This beginner friendly method can be used to cook chicken in the oven with marinade or skinless with just salt and pepper. It works best when all the chicken pieces are the same type.
Simply add your chicken to a preheated oven in a deep dish and cover with foil. Remove foil 15 min before it’s done so the chicken pieces brown.
Make sure to preheat your oven before you begin!
Equipment
- Deep dish pan
- Baking paper
- Foil
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Timer
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 1kg / 2.2 pounds of pisces of your choice
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 Garlic powder
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
Cooking chicken in the oven
A kilo of chicken or 2.2 pounds will comfortably feed 4 – 6 people depending on what other sides you have during your meal.
To cook chicken in the oven successfully it’s best to use all the same type of pieces because the size of chicken needs to be roughly the same size and you get a consistent cook across the whole dish, otherwise you may have uncooked chicken.
If you had different types of chicken pieces such as wings, drumsticks and breasts the thicker pieces of chicken such as the breast will take longer to cook than the rest to say something like wings. Which is why cooking all the same cut of chicken is easier to cook in the oven.
Also it’s a good idea to turn on your oven and preheat it so the temperature is ready for cooking, otherwise it will take longer to cook your chicken and you will end up over cooking it. Believe me dry, chewy chicken only needs to happen once and you will never do it again 🙂
If you’re wondering about the baking paper, it simply helps with cleaning up. You could simply spray the pan, but I find the backing paper is easier to collect the fat and oil that come out while cooking.
- Start by preheating your oven to 180c / 350F
- Wash and clean your chicken, making sure to remove any fat.
- Place the chicken in a bowl and coat with the olive oil.
- Mix the salt, paprika and garlic powder together and rub into the chicken.
- In a deep dish pan place a sheet of baking paper, placing your chicken skin up.
- Cover with foil / aluminium foil.
- Place your cupboard dish in the preheated oven and cook for about an hour. About 15 minutes before the chicken is done remove the foil so you can brown the chicken.
Serving suggestions for oven baked Chicken
Serving suggestions for you oven cooked chicken would be a simple greek salad ( cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese and olive oil ) or roasted vegetables ( Carrot, zucchini, potato, onion, different color squash, peppers )
Storing your baked chicken
To store your cooked chicken, let it completely cool down to room temperature and place in an airtight container in the fridge. If the temperature in your fridge is consistent it should last 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze it make sure to place baking
Frequently asked questions using an oven to cook chicken
It’s to protect the chicken from drying out. If you do decide to marinate your chicken, covering it means that you won’t have to cook a first marinade and then put it back into the oven to further cook it.
Covering the chicken when cooking will keep it moist and the skin will be soft. This is why you need to remove the foil 10 – 15 minutes before it’s done so the skin browns and becomes crispy.
No, keep the chicken covered till the end to keep it moist, you might want to remove the foil near the end so the chicken browns.
Absolutely, If you plan to use a marinade to get the full flavour you should marinate your chicken pieces for 12 to 24 hours before cooking.
If you see blood or the inside is pink it’s likely your chicken is not cooked. To if you chicken is cooked use a meat thermometer and insert it into the thickest part of the chicken, when it reaches 75c / 165f. Test a few pieces to make sure the whole dish is cooked.