Perfect Baked Chicken Breasts



A few years ago I sought out a recipe for the most perfect baked chicken breasts. I wanted an easy recipe that my kids (and everyone else) would like. High on the list of requirements were:

1. Not rubbery
2. Not dry
3. Not overcooked or hard to eat

and after much trial and error, I have come up with just the right recipe.

You can do many variations on this, using whatever sauce you like. We've done BBQ sauce, honey lime, soy sauce, and many more. Most often though, I make these plain so that I can serve them in other dishes requiring cooked chicken breast, and so that is how I'm going to share them with you today.

Another note is that it is possible to use this recipe to cook chicken breasts from frozen, you'll just want to cook them for more time and put foil on about halfway through so that they don't dry out. You may wonder why I cook these breasts to 170+ instead of just 165, the temperature at which chicken is technically done. The reason for this is that I find chicken breast at 165F to be too rubbery, so I cook it just a bit more to get a better texture and still not allow it to dry out.



Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (or tenders)
Olive oil
Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Toss chicken in 1tbsp oil and a bit of salt.

3. Arrange chicken in a single layer in a baking pan or foil tray

4. Bake for 20-25 min or until the internal temperature is at least 170F.

5. REST chicken for 10 minutes before serving. This is important in retaining the moisture in the chicken.

6. Serve or use in another recipe that calls for cooked chicken breast!