Gather around, folks! I have found a fail-safe way to cook chicken in the oven that will guarantee perfectly cooked, juicy chicken breast every time. Oh, and did I mention it’s super easy to do and to clean up? It’s a double-win. I promise you.
I come from the generation where I learned to cook chicken in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes – “or until cooked through.” This traditional method, invariably, left me standing in front of my oven with my fingers crossed saying, “No Whammies! No Whammies!” Occasionally bordering frequently, there were Whammies and my meal suffered as a result. In fact, my meal was downright ruined because to me, there is little grosser than dry, tough chicken breast. Bletch!
I have since thrown this traditional cooking method out the window in favor of this new method. This is the point when I ask you to trust me, because what I’m going to say is about to blow your mind (unless, of course, you already know this trick): Instead of cooking chicken breast in the oven at 350 degrees for 30+ minutes… I cook chicken breast in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.
But, wouldn’t that high heat make dry, tough chicken? you question. No, I promise you. No! Naysayers and disbelievers, I ask you to stick with me and follow the method exactly as it’s listed below and you’ll never look back. At least I haven’t.
Easy, Oven-baked Chicken Breast
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line jelly roll pan completely with tin foil (this makes for the east cleanup part I was telling you about earlier). Spray foil with nonstick spray.
Pat 4 chicken breasts dry and place on foil-lined pan. Season with salt, pepper and any other spices you wish to use. Spray top of chicken with nonstick spray.
Cook chicken for 1o minutes in the center of your oven. Turn over, repeat seasoning/spray and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, cover with tin foil for 5 minutes.
Serve and ogle at the fact that you have the most delicious, oven-baked chicken breast you’ve ever had in your life!
Now for the easy cleanup part of the conversation:
If you were successful in your tin foil pan lining, you should be able to just remove it and crumple it up without getting any nasty chicken juice on the pan. This may take some time to master; it is a skill I’d been practicing with my dad since I was little, but hang in there! If nothing else, even if you want to throw the pan under hot water and soap just for safety’s sake (probably not a bad idea), at least there will be no scrubbing or scraping necessary as the foil takes the brunt of the chicken attack.
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