Ina Garten's Best Baked Lemon Chicken Breasts Recipe: Moist Every Time by Jan Mostrom

Being able to cook chicken breasts thoroughly while not drying them out was always a challenge for me. That is until Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) came to the rescue ... again. The herbs, wine and olive oil in this chicken recipe allow the chicken to bake and keep the moisture inside. The is a flavorful and moist chicken every time.

To make Ina Garten's baked lemon chicken breasts you will need for following simple ingredients (nothing fancy here!): olive oil, garlic, white wine, lemons, dried oregano or dried Italian seasoning, fresh or dry thyme and chicken breasts. The garlic is cooked quickly on the stovetop in the olive oil before being combined with the white wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, oregano and thyme. Pour the aromatic mixture over the chicken and bake until cooked through.

Serve these chicken breasts with your favorite side dishes or use them in any recipe calling for chicken breast meat. They also make a delicious chicken salad.

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Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 to 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes to 1 hour
Servings: 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine 
• zest from 2 lemons
• juice from 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves (fresh is best but use dry if that's all you have)
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, with or without skin (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 lemon, cut into slices to use while baking

Helpful Products

• Salt and Pepper
• Baking Dish
• Saucepot
• Ina Garten Cookbooks

Recipe Notes

• You can substitute chicken broth for the white wine.

• If the chicken needs a bit more color after baking, put it under the broiler for for 1 to 2 minutes.

Here's how to make it: 

1. Put olive oil in a small pot on medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute (do not burn the garlic).
   
2. Turn off the heat and add wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour into a baking dish.
   
3. Put chicken breasts (skin up) on top of the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil mixture and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the lemon slices around the pieces of chicken.
   
4. Bake in a preheated 400-degree F oven for 30 to 40 minutes until the chicken is done (meat thermometer temperature at 165) and golden brown.
   
5. Let rest covered for 10 minutes then serve with the chicken juices from the pan.
   

Recipe cooking times and servings are approximate. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography. Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

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