Cooking With Olmsteds

Oven Baked Chicken Breast

Name: Oven Baked Chicken Breast
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 2 tablespoons olive oil (1 tablespoon per pound of chicken); 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (¾ teaspoon kosher salt per pound of chicken); ½ teaspoon cracked pepper, or to taste; 1 teaspoon dried herbs (thyme, oregano, herbs de Provence, Italian seasoning, etc); 1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or use 2 fat garlic cloves, finely minced); zest of one small lemon; Garnish with fresh Italian parsley

6 servings

servings

10 minutes

active time

30 minutes

total time

Start Cooking

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons olive oil (1 tablespoon per pound of chicken)

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (¾ teaspoon kosher salt per pound of chicken)

½ teaspoon cracked pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon dried herbs (thyme, oregano, herbs de Provence, Italian seasoning, etc)

1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or use 2 fat garlic cloves, finely minced)

zest of one small lemon

Garnish with fresh Italian parsley

Directions

Preheat oven

to 425F

Pat chicken dry

with paper towels. Cut to a similar size so they cook evenly.

Mix marinade ingredients

together in a small bowl to create a paste (see notes for variations). Place chicken on a parchment-lined sheet pan and brush all sides generously with the marinade, pouring any remaining marinade over the breasts. (You can also bake in a baking dish, only if there is ample room for heat to circulate. A rimmed sheet pan will make cooking faster and more even. ) Let chicken rest on the counter and come to room temp while oven preheats. Make sure oven is hot.

Bake on the middle rack

for roughly 18- 20 minutes. Smaller breasts, check at 16 minutes, medium breasts at check 20-22, larger breasts may take up to 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness at the thickest part of the biggest breast, using a thermometer (165F).

Let chicken rest

for 8-10 minutes, tenting with foil if you like.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 days for midweek meals.

To serve

serve whole, or cut slices across the grain, or cube. Feel free to shred using two forks. If while shredding, the middle of the breast seems difficult to shred, this is an indication chicken is not completely done. Just plop back into the oven for a few minutes.

Nutrition

Serving Size

5.5 ounce portion

Calories

226

Total Fat

8.7 g

Saturated Fat

1.5 g

Unsaturated Fat

Trans Fat

0 g

Cholesterol

110.3 mg

Sodium

554.4 mg

Total Carbohydrate

1 g

Dietary Fiber

0.3 g

Total Sugars

0.1 g

Protein

34.2 g