Oven-baked chicken is an easy, classic dinner recipe that results in tender, juicy chicken breasts cooked to crispy perfection with a secret seasoning. It really is the most delicious way to cook your basic boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Looking for a few additional easy to make chicken recipes? Here are some other delicious ideas. Try our classic homemade Italian favorite Chicken Parmesan or juicy Beer Marinated Grilled Chicken.
Oven Baked Chicken ingredients
Baking chicken in the oven can be a bit tricky. You want to make sure the chicken is juicy, and doesn’t dry out. The trick is to season it and cook just right. This baked chicken recipe has a delicious, simple-to-make seasoning you can pull right from your spice cabinet.
You will need:
- 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼-½ tsp cayenne pepper
Ingredient Substitutions & Additions
CHICKEN: It’s best to stick with the boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe, but you could substitute legs, thighs, or wings. If you do, the amount of seasoning and cooking times may need to change.
SEASONING: Once you have the basic technique down of baking the chicken in the oven, you can experiment with adding in different spices or pairing with marinades.
How to Bake Chicken in the Oven
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking sheet with foil and set aside.
STEP TWO: Place 4 chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Use a meat mallet and pound down the thick parts of the chicken breasts so that they cook more evenly while in the oven. (You don’t want to disfigure them, just pound down enough that they are and even thickness)
STEP THREE: In a large bowl, add chicken and olive oil. Flip the chicken over, making sure to coat all sides of the chicken breasts.
STEP FOUR: In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
STEP FIVE: Place the chicken breasts bottom side up on the foil lined baking sheet. Season them, using half of the seasoning. Flip the chicken breasts over and season the other side using the remaining seasoning.
STEP SIX: Place in the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes. (Internal temperature should be close to 165 degrees at this point)
STEP SEVEN: Turn the oven to broil and let cook for 4 minutes, or until the chicken has a nice browned color on top. Chicken is done when it reaches 165 degrees internally at the thickest part.
What to Serve with This recipe
There are endless options for side dishes to go with chicken as your main course. You could stick to vegetables like Glazed Carrots or Simple Homemade Caesar Salad, go with a hearty potato side (we love Scalloped Potatoes), or keep it simple with Instant Pot Brown Rice.
With this easy oven-baked chicken recipe, you’ll have a moist chicken breast that is seasoned to perfection thanks to the cayenne pepper and garlic powder. It goes great with almost any side dish.
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Oven Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking sheet with foil and set aside.
- . Place 4 chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Use a meat mallet and pound down the thick parts of the chicken breasts so they cook more evenly while in the oven.
- In a large bowl add chicken and olive oil. Flip chicken over, making sure to coat all sides of chicken breasts.
- In a small bowl combine garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
- Place chicken breasts bottom side up on the foil lined baking sheet. Season using half of the seasoning. Flip chicken breasts over and season using the remaining seasoning
- Place in the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes. (Internal temperature should be close to 165 degrees at this point)
- Turn the oven to broil and let cook for 4 minutes, or until the chicken has a nice browned color on top.
- Chicken is done when it reaches 165 degrees internally at the thickest part.
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