Baked Lemon Chicken

This baked lemon chicken recipe is so easy to prepare and it’s healthy & delicious. I brined the chicken breasts in a lemon-herb chicken brine for an hour and it really helped keep these chicken breasts tender and juicy. I found a recipe on Gimme Some Oven for this simple & healthy way of baking chicken breasts that still gave them lots of flavor and I’m so glad I tried it. The butter lemon wine sauce was really flavorful and made a terrific sauce when spooned over the sliced chicken. I served this lemon-baked chicken with garlic rice and roasted broccoli for a delicious and healthy meal that my whole family enjoyed. I love that we have leftover chicken to use in salads, sandwiches, and pasta for our lunches for the rest of the week.

How to Make Baked Lemon Chicken

Make the lemon-herb chicken brine then submerge the chicken in the brine and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine (discard brine), rinse the chicken under cold water then pat dry. For best results, place the chicken on a plate and place it in the refrigerator for an hour to dry the chicken completely.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the melted butter, lemon juice, white wine, and thyme leaves until well combined. Pour the mixture in the bottom of a large glass baking dish.

Dip both sides of the chicken breasts in the butter mixture until completely coated. Settle the chicken breasts into the baking dish and season well with freshly cracked black pepper, to taste. Nestle some thin slices of lemon around the breasts, if desired. (Warning: The lemon slices become bitter as they cook so I don’t recommend eating them or placing them directly on the chicken breasts when you bake them). Bake for 5 minutes.

Brush (or baste) the chicken with the garlic butter wine sauce from the pan and bake for another 5 minutes.

Brush (or baste)  the chicken with the garlic butter wine sauce again and bake for another 5-8 minutes, or until the thickest part of the chicken breast reads 165 degrees.

If you want the chicken to be a bit browned on top, you can broil it for a few minutes, but watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn.

Remove chicken from the oven and place the breasts on a cutting board. Remove & discard the lemon slices from the sauce (if used); brush the chicken with some of the garlic butter wine sauce then set the baking dish with the remaining sauce aside until needed.

Allow the chicken to rest for 7-10 minutes then slice thinly. Return the sliced chicken to the baking dish with the remaining sauce and serve. Enjoy.