Baked Lemon Chicken Breasts (High-Protein, Keto and GLP-1 Diet Approved)

Baked lemon chicken breast on a plate, with one sliced so you can see the tender and juicy inside

Ingredients

For the chicken

4 chicken breasts boneless skinless

For the marinade

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1 lemon zest
¼ cup lemon juice fresh squeezed
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp oregano dried, or 1T fresh chopped
½ tsp paprika

To finish

1 tbsp parsley chopped
1 lemon slice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. A hot oven browns the surface before the inside has a chance to dry out.
Flatten the chicken. Pound each breast to an even 3/4 inch, following the method above.
Arrange the chicken in a baking dish in a single layer. Crowded, overlapping breasts steam instead of roasting.
Whisk the marinade. Combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika in a small bowl.
Pour the marinade over the chicken. Turn each breast once to coat both sides. Let it sit 15 minutes while the oven heats, or up to 8 hours in the fridge.
Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. Covering the dish traps steam, and you lose the browning and the reduced pan juices. Start checking at 20 minutes, and pull the chicken when the thickest part reads 165°F.
Rest for 5 minutes. The juices settle back into the meat instead of running out onto the cutting board.
Spoon the pan juices over the top. Finish with parsley and lemon slices. The lemon, garlic, olive oil, and chicken drippings cook down together in the dish, and that's your sauce.

Notes

The lemon. Use both the zest and the juice, since they do different jobs. The juice seasons the surface and helps the meat hold moisture. The zest is where the real lemon flavor lives. Leave it out and the dish tastes sour instead of lemony. Stick with fresh lemons, because bottled juice is pasteurized and tastes flat.

The olive oil. Use a real extra virgin olive oil. It becomes part of the sauce, and you'll taste it in the pan juices. Skip anything labeled "blend."

The chicken. Six-ounce breasts cook evenly in 20 to 25 minutes. Bigger ones need a few more minutes. Boneless, skinless thighs work too. Give them about five extra minutes. They're more forgiving if you tend to overshoot.

Nutrition