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Healthy Baked Chicken Recipe

January 3, 2024   17 Comments

This healthy baked chicken recipe is for all the haters out there who don’t believe you can do anything with skinless chicken breast.

Healthy Baked Chicken Recipe

I used to think the same thing until I began working on it for my WW members. Hey, chicken breast without skin is zero points on Blue and Purple! You should try it.

Two of my most successful recipes are brined chicken breast and healthy Southwest rub baked chicken breast.

The key turns out to be not that much different than most chicken breast recipes. You have to flavor it (because it has no flavor) but not use fat. Butter or lots of olive oil when you are trying to avoid them are not great additions.

I derived inspiration for this latest recipe from Ina Garten’s lemon baked chicken. Who doesn’t love lemon and chicken?

The key to a successful recipe was to cut the olive oil by a lot and take off the skin. I kept the oregano, lemon, and thyme and it works!

Check out the video to see how easy this recipe is. You just saute a little garlic, mix in a few ingredients and bake the chicken.

Taking a little time to ensure you chicken has flavor is so much better than eating bland, poached chicken. I had a friend who would eat that every day for lunch and I couldn’t figure out how he did it without dying of boredom.

Life is really too short to be eating food that doesn’t inspire you. Yes, you have to get creative and work a little harder - but it is worth it.

Fresh lemon juice and raw garlic are two ingredients that are worth the work. The pop of flavor that you get from both of them is so essential to great food.

This really is a healthy baked chicken recipe because it has almost zero saturated fat and is incredibly high in protein. You can’t miss!

How do you make your chicken breast more interesting? Have you tried lemon and thyme?

Healthy Baked Chicken Recipe

2.3 from 33 reviews

Makes 4 chicken breasts

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper
4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless (about 2 pounds)
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400 F. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and saute the garlic for one minute. Turn off the heat and add the chicken broth, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt). Pour into a 9x13 inch casserole dish and add chicken breasts. Rotate the chicken breasts to immerse them in the sauce. Insert the lemon wedges among the chicken and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the chicken is slightly brown. Serve hot with the pan juices.

Nutrition Facts

For chicken breast = 215 calories, 10.1 g fat, 1.9 g saturated fat, 2 g carbohydrates, 0.1 g sugar, 28.3 g protein, 0.4 g fiber, 415 mg sodium, 4 Green, 2 Blue, 2 Purple SmartPts

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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17 Comments:

THANK YOU FOR THE ABOVE RECIPE. DOES ANYONE HAVE A RECIPE FOR DARK MEAT? THIGHS, & DRUM STICKS? THANK YOU.

BE HEALTHY & SAFE. BLESSSING, anneippe

@Annette - you can make this recipe with 2 pounds of thighs and drumsticks (with skin). It would be delicious! I think the timing would be about the same. Thanks for your question!

I just came up with a method of cooking chicken breasts in the oven that resulted in chicken that was flavorful and not rubbery. It's easy to do and does not depend on oil to provide flavor. No oil, no points! I've been looking for a way to spread the word, and this seems to be one place to do it.

It's based on a French method of cooking a whole chicken in a cast iron casserole, and requires a covered casserole just big enough to hold the chicken without a lot of leftover space. This is how I cooked two large Bell & Evans boneless chicken breasts:

1. Set oven to 350.

1. Finely chop about 1 cup aromatics--onion, celery, garlic, carrot. Saute in 2 teaspoons oil until soft and beginning to brown.

2. Scrape aromatics into casserole, top with chicken, salt & pepper.

3. Cover and cook in oven for 30-40 minutes. Test for doneness at 30 minutes. Don't overcook.

Since no broth has been added, the resulting pan liquid is just from the chicken and vegetables and is intensely flavored. Use it to make a pan sauce, or pour over leftovers to keep them moist.

I'm going to try some variations-- starting with a lemon/garlic version. I'll still use onion and celery just to provide flavor and moisture. If you try it let the board know.

@Margaret - thank you so much for the suggestion and I promise to share it.

I made your healthy baked lemon chicken for last nights dinner party and everyone loved it. It was moist and flavorful and SO easy to make. Thank you! I really appreciate your healthy, simply recipes.

Healthy Baked Chicken is a keeper. Thanks!

OK Snack Girl, When I see your new Picture it says to me "time to get up & go" Well, I did your Chicken Recipe. 2 Pans, 1 Breast only the other thighs & legs. Everyone was "Happy". WONDERFUL,

this keeps the teens happy & we all sit at the table together & their parents bring the veggies. Just like the old days raising my kids. No Cells @ the Table, I would lke to BRAG, BETTER THAN KFC FROM THE MOUTHS OF TEENS TOO. THANK YOU, YOUR SHARING GOES A LONG WAY. BE SAFE, BLESSINGS TO ALL. annippi

Haven’t tried this chicken recipe, I might, maybe. The problem is that this dish looks blah, pail. It needs presentation, it needs a good sprinkle of paprika, smoked paprika, some color. But I Love reading Snack Girl🥰

I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! Since I didn't have thyme, I substituted tarragon. It has slight anise flavor and complimented the oregano very well. And to make things even easier, I placed the chicken breasts in the same oven-proof skillet I used to saute the garlic, then popped it in the oven. 30 minutes later, the chicken turned out moist and flavorful. For a quick and easy meal, that's oven to table ready in no time, this dish is a winner.

★★★★★

Going to give this recipe a try but a couple of questions. First, how badly would the calorie/fat content be changed to cook with the skin (for more flavor) but then removing before eating? And second, any chance you could start including cooking directions for a Ninja Foodi?

Thanks for always providing these wonderful WW recipes!

I agree with Anne-

Marie - it just looks so bland. If the chicken had some color it might be more appetizing to make me want to eat it.

This is a flavorful way to bake chicken. Chicken is bland if you don’t season it. I have a wide variety of spices to dress up my food. Meals never get boring when you season your food with interesting new flavors.

No offense but there is absolutely nothing NOTHING MORE unappetizing to look at for me than those white chicken breasts.

90 percent of a chickens flavor is in it's skin. Boneless, skinless chicken breast are the most expensive and tastless part of the bird. That's why you need olive oil and all the spices.

Healthy food is often questionable as the things that make it eatable may be even worse.

★★

By the way Snack Girl this is not a simple recipe as it has 9 ingredients and both stove top and oven time.

★★

Thank you for your recipes. But I have to be honest: Those white chicken breasts don't look appealing at all.

So many reviewers say “Oh,no! Look at those pale, boring, skinless chicken breasts. No!” Flavor your chicken breasts with a little more seasoning. These have lemons and spices. They are delicious! Sprinkle a little more seasoning on top of the chicken breasts to make them look better. This recipe makes flavorful chicken!

★★★★★

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