Tender and juicy baked barbecue chicken breast is the perfect head-start ingredient to add to your weekend meal prep. I love having it on hand to make easy weekday meals like sammies, salads, and quesadillas. It’s also delicious served with your favorite sides.
*Sponsored by FoodSaver
Making meal prep easy is one of my superpowers and I have just found a way to make it even easier (and more efficient) by using the FoodSaver VS3000 Vacuum Sealer.
This unit creates a very strong airtight seal that helps to lock in flavor and freshness while protecting your food from freezer burn or unwanted fridge flavors.
Plus, I was able to marinate my chicken in just 12 minutes using the FoodSaver Preserve and Marinate Containers.
Should I Marinate My Chicken?
When it comes to baked barbecue chicken, I highly recommend marinating the chicken breasts first. Otherwise, you will just have barbecue sauce brushed on the outside of a bland chicken breast (not very exciting).
I like a simple but flavorful marinade made of avocado oil, lemon juice, fresh garlic, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper.
Whisk everything together and then place the chicken breasts in the FoodSaver Preserve and Marinate Containers and remove the clear plastic reservoir from the handheld sealer to begin marinating your protein. And when I say quick, I mean quick! This unit allows me to marinate meat, fish and veggies in just twelve minutes. Huge time saver!
If you don’t own the FoodSaver VS3000 yet, you can purchase one here! Otherwise, simply place the chicken in an airtight container and marinate in the fridge for 6-12 hours.
How To Bake Barbecue Chicken
Once the chicken is infused with all of the yummy marinade flavors, place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush both sides of the chicken with your favorite barbecue sauce. If you have the time, I highly recommend making it from scratch. So easy and so good!
Pop the chicken into a 400 ºF oven for twenty minutes, flipping the chicken at the ten and fifteen minute mark. I like to brush extra barbecue sauce on the chicken breast each time I flip them. This adds lots of flavor and keeps the chicken nice and juicy.
Once the chicken is cooked, it will be tender and juicy! Remember, we need the internal temperature of the chicken to reach 165º F for it to be safe to eat, so I recommend removing the chicken from the oven at 160º F. The residual heat of the chicken will continue to cook the chicken once it is out of the oven without running the risk of overcooking. Pro-tip ;).
How To Store Baked Chicken Breasts?
Vacuum sealing will take your food preservation to a whole new level!
The FoodSaver VS3000 Vacuum Sealer allows you to seal and preserve food in two ways. You can use the vacuum seal bags for long term storage or use the containers for short term storage in the fridge.
I vacuum sealed my chicken in FoodSaver bags which help to keep food fresh up to 5x longer compared to ordinary storage methods.
Easy Weekday Meal Ideas:
Once you have your baked barbecue chicken cooked, stored and ready to enjoy, there are endless ways to use it during the week. Here are a handful of my favorite ways to use this chicken throughout the week:
Stuffed Sweet Potato: Bake up a couple of sweet potatoes and top with fresh chopped radishes and cilantro (or any other toppings you love!).
Crunchy BBQ Chicken Wrap: Layer baby spinach, crunchy coleslaw, and slice bbq chicken on top of your favorite tortilla. Roll and enjoy!
BBQ Chicken Quesadilla: Add your chicken to a simple quesadilla. Cheese + tortilla + chicken is all you need!
Big Fat Salad: Make your favorite salad, slice up your chicken and add it to the top. So simple and so delicious.
Okay my friends! Now that you know how to make tender and juicy baked barbecue chicken breast, it’s time to cook! Add this recipe to your weekend meal prep and enjoy it all throughout the week.
And if you want to learn how to improve your meal prep game by learning more about food and flavor preservation, I highly recommend the FoodSaver VS3000 Multi-Use Vacuum Sealing & Preservation System.
Baked Barbeque Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breast
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup barbeque sauce (stire bought or homemade)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchement paper.
- Place chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper and gently pound out the thicker side of the chicken until the breast is even in thickness.
- Combine all ingredients, except for chicken in a large bowl and whisk well.
- Place chicken in the FoodSaver Preserve & Marinate Containers and pour the marinade over the top. Use the handheld sealer to marinate the chicken in just 12 minutes.*
- Place marinated chicken on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush both sides with bbq sauce.
- Bake for ten minutes, remove from oven, flip and brush with more barbeque sauce. Bake for another five, flip again and brush with more barbeque sauce and cook for another five minutes. Total cook time will be twenty minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160º F (the chicken will reach 165 as it cools – which is the safe temperature for cooked chicken).
- Once the chicken is cool, I vacuum seal it in the FoodSaver vacuum seal bags (you can also store the chicken in FoodSaver Preserve & Marinate Containers.
- Store in the fridge for up to one week and in the freezer for months.
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