Lots of homes these days have a toaster oven. However, these are among the least and under-utilized kitchen tools. They’re often relegated to heating pizza and toasting bread. You can do so much in a toaster oven and it’s time people knew it…
When you learn how to do things like bake chicken in your toaster oven then it opens up your full-size oven for other things that you’ll need to do. Or…just to keep it clean and save some energy. (Read our guide for all of the toaster oven benefits.)
You’ll need to adjust the size of the chicken or even just bake or roast chicken cuts (breasts, wings, things, etc) but in many cases, you can fit a small chicken in a toaster oven.
Before You Get Started: Things You’ll Need for this Toaster Oven Chicken Breast Recipe
- 1 to 2 skinless chicken breasts
- Olive Oil
- Cooking Spray (non-stick)
- 1 cup of Zesty Italian Dressing OR 1 cup of buttermilk
- 2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs
Tips
- Always use thawed chicken breasts, never frozen. You could actually leave the chicken out for a bit prior to cooking. Just make sure to keep it covered. The closer to room temp, the more evenly the chicken will cook inside and out. Frozen chicken breasts will not cook properly in a toaster oven.
Steps to Cooking Chicken in a Toaster Oven
Step 1
Take about 3 to 5 hours to marinate your chicken before the cooking process. In order to keep the chicken from drying out in the toaster oven, you can soak it for 4 hours in some Zesty Italian Dressing or buttermilk. Just place the chicken in a large enough bowl or pan and then cover the chicken with your chosen marinade or soaking liquid. Then cover and refrigerate until it’s ready.
Step 2
Get the toaster oven preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. If your appliance has cooking options then opt for “Bake”. Make sure that the baking tray is left out of the oven. You’ll need that in a bit.
Step 3
While the toaster oven is heating up, coat the chicken. We like to use Italian breadcrumbs or create your own coating or cornmeal, salt, pepper, paprika or garlic. Feel free to season to taste, though. GET CREATIVE and HAVE FUN. Coat evenly on all sides and set it aside.
Step 4
Taking the toaster oven cooking tray, line it with aluminum foil and then it spray it with the cooking spray. (You can find organic cooking spray these days and it’s great!)
Step 5
Now, take the chicken breasts and arrange them on the tray. Lightly coat or brush the chicken with the olive oil. This will give additional assistance in ensuring the chicken doesn’t dry out.
Step 6
This chicken breast should take about 40 to 45 minutes to get done in the toaster oven. Some toaster ovens have a built-in meat probe to tell the precise internal temp of the chicken breast. If yours doesn’t have this feature then use an independent meat thermometer. The internal temp should be at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you enjoyed this recipe! Check out our article teaching you how to make the best tasting steak on a panini maker!
