This Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken recipe is one of the best ways to cook marinated chicken. The lemon pepper marinade infuses so much flavor into chicken breast, then just put it in the oven to bake into the most tender and juicy meal!
Lemon Pepper Chicken
This baked lemon pepper chicken is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes for weeknight dinners!
The lemon pepper marinade is quick to throw together, and marinating the chicken breast is hands off. Then just bake it in the oven and you’ll be ready to eat!
It creates the most tender, juicy, tasty chicken. It goes with everything, and it’s sure to please all! Once you’ve marinated, you need less than 30 minutes to bake and it’ll be on the table!
Why You’ll Love this Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe:
- Quick and Easy: You only need a few simple ingredients and a few quick steps to make this baked chicken breast.
- Flavorful: The lemon pepper marinade creates the most deliciously bright, peppery, savory taste. The flavor profile is so rich!
- Tender: The marinade softens the meat so that it bakes up perfectly tender and juicy.
Lemon Pepper Marinade
This amazing lemon pepper marinade infuses chicken with so much flavor! It’s made with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, and lemon pepper seasoning. You probably have most of these ingredients in your kitchen already, and it’s really quick to mix together.
Pouring the rest of the marinade over the chicken breast right before baking gives it an extra kick. It comes out juicy, tender, and filled with that bright, peppery flavor we love.
How to Make Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Marinate: Mix ingredients to make the lemon pepper marinade, then pour it into a resealable bag and add the chicken breasts. Marinate for 30-60 minutes.
- Prep: Pre-heat the oven and place marinated chicken in a baking dish. Pour the melted butter and the rest of the marinade over the chicken.
- Bake: Cook about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Let it rest and serve!
It needs at least 30 minutes to really do its job, but it can sit overnight–not longer. However, 30-60 minutes is perfect if you want to prep, marinate, and bake right away.
This is a great chicken breast recipe, and I recommend using skinless, boneless breasts. If you want to use thighs or another piece instead, just make sure it cooks all the way through (it will likely need a longer bake time).
The lemon pepper marinade is how we’re flavoring our chicken. It just infuses flavor right into the meat, so you don’t need to add more seasonings before or after cooking. But marinades also help to tenderize chicken, to keep it moist and juicy while baking.
Serving Suggestions
This baked lemon pepper chicken breast recipe is so simple, quick, and easy to make. It leaves you with plenty of time to make the sides while it’s marinating or baking in the oven. Plus the flavor goes well with everything, so there’s no limit to the side dishes you can serve.
I like to plate it up with veggies, potatoes, and dinner rolls. You could also add rice or salad!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Be sure to fully preheat the oven for best results.
- Take a mallet or a meat tenderizer and give the chicken a few wacks. This will level out the meat ao that it cooks evenly, eliminating the risk of some parts cooking faster than others.
- Arrange lemon pepper chicken in single layer in the baking dish and give them space. More space allows the hot air to circulate on all sides of the chicken so that it roasts up nicely.
- Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165F. I highly suggest using an instant read meat thermometer to make sure it’s fully cooked.
- Let marinated chicken breast rest for 10 minutes before serving.
How long does marinated chicken keep?
Store lemon pepper chicken in an airtight container, or a resealable bag. It will keep in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
To freeze, let the chicken cool completely. Then wrap each breast in foil (this helps to prevent freezer burn), and place them in resealable, freezer-safe bags. They will keep up to 9 months. Just defrost and bake!
Can I make this ahead of time?
This baked lemon pepper chicken recipe is easy to make ahead of time, whether you want to meal prep or just get dinner sorted before things get busy.
As I mentioned above, you can simply keep the marinated and baked chicken in the fridge or freezer, then reheat when ready to eat.
For simple prep, make the marinade and put the chicken in the fridge up to 8 hours before cooking. You could do this quickly in the morning, and it’ll be ready to bake as soon as you get home from work.
What can I do with leftover lemon pepper chicken?
This marinated chicken is so flavorful and so simple. If you want to keep some in the fridge for the week to make meals easy, there are lots of ways to use it!
- Reheat it and serve up with your favorites sides.
- Slice it up and put it on a salad.
- Shred it to make savory wraps, with lettuce and veggies.
- Throw some into a chili or soup.
The whole family will love this marinated baked lemon pepper chicken recipe. The simple yet bold flavor will leave everyone wanting more and more. It’s quick and delicious, the perfect combination for weeknight dinners!
If you’ve made this recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Enjoy!
Marinated Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Balsamic Lemon Pepper Chicken Marinade (click for recipe)
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to even thickness
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
- Prepare your marinade according to recipe instructions. Place in a bag and add all four chicken breasts. Place in the fridge to marinate for 30-60 minutes.1 cup Balsamic Lemon Pepper Chicken Marinade, 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 450F.
- Remove the chicken from the bag and add in a single layer to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Pour the melted butter over the four chicken breasts.1 tablespoon melted butter
- Pour the rest of the marinade from the bag into the dish/over the chicken.1 cup Balsamic Lemon Pepper Chicken Marinade
- Cook for 15-18 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked/white through and internal temp reaches at least 165F.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Be sure to fully preheat the oven for best results.
- Take a mallet or a meat tenderizer and give the chicken a few wacks. This will level out the meat ao that it cooks evenly, eliminating the risk of some parts cooking faster than others.
- Arrange lemon pepper chicken in single layer in the baking dish and give them space. More space allows the hot air to circulate on all sides of the chicken so that it roasts up nicely.
- Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165F. I highly suggest using an instant read meat thermometer to make sure it’s fully cooked.
- Let marinated chicken breast rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days.
Tracy Hunley says
None of your Pinterest links works. I really wanted to save this recipe but I have to right click “save to desktop” and copy to Pinterest and then drage to recycling bin.I’m an Xfinity customer so it’s not my service. Can you fix? I’ve several chicken dishes of yours and they have all turned out beautifully.
Becky Hardin says
I’m not sure what’s going wrong, as the Pinterest links are all working on my end! When I click on the button, it opens a new page and I am able to select an image to use for my pin. Once I select an image, a new window pops up asking me which board to save it to. If this isn’t happening for you, make sure you are signed into your Pinterest account on the browser you are using. If you’re still having trouble, you may want to download the Pinterest save extension for your browser! Hope this helps!
Ginnytown says
Took out real good
Caitlin says
When it says a cup of the marinade does that mean I need to 4x the recipe link for the marinade itself?
Becky Hardin says
The marinade recipe should yield just about 1/2 cup, so you should only need to double it!