Juicy Baked Chicken Breast

Making Juicy Baked Chicken Breast

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1. Dissolve the 2 tablespoons of salt in the cold water and submerge the breasts. Leave 15 minutes at room temperature — no longer, or the texture turns spongy.

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2. Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F and line a small roasting tin.

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3. Lift the chicken out, rinse briefly and pat completely dry. Drying it is not optional if you want colour.

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4. Pound the thick end of each breast lightly with a rolling pin until the whole piece is an even 2 cm thick.

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5. Mix the oil with the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, pepper and the quarter teaspoon of salt, and rub it over every surface.

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6. Arrange in the tin without the pieces touching and bake 18 to 22 minutes.

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7. Start checking at 16 minutes: pull them the moment the thickest part reads 63°C / 145°F on an instant-read thermometer.

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8. Rest, loosely tented, for 8 minutes. The temperature will climb to about 71°C / 160°F on its own and the juices will settle.

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9. Slice across the grain and spoon any juices from the board back over.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Notes for Getting It Right

• Buy a thermometer. Every other technique on this page is a substitute for the one that actually works.
• Pounding to an even thickness matters more than the marinade. A breast that is 4 cm at one end and 1 cm at the other cannot cook evenly.
• If you skip the brine, salt the chicken and leave it uncovered in the fridge for an hour instead.

Ingredient Swaps

• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried thyme at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

What to Serve with Juicy Baked Chicken Breast

• Roast potatoes and a green vegetable
• A grain bowl
• Sliced cold into a salad the next day

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: New York Bagels, Skillet Cornbread, Creamy Coleslaw.

Storing & Reheating Juicy Baked Chicken Breast

Refrigerated for 4 days; it is better cold in a sandwich than reheated. Freeze cooked and sliced for 2 months.

Juicy Baked Chicken Breast FAQ: Common Questions

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. Sodium is not given, because the salt for the cooking water is in the ingredient list but most of it is poured away with the water, so no figure from the list would be honest. How the figures are worked out.

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