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    🏠Home » Recipes » Chicken Recipes

    Easiest Baked BBQ Split Chicken Breast

    May 21, 2011 · Modified: May 4, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 5 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.03 from 68 votes

    With just two ingredients, you can have a moist and tasty dinner with this simple method for a great baked BBQ split chicken breast. This requires a cooking skill level of 2/10. You can do it.

    a piece of BBQ Split Chicken Breast on a white plate

    Jump To:
    • 🐓Split Chicken Breasts
    • ✔️Tips
    • 📖Split Chicken Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📝Recipe

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    It doesn't get simpler than this. Preheat oven. Cut chicken. Bake Chicken. Baste with sauce—Cook a few more minutes. Baste and serve with guaranteed results.

    This recipe is somewhat inspired by a Pioneer Woman post or at least a little of the method, and the idea of having BBQ chicken was. I had the chicken but wanted something different.

    I haven't made any Memphis BBQ sauce this spring, so her method (kind of) and my sauce. Yep, it worked just fine.

    My Rating

    My rating system of a 4 out of 5 so very nice.

    This could be a five if you really love BBQ.

    🐓Split Chicken Breasts

    Split chicken breasts are also known as skin-on bone-in chicken breasts. They are called split chicken breasts because, during processing, the entire breast is removed with some ribs. It is then "split" down the middle of the breast bone to produce two pieces. Many people feel they have more taste and moisture than the skinless boneless variety.

    If there is a “secret,” it is how to prepare a split chicken breast for cooking.

    Step one is cutting off the attached rib section. There is no meat; it takes seasoning and tends to burn. Not a must-do but a nice touch.

    Step two is to cut it 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.

    ✔️Tips

    Be sure to cut the chicken into more reasonable size pieces for both cooking and serving reasons.

    Since the sauce is providing all the seasoning, there is no reason for another seasoning. Also, oil is not needed.

    We no longer recommend washing chicken, just a good pat dry is all that is needed. For more information, please see Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse?

    Use the BBQ sauce of your choice. I used my My Memphis BBQ Sauce, which I love. Cooks Illustrated likes Bulls Eye Original. My Gates BBQ of KC sauce would also be great.

    📖Split Chicken Recipes

    Simple Grilled BBQ Split Chicken Breast

    Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breasts

    Oven Baked Mayonnaise Parmesan Split Chicken Breasts

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    BBQ Recipes, Chicken Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    Trimming ribs off split chicken breasts on black board

    Start with preheating the oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional. I started my Memphis sauce at the same time. You may leave the ribs or remove them, your choice.

    chicken breasts trimmed and cut in half

    Trim and split your split skin-on bone-in chicken breasts.  Pat dry. (Image still has ribs attached.)

    spraying a rack on baking sheet with PAM

    Prepare a smaller baking pan with aluminum foil (to help clean up) and a cooking rack sprayed with PAM. If you don't have a rack, you can skip it.

    chicken breast halves on rack

    Arrange the breast with the thicker parts of each piece to the outside of the pan. (Image still has ribs attached.)

    brushing sauce on cooked chicken

    Bake until internal temp of 160°. That will be about 40 minutes depending on your oven and the size of the breasts. Remove from oven and brush on a coat of sauce. Place back in for another 5 minutes. Double-check that the internal temperature of the chicken is now at least 165° before removing.

    BBQ chicken breasts on white plate

    Remove from oven and apply another coat of sauce. Serve.

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    📝Recipe

    BBQ chicken breast on white plate

    Easiest Baked BBQ Split Chicken Breasts

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    With just two ingredients, you can have a moist and tasty dinner with this simple method for a great baked BBQ split chicken breast. This requires a cooking skill level of 2/10. You can do it.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.03 from 68 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 45 minutes
    Total Time: 50 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 4 servings

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 2 split chicken breast
    • ½ cup BBQ sauce of choice
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    Instructions

    • Start with preheating the oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional. I started my Memphis sauce at the same time. You may leave the ribs or remove them, your choice. Trim and split your split skin-on bone-in chicken breasts.  Pat dry.
      trimmed chicken breasts on black board
    • Prepare a smaller baking pan with aluminum foil (to help clean up) and a cooking rack sprayed with PAM. If you don't have a rack, you can skip it.
      spraying a rack on baking sheet with PAM
    • Arrange the breast with the thicker parts of each piece to the outside of the pan.
      chicken breast halves on rack
    • Bake until internal temp of 160°. That will be about 40 minutes depending on your oven and the size of the breasts. Remove from oven and brush on a coat of sauce. Place back in for another 5 minutes. Double-check that the internal temperature of the chicken is now at least 165° before removing.
      brushing sauce on cooked chicken
    • Remove from oven and apply another coat of sauce.
      BBQ chicken breasts on white plate
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    Your Own Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Obviously, scale to the amount you need.
    2. Use a sauce you love. I usually use my Memphis sauce.
    3. No other seasoning is needed.
    4. The rack is nice to use but not required. Just a good coat of PAM on the foil will do.
    5. Arrange the chicken with the thickest part to the outside of the tray. This will help a lot in even cooking.
    6. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. Can be frozen but really, just freeze the raw chicken and cook fresh when you want.
    7. I never brine skin-on chicken breasts. They stay very moist anyway.
    8. Just pat dry the breasts. For safety, we do not recommend rinsing chicken.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Nutrition Facts
    Easiest Baked BBQ Split Chicken Breasts
    Amount Per Serving (100 g)
    Calories 217 Calories from Fat 81
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 9g14%
    Saturated Fat 2g10%
    Cholesterol 58mg19%
    Sodium 424mg18%
    Potassium 282mg8%
    Carbohydrates 15g5%
    Fiber 1g4%
    Sugar 12g13%
    Protein 19g38%
    Vitamin A 155IU3%
    Vitamin C 1mg1%
    Calcium 22mg2%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main|Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's note: Originally published May 21, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

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    More Chicken Recipes

    • Grilled Whole Chicken without Spatchcocking
    • Super Moist Grilled Reversed Seared Chicken Breast with Marinade
    • Extra Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings
    • Baked Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-in)

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    1. Deborah

      February 27, 2019 at 10:35 pm

      Chicken barbecue is an art that even competition grillers hate. I was lazy and wanted to cook indoors. This is awesome. Perfect consistency and moist. Thant you.

      Reply
      • DrDan

        March 04, 2019 at 4:03 pm

        Hi Deborah,
        Welcome to the blog. Sorry for the delayed response.
        The oven does save a lot of work and actually hard to get wrong.
        Glad you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for the note.
        Dan

    2. Maya

      April 26, 2018 at 7:36 pm

      Hi Dan.
      Thx for the bbq chick recipe. I was afraid of the high oven temp 425 but I gave it a whirl. The 40 min was perfect. They came out very good. (My mom always said 350 was for baking not for cooking meat. )

      Reply
      • DrDan

        May 08, 2018 at 1:12 pm

        Hi Maya,
        Sorry for the delayed responce.
        I do a bit more higher temperature cooking than most. Thinks like this and chicken legs and thighs just do better at the higher temperatures. They are just more moist if you don't overcook them.
        Thanks for the note.
        Dan

    3. Inspired by eRecipeCards

      August 04, 2011 at 2:33 pm

      hey Doc... I just made one of your recipes and posted on my new blog...
      erecipecards

      Reply

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