Chicken with Herb Sauce

They were practically giving away bone in chicken breasts at the grocery store a few weeks back. I placed a jumbo package in my cart without a second thought. Then, when I got home, I set the meat on the counter and stared at it. I thought to myself, "What in the world am I going to make with this???"

Now while I have roasted chicken plenty of times, I don't think I've ever made a dish with bone in chicken. I know enough that you can't cook it quite the same way as a boneless chicken breast or quite like a roaster chicken. So...Ta Da!!! Interweb to the rescue!

My search resulted in this little gem called chicken breast w herb basting sauce from allrecipes. The recipe seemed easy and flavorful, and it totally was. Hooray for living up to my expectations.

The chicken breasts were enormous, so I doubled the herb sauce to have enough to baste the meat twice. That was the only change I made to the recipe! Even though I didn't alter the recipe, the herbs could easily be swapped out to suit personal tastes/what you have in your spice rack.

Whenever I try out a recipe on a recipe website, like allrecipes, I try to at least skim some of the comments. Some of the commenters complained that their chicken was dry. It seems like those people used a boneless chicken breast. I'm sure that the heat was just too high and there wasn't any skin to help retain the moisture in the chicken. I don't understand the science of cooking chicken enough to alter the temperature and cook times to make this recipe with a boneless chicken breast, so I'll stick to the bone in chicken in this case. I'm not sure when there will be another awesome deal on bone in chicken again, but if there is, I will no longer hesitate to buy it, knowing I have a tasty go-to recipe waiting for me at home.


Chicken with Herb Basting Sauce from Allrecipes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
4 bone-in chicken breast halves, with skin
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425 F .In a bowl, prepare the basting sauce by combining olive oil, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce.Turn chicken breasts in sauce to coat thoroughly. Place skin side up in a shallow baking dish. Cover. Roast at 425 F, basting occasionally with pan drippings, for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove to warm platter, spoon pan juices over, and sprinkle with fresh parsley.