Many people are interested in learning new recipes to bake proteins such as chicken, steak, seafood, tofu, and many more. When you try to bake proteins, sometimes they turn out dry or overcooked, not satisfying at all. So I decided to share the best-baked chicken recipe with you, and trust me, you’ll be thankful for it.
If you’ve ever experimented with chicken breasts, then you’ll know they are very versatile yet a bit tricky to work with. If you end up overcooking them, then you’ll get a very dry, flavorless disaster, but if cooked the right way, you’ll be in love with its juicy, flavorful tenderness.
The best part is that you can use your favorite spices and serve it with several side dishes that you enjoy.
This recipe is easy and super-delicious, so let’s get started!
Ingredients for Baking Chicken Breasts
• Boneless chicken breasts: First of all, you need to get chicken breasts. I suggest fresh. You can also use frozen, but you have to defrost them before moving to the next step.
• Butter or olive oil: You can use butter or olive oil, whichever you like best. As for me, butter gives that extra smooth flavor, but olive oil also gets the job done.
• Salt: This is one of the essential ingredients when it comes to seasoning the chicken breast.
• Seasonings: Now comes the real fun. To make the most delicious, mouth-watering chicken breasts, you need smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and some black pepper. You can also add other dried spices that you prefer.
If you have baked chicken every day, I suggest you get a cooking thermometer to ensure that your chicken isn’t over or under-done. You can quickly get it from any shop near you or simply order it online, and it’s not even expensive.
Five Simple Steps to Bake Chicken Breasts
To make the best chicken breast, you just need to follow the following steps:
Step 1: Brine the chicken breasts
Most people don’t follow this step, and the chicken doesn’t turn out juicy. So this is a must step and super-easy. Take a bowl, fill it up with lukewarm water, throw in a handful of salt, and add your chicken to the bowl. Brine your chicken for 15 minutes, not more than that.
After that, you can remove the chicken from the brine and then clean it up with cold water, and well, now you’re good to go.
Once again, do not skip this step; it makes all the difference!
Step 2: Grease the chicken breasts with butter/olive oil
After you’ve brined your chicken breasts, then grease it with melted butter or olive oil. I suggest butter because it gives that nice texture to the chicken, and it turns out crispy. But you can feel free to use whatever you like.
Grease both sides of the breasts so that the chicken doesn’t stick to the pan, and it is also quite helpful in sticking the seasonings. After this, move the chicken into a large baking dish.
Step 3: Rub the seasonings onto the chicken breasts
After you’re done greasing, now it’s time to rub the spices on the chicken breasts. Add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and spread it evenly on the chicken.
Step 4: Now bake
After you’re done seasoning the chicken breasts, now it’s time to put them in the oven. Everyone has their own fixed temperature and time for baking chicken breasts, but I recommend baking it for 15 minutes at 450°F. This is a tested technique, and the result is pretty delicious.
I like to bake my chicken breasts at high temperature as it comes out nice and golden.
This also depends on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Baking at 450°F requires around 15-18 minutes, which depends on the size of the chicken breast.
Once again, I recommend you get yourself a cooking thermometer to make sure if the chicken is cooked or not.
Step 5: Rest it aside
Once your chicken breasts are cooked, nice and golden, now you should let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving them. By following this step, you will get the juiciest and the tenderest chicken breasts you’ve ever had.
I also recommend that you keep the pan covered with aluminum foil for 5 to 10 minutes so that it stays hot.
After that, serve this delicious meal.
Seasoning Baked Chicken Breasts
I also enjoy seasoning the chicken breasts after they are bakes, so you can use any of your favorite dry spices to give extra flavor to the dish.
Some of the seasonings that I love are as follow:
• Taco Seasoning
• Curry Seasoning
• Italian Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning
And you can also add your favorite sauces to the baked chicken breasts. Enjoy them as you want to.
Serving Baked Chicken Breasts
Some people prefer freshly baked chicken breasts hot from the oven without any side dish, but others like to have it with rice, salad, or bread. Feel free to combine it with your favorite side dish and enjoy!
Here are a few chicken breast dishes that you can have:
• Chicken Salad
• Chicken Parmesan Baked Ziti
• Chicken Enchilada Casserole
• Creamy Chicken Soup
• Chicken Breast Salad (Asian style)
• Chicken Noodle Soup
Storing Baked Chicken Breasts:
After you’ve baked the chicken breasts, you can store them in the freezer for up to 3 days. You can keep it in any container you like. I suggest you shred or slice the chicken before freezing it because you can easily use them.
