Baked Greek Chicken Breast
Garlic, rosemary, thyme, lemon…can you close your eyes and picture yourself on a Greek hillside? Greek style baked chicken is packed with flavor and a snap to prepare. Aromatic and savory, herbed and meaty, this authentic Greek roasted chicken recipe is a versatile weeknight dinner star.
Guys, I’ve been on a Greek food bender.
I can’t get enough of those fragrant herbs and deep flavors. And when those things come together in a main dish that is so simple to prepare.
That’s tough to beat.
Baked Greek chicken marinates while I go about my day, then bakes while I prepare a quick fresh cucumber salad to serve over top, and some rice pilaf to serve it with.
Or, prepare a meze platter: toast some pita bread. Add some olives, feta cheese, hummus, tzatziki…be still my heart! Authentic Greek roast chicken is going to change your life.
How long does it take to bake chicken breast?
Chicken is versatile, lean, inexpensive…and tricky to cook well.
It’s hard to bake chicken so that it’s properly done but not dried out. Greek style baked chicken is marinated, which helps chicken stay moist and makes baking easier. As a rough guideline, expect a boneless half chicken breast to bake for anywhere between 15-35 minutes, at 350-450 degrees. Maybe longer if they’re very large. Temperature is the only guide that really matters, though: chicken is safely cooked when it reaches 165 degrees.
So make sure you grab an instant read meat thermometer so you can test the internal temperature.
Well, then how long does it take to bake chicken at 350 F?
If you’re cooking something else at 350, put baked Greek chicken breast in with it and expect it to take about 35 minutes.
What if I bake it at 375 F?
Again, 375 is fine if that’s the oven temperature you need be using for other meal components. You can back down your expectation to about 30 minutes for a Greek chicken breast cooked at 375.
I think I see where this is headed…
How long does it take to bake chicken at 400 F?
Assume 25 minutes. But I have another suggestion: roast it at 450 for about 20 minutes. High-temperature cooking works best if you’ve pounded the thickest parts of chicken breasts down a bit. If you haven’t, the thin parts will be chip-hammer dry before the thick parts are cooked through. Don’t flatten them cutlet style; just pound down the high edge enough to even them out. The hot-and-quick cooking method gives you meat with a beautiful golden crust and lots of moisture inside.
How long does it take to bake chicken at 450 F?
For this recipe, we bake the chicken at 450, it gives it a nice juicy finish, and cooks up quickly. Just 15-20 minutes.
Chicken needs to REST!
Baked chicken gets its reputation for being dry. Obviously, we want to avoid that, hence the marinade. But another thing you can do is let the chicken rest.
Marinating helps, but if you cut into a baked chicken breast as soon as you take it out of the oven the juices will drain out onto the plate.
Resting gives the tissue time to reabsorb juices that are going to burst out if they have a chance to when they’re hot. Put baked Greek chicken breast pieces on a warm plate and cover them with foil, then wait ten minutes before you serve them. The difference in how juicy your chicken is will amaze you. Seriously.
So let it rest for 5 minutes, before topping it with your fresh cucumber salad!
Tip: I always like to mix the cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions first. Then right before serving add in the salt, dill, and feta. That way it all stays crisp and fragrant!
Topping The Chicken
Once you have baked your chicken, you can serve it as is, but what really takes this chicken over the top is the fresh cucumber salad that I put on top. It is loaded with Greek classics like tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. But it is then elevated even further with some fresh dill weed and feta cheese.
When all combined, you get crunch, fresh, light, salty cheese, fragrant onion, and the dill. It ends up being such a fantastic meal!
Other Great Recipes with Chicken
- Chicken breasts not your thing? Try Sheet Pan Baked Greek Chicken Thighs if you prefer dark meat.
- Want to sail on from Greece? Try Moroccan Baked Chicken Breast.
- Feel an Italian vibe coming on? Maybe you need these Baked Chicken Parm Sandwiches.
- If you’re tired of sailing around the Mediterranean, head over to Japan for Oven Baked Teriyaki Chicken.
Other Greek Favorites
Baked Greek Chicken
Ingredients
- Greek Chicken Marinade
- 2 lbs Chicken Breast boneless, skinless
Fresh Cucumber Salad
- 1/2 cup Cucumber diced
- 1/4 cup Tomato diced
- 2 Tablespoons Red Onion diced
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Dill weed dried
- 1/4 cup Feta cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts, and put them in a zip top bag.
- Whisk Greek Chicken Marinade together in a bowl, and pour over chicken breasts.
- Zip bag closed, and marinate for 1 hour
- Preheat oven for 450 F.
- Place chicken in a baking pan, with 2 Tbs of marinade in the bottom. Discard remaining marinade
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F in the thickest part of the chicken breast.
- Meanwhile, mix all of the Fresh Cucumber Salad ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
- When time is up, take chicken out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Spoon fresh cucumber salad over the baked chicken and serve immediately.
- Serve with salad, rice or pita bread and a side of tzatziki sauce.
Notes
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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