Baked chicken is one of our family’s favorite easy dinners – it can go in all sorts of easy dinners, is great on salads, and comes out perfectly tender and juicy.

We’re sharing our recipe for the Best Baked Chicken Breasts – baked in olive oil, garlic, and a dash of lemon juice – for perfect chicken your whole family will love.

This chicken is delicious any day of the week, and always a huge hit with our kids.

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At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Baked Chicken Breast Recipe Ingredients

To make the best baked chicken breasts, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Chicken breasts – chicken is a light, neutral meat that is a great choice for low carb, low calorie diets and is great in a number of recipes since it pairs well with lots of other foods.
• Olive oil – olive oil is a delicious, briny natural fat that is great to cook with chicken that provides healthy fats to a diet and helps keep moisture in meat so it doesn’t dry out or get tough – you can also use butter in place of olive oil.
• Garlic cloves – garlic brings an earthy, pungent flavor to dishes and adds a rich taste to chicken that makes it crave-worthy without adding a ton of calories.
• Lemon juice – lemon juice works to not only tenderize chicken meat and soften as it bakes, but adds a tart, bright flavor that is a perfect compliment to cut through garlic and herbs!
• Italian Herbs – an Italian herb blend combining thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram, and other Italian herbs brings a rich, balanced earthy flavor to dishes that everyone loves. You can swap this multi-tasking herb blend for another blend of herbs you love!
• Celtic sea salt
• Pepper

How to Bake Chicken in Oven

Tips and Tricks to Oven Baked Chicken

To see our web story of this recipe, click here.

Flavor variations :Use some of our ideas below for different flavors to try swapped out for the Italian Herbs we’re calling for below:

• Za’atar
• Adobo seasoning
• Fajita spices
• Taco seasoning
• Lemon pepper rub
• Montreal steak seasoning

How to bake chicken without drying it out. The two most important tips to baking perfect chicken are pretty simple – marinate first, and monitor cook time with a digital thermometer. Overcooked chicken is dry and tough.

Marinate chicken. Marinating chicken helps to lock in juices, tenderize meat, and give a great flavor – we’re not only marinating, but baking our chicken in the marinade, for even more flavor!

Use a digital thermometer. Using a digital meat thermometer is essential for baked chicken to ensure you’ve reached a safe temperature, and to make sure you don’t overcook your chicken breasts. Chicken is cooked at 165 degrees – which means removing from the oven at 160 degrees.

When is chicken breast done baking. Chicken will carryover cook to 165 if you remove from the oven at 160. Always let chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting to help the juices recirculate and lock in.

How Long To Cook Chicken Breasts. Chicken breasts will take about 25 minutes to cook at 350 degrees – 50 if baking from-frozen. One tip to get extra juicy chicken is to cook it for less time at a higher temperature – around 22 minutes at 400 degrees.

• 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees
• 22-25 minutes at 400 degrees

As always, please go by your thermometer temperature, not your clock, to gauge when chicken is done cooking.

Easy Chicken Breast Marinade

The base of our chicken’s flavor comes from the marinade we’re baking the chicken in – a simple chicken marinade is really easy to whip up. For any marinade you make, aim for 1 oil (olive oil, avocado oil), 1 acid (lemon juice, vinegar), and herbs. Dry herbs will work best – but you can use fresh if you’d like – add a bit more than dried.

• 1 cup olive oil
• 6-8 cloves garlic (with or without peel)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Italian Herbs
• 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

How to store Oven Baked Chicken

Cool Completely: Allow the chicken to cool to room temperature before storing, but don’t leave it out for more than 2 hours to prevent bacteria growth.

Use Airtight Containers: Place the chicken in an airtight container or wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap to keep it fresh and prevent drying out.

Refrigerate: Store the chicken in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Keep it on a shelf rather than the fridge door for consistent temperatures.

Freeze for Longer Storage: For extended storage, freeze the chicken in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 4 months. Wrap each piece individually or place parchment paper between pieces to avoid sticking.

Label and Date: Always label the container with the date to keep track of its freshness.

Oven Baked Chicken FAQs

What to Serve With Baked Chicken Breasts

Baked chicken is a recipe that goes with basically everything – we love it alongside broccolini or baby cauliflower, whole roasted cauliflower, whole roasted onions, air fryer corn on the cob, farro salad, and more!

To find the rest of our easy side dishes, please check out our side dish recipe index here.

Best Grilled Corn on the Cob

The Best Easy Coleslaw – Just 4 Ingredients

Greek Potato Salad

Zucchini CousCous

You can find our other chicken recipes here.

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