Baked Lemon Chicken breasts are an easy and flavor-packed way to spice up an ordinary chicken dinner. Use leftover sauce to drizzle on top before serving!
Baked Lemon Chicken Breasts
Who doesn’t love a good easy baked chicken recipe?! Finding new and fun ways to dress up baked chicken is always a fun task and these baked lemon chicken breasts are truly ones to take note on.
Juicy and tender bone-in chicken breasts are topped with fresh spices and lemon slices and oven baked until they reach perfection. It’s really one of those recipes that will never let you down.
How To Make Baked Lemon Chicken Breasts
You’ll want to note that this recipe calls for bone-in chicken breasts, that’s why the overall cook time is a little longer than most chicken breast recipes. I prefer to use the bone-in because cooking with the bone in allows for a juicier and more flavorful end product. Don’t let the longer cook time deter you though, this is still a great easy recipe that doesn’t take a lot of effort. Options included below for boneless chicken.
- Start by preheating the oven and combine the salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, cumin, and olive oil in a bowl and stir until well mixed.
- Next, wash the lemons and thinly slice.
- Place chicken breasts bone side down in a glass baking dish. Evenly coat with the spice mixture and then top with lemon slices.
- Bake uncovered until chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165F.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the baking dish to a serving platter.
- Collect the pan juices and serve alongside the chicken as a sauce. Top chicken with a bit of chopped parsley, Serve and Enjoy!
Can I Make This With Another Type of Chicken?
Yes, you can make the recipe with other types of chicken. You will just have to adjust the cooking time based on the type of chicken you decide to make the recipe with. Each type of chicken will have a different cooking time, so here’s a guide below on how to adjust your cooking time based on your cut of meat.
Chicken Cooking Times
Boneless chicken breasts: 25-30 minutes
Chicken tenderloins: 15-20 minutes
Bone-in chicken thighs: 35-45 minutes
Boneless chicken thighs: 20-25 minutes
What To Serve With Baked Lemon Chicken
A recipe as classic as a baked lemon chicken can really go with anything. Pair it with your favorite sides for an easy weeknight dinner.
I usually serve this alongside my Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks (they have the same cook time and temperature!). An easy Arugula Salad on the side takes no time. Feeling like something a bit more hardy? Try my Instant Pot Rice, Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (Dairy Free), or even Classic Potato Salad (my Mom’s recipe!).
Recipe Tips
- The longer you leave the spice marinade on the chicken, the more flavor you are going to get so feel free to mix up the spices and oil and put it on the chicken the night before or in the morning.
- The size of bone-in chicken breasts can really vary. As a general rule, a 1/2 pound per person is usually perfect as 2 to 3 ounces will be bones and the cooked portion will always be smaller than the uncooked portion. I calculated each serving size as 5-ounces cooked chicken plus 1/6 of the marinade.
- To always be sure your chicken is cooked all the way through, use a meat thermometer and remove the chicken from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 165F.
Like This Recipe? Check Out More Easy Chicken Recipes
Dinner is about to get a whole lot easier once you check out even more of my favorite chicken dinner recipes. All easy, healthy, and full of flavor. A dinner ever busy mom dreams about!
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Baked Lemon Chicken breasts are an easy and flavor-packed way to spice up an ordinary chicken dinner. Use leftover sauce to drizzle on top before serving!
- 1.25 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium organic lemons washed and thinly sliced
- 3 pounds bone-in skinless chicken breasts (usually 4 to 6 pieces)
- parsley for garnish
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Preheat the oven to 400F. Begin by combining salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, cumin and olive oil until well mixed.
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Wash lemons and thinly slice.
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Place chicken breasts bone side down in a glass baking dish. Evenly coat with spice mixture and then top with lemon slices.
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Bake uncovered for 50 to 55 minutes until chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165F. Remove the chicken breasts from the baking dish to a serving platter. Collect the pan juices and serve alongside the chicken as a sauce. Top chicken with a bit of chopped parsley, Serve and Enjoy!
Recipe Video
- The longer you leave the spice marinade on the chicken, the more flavor you are going to get so feel free to mix up the spices and oil and put it on the chicken the night before or in the morning.
- The size of bone-in chicken breasts can really vary. As a general rule, a 1/2 pound per person is usually perfect as 2 to 3 ounces will be bones and the cooked portion will always be smaller than the uncooked portion. I calculated each serving size as 5-ounces cooked chicken plus 1/6 of the marinade.
- To always be sure your chicken is cooked all the way through, use a meat thermometer and remove the chicken from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 165F.
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in June 2013 and was updated in July 2019 with new photos, step-by-step instructions and more helpful information.
We loved it! It is a very rare occasion that I’ll get an email, such as yours, and end up making the featured recipe for dinner that night. I had all the ingredients on hand, with the exception of having boneless breasts instead of bone-in). Reading your recipe completely, I determined to get the spices on the chicken right away. So, it marinated from 9am to 5pm. Thanks also for including the adjusted cooking time for boneless; that made a big difference. I saved my printed recipe for using again and again. THANK YOU!
Hi Sam! Yay!! This is fantastic – I appreciate you taking the time to comment and let me know how this recipe worked for you 🙂
What is the alternate cook time for boneless?
I haven’t been able to locate smoked paprika in any grocery stores near me and am just wondering if regular Paprika would work just as well? Thanks!
Absolutely! Just a bit more mild for the flavor profile.
Hey
I’m going to make this tonight.
What side did you for the dish?
I like to bake my Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks as a side since they cook at the same temperature and for the same amount of time!
Not a seasoned cooker here, can I cook both the cabbage side and chicken at the same time? Both go in the oven right? The last I tried cooking two diff dishes in the oven that required the same temp one didn’t cook as well….
Hi Nic! For these two recipes, definitely because they both cook at 400F. However, when I have more than one tray in my oven, I find that I occasionally have to add an additional 5 to 10 minutes of cook time so just keep that in mind.
This recipe was EASY but I didn’t think it would be SO DELICIOUS! My husband, and my 3 year old son devoured it. I found this recipe/website online when I was getting ready to cook. I will be coming back for more recipes. I am pregnant and don’t have energy to cook like I used to but it tasted like I did! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much Karina!! There is nothing better than the whole family loving the same dish. Congrats on your pregnancy. I just had my second son earlier this year (January). 🙂
I was reading the comments and saw you had your baby January of 2015 so did I. I had a girl they are both 10 now lol
Time flies!! 🙂
Question – Does this recipe cook and freeze well? Would I be better offer freezing the raw chicken in the marinade and then simply cooking it off once we arrived at the vacation home?
Hi Jamie,
You could do it either way and it would work. One benefit to freezing the raw chicken in the marinade is that you can cook it and serve. If you pre-cook it and defrost, you will need to reheat the chicken, which could dry it out. Either way, enjoy it and have a great trip!
I made this tonight and it was amazing! It is definitely a keeper. My son went back for thirds!!! Thank you so much for sharing
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
I agree!!!