Serve a 5-minute delicious, easy, and healthy dinner with these Dump-and-Bake Basil Chicken Breasts!
Serve a 5-minute delicious, easy, and healthy dinner with these Dump-and-Bake Basil Chicken Breasts! The tender, juicy chicken cooks in a flavorful white wine, Dijon, and fresh basil sauce for a versatile, low-calorie, and high-protein weeknight meal!
Humble chicken breasts get a major upgrade in this fancy-tasting dinner that’s perfect for your laziest days!
Trust me, friends…the secret is in the sauce…
White wine and Dijon mustard give the meat a rich, sophisticated flavor; a touch of honey adds an underlying sweetness; and plenty of herbs lend a fresh zip to this simple meal!
While the basil chicken breasts seem fancy enough to serve at your next dinner party, they can also be whisked together in about 5 minutes for a quick last-minute dish.
Keep it simple, keep it easy, and enjoy a fresh, healthy, and satisfying twist on your regular chicken breasts for dinner!
What to serve with Basil Chicken Breasts:
Here are a few great options that go well with the baked chicken:
- Pasta tossed in olive oil, butter or pesto sauce
- Rice
- Crusty loaf of French bread to soak up any extra pan sauce
- A simple green salad dressed with Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Southern Squash Casserole
More baked chicken breast recipes that you might enjoy:
- Dump-and-Bake Bruschetta Chicken
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken and Mushrooms
- Golden Baked Chicken Breasts
- 5-Minute Honey French Baked Chicken Breasts
Dump-and-Bake Basil Chicken Breasts
Serve a 5-minute delicious, easy, and healthy dinner with these Dump-and-Bake Basil Chicken Breasts!
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- 1 ½ - 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
- Optional garnish: additional chopped fresh basil or parsley
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray an 11 x 7-inch baking dish (or any similar size that accommodates your chicken in a single layer) with cooking spray and set aside.
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In a small bowl, whisk together wine, olive oil, Dijon mustard, basil, garlic, honey, Italian seasoning, and salt.
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Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the prepared baking dish.
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Pour sauce over the chicken and toss to make sure that each piece of chicken is well coated.
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Bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F. Baste with pan sauce periodically while the chicken is cooking.
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Be sure to spoon plenty of the sauce over the chicken before serving! Garnish with additional fresh herbs, if desired.
Recipe Notes
* I use 5 small chicken breasts that total 24 ounces. The small chicken breasts only require about 30 minutes in the oven. If you use much thicker, larger chicken breasts, you might have to increase the cooking time to about 45-50 minutes.
Cooking Just for Two? Cut the ingredients in half and prepare the chicken in a smaller dish, according to the same cooking instructions.
Want to Prep Ahead? You can put together the entire dish, cover it, and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. The chicken will marinate in the sauce before baking and it will taste delicious!
I just put this in my oven and it already smells great. I really don’t know what to serve on the side though. I guess I’ll go with buttered broad noodles and some fresh corn… suggestions?
Hi, Pat! Don’t worry — just about anything will go nicely with this dish! In the post, I noted that the entree pairs perfectly with rice, couscous, buttered noodles, pesto pasta, or just a hearty loaf of crusty bread for soaking up the pan sauce. So your idea for buttered broad noodles sounds wonderful. I often add a green salad for veggies, but broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, peas, or anything else that you enjoy would work too!
Ok, here’s the deal… Its Saturday morning, too early for an appetite, and reading this recipe has me drooling… I cant wait, I gotta go wipe my chin, get my shoes, run to the grocer, get back, & whip up this recipe NOW… Gotta go… NOW…
Oh, I’m so excited for you to enjoy them! 🙂
Making this for dinner with fresh basil ???? from my garden, and fresh broccoli also from my garden. Serving steamed red potatoes. Hoping everyone loves it????
Wonderful, Brenda! I bet it will be delicious! Lucky you that you’ve got so much fresh produce already! Enjoy. 🙂
This is a pretty easy and delicious recipe. I served it with baked potato and my kids loved it.
Thank you for sharing, Blair!
Thank you, Diana!
I’m having troubles with my oven right now, do you think this would cook well in a slow cooker?
Yes! I think it would work well in the slow cooker. I usually find that 4-6 hours on LOW is perfect for large boneless chicken breasts. If the meat is smaller, it might only need 3-4 hours so that it doesn’t dry out. 🙂
Thank you Blair! This recipe is easy and delicious. Definitely a keeper!!
Thanks, Diana! I’m so glad that you liked it! 🙂
This is an absolutely delicious dish! Looking for something different, I googled ‘chicken breasts and fresh basil’ and this was the first recipe. Just what I wanted – a quick and easy dish. The leftovers will go over linguine tomorrow night. Thank you for sharing this!
Wonderful! Thank you, Barbara!
This was seriously amazing. Full disclosure, I ommited the honey, because I was out of it. Instead I added a half teaspoon of sugar..which was probably pointless lol. Also, I only used about 2/3 of the mustard, because I was unsure of it. Next time, I will use the full amount.
Having said all that, this was one of the top 5 things I have ever cooked. I served it over fettucine and shaved parmesan on top. I only wish I had made extra sauce. (I had a pesto alfredo for the noodles, but swapped it for what sauce I could scrape from the pan…it was seriously that good!)
Yay! I’m so glad that you liked it, Amanda! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
This recipe was delicious! So much flavor! New favorite!
Awesome! Thanks, Emily!
Like an earlier commenter, I found this recipe when I did a web search for ‘chicken and basil,’ since I have an abundance of the latter in my garden. I made the recipe exactly as written and the entire family loved it. I will definitely make it again and I am also going to try using the marinade on salmon to see how that works. What a great dish! Thank you for sharing this.
I’m so glad that you found my site, Brian! Thanks for your note and for your kind words!
I’m so excited. My newbie gave me some fresh basil out of her garden. I was going to have chicken tonight anyway. I looked up chicken and basil recipes and voila. It sounds and smells wonderful. Serving with noodles and a veggie.
Just got home from vacation and the easy appealed to me. The house smells divine.
Thank you!
Wonderful! I’m glad that you could find an easy and fresh option on your first night back from vacation. Thanks, Kathy!
Hello!
This sounds delicious! I have been wanting to look for a way to use more of our basil plant! Is there something i can substitute the white wine or chicken broth for? I don’t have either at home right now and trying to use up things before we leave for a trip!
Hi, Claire! That’s tough, because 1/2 cup is enough that you’ll probably not want to sub with something like water (no flavor), lemon juice, or vinegar (too tangy and strong). Do you have chicken bouillon? Or any other type of broth (like vegetable or beef)? You need a liquid, but not something that’s too strong in flavor, or it will overpower the rest of the dish.
I’m making this tonight with wilted garlic spinach and wild rice. The mixture tastes great and I have it marinating for 3 hrs.
Perfect! Enjoy, Keri!
Oh my goodness! This was so delicious! I made one minor change as I didnt have dijon mustard, I used a gourmet honey mustard I had on hand. Just omitted the honey. And I served the chicken with Rotini noodles coated in the sauce and crisp salad on the side. Family Loved it ❤
Wonderful! Thanks, Pennie! 🙂
I don’t have any mustard except the yellow stuff. Could I use mustard powder. Or anything else?
Hi, Becky! If you like the flavor of the yellow mustard, you could use that. I wouldn’t use the mustard powder, because the mustard helps to emulsify/thicken the sauce (which wouldn’t be the case with the powder).
I am trying this tonight. Have you ever cooked it with potatoes in it or vegetables?
Hi, Tess! I haven’t, but I bet it would work well. There is plenty of sauce in the dish by the end of the baking time, so it would be more than enough to coat any veggies that you put in the pan as well. If you’re using something like potatoes that requires a longer baking time, I would put it in the dish at the beginning. More delicate veggies (like frozen peas or string beans) won’t need as long, so you can add them closer to the end.
Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Thank you so much for the response. We tried it and it was delicious!! I doubled the sauce so I had extra for veggies and potatoes. Yummy
Yay! That’s great — I’m so glad that it worked well for you! Thanks for taking the time to come back here and let me know. 🙂
I usually never post but this recipe is AMAZING. Highly highly recommend
Thank you, Elyse! I appreciate you taking the time to come back here and leave a note. 🙂
I did this for the first time today. I had to replace the wine for chicken broth though. It was a very tasty meal but a little salty for me, so next time, because I’m definitely doing this one again, with the white wine. Can’t wait to try it again.
Thanks, Deborah!
This was delicious. Thank you! I had larger chicken breasts so I sliced those into cutlets. After salt and pepper, I gave the breasts a light flour dredge and browned in the pan. Then I deglazed the pan with a bit more white wine before adding sauce and baking the chicken for 25 minutes. My family loved this recipe and I’ll definitely make it again.
Sounds amazing, Jana! Thanks for taking the time to leave a note. 🙂
Loved this! I’ve made it twice with fresh Thai basil since that’s what I had and it was delicious both times. I used about 2 lbs of chicken breast tenderloins, marinated about 30 minutes per side, and slightly reduced the baking time. Unlike many baked chicken recipes, this one came out moist and tender. As a sober person, I also appreciate that the recipe works really well with broth instead of wine. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!
Thanks, Shannon! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe. I need to remember to make it again soon — it’s definitely basil season! 🙂
I never write a review, but this was so darn good. I substituted 3 parts apple juice with one part red wine vinegar. I think the taste is far better than white wine. It has the sweetness along with the tang. My husband even commented how good it was, and he doesn’t usually comment….ever! I also used chicken thighs. Breasts are too dry.
Thanks, Carol! I appreciate your note, and I’m so glad that you enjoyed the meal. Your changes sound delicious!