Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-In)

4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Bone-In, Oven Baked, Split Chicken Breasts are an easy weeknight meal with crispy skin, or perfect for any recipe calling for cooked chicken!

You can make Baked Chicken Thighs, Oven Baked and Rice Casserole or crispy Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts with the bone in for a delicious, juicy dinner that the whole family will enjoy, and you won’t have to bribe your kids to eat. It’s really easy to prepare, only takes about 35 minutes to cook, and keeps well for lunch tomorrow.

Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts on plate with sides

Oven Baked Chicken is one of those back pocket recipes you should keep bookmarked for all the recipes that have ever called for cooked chicken. It’s simple, delicious and makes a great built in sauce that you can make into a quick gravy (melt 2 tablespoons butter and whisk in 2 tablespoons flour then add in the chicken cooking liquid and whisk well until you have a creamy gravy).

Even better, serve that chicken and gravy over delicious Homemade Biscuits or with Homemade Dinner Rolls.

This chicken recipe is really easy to prepare, all you have to do is preheat the oven and rub split chicken breasts with kosher salt, pepper, and vegetable oil, put the chicken pieces skin side up on a baking sheet and let them bake.

The cooking time is extremely reasonable for a roasted chicken breast recipe, and they come out a delicious golden brown and crispy. Don’t worry about the oven drying out the split breasts either, they end up being extremely juicy and full of flavor.

It’s the perfect recipe for making a Classic Chicken Salad or Chicken Casserole too!

Baked Chicken Breasts with rib bones and skin

How to Make Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190.5 degrees C.)
  • Season chicken with salt, pepper and vegetable oil and place in baking pan.
  • Cook chicken for 30-35 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F (73.8 degrees C).
Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts Collage of prep and baking steps

Frequently Asked Questions

What spices and seasonings can I used on Oven Baked Chicken Breasts?

Try adding even more flavor to your chicken by adding a dash of paprika or garlic powder to it before you put it in the oven. You can even add a drizzle of lemon juice on top to give it a little extra zing. The lemon juice will make the chicken even more juicy and crisp.

What can I do with leftover bone-in chicken breasts?

Oven Baked Chicken Breasts are perfect for a ton of other recipes, which will save you time later in the week. Tear the chicken into bite sized pieces and served them in sandwiches, in chicken salad, or make them into a soup.

What kinds of sauces would taste great with Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts?

This chicken recipe is the perfect base to try out with different flavored sauces. Try the BBQ sauce from these Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs, the Honey Mustard Sauce from Honey Mustard BBQ Chicken, or our delicious Buffalo Sauce, just to name a few.

When are Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts safe to eat?

Just like other chicken recipes, you should always make sure to check the internal temperature of your meal before you serve it up just to be sure it has cooked through all the way. The best way to do this is to insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of each chicken breast to get an accurate reading.
The USDA states on their website that the temperature should be 165 degrees F (73.8 degrees C) or higher. Also when cooking chicken you should always thoroughly disinfect your workspace when you’re done to avoid getting sick. The extra clean up time is worth it to not get Salmonella.

Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts sliced on plate with sides

Bone In vs. Boneless Chicken Breasts

Why choose one over the other? That really depends on what the overall texture you’re going for. Boneless chicken gets more tender and is easier to eat, since you don’t have to pick through the bones to get to the good stuff. Skin-on bone-in chicken is delicious because of how flavorful and crispy the skin gets. That crispness doesn’t make the insides dry, it actually helps keep the meat juicy and moist.

You also have the added benefit of the flavor the bone provides as the chicken roasts. There is a lot of flavor in bones (this comes from bone marrow) and as the chicken bakes the marrow comes out of the bones and into the chicken.

What to Serve with Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts

You’ll love to serve this with any of our favorite Side Dishes including Baked Mac and Cheese, Creamed Spinach or Corn Casserole.

How to Store Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts

  • Serve: Never leave cooked chicken out at room temperature for longer than about 2 hours or it can make you very sick. Make sure to always allow the meat to cool to room temperature before you refrigerate it, or it can still grow bacteria and make you ill.
  • Store: To properly refrigerate your baked chicken, put it in something that can be completely sealed, like plastic wrap or tupperware. When completely sealed, Baked Split Chicken Breasts will be good for up to 3 days before they go bad.
  • Freeze: Frozen cooked chicken is good for up to 6 months, as long as it doesn’t thaw out or it isn’t just sitting bare on the shelf. Make sure you seal it up good, or you’ll regret it when you try to thaw it and it’s completely freezer burned.
Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts on plate with sides

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Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-In)

Bone-In, Oven Baked, Split Chicken Breasts are an easy weeknight meal with crispy skin, or perfect for any recipe calling for cooked chicken!
Yield 4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 4 chicken breasts , bone-in and skin on
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Season chicken with salt, pepper and vegetable oil and place in baking pan.
  • Cook chicken for 30-35 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 553mg | Potassium: 836mg | Vitamin A: 68IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg
Oven Baked Split Chicken Breasts Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Chicken breast baked in oven

Roasted Chicken Breasts

Oven Baked Split Chicken Breast Bone-In

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I am not usually a fan of oven baked chicken. But this is the best chicken I’ve ever had! Thank you for sharing the recipe.

  2. If you cook them in butter (3/4 of a stick) instead of vegetable oil, when you take them out of the oven you can use that browned butter and add it to heavy cream, chicken bullion and a splash of white wine for an amazing gravy.

  3. Made this chicken recipe again as requested by my hubby. I made it to go in a Caesar salad. It has to be a fabulous chicken recipe if he requested it again. He is a challenge to cook for and is very particular! Thank you Sabrina for all your recipes ?

  4. Sabrina the chicken was fabulous! I brushed a little Bar B Que sauce on it as well, paired it with pineapple cole slaw and fresh summer corn on the Cob! So tender! So juicy !So delicious!! I make mine this way but never used the olive oil. What a difference it made. Wonderful! Mine was always dry. Thank you!!

    1. The recipe stated “vegetable oil”, not … “olive oil” but I like the way you roll so much, that I HAD to look up ‘Pineapple Cole Slaw’!!!
      Oh yeah… it’s GONNA happen!!!

  5. This did not turn out well. I followed all instructions, including preheating oven to 375. The chicken took much longer to cook than the directions stated, more like 50 minutes. The flavor was rather bland too. Would not recommend.

  6. This did not turn out well. I followed all instructions, including preheating oven to 375. The chicken took much longer to cook than the directions stated, more like 50 minutes. The flavor was rather bland too. Would not recommend.

  7. A very good recipe for a basic baked chicken breast. However, the first time I made it I followed the recipe to a T and it came out pretty bland. Since I am from Louisiana, I had to kick it up a bit with additional flavoring.
    I started out by brining my split breast in a mixture of lukewarm tap water, kosher salt, and sugar. I guess about a good handful of salt and sugar in about 6 cups of water.

    I also injected a mixture of chicken broth butter, onion powder, garlic powder and a bit of lemon juice.

    I then drained the breasts, patted them dry, and rubbed olive oil all over the breast. Then I made a rub with onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. I added about 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano and dried basil.

    I place the rub all over the breasts and baked in a 375 F oven for about 40 minutes until the internal temp was 165F.

    Once I made those changes the end result was a very moist yet crispy chicken breast with a deep and wonderful flavor.

  8. I made this tonight for the first time. I can’t tell you have delicious this was! It was so juicy and the skin was so yummy. I used sea salt and pepper, Mrs. Dash Garlic Herb, Paprika, and a dash of Curry. It was amazing with so little effort. I had chicken thighs so I took them out at 35 minutes, cut them up and baked a little longer. So good!

      1. You have saved me! I’ve been getting all my great recipes from your site since I’ve been cooking every night, and everything has been delicious ?????

  9. My husband really likes chicken on the bone so I know he’d enjoy this if presented with it. It looks nice and golden and it sure sounds easy to make!

  10. I totally agree with you that this is a staple recipe. You can do so much with baked chicken and it’s easy and clean to cook/bake. Love!

  11. This is definitely the best way to cook chicken breasts, if you want them tender & tasty. Boneless skinless chicken breasts turn out pretty dry & lack flavor. The skin (even if you pull it off before eating) adds moisture & flavor while cooking, and all meats are much more flavorful when they’re cooked with the bone in. I also sprinkle on a ‘pinch’ of garlic powder, along with the salt & pepper, & always season both sides of whichever meat I’m cooking.