4 Easy Ways to Bake Chicken

I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again) I'm no chef. I mange to make dinner (most) nights and so far we haven't died from food poising ::knock wood::, but I'm not a person who looks at a random assortment of ingredients and says "ah-ha!". I would get kicked off of Chopped in the first round. I have however, found ways to bake chicken that are super simple and very delicious.

I like to use pre-made thing whenever I can; seasoning packets, jars of sauce, marinades. You name it, if it comes preprepared I use. When looking for ideas for dinner I find baking chicken is hands down the easiest. We purchase a giant bag of frozen chicken from our local wholesale store and multiple times as week I pull out two, individually wrapped chicken breasts and thaw them.

What do I do next that is so wonderful?
1. I slice the chicken breasts in half, horizontally (kind of like filleting a fish)
2. I place them in a pan that is lined with tin foil
3. I dump a pre-made sauce, marinade or seasoning packet onto the chicken 
4. Cover the pan with more foil, cutting slits for ventilation
5. Put it in the oven at 450 degrees for 45 minutes 

My favorite ways to bake chicken? Let me count the ways..

1. In Tomato Sauce

A great compliment to pasta dishes (besides meatballs) is chicken cooked in tomato sauce. This super easy dish requires little prep-work. Aside from trimming the chicken (if necessary) and then boiling pasta later all you need to do is buy a jar of your favorite tomato sauce, I happen to be a big fan of

2. Covered in Taco Seasoning 

I stumbled upon this gem on a whim, the hubby wanted tacos but we didn't have any ground beef or turkey. What do you do? Open a taco seasoning packet and dump the entire thing over the two breasts of chicken. 

Then, i add about 1/4 cup of water (just like when you cook the ground beef on the skillet) and let it bake. Once it's done take two forks and pull the chicken to shred it for tacos. A-MAZ-ING!

3. In Barbecue Sauce

I'm not one to grill so if I'm preparing dinner for when hubby gets home and we feel like having some BBQ, the chicken is going in the oven!

Just pour the BBQ sauce over the chicken and place it in the oven. It doesn't really get an easier.

4. Covered in Hummus 

Who doesn't love hummus? I'm not trying to fool anyone, I don't make my own hummus, I just buy a giant container of it at the wholesale store and spoon out enough hummus to cover the two chicken breasts in the pan. Even if you don't have a full size container you can use multiple singles from Sabra 

After the chicken is sufficiently covered in hummus, I add a few squeezes of lemon juice on top of it. Then pop the pan in the oven and wait!

I'll be the first to admit none of these ways to bake chicken are all that ground-breaking and they certainly aren't all that creative but they are yummy!