Learn the secret to great tasting, moist, and crispy baked split chicken breasts. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions to get it right first time and every time.
Editor’s Note: Originally Published May 25, 2011. Now updated with expanded explanation and updated photos. Please enjoy one of our easiest, most favorable chicken recipes.
Split chicken breasts make a great economical meal for everyday or company. This is a great recipe to get ready ahead and bake just in time for dinner.
My Rating
This is so good that it has become our everyday roasted chicken recipe. It can’t get much better than that.
Pro Tips: Recipe Notes for Oven Baked Crispy Garlic Split Chicken Breast
Split Chicken Breasts and “The Secret” to Great Results.
Split chicken breasts are also known as skin-on bone-in chicken breast. Most feel they have more taste and moisture than the more popular skinless version.
But they have become progressively bigger over the last few decades. They are now too big for a reasonable serving size
They are hard for most home cooks to get to a safe internal temperature without overcooking the outside. So most will skip them as an option or settle for poor results.
The “secret” to the success of this recipe is how to prepare a split chicken breast for cooking. You get a better serving size, more even cooking and more surface area for the great spices.
Step one is cutting off the attached rib section. There is no meat, it takes seasoning, and tends to over cook.
Step two is to cut the breasts into two or three pieces. Trying to cook the whole thing at once will almost always burn it on the outside before reaching a safe 165 internal temperature.
What’s with the baking powder?
I used some baking powder to increase the crispness. A trick from Cooks Illustrated although I have modified the technique.
The baking powder will pull water out of things like chicken skin. I find it works fairly quickly.
Some recipes will call for hours or overnight with the baking powder on the chicken but looking at the science, I don’t feel that is needed. Works for me.
I do suggest using aluminum free baking powder. I just never buy baking powder with aluminum which many can taste.
Or skip the whole baking powder thing. You will still have good results. Not quite as crispy.
Notes on Spicing
Like all recipes, season to your taste. Feel free to change it up.
I added some cayenne for the touch of spiciness. The recommended 1/2 teaspoon is about a 5/10 spice level for me. Cut it down or just skip it if you want.
The garlic is a little heavy for some. But like all spicing, adjust to your taste.
Other Crispy Chicken Recipes
Oven Baked Chicken Legs – The Art of Drummies
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
Crispy Garlic Grilled Split Chicken Breast
Preheat oven to 400 convection or 425 degrees conventional oven.
Pat dry chicken then trim the chicken of any trim-able fat and remove the rib area and discard.
Cut the chicken into chunks. The normal size ones in half and the super humungous ones into thirds.
Prepare a baking pan with aluminum foil, a baking rack and spray with PAM.
Combine spices and then sprinkle and rub on all surfaces. Place on rack with larger pieces in the corners. And thinner edges to center.
Bake until internal temp of 165. About 35 minutes depending on your oven and thickness of the chicken.
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Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 3 bone-in skin-on chicken breast - scale to what you need, AKA split chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt - optional if you have it
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
- 1 teaspoon Dual action baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 convection or 425 degrees conventional oven.
- Pat dry chicken breasts. Trim the chicken of any trim-able fat and remove the rib area and discard.
- Cut the chicken into chunks. The normal size ones in half and the super humungous ones into thirds.
- Prepare a baking pan with aluminum foil, a baking rack and spray with PAM.
- Combine spices and then sprinkle and rub on all surfaces.
- Place on rack with larger pieces in the corners. And thinner edges to center.
- Bake until internal temp of 165. About 35 minutes depending on your oven and thickness of the chicken.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Properly cutting up the chicken breasts are important for this recipe to work. Better serving sizes, more even cooking, easier to get properly cooked and more surface area for seasoning.
- The celery salt adds some taste but skip if you don't have it.
- The cayenne pepper is also optional/to taste. The 1/2 teaspoon is a 5/10 heat level — more than some want.
- I like cooking chicken on racks, but it is not that important here.
- Keep the thicker parts of the chicken towards the outside of the baking tray.
- Be sure to check for a final internal temperature of 165. Do not guess or cook by time alone.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Originally Published May 25, 2011
Andi Fox
Just love the backing powder tip (hack? lol). Just wish I’d seen this recipe before I put the 3 huge chicken breasts into the oven. Love rosemary & thyme seasonings with chicken, but I like the idea of a little zing the cayenne will give.
Thanks & I’m signing up for your newsletter.
Andi Fox
J.J.
So delicious, crispy, fast, easy. This one is immediately in my top 3 chicken recipes–there used to be only 2! Will work into the regular rotation.
I have used skin on, bone in chicken pieces for a very long time. That’s where the flavor and moisture come from.
susan
I have not made this yet, but wondering what the baking powder does. I’ve never seen it in this type of recipe before. Thanks.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Susan,
Welcome to the blog.
The baking powder pulls water out the skin so it is crispier when cooked. It is a fairly common trick. You can skip it if you want and the skin will be a bit less crispy.
Dan
SurfNturf
So good!
I prepared this recipe as outlined and it is a winner.
Nice and crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and a little heat for the tastebuds.
It’s so simple and tasty that is going to be added to the regular rotation!
DrDan
Hi SurfNturf,
Welcome to the blog.
I do love this recipe, it is just so easy to get good results.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Deb
Chernobyl chicken breasts on sale stupid cheap – trying tonight 😊
dick
easy recipe, baked instead of fried, pleasantly surprised as it is delicious, will make this and share with friends
Bonnie DiNardo
This recipe is both tasty and extremely practical for a two person household. Our supermarket frequently offers a 4-pack of bone-in skin-on split chicken breasts at a sale price. Trimming the ribs off and cutting the breasts in half enables me to bake all of them at the same time. Each piece is a nice portion. We can enjoy the crispy skin the day they are baked, refrigerate 2 pieces, and freeze 4 pieces. The skin and remaining bone partially encase the meat to help protect it from drying out. The pre-cooked chicken meat is like money in the bank. So worth the little bit of effort to cut it up!
DrDan
Hi Bonnie,
Welcome to the blog.
It is the easy solution to the problem of those huge chicken breasts they sale. You can’t reasonable cook them well and one is too much for some of use to eat anyway. So this is my solution.
The first time I cut them up, I was thinking more surface area for seasoning. True but the portion sizes and ease of cooking are the main benefits.
I do like the skin on this recipe also.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Richard
Great recipe. Thank you very much. Cook for a gang (gaggle?) of people. As a single dad this is a major hit! Only problem, they often invite their friends, without notice…(good problem to have.) Thanks again. You Rock!
DrDan
Hi Richard,
Welcome to the blog.
This is one of favorite recipes and as you see, it scales great. Glad it works well for you.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Monique
Making this for the third time this month. This recipe blew me away, soooo easy but oh so tasty :) my whole family loves it.
Thank you and greetings from Sweden :)
Christina
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the recipe – it turned out great! It was very good – juicy and flavorful:) Earlier tonight my husband said “eh” to chicken, after dinner said “very good, really good, etc.”
Used spices as listed, but a few changes since I was using an air fryer – didn’t cut in half, sprayed both sides of chicken with canola spray, cooked in air fryer at 390F for 25 minutes. Let rest w/foil tent for 5 mins.
The only thing I’ll try different is to put some of the spices (no baking soda) under the skin and let it sit longer to get more flavor in the meat.
Thanks again,
Christina
Cristina
Delicious and easy to make! Even my one year old loved it and he can be a fickle eater.
DrDan
Hi Cristina,
Sorry for the delayed response.
Gald it worked well for you.
Dan
LAURIE
Love the tip about cutting breasts into smaller pieces, BUT — discard what’s cut off? Save any bones and scraps and freeze to make stock later on.
DrDan
Hi Laurie,
First, sorry to everybody for the lack of replies. I will try to do better.
Yep that works, but I lack freezer space anymore
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Kelly
Evenly cooked. Crunchy. Moist. Nicely spiced.
All you promised it would be.
I usually don’t like breast meat, but this is a new favorite.
DrDan
Hi Kelly,t ma
This is one that I do repeat. I love cutting down the size of those huge breasts. It makes everything cook evenly and make the portion size I personally like.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jason Cummins
This was really good! I only used an 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne and I didn’t have celery salt, but I added a little Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, and chives. I was really happy with how it turned out. For now on I plan to make split breasts this way more often.
Dawn
Made this tonight using 10 thighs (bone-in). The only thing I added was to brush the thighs with a bit of EVOO 35 mins in. Total time 45 mins @ 450. Very tasty!
Gail
The recipe was very good, but with a couple of changes it is great.First I seasoned the chicken with the rub and put in fridge for 3 hrs.While oven was heating, some paprika was added to the chicken and let chicken sit while waiting for oven to reach temp.Mine was done in about 32mins.So check internal temp before 35mins so it doesn’t get over done.