Baked split (bone-in) chicken breasts are healthy and delicious, with a juicy and tender inside with crispy skin. An easy recipe for a quick and economical dinner.
Everybody can use more chicken recipes that work. This roasted bone-in chicken breast recipe is one to keep with easy step-by-step photo instructions.
🐓Ingredients
Split chicken breasts (Bone-in)
Pantry ingredients—Garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper
Cayenne pepper—optional
Celery salt—optional
Baking powder Aluminum-free—Optional
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Featured Comment from J.J.:
"So delicious, crispy, fast, easy. This one is immediately in my top 3 chicken recipes…"
Split chicken breasts (bone-in) have superior flavor and are extra moist and juicy. They make a tasty and economical dinner the whole family will love.
Learn to easily trim whole chicken breasts into a better serving size with more surface area for seasoning and much simpler to cook to a safe temperature. Optionally, use baking powder to make the skin extra crispy.
👨🍳How to Bake Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-in)
- Pat dry chicken breasts, trim the chicken of trimmable fat, remove the rib and cut into 2 to 3 pieces.
- Combine spices and baking powder. Then sprinkle and rub on all surfaces. You may not need all the spices, just to your taste.
- Place on a baking pan with a rack. Let rest for 30 minutes if you have time, and use the baking powder.
- Bake until internal temp of 165°—about 35 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of the chicken.
This is a summary of the steps and ingredients. See the recipe card or the step-by-step photo instructions below for complete instructions.
⏰How long to bake split chicken breasts
The best oven temperature is 400° convection or 425° for about 35 minutes. The time will vary by the size and thickness of the chicken pieces. This is much lower than the cooking time for whole bone-in chicken breast, which will be more like 50 minutes at 375°.
You can lower the oven temperature by 25°, and the cooking time will increase by about 5 minutes.
The safe endpoint of cooking is a final internal temperature of 165° in the thickest part and not any less. You must use an instant-read thermometer to prevent undercooking (unsafe) or over-cooking (drying).
Like most meat, never cook by time; always cook to final internal temperature.
Other Split chicken breast recipes
Bone-in (Split) chicken breast recipes are economical, easy, and packed with flavor. Stuff them like Garlic Butter Stuffed Chicken Breast or make Chicken Cordon Bleu. Or coat them with BBQ sauce and make Grilled BBQ Split Chicken Breasts or Baked BBQ Split Chicken Breasts. Or try a change of pace with Herbs de Provence Chicken Breasts or Mayonnaise Parmesan Split Chicken Breasts.
✔️Tips—get it right every time
- The “secret” to the success of this recipe is how to prepare the split chicken breasts before cooking. You get a better serving size, more even cooking, and more surface area for the great spices.
- You can use pan juices to help make gravy. See How to Make Gravy from Scratch for details.
- The spicing I have provided is an excellent garlic-based seasoning. Still, like most recipes, you can easily adjust the spicing to your taste using fresh herbs, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil may be added.
How to serve chicken breasts
Serve with Roasted Baby Potatoes, Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole, and green beans. Add some dinner rolls and a fresh strawberry pie with Jello for a great finishing touch.
❄️Store leftovers
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days, but the skin texture will deteriorate. You can also freeze leftovers for 3 months.
Use the leftovers by just reheating, preferably in the oven covered. The microwave will affect the meat's texture. Also, leftovers are an excellent cut-up to top salads or make chicken salad or Waldorf Chicken Salad.
❓FAQs
No, but it is better with a rack and less sticking. If you don't have one, use a good coat of oil on the tray to prevent sticking. It is more important when you want crispy skin on all sides, like chicken drumsticks, or there may be lots of drainage that affects the texture, like chicken thighs.
The baking powder increases the crispness by pulling moisture out of the skin. This a trick from Cooks Illustrated, although I have modified the technique.
I find even short times with the baking powder will enhance the skin's crispiness. I suggest a 30-minute rest in this recipe before cooking, but even just applying the rub with baking powder and cooking immediately seems to enhance the crispiness.
You may skip the baking powder and still have good results—just not as crispy.
I do suggest using aluminum-free baking powder. I never buy baking powder with aluminum, which many can taste.
We no longer recommend rinsing chicken due to contamination of the surrounding area from splattering.
Rinsing chicken is no effect on the crispiness versus just patting it dry with paper towels. See Chicken... To Rinse or Not To Rinse? for a detailed discussion.
The safe internal temperature for chicken is 165°, according to the USDA.
🐓About Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-in)
Split chicken breasts are also known as bone-in chicken breasts. Technically, bone-in should include both sides of the chicken in one piece, but the breast bone is split during processing, creating two pieces. So they are called split or bone-in.
For years they were called skin-on bone-in chicken breasts, but since they are not generally sold without the skin, the "skin-on" part is frequently dropped. Most cooks feel they have more taste and moisture than the more popular boneless skinless chicken breasts.
They have become progressively bigger over the last few decades. They are now too big for a reasonable serving size for most people. They are also hard for most home cooks to get to a safe internal temperature without overcooking the outside. So most home cooks will skip them as an option or settle for poor results. We can fix that.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional oven.
Pat dry the chicken, trim the chicken off any trimmable fat, and remove the rib area.
Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil and a baking rack—coat with PAM cooking spray.
Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil and a baking rack—coat with PAM cooking spray.
Combine spices and baking powder (if using) in a small bowl. Sprinkle and rub on all surfaces, but you may not need all of the spice mixture; just season to your taste.
Place on a rack skin side up with larger pieces in the corners—and thinner edges to the center. If you use baking powder and have time, let it set for 30 minutes to help dry the skin.
Bake until internal temp of 165°. It takes about 35 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of the chicken.
Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
📖 Recipe
Baked Split Chicken Breasts (Bone-in)
Ingredients
- 3 split chicken breast - scale to what you need, AKA bone-in chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper - optional
- ½ teaspoon celery salt - optional if you have it
- 1 teaspoon baking powder - optional Aluminum-free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional oven.
- Pat dry the chicken, trim the chicken off any trimmable fat and remove the rib area.
- Cut the chicken into pieces—the normal-size ones in half and the huge ones into thirds.
- Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil and a baking rack—coat with PAM cooking spray.
- Combine spices and baking powder (if using) in a small bowl. Sprinkle and rub on all surfaces, but you may not need all of the spice mixture; just season to your taste.
- Place on a rack skin side up with larger pieces in the corners—and thinner edges to the center. If you used baking powder and have time, let it set for 30 minutes to help dry the skin.
- Bake until internal temp of 165°. It takes about 35 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of the chicken.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
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Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Scale to the amount you want. I was cooking for leftovers, and the packages usually have 3 breasts at our store.
- Properly cutting up and trimming chicken breasts is important for this recipe to work. Better serving sizes, more even cooking, easier to get properly cooked and more surface area for seasoning. Good in every way.
- The celery salt adds some taste, but skip it if you don't have it.
- The cayenne pepper is also optional/to taste. The ¼ teaspoon is a 2 or 3/10 heat level. Don't use it if feeding kids.
- 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. Use an instant-read thermometer.
- Great leftover in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and can be 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 May 25, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation. Please enjoy one of our easiest, most flavorful chicken recipes.
sally laRhette says
Curious, What does baking powder do in this chicken dish?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sally, s
Welcome to the blog.
The baking powder pulls moisture out of the skin to make it crispy. It is discussed in the FAQ section in the post.
Thanks for the rating.
Dan
Cindy says
This is my go to recipe for baked chicken breasts (skin on) and wings!! Delicious and so easy. I've made using the seasoning in the recipe, but I've also added smoked paprika, thyme, and rosemary at times. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Stephen Adams says
Thanks for really good recipe. I trimmed the breasts (though removed the skin) as you suggested and seasoned them as you suggested. Even cooked 'em on a rack as suggested. Perfectly cooked. Perfectly seasoned. My wife has already put in her order for another batch tomorrow. Yum!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for the note and rating.
If you are going to remove the skin, which is fine, skip the baking powder, it serves no purpose with no skin and no need to rest before baking—that was to give the baking powder some time to pull moisture out of the skin. Lastly and optional, the meat may dry more without the skin, give it a light brush of melted butter or oil before seasoning.
Dan
Jane Nicholls says
Your recipes help me cook more healthy and flavourful meals. I appreciate your detailed instructions and your excellent information.
Pats to the girls.
Eva says
This was great exactly as is and as promised! I do have a tip. Invest in a good pair of kitchen shears! You can then easily and safely snip through those bones.
Brooke says
So many thanks for creating this post! I bought split chicken breasts at the grocery last night due to the unbeatable price! I knew I could tackle a little bit of trimming and basic deboning (One of the best kitchen skills I have learned is deboning chicken thighs.) but I needed to find a “how to” and your article explained it perfectly. I’m about to prep all of these super huge breasts for the freezer, and one or two (not decided yet if I want leftovers) for supper later tonight for my husband and me. Thank you so much for this valuable info, and the delicious sounding recipe!
Deborah Lein says
Dear Dr Dan, Bought split bone-in skin-on chicken breasts by mistake. Here was your recipe to the rescue! However... I rarely cook with bone-in chicken. now I know why boneless is more expensive. More work and more waste. I sure could have benefited with more detailed explanation of cutting the ribs off. I worked my way through ribs AND wish bone AND breast bone and several more bony things. When I looked through the recipe for the tenth time, I realized the chicken photos had bones in them that I had so diligently and laboriously removed. Which just goes to show that I don't know what I don't know. Maybe it should have read, cut the ribs and don't worry about the other bones. Husband is lurking in kitchen saying this smells delicious. I hope so. I'm not cut out to be a poultry butcher on a regular basis.
Karen says
Very,very good. Has been well received by fussy water in my house. Your dog's are lovely and I really enjoy the pictures.
Andi Fox says
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