Oven Baked Chicken Breast

This one’s for everyone who put chicken breast in their shopping trolley this week… JUICY Oven Baked Chicken Breast. Rubbed with a simple seasoning then baked until caramelised, this is a terrific chicken breast recipe you’ll make again and again….

Though I always stand firm that brown meat is better than white – more flavour, more juiciness – lean chicken breast is a regular in my shopping trolley, week after week.

So today, I’m sharing my recipe for how I make Oven Baked Chicken Breast. As simple as it sounds, if you wack a seasoned breast in the oven without thought, the chances are you’ll be chewing your way through dry chicken, furiously squirting over copious amounts of ketchup to try to salvage it.

It doesn’t need to be that way. Enter – a fabulous chicken seasoning for baked chicken breast:

Chicken Breast Seasoning

The secret ingredient in this is brown sugar. Yes it adds sweetness but don’t worry, this Baked Chicken Breast is still savoury. There are 2 reasons why this is my secret ingredient:

1. It makes more seasoning, so you can coat the breast thoroughly and give it a beautiful crust without overpowering it with lots of spices that need longer to cook than chicken breast does;

2. It makes the chicken sweat while it bakes, so you end up with wetness that makes the chicken more juicy than the usual baked chicken breast.

How long to cook chicken breast

A 150 – 180g / 5 – 6oz chicken breast will take 18 – 20 minutes to bake at 220C / 425F. Cooking it hard and fast at a high temperature is the secret to gorgeous caramelisation and ultra juicy chicken inside. No dried out breast around here!!

The seasoning for this chicken is actually a really great indicator for when the chicken is cooked to perfection. Basically, once the surface of the chicken is caramelised like the photo above, it’s cooked to perfection inside so get it out of the oven!

In addition to the seasoning and cooking quickly at a high temp, my last tip for a truly great Baked Chicken Breast is to pound it to even thickness, either with a rolling pin, meat mallet or even with your fist (very therapeutic). This has the  double effect of even cooking as well as tenderising the meat.

OK, enough food chatter. Signing off here! – Nagi x

* Further to the many email requests, I have now published the Garlic Butter Rice with Kale pictured in the photos!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Quick video tutorial on how to bake chicken breast!

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Oven Baked Chicken Breast

Prep

5 mins

Cook

18 mins

Total

23 mins

 

Recipe VIDEO above. My tips for a truly juicy, Oven Baked Chicken Breast: a touch of brown sugar in the seasoning which makes the chicken sweat while it bakes so it creates a semi "sauce", and cooking fast on a high temp! Go by the colour of the crust to know when it's baked. Pictured with this Garlic Butter Kale Rice. 

Course: Mains

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: Baked Chicken Breast, Chicken breast

Servings: 4

Calories: 286 kcal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breast , 150 - 180g / 5 - 6 oz each (Note 1)
• 2 tsp olive oil

Seasoning:

• 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano or thyme , or other herb of choice
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Garnish, optional:

• Finely chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C (standard) or 390F/200C (fan / convection).

2. Pound chicken to 1.5cm / 0.6" at the thickest part - using a rolling pin, meat mallet or even your fist (key tip for even cooking + tender chicken).

3. Mix Seasoning.

4. Line tray with foil and baking paper (sugar caramelises, it's annoying to clean off tray). Place chicken upside down on tray. Drizzle chicken with about 1 tsp oil. Rub over with fingers. Sprinkle with Seasoning.

5. Flip chicken. Drizzle with 1 tsp oil, rub with fingers, sprinkle with Seasoning, being careful to cover as much of the surface area as you can.
6. Bake 18 minutes, or until surface is golden per photos and video, or internal temperature is 165F/75C using a meat thermometer.
7. Remove from oven and immediately transfer chicken to serving plates.

8. Wait 3 - 5 minutes before serving, garnished with freshly chopped parsley if desired. Pictured with a side of Garlic Butter Rice with Kale.

Notes

1. If your breast is quite large eg 250g / 8oz+ each, cut them in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks and skip the pounding. Make sure they are no thicker than 1.5cm / 0.6" thick at the thickest point - if they are, pound using fist.

This can also be made with thigh fillets (boneless, skinless). Follow the recipe but cook for 25 minutes for small / medium thighs and 30 minutes for larger ones.

2. Nutrition per serving, assuming 150g/5oz chicken breast.

Nutrition Facts

Oven Baked Chicken Breast

Amount Per Serving (158 g)

Calories 286 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7g 11%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 127mg 42%

Sodium 403mg 17%

Potassium 397mg 11%

Total Carbohydrates 4g 1%

Sugars 4g

Protein 46g 92%

Vitamin A 6.5%

Vitamin C 2%

Calcium 1.1%

Iron 3.5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

* The story and details of the Handcrafted Japanese Knife giveaway that originally accompanied this recipe when published was moved into a separate post because the Giveaway has finished.

LIFE OF DOZER

It’s just hanging there, taunting him. He sniffs at it, suspiciously….