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Baked chicken breast on a wooden board with lemon, herbs, and tomatoes.

How to Bake Chicken Breasts

Contributor: Christine Pittman

Find out the secret for how to bake chicken breasts perfectly every time. No dry, overcooked chicken here!

  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Entrée
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 Tbsp. Morton’s kosher salt
  • 4 cups cold tap water
  • 4 (6 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl or zipper bag, stir together the salt and water until salt is dissolved. Add the chicken breasts.
  2. Leave the chicken breasts in the salt water for 15-30 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  4. Remove chicken from salt water and discard salt water. Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
  5. Put chicken breasts onto a baking sheet. Add oil and turn chicken to coat evenly.
  6. Place baking sheet into oven and bake until chicken is cooked through to 160°F as read on an instant-read thermometer, 20-25 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

*If the chicken breasts are larger than 6 oz. you should cut them in half as instructed in the article above. Otherwise, the chicken breasts take too long to cook through, which results in the outsides being too dry from long exposure to heat.