This pan roasted chicken breast recipe guarantees chicken that is golden brown on the outside and juicy in the middle.
Pan frying is one of our favorite ways to cook chicken. We use the same method for cooking these lemon chicken thighs and when making our popular recipe for pork chops. First, we pan fry our chicken in an oven-safe pan on top of the stove, and then finish it in the oven until cooked through.
We also use a similar process when making our skillet chicken breasts, but instead of letting the chicken finish in the oven, we cover them with a lid and keep them on the stove.
How to Make the Best Pan Fried Chicken
Tip 1: Use skin-on chicken. If we can find them, boneless skin-on chicken breasts are our go-to for this recipe. If you can’t find chicken breasts with the skin left on and the bone out, you can make this with bone-in breasts or skin-on chicken thighs. You can also use skinless breasts, although I have to admit that golden-brown skin is my favorite part.
Tip 2: Pan fry in flavored butter. I cook the chicken in butter and add lots of fresh thyme. You’ll start by generously seasoning the chicken with salt. Then, place it skin-side down into a hot pan. When the chicken is golden brown, flip it and add butter and fresh thyme.
Tip 3: Finish in the oven. Now, here’s the good part! When the butter has melted, spoon it all over the chicken, and then slide the pan into the oven so the chicken can finish cooking. Thanks to the dry air of the oven the skin will stay crispy.
Tip 3: Spoon over butter while it cooks. While the chicken finishes cooking in the oven, open the oven door a couple of times and spoon more butter over the chicken to keep it moist.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving these juicy chicken breasts over mashed potatoes and make sure to spoon some of the pan juices over the top (it’s so good). Mashed sweet potatoes or lower carb mashed cauliflower are also wonderful with this chicken recipe.
You can add a side of veggies, too. You’ll be finishing the chicken in a 400°F oven, which is the same temperature I use when roasting carrots and in this garlic roasted asparagus. Or, try a quick vegetable side like sautéed zucchini or sautéed broccoli.
Perfect Pan Roasted Chicken Breast
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Perfect pan-roasted chicken breasts cooked with butter and thyme. The chicken is golden brown, juicy in the middle, and tastes incredible! We love using boneless skin-on chicken breasts for this recipe if we can find them. Chicken thighs would also be great. If you cannot find chicken breasts with the skin left on and the bone out, you can make this with bone-in breasts. You can also use skinless breasts, although I have to admit that golden-brown skin is my favorite part.
You Will Need
2 boneless skin-on chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like grape seed or canola
2 tablespoons butter
Handful fresh thyme sprigs
Half of a lemon, for serving
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
2Pat the chicken breasts dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
3Heat oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat, and then carefully place chicken skin side down into the hot skillet. Cook without moving until skin is deep golden brown and crisp, about 6 minutes.
4Carefully flip the chicken, and then add the butter and thyme. When the butter has melted, spoon it over the chicken several times.
5Transfer the skillet to the oven. Cook chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breasts registers 165°F, 10 to 15 minutes. Spoon the thyme butter over the chicken several times while it bakes. If you are cooking bone-in chicken breasts, expect they will take a bit longer; I’d expect somewhere between 25 and 35 minutes.
6Remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving. Serve with butter from the pan spooned on top and a squeeze of lemon.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This recipe was great for everyone in my home. Thank you!
I made this with boneless skinless breasts. I cut each breast into 3 pieces, butterflied the thick part, pounded until all were of about 3/4″ thick. I preheated my cast iron skillet in oven while my potatoes baked, took it out when they had 10 minutes to finish. Because I had pounded my chicken, I decided to finish on stovetop, as it was easier to baste and watch. Added oil, then chicken to hot pan on med-hi heat, flipping for about 6 minutes total. Removed chicken, started sauce. Because my fam LOVES sauce, I used 1 c.chardonnay, thyme, 2 tsp Dijon mustard,then butter and black pepper;addded chicken back to pan sauce and finished up. It was delicious – definitely a do-over!
This was absolutely delicious. The butter and thyme were so good and the chicken came out really juicy. I will definitely make this again.
I covered it instead of putting it in the oven. I can’t be bothered to do the oven thing since I’m only cooking for myself. It still came out delicious though. Will 10/10 cook it again.
Delicious. I have just discovered your site – it is great to find simple to make delicious food without garlic and onion. ( I can not eat either and it is frustrating how everyone just throws garlic in everything rather then finding herbs that work. Though you have what I’m sure are good recipes with garlic also)
This is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes! Thank you for sharing this, we make it all of the time, it’s so versatile and it’s restaurant quality, much tastier than plain boneless chicken.
The first roast chicken I’ve really enjoyed, delicious. Thank you 🙂
Excellent! This recipe had my picky teenage granddaughter taste some and made her plate and immediately then asked for another piece. This a victory, well seasoned and juicy. THANK YOU
Need delicious easy recipes ?
How long do you bake them if they’re bone-in?
Hi Liz, Bone-in chicken breasts will take longer, I’d expect somewhere between 20 and 35 minutes.
Awesome recipe, we will keep this one around. So easy and delicious.
Hi. Can you tell me how cooking time would be affected if using bone in chicken breasts? Thanks
Hi Shelly, Bone-in chicken breasts will take longer, I’d expect somewhere between 20 and 35 minutes.
Easy and delicious. A keeper. Followed exactly, and especially liked the crispy thyme sprigs at the end.
Excellent, easy and a keeper. Followed instructions exactly, and loved the results, including the crispy thyme at the end.
I would like to ask if ever i don’t have a oven safe pan is there any alternative. Thanks
Hi Jean, You can sear the chicken on the stovetop first, and then transfer the it to a baking dish to finish cooking in the oven.
Is it necessary to puncture the skin prior to browning? I’ve heard that if the skin isn’t punctured that the fat layer beneath won’t properly render.
Hi John, This is not something we do in our kitchen and find that the fat renders beautifully and the skin browns nicely with this recipe.
This dish is absolutely amazing. I love the flavor,it was easy to make, and fast to cook. Most importantly my picky teenager like it as well. Thank you so very much!!!
Absolutely loved how easy and fast this was to make. It’s a new favorite dish at our house.
The timings in this recipe are perfect! Very juicy and tender chicken.
This is for sure one of my favorite chicken recipes. I cook this about once a week. I use chicken thighs bone-in instead of chicken breast. I also use rosemary instead of thyme. Gives it a whole different flavor! If you LOVE rosemary, I def recommend trying it!
Cutting the chicken breasts in half or pounding them down so they are flatter and wider really helps make the final product even better.
This recipe was easy and it tasted great! I used thighs instead and served it with zuchini and couscous. This recipe is a keeper!
This recipe is great. I love simple recipes but using the best ingredients. Thank you for sharing your expertise. My house smelled so good and I used this roasted chicken breast for enchiladas.
Hello, can you advise what we did wrong? We used a cast iron skillet since I’m not sure if I have any other oven safe skillets. The chicken took close to 40 minutes to get to 165 in the oven. I have had a hard time with recipes and the chicken breasts that I’ve tried cooking and it’s frustrating. The chicken breasts I have are boneless skinless chicken breasts and are close to the correct weight.
I almost NEVER post/ reply to anything but the moment I read this I immediately could relate… having moved many, MANY times in my life, I noticed a very frustrating trend emerging with each new stove/ oven; I could make the SAME EXACT RECIPE and have a completely different outcome from one stove/ oven to the next. Looking back it’s so obvious, but what I found out was that just because an oven might SAY “the temperature is 400°”, that DOES NOT GUARANTEE that it truly “IS 400°”. And having spoken to multiple manufacturers and repairmen, this issue is much more common than one may assume! I would try bumping the temperature up 25° and see if (HOPEFULLY!) your issue will be resolved!
This was so good I made it twice in two weeks. Really fancy enough for company.
Loved this. Quick. Great flavor. Crispy outside. Sometimes chicken breasts are so boring! And it was a good excuse to get out the heavy cast iron, suitable for on-top and inside-the oven. I’ve been using several of your recipes recently and really like that they find the flavor. Thanks!
Hi Cade, A cast iron pan is perfect for this recipe. Are you sure the oven temperature was correct? The chicken should have come to 165F in the time you mentioned. It’s also possible the thermometer used is uncalibrated. I hope that helps a bit! Another recipe for chicken breasts (which works really well with boneless, skinless chicken breasts) is this Lemon Chicken Breast Recipe. We cook them on the stove and they turn out really juicy and tender. This Baked Chicken Breast Recipe is also a favorite.
We also used cast iron and it took 35 minutes to reach 165- the chicken was definitely raw after 15 minutes, as I cut into it to check after my thermometer didn’t register above 130. Very Good, but did not cook in the time indicated.
Try cutting the Brest into 2. By thinning the breast the cooking time also decreases.
You didn’t use frozen chicken, did you?
I am wondering if you had the oven on 400F (I used 180C fan bake and it was fine in cast iron) BUT … I nearly read it as 165F for the oven as I was in a hurry!! This would be one possible explanation?
Excellent!
Wonderful! It was easy to make and tasted like it took more work and time. I thought the lemon was a nice touch.
We had roasted red potatoes with it and even though those were seasoned, my son thought to spoon some of the butter sauce over the potatoes. So good! I actually used a brush to baste the chicken with the butter during the baking process.Thank you for sharing this…it is a keeper!
Love this recipe! Use it all the time! I switch it up between thyme and sage and I use unsalted butter. Yum! The skin adds a nice flavor, not sure why anyone would eat a meal that removes the flavor, but, OK. I don’t eat the skin, it’s a part of the presentation for me and adds to the flavor of the meat. Butcher removes the bones for me. AWESOME!
Easy, quick, & delicious…who could ask for anything more?! I did use skinless, boneless breasts, so the outside was a tad dry, but dipping it into the butter/thyme sauce more than made up for it.
We used chicken thighs bone – in with skin and it was great. Thank!
This looks absolutely delicious! I have been looking for new chicken recipes and will definitely be trying this one!
Can I use another skillet besides a cast iron?
Yep — anything that can go into the oven will work fine. (If you don’t have another oven-safe pan, you can transfer the chicken to a baking sheet instead).
I have made this recipe several times and like it most with rosemary instead of thyme. I’ve tried to find boneless skin-on chicken every time and have been unsuccessful. Any suggestions on where to find it?
I just go to the butcher at my local grocery store and have them remove the bones. They do it. Easier for me! LOL!
We’ve found it at Trader Joes and Whole Foods. You could also try buying bone-in and removing the breast from the bone.
Hi! can i leave the oven part out? will the results be the same? xD
We really like to brown the chicken then slide into the oven to finish cooking. The chicken stays nice and moist this way. You could skip the oven if you want, just make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through.
This is a very delicious recipe. I have made this nearly every time I have had chicken for dinner ever since I discovered it a couple months ago. I have never made it with chicken breasts that have the skin still on even though that seems to be the focal point, but they still get plenty nice and crispy and delicious. I just can’t justify making skin=on chicken when the skin offers absolutely no nutrition, only taste and extra calories. But that is just personal preference. Excellent recipe all the same! Thank you!
This chicken looks delicious. I want to try it, but I want to know what potato recipe was used in the picture. They look great.
Thanks! We used our roasted garlic mashed potato recipe. Here’s the link: https://signal-ward.live/8290/roasted-garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E