How To Make Baked Chicken Breast Thighs Wings Or Legs
We usually buy whole chickens and either cut them up ourselves or have the butcher do it for us. It’s cheaper that way, and we get giblets for gravy. You can do that or just use a package of whatever chicken parts you likemake baked chicken breasts for white meat, and baked chicken thighs and legs for dark.
This way of cooking chicken couldn’t be more straightforward. It’s especially welcome on days when you’re busy and just want to put good food on the table.
How To Make The Best Roast Chicken
The best roast chicken has garlic herb butter under and on the skin, is stuffed with lemon and herbs, roasted until its crispy and deep golden on the outside, and juicy on the inside.
Its really easy to prepare a whole chicken for roasting. The trick is to use an upside down dessert spoon to loosen the skin the shape hugs the curves of the chicken and it doesnt tear the skin.
Then simply spoon the garlic-herb-butter under the skin then spread it from the outside. OR hold it upright and drizzle in whatever you find easier!
TIP: Use most of the butter under the skin, thats where you get the most bang for your buck. Plus, garlic burns on the skin so you dont want too much on the surface.
After the chicken is all buttered up, place it on a bed of garlic and onion. This serves two purposes:
Elevates the chicken off the base of the pan for more even cooking and
Adds extra flavour into the pan juices used as the sauce for this recipe. OR used for gravy!
Should I Rinse Raw Chicken Before Roasting
The CDC cautions home cooks to not rinse their chicken. We know, its something our grandparents used to do. However, food health and safety has data showing we are increasing the risk of cross-contamination of food-born pathogens when we rinse raw chicken. The USDA tells us that those pathogens are killed during the cooking process, so we do not need to worry. We strongly encourage you to follow CDC and USDA guidelines to prevent illness.
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How To Bake Chicken Breasts:
Alright, so heres the secret! To make perfectly baked chicken bbrrreasts, you simply need to follow this 5-step acronym: B.B.R.R.R.
Brine : Im telling you this step is an absolute must for anytime you want to bake chicken breasts in the oven. Brining chicken is super-easy, it makes your chicken extra juicy, and best of all, it can be effectively done in just 15 minutes. Plus, if you brine chicken in lukewarm water, it also helps bring the chicken to room temperature, which makes for more even cooking. Win-win!
To brine chicken, simply fill a big bowl with lukewarm water. Stir in a handful of salt until it mostly dissolves. Then add your chicken breasts and let them sit in the saltwater to brine for at least 15 minutes. If you are doing this in advance, you can cover and refrigerate the bowl of chicken and saltwater for up to 6 hours. But you dont want to let the chicken brine for much longer than that.
When youre ready to go, remove the chicken from the brine. Give it a good rinse it with cold water to wash off the salt, and then pat it dry with some paper towels. And voila your chicken is officially brined.
Really, dont skip over this step! It makes a world of difference.
Note: That said, some store-bought chicken breasts are now sold pre-brined. So double-check your packaging beforehand. And if your chicken has already been pre-brined in a sodium solution, just move onto step two. 🙂
I like to roast my chicken breasts on high heat.
And enjoy every last bite.
Serving Tips For An Oven Roasted Whole Chicken:
Carve the chicken and lay the pieces on a large platter. Use a slotted spoon to also scoop out and add the onions, carrots and celery to the platter.
Spoon up some of the cooking juices from your pan and drizzle over all of the chicken and vegetables.
Garnish your platter with fresh herbs and lemon slices or halves, for presentation, if desired.
Add a couple of serving forks so everyone can pick up the pieces they want to have.
Feel free to serve with extra cooking juices at the table.
Ready to round out the meal?
Heres a few ideas of what to serve as side dishes with a roasted chicken to complete your dinner.
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Baked Chicken Breast Ingredients:
To make this baked chicken breasts recipe, you will need:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: You can either purchase fresh chicken breasts or frozen chicken breasts . Some chicken also comes pre-brined nowadays, in which case you can skip step one below.
- Butter or olive oil: Your pick! I like the extra flavor that butter adds, but olive oil will also work well.
- Kosher Salt: An essential ingredient in our brine, and we will also use salt to season the chicken before baking.
- Seasonings: I included an all-purpose blend of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper in the recipe below, which is super-simple and goes with just about anything. But feel free to sub in any dry seasoning blend that you prefer.
Also, if you bake chicken regularly in the oven, I strongly having a cooking thermometer on hand too. It is the most foolproof way to ensure that your chicken is not over- or under-cooked, and works like a charm. I recommend either this:
- Instant-read cooking thermometer : which I have owned and used for years when cooking chicken, which retails for about $9.99 on Amazon.
- Dual-probe wireless meat thermometer: which I also own and love because it can be used inside of a hot oven , which retails for about $24.99 on Amazon.
How Long To Roast Chicken
This roast chicken recipe is different in that we use a butterflied chicken to create a uniform thickness so it cooks quicker and evenly. Butterflying a whole chicken helps reduce cooking time, meaning you can have a roast chicken on the dinner table within a fraction of the time!
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Why Roast Chicken In A Dutch Oven
- Keeps the chicken moist! A 5-pound chicken cooks in a covered Dutch oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, so the chicken roasts in a moist environment for juicy and moist results.
- Creates crispy skin without burning: As it cooks in the covered pot, the skin starts to brown without burning too fast. During the last 30 minutes, it roasts uncovered to attain that beautiful crispy and golden brown skin.
- Even cooking: Dutch ovens retain heat evenly, so the chicken will cook properly throughout.
- You can make a one-pot meal: Simply add a bed of vegetables, and dinner will be all set!
Roasted Whole Chicken Tips
Dont be afraid. People seem to be so grossed out or nervous about cooking a whole chicken its really not that different than regular chicken breasts!
If youre really grossed out by it , you can wear disposable gloves
Make sure to clean out the inside of the chicken. Many chickens will come with the insides pre-cleaned. Sometimes they leave the organs inside in a little bag or pouch. You want to toss those
Always pat your chicken dry before spraying, stuffing, and seasoning it This allows the skin to get really crispy + full absorb the flavors
Have patience. An hour or two in the oven might seem like a long time, but it is SO worth it.
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A Classic Roast Chicken
This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. If not, youll be able to find them easily and cheap at your local grocery store. With only 5 ingredients paired with a tried and true method, youll be a chicken roasting master with your very first stab at this recipe.
Ive spent years and years testing different methods for roasting a whole chicken. There are lots of methods out there with a big list of steps and a giant mess, and this is not one of them. I found that with the right simple blend of flavors and this easy-peasy method, I always get chicken that tastes restaurant quality with minimal cleanup at the end.
Dos And Donts For A Perfect Roasted Chicken:
Thaw the whole chicken ahead of time.
Make sure your chicken is completely thaw before you begin, so if you bought a frozen chicken, allow it to thaw in the fridge 1-2 days ahead of time.
Dont wash the chicken.
So maybe this may seem weird at first, but please avoid any inclination to wash your chicken in the sink, as it will contaminate your sink! Remove the chicken from its packaging and dry it off well with paper towels. Any bacteria on the chicken will be killed in the hot oven while it bakes.
Dont baste the chicken.
Basting is really unnecessary to produce a chicken with crispy skin. It also requires you to constantly open the oven, which causes the oven to loose heat and the chicken to take longer to cookwhich could lead to a dry chicken. By smearing an herb butter mixture over the outer and inner skin of the chicken you will ensure the skin will brown beautifully, and taste amazing.
Roast the chicken uncovered.
If you want to know how to get that beautiful crispy skin on your roast chicken, dont cover it during the first part of cooking! The butter mixture that we smear on the outside of the chicken will help the skin to get nice and crispy, and the butter that goes under the skin of the chicken breasts will help protect the meat from overcooking and drying out.
After the skin gets golden you can then add a piece of tinfoil to cover the top of the bird, if you want.
Calculate how long to roast the chicken.
Do test the chicken with a thermometer.
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Make A Bed Of Veggies
First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the veggies into medium-sized chunks and add them to the bottom of your Dutch oven. Add a few drizzles of olive oil, along with salt and pepper. You can also add extra seasoning of your choice, such as garlic or onion powder.
Tip: To prevent the bottom of the pot from burning during the cooking process, add a full single layer of veggies.
Pairings And Serving Ideas
If youre looking to add a few side dishes, aside from the roasted veggies, my go-to side dish for this Dutch oven whole chicken recipe is this simple buttered noodles recipe. Its super easy to make and takes only 15 minutes. You can even make it ahead!
Other great side dishes that you can make for this recipe:
- Easy Garlic Buttered Noodles
- White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
- Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Maple Glaze
- Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan and Lemon
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How To Make Garlic Herb Butter Sauce With Half The Fat
Every weekend, we have a Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken on the table. That chicken was the inspiration for this sheet pan dinner!
But, how is it possible to create a buttery sauce with half the butter, you may be asking? The secret lies in YOUR very on kitchen cupboards or refrigerators.
- Butter: yes you do still need some butter
- Garlic: of course theres garlic
- Herbs: rosemary, thyme and parsley
- And the magic ingredient: chicken broth OR stock! YES! It absolutely works. You get ALL the buttery flavours from the butter continuing its flavours through the broth with only HALF THE FAT, without compromising ANY of the classic buttery flavour!
Easy Oven Roasted Chicken
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The one recipe you need for the best oven roasted chicken. Its easy and tastes amazing. Use leftovers for casseroles and soups.
Weve all walked through the grocery store and immediately been hit with the aroma of a freshly roasted chicken. They keep them at the front of the store for a reason. Rotisserie chicken is delicious, and easy to pick up for a dinner.
Ive noticed one thing, though. The roast chickens keep getting smaller. We have a family of 5, and sometimes the chickens look small enough that I think Ill have to buy two. And that gets expensive.
This recipe is for a better-than-rotisserie roast chicken. I promise you it is easy and youll be thrilled that you can make a deliciously flavorful, tender, juicy chicken. Its economical, too.
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How To Reheat Roasted Chicken
- Oven: Heat oven to 350-degrees . Place chicken in oven safe baking dish and add 1 cup chicken broth or water. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking 5 minutes to crisp the skin.
- Air Fryer: Heat air fryer to 350-degrees. Add chicken to basket and cook 4-5 minutes until heated through.
Oven Roasted Chicken Vs Rotisserie Chicken
Although roasted chicken and rotisserie chicken look and often taste the same, they are actually cooked two different ways.
Roasted chicken is cooked at a high temperature in the oven in order to get that crispy skin you love.
Rotisserie chicken is when a chicken is skewered through a metal or wooden spit, then slowly spins so that it cooks evenly. This method is often faster.
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Why You Should Spatchcock Your Chicken
Why does this work better than any other method? Well, let’s first take a look at some of the other “fixes” I’ve experimented with in the past:
Brining the bird by placing it in a salt water bath for a few hours helps a bit. It loosens up muscle fibers, allowing them to retain more moisture as they cook, and giving you a slightly expanded moist temperature range for the breasts.
The problem? Well, first off, it’s fussy. Secondly, it soaks the skin right through to the skin,* ruining its chances of attaining crispness . It also tends to dilute the flavor of the bird. Not so bad for robust turkey, but mild chicken needs all the flavor it can muster.
*Bonus points for anyone who can name that reference. Hint: classic 1960s comedy.
Salting the chicken is a better solution. It works much like brining does, but rather than use a water and salt solution, you instead rub salt directly onto the meat and and skin of the bird and let it rest uncovered in the fridge for a few hours .
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Initially, the salt draws moisture out through the process of osmosis. It then dissolves in this liquid, creating a concentrated brine, which eventually gets reabsorbed. So you get the benefits of the brine, without watering down the flavor of the chicken. It also doesn’t saturate the skin the way a wet brine does. Sounds great, but it’s at best a buffer, keeping the breast meat a little moister, but still far from optimal.
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
How To Make Garlic Butter Roast Chicken
This chicken recipe takes minutes to prep and the rest of the time is hands off.
Swap out the cast iron skillet for a large rimmed baking pan and add vegetables like potatoes and carrots.
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Carving A Roast Chicken
When youre ready to carve, youll need a nice large cutting board and a chefs knife. I like to start by removing the breast: Make a shallow cut first right down the center of the two breasts to see the breast bone. Then, slice between the breast meat and that bone to remove each breast. Set these aside.
Once the breast is removed, you can easily remove the thighs by flipping the chicken over and pulling up on each. The thigh should pull right up, but occasionally youll need to run the knife between the thigh and the backbone. Then, lay the chicken thigh flat and cut between the thigh and the drumstick at the joint.
You can remove the wings if you like, but I generally leave them on and use the chicken bones for making stock.
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Storage And Reheating Instructions:
Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat chicken either in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or in the microwave in 30 second increments until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious roasted meat recipes:
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Oven Baked Bone In Chicken Breasts
First Published: October 30, 2022 .
Oven baked bone in chicken breasts are simple to make and deliver that classic, tasty oven roasted chicken flavor that everyone loves. Enjoy baked split chicken breasts as a main dish or use the juicy, succulent meat in all of your favorite recipes.
Chicken is our go-to protein and we eat it in various forms several times a week. I often make Air Fried Chicken Thighs and Crispy Drumsticks in my air fryer if I am pressed for time.
My family really also loves most poultry and I often cook this easy Cornish hen recipe in my air fryer or a small turkey breast in the Dutch oven too. But when I want to cook chicken where I can use the leftovers for meal prep, these tender chicken breasts are the way to go. Below you can also grab some recipes that use cooked chicken breasts.
I don’t have to tell you that chicken is both affordable and versatile but it also doesn’t have to be boring. Sure, eating chicken night after night doesn’t sound very exciting but you truly can do so much with chicken and making oven baked bone in chicken breasts is one of my favorite preparation methods.
Split chicken breasts baked in the oven make for a flavorful main dish. The bone and skin add flavor and moisture so you get succulent white meat. Pair it with a few sides for a delicious meal or shred the meat to use in soups, salads, casseroles or your favorite chicken recipe. The results are perfect every single time.