeps the chicken from seeming dry.
Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless, skinless, 6oz
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika sweet or smoked
- ¾ tsp salt
- cooking spray
- fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425˚F degrees.
- Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Pound chicken breasts to even thickness.
- In a small bowl whisk together garlic powder, Italian seasoning, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Place chicken in previously prepared baking dish and generously spray chicken on all sides with cooking spray.
- Season both sides of chicken evenly with prepared spice mixture.
- Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until thickest part of chicken breasts registers at 165˚F on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from oven and let rest 5 to 7 minutes before slicing.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
21 Comments
Carrie Robinson
Feb 11, 2020 at 5:16 pmThese look absolutely perfect! And that seasoning- yum! 🙂
Katerina Petrovska
Feb 11, 2020 at 8:30 pmThanks so much, Carrie! 🙂
Erin
Feb 11, 2020 at 5:21 pmSo simple but so good! Love how juicy they are!
Katerina Petrovska
Feb 11, 2020 at 8:33 pmThank you, Erin! 🙂 🙂
Trang
Feb 11, 2020 at 5:32 pmSo juicy! It really is hard keeping chicken breast juicy and not over baking it. I like that I can make a lot and freeze this.
Katerina Petrovska
Feb 11, 2020 at 8:34 pmThanks! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Sara Welch
Feb 11, 2020 at 9:15 pmWhat a delicious recipe! Definitely adding this to my dinner line up for the week; looks too good to pass up!
Katerina
Feb 12, 2020 at 9:55 amThank you, Sara! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Dorothy Reinhold
Feb 12, 2020 at 1:55 amNothing worse than dry chicken! This method looks perfect. I am loving your spice blend too.
Katerina
Feb 12, 2020 at 9:54 amThank you, Dorothy! 🙂
Toni
Feb 12, 2020 at 3:19 pmI love how juicy it looks! Can’t wait to give it a try!
Katerina Petrovska
Feb 13, 2020 at 2:03 pmI hope you enjoy them! Thank you! 🙂
Jacque Hastert
Feb 12, 2020 at 4:33 pmI love how juicy and simple these are when they are done. A great way to meal prep for lunch salads and such.
Katerina Petrovska
Feb 13, 2020 at 2:02 pmThank you, Jacque! 🙂
Tiffany La Forge-Grau
Feb 13, 2020 at 2:36 amThe oven is where chicken breasts belong. They really taste so good baking!
Katerina Petrovska
Feb 13, 2020 at 2:01 pmI agree with you! Thank you! 🙂
Martina
Oct 26, 2020 at 12:41 amHi I saw this recipe a few day’s ago and I thought I would try it. I normally don’t care for ck’n breast usually “too dry” but I followed your recipe to the letter they were jucily delicious. I am converted thanks for showing me how to prepare, make and enjoy.
Katerina Petrovska
Oct 26, 2020 at 7:39 pmThat’s great! I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Anmol Agrawal
Aug 14, 2021 at 10:52 amHow much pepper?
Debbie
Aug 22, 2022 at 3:55 pmEasy Pleasy! This is a great recipe for when I need something to whip up for supper in a jiffy!
Katerina Petrovska
Aug 29, 2022 at 12:15 pmI hope you’ll love it! Thank YOU! 🙂