The answer to the question “How long to bake chicken at 400 f” depends on the cut of chicken that you are cooking; chicken breast or chicken thighs; how the chicken is prepared; whether it is bone in or boneless; whether the skin is on or it’s skinless, whether it’s a whole chicken breast or it has been sliced and/or pounded thin, etc.

Chicken that is cut up will cook faster than chicken that is not cut.

Broiling can produce wonderful results with boneless skinless chicken thighs, but doesn’t work out great for boneless chicken breasts.

The cooking method and the time all depends on the cut and/or the recipe so let’s get into some of the most common chicken dishes we can bake in the oven, the temperature to bake them at, and for how long to bake them.

In this baked chicken breast article we will also cover the following topics:

• Common Chicken Cuts and How to Bake them in your Oven

• Can I Cook Chicken Breast in the Air Fryer?

• Broiling Chicken in the Oven

• How long to bake chicken breast at 400?

• How Long to Bake Chicken Breast at 400 After Searing

• The best ways to bake chicken breast at 400 F without drying out

• What the best temperature to bake chicken at is

• How to use a meat thermometer to achieve a perfectly cooked chicken breast

• How to season chicken breasts and other cuts of chicken

• What to serve with your oven baked chicken breasts

• How to get Crispy Skin On My Baked Chicken Breasts?

• Baked Chicken Breast Nutrition

• Is baked chicken breast healthy?

• Do I Need To Preheat The Oven Before Baking Chicken Breasts?

• What Internal Temperature Should I cook Chicken to?

• Is There A Difference In Cooking Times Between Bone-In And Boneless Chicken Breasts?

• Is it better to bake chicken at 350 or 400?

• Is 425 too high for chicken breast?

• Our Favorite chicken recipes

• What Can I Do With Leftover Chicken Breast?

Common Chicken Cuts and How to Bake them in your Oven:

Boneless Chicken Breasts (skinless)

Assuming these are full size chicken breasts then bake them in the oven at 400 f for 15-20 minutes

Bone In Chicken Breasts (with skin or skinless)

Bake in the oven at 400 f for 35-45 minutes

Boneless Skinless chicken Thighs

Broil 15 minutes on each side

Bone-in Chicken Thighs (skinless or with skin)

Broil 20 minutes on each side. If with skin, then place them skin side down in the pan first. After 15 minutes flip so that the skin side if up. Cook an additional 2-4 minutes for an extra crispy skin

Chicken Quarters

Bake in the oven at 400 f for 40-45 minutes

Chicken Legs

Bake in the oven at 400 f for 45-50 minutes. Flip at 25 minute mark

Chicken Wings

Bake in the oven at 400 f for 40-45 minutes. Flip at 20 minute mark. Broil for the last 3-4 minutes for extra crispy skin

Chicken Half’s

Bake in the oven at 400 f for 40 minutes. Broil for the last 3-4 minutes for extra crispy skin. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting & serving.

Can I Cook Chicken Breast in the Air Fryer?

You can defiantly cook chicken breast In the air fryer. The size of your air fryer will dictate how many chicken breasts you will be able to cook at once. The new air fry ovens are GREAT for cooking chicken breasts!

The time to cook the breasts will depend on your model and if you sear the chicken first or not, but cooking time in general will be about half the time it would take in the traditional oven.

At about the 6 minute mark you should flip your chicken and then plan to cook anywhere from 2-8 more minutes. Use the same approach of testing with a meat thermometer the first time you cook chicken breasts in your air fryer to get an idea of the perfect timing.

Broiling Chicken in the Oven

Broiling is a great options for chicken thighs with or without bones and skin. Chicken thighs contain dark meat and are a bit fattier than a chicken breast so they do great with broiling. With the skin on you will get a delicious crispy skin. With the skin off you can season the thighs and still get a somewhat crispy texture with a generous helping of seasonings on the thighs. When broiling I suggest broiling for 15 minutes, then flipping the chicken thighs and baking for another 15 minutes. Then check for doneness with your thermometer.

How long to bake chicken breast at 400 f?

This question heavily depends on whether the chicken was seared or not.

Non-seared Chicken breasts take about 15-18 minutes at 400°F in your oven. Searing reduces baking time by 1-4 minutes. If the chicken breasts were seared for a longer time, they may need less cooking time so it’s best to measure the internal temperature of the chicken starting at about 8 minutes in for seared chicken breasts. You can wait until about 12 minutes for non-seared chicken breasts.

How Long to Bake Chicken Breast at 400 f After Searing

When you bake chicken breast in the over the cooking time depends of whether you have seared the chicken breast before placing it in the oven. Seared chicken breasts take about 11-17 minutes. Having longer searing periods may reduce baking time even more so when you have seared the chicken breasts prior to baking I would recommend you start checking the internal temperature of the chicken starting at about 8 minutes into baking.

The best ways to bake chicken breast at 400 F without drying them out

The best way to bake chicken breasts is the oven is at 400 F.

Simply drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of your baking dish, season your skinless chicken breasts generously and add a pat of butter on top of each chicken breast.

I like to season my skinless chicken breasts with a generous helping of olive oil, oregano, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper and a little paprika. Then I top them with a pat of butter and place parchment paper over the chicken breasts.

The key to not drying out your baked chicken breast IS TO NOT OVERCOOK THEM. Pull them out when they are few degrees away from registering 165 f on your meat thermometer. They will continue cooking after being removed from oven. I always remove my chicken at 163 f.

What the best temperature to bake chicken at?

the jury is still out on this one…

Many test kitchens have tried baking chicken breasts anywhere from 325 f to 450 f.

Some of the test kitchens have found that is better to slow cook the chicken at a lower temperature and some have found it’s better to bake the chicken breasts at a higher temperature. Both methods have claimed success in producing a juicy tender chicken breast.

I believe the key to the perfect baked chicken breast is to simply not overcook the chicken. This requires watching your chicken breasts closely while they are cooking, and making sure the cooking liquid (oil or butter or chicken broth) has not dried up in your baking dish.

This also requires you to check the internal temperature of your chicken periodically.

Some prefer to wrap their chicken breasts in foil to lock in the moisture of the chicken breast during baking.

Some swear by marinating their chicken breasts before baking them.

All of these methods can produce wonderful results as long as you make sure you take the chicken out of the oven a few degrees before it has finished cooking and you let the chicken rest and finish cooking out of the oven, so it doesn’t end up overdone.

How to use a meat thermometer to achieve a perfectly cooked chicken breast

There are several types of meat thermometers on the market today.

Some higher end ovens have the kind that you can plug into a port in the oven. You place one end in the oven port and the other end is a probe that you insert into your meat. It stays in the oven with your meat and constantly measures the temperature of your meat and outputs the temperature to the screen on the front of your oven. Most of these ovens allow you to set the desired temperature that you would like the meat to get to and then the oven will alert you that the meat has reached the internal temperature that you set. This type of thermometer is spectacular for cooking all types of meat including chicken breasts to perfection.

If you don’t have an oven equipped with this technology you can achieve the same type of situation by using an smart wireless meat thermometer that works with your smart phone or with an external display. There are many of these on the market for smokers, but they also work in an oven. The most popular ones are the MEATER probe or the ThermoPro TempSpike. With these you insert a probe into the meat, and then the probe transmits the temperature to an external monitor or your smart phone. We will get into more detail on these probes in our post on the best external meat probes.

I also want to talk about the standard traditional meat thermometer. These are not fancy. They come in electronic or non-electronic versions. They are just thermometers that you insert into the meat periodically while cooking. They can be digital or non-digital and they do the same job, you just have to open the oven and place them in the meat every so often when you think the meat is close to being done. So, for instance, if you are baking your chicken breast at 400 f and you expect it to take about 20 minutes for the chicken breasts to be cooked, then at about 15 minutes you would open the oven and check on the temperature of the chicken breasts. If they are getting close to being done, which is 165 f but they aren’t quite there yet, then you would want to check again in a few minutes. The only drawback to a traditional thermometer like these is that every time you open your oven you will lose some heat from it and it may need to get back up to temp.

How to season chicken breasts and other cuts of chicken

There are so many wonderful pre-mixed chicken seasoning that you can purchase at this store. My family loves Montreal Chicken Seasoning and Kickin’ Chicken blends. You can find a huge variety of pre-mixed chicken rubs in the smoking section of your local grocery store or online. Some of my favorites are below:

These seasonings are great for a quick meal. I know some people love to make their own rubs as well.

You can also season your chicken with staples you already have in your seasoning rack like garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon, Italian seasoning, paprika, etc.

Just make sure you include cooking liquid in your baking dish. Drizzle some oil on the bottom of your baking dish or spray with cooking spray. Then place your seasoned chicken breasts on top of that and then add a pat of butter on top to ensure your chicken breasts don’t go dry out during cooking.

What to serve with your oven baked chicken breasts

Baked Potatoes or Mashed potatoes

Steamed Broccoli with Cheese

Steamed Asparagus with Hollandiase

Baked Caesar Brussels Sprouts

Dinner salad

Crusty bread or garlic bread

How to get Crispy Skin On My Baked Chicken Breasts?

Baked Chicken Breasts Nutrition

Is Baked Chicken Breast healthy?

Do I Need To Preheat The Oven Before Baking Chicken Breasts?

Yes, you should always pre heat your oven. This helps ensure your food will cook evenly and that your recipes timing will be as accurate as possible. All ovens cook slightly different and if your oven hasn’t been calibrated in a while it could cook a bit faster or slower than a recipe indicates.

This is why I always recommend a meat thermometer when cooking meat in the oven.

What Internal Temperature Should I cook Chicken to?

The USDA suggests baking chicken breasts to an internal temperatures of 165 degrees.

Is There A Difference In Cooking Times Between Bone-In And Boneless Chicken Breasts?

Yes, cooking chicken with the bones in will take longer than cooking the same cut of the chicken with the bones removed. Always check your recipe for a cooking time estimate and use a meat thermometer to test the internal temperature of the meat prior to serving.

Is it better to bake chicken at 350 or 400?

Both temperatures can achieve a delicious juicy chicken meal. It will all depend on the recipe being used. See our chart above with common cooking times for different cuts of chicken

Is 425 too high for chicken breast?

It is not. Many test kitchens have tested baking chicken breast at 425 and have found that in a very short cooking time you can still achieve a very juicy chicken breast. Some feel cooking at this higher temperature seals in the moisture of the chicken breast. The internal temperature of the chicken will rise quickly when cooking at this high of a temperature so make sure to check the internal temperature of the chicken breast frequently and to take the chicken breast out of the oven around 163 f and then let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before cutting into it. This will ensure your chicken does not cook way above 165 f after it is removed from the oven.

Remember that chicken breast baked at a higher temperature will continue cooking faster when removed from the oven than a chicken breast cooked At 400 f or 350 f.

Recipes Using Baked Chicken Breasts

Cobb Salad

Chicken Quesadillas

Chicken Parmesan

What Can I Do With Leftover Chicken Breast?

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken in White Sauce over toasted bread

Chicken Quesadillas

Chicken Fajitas