This is the best way to make oven baked chicken breast: The chicken is generously seasoned, then bakes to juicy perfection! Perfect for meal prep or to whip up an easy and healthy entrée without a lot of work.
Ever since I shared my Oven Baked Chicken Thighs, they’ve been a favorite here on the blog. Same with my Air Fryer Chicken Breast recipe… So I figured it was about time to share an easy and tasty recipe for baked chicken breast.
I know chicken can be really bland a boring, but not if you make it like this! It turns out juicy and flavorful, and it can really stand as an entrée all by itself.
There’s also a delicious pan sauce that forms while the chicken bakes, and it tastes great tossed with rice, pasta or over mashed potatoes. A real weeknight dinner winner!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breast. If you choose to use any other cut, the baking time will be different from the recipe.
- Butter: You can skip this ingredient if you really want to avoid butter. Either replace it with olive oil or skip it altogether. I will say that the chicken is a little less juicy and the seasoning isn’t quite the same without it. But it does still comes out well.
- Brown sugar: Feel free to use regular sugar if you don’t have any brown sugar on hand. I prefer light brown over dark brown here. You can skip it if you absolutely want to, but it does really make quite a difference to the taste of the chicken.
- Seasonings: The seasoning is my favorite the way I wrote it down in the recipe. But you’re absolutely free to skip anything you don’t like, or experiment with your own ideas.
How to bake chicken breast in the oven
1. Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin or the flat side of a mallet, gently pound them to even thickness, about 0.5 – 0.75 inches.
pound chicken to even thickness
2. Rub the chicken breasts all over with olive oil. Combine all of the seasoning and the brown sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle on both sides of the chicken.
rub with oil combine seasoning season chicken breasts
3. Place the chicken in a 9×13 inch casserole dish (we’re waiting for a kitchen remodel and my 9×13 inch dishes were all packed up when I took these photos… so I divided my chicken between two 7×11 inch dishes and it worked just fine).
Top each chicken breast with a dab of butter, then bake for 18-20 minutes, until the internal temperature reads 165°F. I like to turn on the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes to add some nice browning, just watch closely so it doesn’t burn!
top with butter bake serve!
If you’re not making the chicken ahead to store for later, I highly recommend serving it immediately. That’s when it’s the absolute juiciest and tastiest!
Recipe tips
- I know the flattening/pouding seems like an unnecessary extra step, but I promise it DOES make a difference, so I highly recommend you stick to it.
- Make sure to season the chicken all over, front and back. That’s how you get the most flavor into every bite.
- Do not overbake the chicken. I highly recommend a meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165°F, it’s the most accurate way to cook any kind of meat.
Recommended internal temperature for chicken
Wondering when your chicken is done and safe to be eaten? I highly recommend investing in (the following is an affiliate link an I earn a commission for purchases made through it) a meat thermometer. I check pretty much everything I cook and bake with mine to make sure I’m at the accurate temperature.
The US government’s food safety website recommends cooking all poultry to an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C) for safe consumption.
Make ahead/leftover tips
This recipe is ideal for meal prep, you can store the baked chicken in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container. The same goes for leftovers.
To use, either dice them up or shred to use in a casserole, in any dish that calls for leftover chicken/turkey/rotisserie chicken or in a soup; or slice them to serve over a salad. Here are some great ideas to use up leftover chicken:
- Chicken Taco Salad
- Chicken Quesadillas
- Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Serving ideas
The beauty of this recipe is how versatile it is! You can serve it with many different starch and vegetable combinations. Here are some of our favorites:
- Mashed potatoes
- Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto
- Bacon Pea Pasta
- Roasted Broccoli or Air Fryer Broccoli
- Roasted Asparagus or Air Fryer Asparagus
- Sautéed Zucchini
More easy chicken recipes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Oven Baked Chicken Breast
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast boneless and skinless
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter diced
Instructions
- Prep: Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
- Flatten: Place chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin or the flat side of a mallet, pound chicken to about 0.5 – 0.75 inch thickness. Rub olive oil all over flattened chicken breasts.
- Season: Combine all remaining ingredients EXCEPT for butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over chicken, then lightly rub it in.
- Bake: Place seasoned chicken in prepared casserole dish. Top each chicken breast with a slice of butter. Bake at 400°F until internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 18-20 minutes. Finish chicken under broiler for 1-3 minutes, until nicely browned. Serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Chicken: If you choose to use any other cut than specified, the baking time will be different from the recipe.
- Butter: Feel free to replace with olive oil or skip altogether at the expense of some juiciness and flavor.
- Brown sugar: Feel free to use regular sugar if you don’t have any brown sugar on hand. You can skip it if you absolutely want to, but it does really make quite a difference to the taste of the chicken.
- Seasonings: The seasoning is my favorite the way I wrote it down in the recipe. But you’re absolutely free to skip anything you don’t like, or experiment with your own ideas.
Recipe tips
- I highly recommend you don’t skip the flattening, it makes a big difference to the end result.
- Do not overbake the chicken. I highly recommend a meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165°F, it’s the most accurate way to cook any kind of meat.
Vita Reo says
Made this tonight!! Super easy and super delicious. definitely making it again.
Nora says
I’m so glad!
Janet Crea says
Chicken was very moist and delicious. The rub makes it. Hubby liked it, and he us not real fond of chicken.
Nina says
I made this recipe for Sunday dinner today. It was awesome. My mom loved it. She said it was very tender, which it was. I had bone in chicken breasts. I had marinated them overnight in italian dressing. I still pounded them with a rolling pin and I did add extra butter. I sliced the chicken breast sideways after it was done. I have added this recipe to my favorites. A lot of times, chicken breast can be dry, but not this one. I will also try this recipe and grill the chicken breast next time. I love that it was so easy and not time consuming at all. Thank you.
Nora says
Glad to hear the recipe was a success for you, Nina!
Jessica says
I made this last night for dinner alongside roasted veggies. I almost made a special trip to the store for brown sugar because I was worried it wouldn’t do the recipe justice if I used white. It came out perfectly juicy, with such a savory flavor anyways. So impressed such a simple recipe was so killer! Can’t wait to try this out on my boyfriend when he gets home from sea!
Nora says
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, Jessica. Despite the white sugar 🙂 Hope your boyfriend will like the recipe just as much.
April says
So tasty and juicy! Added some Portabello mushrooms. Amazing
Nancy says
It was very moist and tender. Next time I will leave out the Italian spices and maybe use another spice or just leave that out, probably just my taster but otherwise really good!
Heather Rogalski says
I made this for dinner last night and it was really delicious! I may or may not have used just a tad bit more butter on top 😉. Will definitely keep this in the rotation.
Nora says
Heather, a little more butter definitely doesn’t hurt this recipe 😉 glad you liked it!
Brianna says
do I keep the chicken covered or uncovered when placing in the oven?
Nora says
Uncovered! Hopes this helps, Brianna.
Jenn says
Wow! This was delicious. My entire family loved it! I didn’t have onion powder so instead used minced dry onions and it was the perfect crunchy touch.
Javid Presson says
I made this almost exactly to the recipe. The only thing I did was use Swerve Brown sugar to eliminate the sugar. The chicken was moist and very good. The only change I’ll do next time is less salt. Other than that great job and thank you. My wife also loved it.
Nora says
I’m so glad you and your wife enjoyed the chicken, Javid! Thanks for adding your suggestion of using Swerve instead of brown sugar, I’m sure this will be helpful to other readers who want to avoid the sugar.
Sarah says
An absolute hit with my family, even when I forgot the butter. I’ve had requests to make it again, with the butter, and it is juicy and amazing! It has been added to our dinner rotation. So easy and quick. Thank you for posting this!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Sarah! Thank you for making this recipe part of your dinner rotation, it’s always an honor.
Jacky says
Made this for dinner tonight for something easy and it was delicious. The chicken was juicy and had a great taste. I will definitely be making again.
Nora says
I’m so glad to hear it, Jacky!
Cindy says
Wow! I’m mostly vegetarian and when I do meat it is usually fish. I might eat chicken 3 times a year. I am having guests over so I did a half recipe tonight to make sure it came out ok and boy did it! Very tender, very juicy, and very easy for a novice chicken baker.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Cindy! I always strive to make my recipes accessible to all home cooks, so I’m very happy you had a great experience.
Tabitha says
so good and so quick and easy!!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Tabitha!
Cwells says
This recipe had great flavor, I will definitely make this again!!!
Nora says
I’m so happy to hear it!
Bonnie McElderry says
I followed the recipe pretty much as written. Since I live at a high altitude, it had to cook a little while longer. My family loved it!
Emily J says
Absolutely delicious and so easy! We just did it with veggies on the side but I can’t wait to make it again in other recipes!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Emily!
Jenny says
Very delicious! I forgot to add brown sugar in the spice blend so I ended up sprinkling it atop the pats of butter and it was bomb!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Jenny. And what a great way to add the missing sugar.
Charlene says
I was searching for a chicken recipe that was fast and easy to put together. This was so quick and easy to make, but the most astounding thing was that everyone in my family loved it! There are very few dishes that my entire family likes, but this received high praise from all of them.
Monica says
Could I use swerve brown sugar instead of regular?
Nora says
Monica, several readers have successfully used swerve in this and in my baked salmon recipe. Should work out just fine!
Samantha says
Omg this is the easiest and most delicious way to cook chicken breast! My new families fav meal. We will be having this once a week