Baked Chicken Breasts
This Baked Chicken is the best and the easiest way to prepare chicken breasts. It’s also the most flavorful chicken I’ve ever made because of the seasoning that is rubbed on the chicken. I use my Ultimate Dry Rub seasoning to coat the chicken and bake it. Essentially, there are only two ingredients needed to prepare this chicken if Dry Rub is prepared ahead of time.
For some more baked chicken recipes, don’t miss my Baked Chicken Wings, Southwest Baked Chicken Thighs, and Coconut Lime Baked Chicken Drumsticks.
BAKED CHICKEN
Chicken breast is the most preferred meat across the country. Perhaps it’s because chicken breast is easy to work with, it’s delicious, and lean. Even when it comes to other poultry, white meat is more popular.
Chicken on it’s own is a mild tasting meat so it is easily flavored with just about anything. Being able to take on any flavor makes chicken an extremely versatile ingredient.
Full chicken breast also cooks quickly and even quicker when cut. Be careful not to overcook chicken breasts though. Since white chicken meat is the leanest meat of the whole chicken, it will dry out quickly when overcooked. So cook a full chicken breast just until it reaches 165°.
To keep chicken breasts moist when baking it, cook it at higher temperature for less time. Cook chicken breast at 450° for 14-18 minutes. Time will highly depend on the size of individual chicken breasts. Try to choose a pack of chicken where the size of the breasts is as close to even as possible.
If your chicken breasts are different sizes, there is a couple of things you can do. You can use two separate pans and separate larger chicken and smaller chicken breasts. Take out the pan with smaller chicken breasts once it reaches the temperature.
You can also cook all sizes on one pan but take out the smaller chicken once it’s reached 165° and let the larger ones cook for a few more minutes.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS
Making this seasoned baked chicken is so easy, there are only a couple of steps to follow.
Preheat oven to 450°. You may need to cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, especially if using an older baking sheet. If available, I recommend a thicker, heavier rimmed making sheet.
Place chicken breasts in a mixing bowl and add Dry Rub seasoning.
Rub each chicken beast with a generous amount of seasoning and massage it in. Make sure to get the seasoning all over each piece of meat.
Spread a little bit of oil all over the prepared baking sheet.
Place seasoned chicken breasts in the pan, about an inch apart.
Bake for 14-18 minutes, depending on the thickness of chicken. Use a meat thermometer to check if the chicken is at 165°.
TIPS FOR BAKING CHICKEN:
This dry rub recipe is a bit spicy, so if you are not tolerant well of spice, you can use 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper in the recipe. Adjust cayenne pepper amount according to your own tolerance from there.
This recipe can also be done with chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs. Adjust oven temperature to 425° and cook drumsticks for 34-40 minutes, depending on the size. You are also looking for 165° meat temperature.
HOW TO STORE COOKED CHICKEN
Store cooked chicken in an air-tight container, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Cooked chicken can be used to serve with sides, in sandwiches, on salads, and wraps.
For salads, wraps, and some sandwiches, cold chicken can be sliced and used.
HOW TO REHEAT COOKED CHICKEN
To re-heat chicken, you can use just about anything.
For microwave, I recommend using the microwave-safe plate cover to keep chicken moist while reheating.
You can reheat it slowly in a cooking pan, over medium-low heat. Slice cold chicken so it reheats faster. Preheat the pan and add chicken (depending on the type on pan used, you may need to grease the pan first). Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook just until warmed.
My favorite way to keep chicken moist while reheating, it to do it the oven. Slice chicken if needed and wrap it loosely in some foil. Preheat oven to 350° and place wrapped chicken into the warmed oven. Reheat for about 10 minutes, depending on size and amount of chicken.
SOME SIDE DISHES TO TRY WITH THIS CHICKEN
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Baked Chicken Breast with Dry Rub
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°. You may need to cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, especially if using an older baking sheet. If available, I recommend a thicker, heavier rimmed making sheet.
- Place chicken breasts in a mixing bowl and add Dry Rub seasoning.
- Rub each chicken beast with a generous amount of seasoning and massage it in. Make sure to get the seasoning all over each piece of meat.
- Spread a little bit of oil all over the prepared baking sheet.
- Place seasoned chicken breasts in the pan, about an inch apart.
- Bake for 14-18 minutes, depending on the thickness of chicken. Use a meat thermometer to check if the chicken is at 165°.
Notes
Nutrition
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I’ve been looking for a new way to cook my chicken and this might just be the winner! Very excited to try this.
I hope you liked it! 🙂