Easy Baked Lemon Chicken Breasts

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baked chicken, dinner, easy baked lemon chicken, food, fresh thyme, garlic, lemon chicken breasts, lemon chicken recipe, lemon zest, recipe, roast chicken

The flavors of lemon, garlic and fresh herbs combine to make a flavorful sauce for this easy chicken breast recipe.

It’s not like me to post here on Main St. two days in a row, but I thought I’d better sneak in some additional computer time this week before our house guests arrive.

This little adaptation of one of my favorite Barefoot Contessa recipes will be on the dinner table this evening.

I’ve made this bright, citrusy dish using drumsticks and even as a delicious coating for wings.  It’s quite good and I’ll pre-warn you, you’ll want to have some really good bread on hand to mop up all of the juices.

With warmer weather approaching, I think I’ll try marinating boneless chicken breasts in the lemon-garlic sauce (doubling it) and then grilling them.

You could make the marinade the night before; prep your chicken and then combine the two in a zipper-top bag, leaving it to marinate in your refrigerator.  Presto, your chicken would be ready for the grill when you arrive home.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that as we head into the home stretch of another school year and with baseball season being in full swing (both puns intended), that I’m trying to be a little more thoughtful on my meal planning.  Weeknights are the toughest.  Are they for you too?

pan to oven pork chops // macaroni and cheese // honey, cilantro & lime chicken

The dishes above represent some of our favorites and are in regular rotation here, but trips through the drive-thru or a stop to pick up pizza are unavoidable.  Instead of fighting those quick eats, I’m embracing them and just including them into our weekly meal plan.  With three baseball teams, schoolwork, work schedules and everything else, I do my best to get nutritious meals onto our dinner table without spending hours in the kitchen.

If you have favorite recipes, I’d love to hear some new ideas to try.

To begin, sauté 8 cloves of minced garlic in 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat for 1 minute in a 10-inch skillet.  Immediately remove from heat source.

Add wine, lemon zest and juice, dried oregano, fresh thyme and 1 tsp kosher salt to the skillet.  Pour into the baking dish.

I used two smaller baking dishes (my large one broke), but it’s recommended to use a 9- x 12-inch baking dish.  All four chicken breasts should fit perfectly into that size. Into a 400° oven they went for about 30 minutes.

I spooned the sauce over the chicken breasts before placing them onto a large serving platter.  Did I mention that leftover chicken makes wonderful-tasting chicken salad?  Oh, yes it does.

Baked Lemon Chicken

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? by Ina Garten

To view the original recipe, please click here.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
8 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tbsp grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp dried oregano
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each), rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
1 large lemon, cut into 8 wedges

Additional fresh thyme for garnish, optional

Method

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a 10-inch skillet, sauté the minced garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and add the wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 tsp kosher salt. Pour the sauce into a 9- × 12-inch baking dish.

Place the chicken breasts skin side up into the baking dish. Brush the chicken breasts with a little of the sauce and season them well with salt and pepper. Nestle the lemon wedges among the chicken breasts.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned.   You can use a meat thermometer to check that the temperature of the breasts, which should register 165°.  Remove the baking dish from the oven, cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves: 4

Sharing with Kim over at Savvy Southern Style