Quick Recipe: Roasting Chicken Breasts
Having roasted chicken breasts ready in the fridge makes the whole week feel a little more manageable. Every week, I roast three or four of them, and suddenly, I'm a step ahead—armed for sandwiches, salads, or just those moments when I need some protein fast.
For chicken sandwiches, nothing beats thin-sliced roasted chicken breast as a substitute for deli meat. There's no mystery ingredients here, just real chicken.
This simple recipe for roasted chicken breasts also replaces canned chicken, with much more flavor and much less sodium, and half the price: Just throw a breast or two in the food processor with a little olive oil, onion powder, and garlic powder, and it's good to go. Great for chicken salad, burritos, enchiladas...anywhere you'd use shredded or canned chicken.
And then there are those other times—the Viking moments—when I just grab a breast from the fridge and gnaw on it. It’s fast, it's easy, and it's as primal as it gets. Clean protein, no frills.
Whenever I'm roasting chicken breasts, I make it a point to toss a couple of large sweet potatoes onto the roasting pan as well. It's as simple as it gets: Wash them, poke a few holes in them with a fork, and they're ready to go in the oven with the chicken. Usually, they're done about 10-15 minutes after the chicken—you know they're ready when the caramelized juice starts bubbling out of the fork holes.
They come out like little pockets of sweet potato pie that you scoop out with a spoon. Even cold, straight from the fridge, those sweet potatoes are like sweet potato pudding. They're one of the most nutritious foods you can eat, they're cheap, and super easy.
Roasted chicken breasts and sweet potatoes really is the easiest recipe in the world. Here's how to do I line and get succulent, juicy chicken breasts every time:
Preheat your oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet or roasting pan with parchment. Lay out four breasts, and give one side a good coating of salt and pepper—generous with the salt, no skimping. I usuallyI add a little garlic powder or onion powder for some extra flavor...but they're great without this step too.
Then the prepped sweet potatoes go on the side of the pan, and everything goes in the oven at 425°F for 50 minutes.
Check them at 40 minutes...If they're browning too fast, turn the oven down to 375. Really large breasts could take up to 60 minutes.
They'll come out golden on top, perfectly juicy, and ready to make life just a little bit simpler.
Doing Chicken Breasts on the Grill
The key here is to get your grill temp down low enough that you don't scorch the chicken breasts. Also: Direct flames will require you to flip the breasts regularly, and may burn the outside before they're cooked on the inside.
There are two solutions that work here: First, set your grill on low, so it stays under 450...but above 375. If the heat's TOO low, you'll get poached chicken breasts...not roasted. Terrible.
Second, use a cookie sheet to shield the breasts. Start them on the grill without the cookie sheet to sear them on both sides, then transfer to the cookie sheet once you have some nice grill marks.
Otherwise, the recipe is exactly the same!
You can baste them with barbecue sauce after you've seared them...this'll keep the seasoning on the chicken under the barbecue sauce. Works in the oven, too.
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