John Biesnecker

Foolproof baked chicken breasts

This is the best approach I’ve found to consistently make moist, delicious baked chicken breasts. We often will cook a large batch of it and then split it up into various meals throughout the week.

  1. Brine the chicken breast for at least 30 minutes. To do this, fill a large bowl with lukewarm (but not hot, you’re not cooking the chicken here) water, add salt until it’s saturated, and then put the chicken breast in.
  2. Pound the chicken flat-ish. It doesn’t have to be super thin, but uniform thickness is helpful when you’re baking at high heat for a short period of time.
  3. Brush the chicken breast on both sides with butter, olive oil, or some other cooking oil. I use olive oil but I’ll bet butter tastes great.
  4. Rub your preferred seasonings on the chicken.
  5. Bake at 450 degrees for 18 minutes.
  6. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it stand for 10-15 minutes.