How to Roast Chicken Breast

We've all had it: dry chicken. Maybe it's Aunt Buelah's chicken which always seems to have just finished trekking across the Sahara. Or perhaps it's your own, and you don't know why, but it seems to tag along with Aunt Buelah's on the journey. Well, unless you actually like dry chicken, you need not suffer any longer! Chicken can be cooked safely, be flavorful, and not be dry!

It's actually quite simple to bake a moist chicken. I'm going to discuss how to do it using chicken breasts, but it's the same method for any parts of the chicken; if you buy a friar pack, just prep the all the pieces the same and put them on the pan together! The difference with this recipe is that the chicken is already butchered, or cut into parts, rather than whole. If you're looking for a recipe on how to cook a whole chicken, I like The Barefoot Contessa's recipe. (I have used her for inspiration on this one, too!)

The great thing about having cooked chicken on hand is you are set for healthy food quick. You can toss it in a green salad, whip up some chicken salad, eat it plain (hot or cold!) with a little dip, add it to a quick stir-fry... It makes healthy meals that much easier. And if you're living by yourself like me, the effort of cooking every night just isn't always appealing (shocker, I know!), so having some pre-cooked chicken is a big help.

A note about thermometers: Use one made specifically for food (not one for when you're sick - I doubt they go high enough!). I have a digital one, ThermaPen by ThermoWorks, and love it. This particular one is an investment in kitchen tools running between $70-$95, but I've had it for a few years now and it's a high-quality thermometer. Of course you can get digital thermometers for much less!! I did a quick search on Amazon and CDN makes a digital thermometer for about $17 and it had good reviews. Just shop around and see what you find. The most important thing is that it's accurate!

Roasted Chicken Breast
Chicken, bone-in or -boneless, skin-on or skinless
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
bowl of water in an oven-safe dish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Place chicken on sheet pan (make sure pieces are not touching).

3. Drizzle olive oil on chicken and rub with fingers to cover

4. Sprinkle chicken liberally with both salt and pepper.

5. Place pan in center of oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

6. Begin checking at about 25 minutes with temperature tester. (If you are doing pieces smaller than breasts you may want to check earlier.) Insert tester in thickest part of meat; when it registers between 155-160 degrees, remove from oven, cover with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Meat will continue cooking so if it isn't yet at 160 degrees* (proper cooking temp), it will reach that temperature. Do not slice chicken during this time as this allows the juices to absorb back into the meat - resting helps retain the moisture!

*Chicken should be white (not pink) when fully cooked. If your chicken is pink when you slice it, that means it is not fully cooked. Slip it back in the oven (or microwave if it's already cold) to finish cooking if necessary. I often make a tiny incision in the top (to prevent juices from running out) when removing it from the oven to check the color in the thickest section. But remember, it will cook a little bit more when sitting, and over-cooking is what makes it dry!

Enjoy!