Herbs de Provence Chicken Breasts bring the classic French taste to your table for your friends and family to enjoy. Just follow these easy step-by-step instructions.
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Friends just got back from a wine cruise on a river in France and brought a present, a pack of Herbes de Provence. The classic French herb mixture was just sitting there on the counter, saying "Use me." So I did.
I have not been a big user of spice mixtures, preferring to mix my own. But this is a classic, not something McCormick makes up. I always think of fish and chicken when I hear the name, so it is time for some classic roasted chicken.
I found a simple recipe at The Mess Pot. It lacked the garlic, so I added the garlic and decreased the lemon. But otherwise just what we wanted.
Check out some other baked split (skin-on-bone-in) chicken breasts recipes, like Crispy Baked Split Chicken Breasts (one of my favorites), Mayonnaise Parmesan Split Chicken Breasts, BBQ Split Chicken Breasts or Butter and Garlic Stuffed Split Chicken Breast. Or on the grill, try Crispy Grilled Split Chicken Breasts or the Grilled BBQ Split Bone-in Chicken Breasts
🐓Ingredients
- Split chicken breast trimmed of extra fat and skin, AKA bone-in skin-on chicken breasts
- Herbs de Provence
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Garlic powder
👨🍳How to Bake Herbs de Provence Split Chicken Breasts
- Trim split chicken breasts. Remove the rib section and cut breasts in half if huge. Dry. with paper towels
- Mix seasoning of olive oil, lemon juice, Herbs de Provence, and garlic powder.
- Brush the seasoning on the skin side of the chicken breast.
- Allow to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes while preheating the oven on 375° convection or 400° conventional oven for 15 minutes.
- Bake until an internal temp of largest piece is 165°—about 45-55 minutes.
⏰🌡️How long to bake split chicken breasts
The best oven temperature is 375° convection or 400° conventional for about 35-40 minutes. The time will vary by the size and thickness of the chicken pieces.
You can lower the recommendations by 25°, and the cooking time will increase by about 5 minutes.
The specific safe endpoint of cooking is a final internal temperature of 165° and not any less. Like most meat, never cook by time, always cook by temperature.
If you are using thighs, you want a final internal temperature of 180° but since they are generally thinner, cooking time will be about the same.
🇫🇷What is Herbs de Provence
Herbes de Provence is a herb mixture that is covered by a French quality law called "Label Rouge," which is to control the quality and makeup of various products, including foods.
So this is a mixture of dried herbs that contains 30% savory, 30% rosemary, 30% oregano, and 10% thyme. But the exact herbs used can vary elsewhere in the world, but not France.
🐓About Split Chicken Breasts
Split chicken breasts are also known as skin-on bone-in chicken breasts. Most feel they have more taste and moisture than the more popular skinless version.
I suggest removing the rib section that is not useful. If the size of the split chicken breasts is larger, I suggest cutting them in half for more even cooking.
If you are a thigh person, don't be afraid to substitute them in here. That may increase in taste, and moisture would maybe be better here.
I had four breasts for this, two of which were bigger, so I was careful to position the chicken with the thickest sides towards the outside. It still took 55 minutes to cook them.
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Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Trim skin-on bone-in split chicken breasts. Remove the rib section if you wish and cut breasts in half if huge.
Mix a seasoning of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Herbs de Provence, and 1 tablespoon garlic powder.
Brush on the skin side of the chicken breast. Arrange on a Pam-sprayed cooking sheet with thicker parts to the outside edge. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes while preheating the oven on 375° convection or 400° conventional oven for 15 minutes.
Bake until an internal temp of the largest piece is 165°. About 45-55 minutes, depending on variables of chicken size and oven.
📖 Recipe
Herbs de Provence Chicken Breasts
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Ingredients
- 4 split chicken breast - trimmed of extra fat and skin, AKA bone-in skin-on chicken breasts
Seasoning- You may not need all of this
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice - I used ReaLemon
- 2 tablespoons Herbs de Provence
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Trim skin-on bone-in split chicken breasts. Remove the rib section if you wish, and cut breasts in half if huge. Dry with paper towels.
- Mix seasoning of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Herbs de Provence, and 1 tablespoon garlic powder.
- Brush on the skin side of the chicken breast. Arrange on a Pam sprayed a cooking sheet with thicker parts to the outside edge. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes while preheating the oven on 375° convection or 400° conventional oven for 15 minutes.
- Bake until an internal temp of largest piece is 165°. About 45-55 minutes depending on variables of chicken size and oven.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- I cooked 4 breasts but an easy recipe to cut in half or adjust to the amount you need.
- Trim off the rib section of the chicken breasts. Cut them in half if large.
- Using thighs would be a good substitute.
- Apply the seasoning and allow to sit while the oven preheats.
- Cook breasts to 165° internal temperature. If you use thighs, cook to 180°. Thighs are safe at 165° but the texture is much better at 180°.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and good frozen for 3-4 months.
Your Own Private Notes
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
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Editor's Note: Originally Published September 2, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Jacked Beanstalk says
I use a similar recipe and have found it to work well with a variety of different herbs. It also works great as a marinade for grilled chicken.
Please use real garlic for the sake humanity. One to four cloves finely minced or crushed flat. If crushed flat then let them infuse for a little while.
This can also be used as a marinade for grilled chicken.
Dr Dan says
Thanks I Love Simple and Good _this is both.
Bee with Style says
Love your blogs. This chicken look so delicious and easy to make. I will try it.