Cooking Frozen Chicken
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Cooking Frozen Chicken in the oven is so easy and does not take as long as you might think. This simple method for cooking chicken from frozen has saved me so many times when I have forgotten to let the chicken thaw in the refrigerator.
This is the best and easiest way I have found to cook chicken from frozen. The chicken always comes out juicy, tender, and flavorful.
Perfect for slicing up and eating on its own, or add it to a simple salad, asiago chicken alfredo, enchiladas, making chicken salad sandwiches, nachos and so much more.
What Ingredients Are Needed for Cooking Frozen Chicken Breasts?
Get those frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer and grab the rest of these simple ingredients to get cooking!!
- frozen chicken breasts– I like to buy the big bags of frozen chicken from Costco, then I can use and cook what I need.
- olive oil– or other mild cooking oil
- butter– unsalted is best, then you can adjust the amount of salt as needed.
- salt
- black pepper
How to Cook Frozen Chicken
The first step to cooking frozen chicken is to take those frozen solid chicken breasts and place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil.
Drizzle or spray olive oil or cooking spray on the foil. I prefer to line my pan with oil because it helps with clean up after these are done cooking and keeps my pan looking nice.
Place the frozen chicken breasts onto the pan, making sure there is about 1/2 to 1 inch between each piece.
Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil and melted butter. Season liberally with salt and pepper. That is it! You are ready to put the chicken in the oven!
How Long to Cook Frozen Chicken in the Oven?
Place your prepared chicken breasts into a 425º F oven. Set your timer initially for 30 minutes.
The thickness of your chicken will really determine how long you will need to cook these frozen chicken breasts.
Whenever I make this recipe, I start with a timer of 30 minutes and then check the internal temperature of the chicken using an instant read thermometer.
The chicken is fully cooked when the thickest part reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF. I highly recommend investing in an instant read thermometer to cook chicken correctly. It helps so you don’t undercook the chicken and make people sick, or even over cook the chicken and dry it out.
After 30 minutes, see what temperature your chicken has reached. If you still need to cook the chicken longer, set your timer for another 5-10 minutes and check the temperature again.
For this recipe I had pretty thick chicken breasts, these took about 45 minutes to cook all the way through.
Can I Refreeze Chicken After it is Cooked?
If you are cooking a lot of chicken that you know you won’t be using soon, you can refreeze the chicken after it has been cooked.
You can keep cooked chicken in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Be sure to tightly wrap the chicken before refreezing to prevent freezer burn.
Cooking Frozen Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 chicken breasts, frozen
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Prepare baking sheet by lining with foil and greasing with olive oil or cooking spray.
- Place chicken on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and melted butter.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper
- Bake chicken for 30-50 minutes depending on thickness. Chicken is done when internal temperature reads 165º F
Video
Nutrition
Post updated April 12, 2024, recipe was not changed.
What to serve with Chicken?
- Garlic Butter Broccoli
- Oven Roasted Cauliflower
- Oven Roasted Vegetables
- Sauteed Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Cooking Frozen Chicken is a lot easier than you might think. Cooking it in the oven makes it tender and juicy. Perfect for meal planning or a simple dinner.
It worked perfectly! I used lemon pepper and Three Little Pigs Texas Beef BBQ Rub instead of salt and pepper.
So happy it turned out so good for you!! Love the seasoning flavors you picked!! Thanks so much for coming back and leaving me a comment! ❤️
Worked wonderfully. Thank you for the post!
I’m so happy it worked out for you! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave me a comment!!
Always love the recipes that give you a base and you can adjust to taste. As a girl who never was taught to cook these recipes let us explore.
Thanks so much!!! It makes me so happy that you are exploring and making the recipes your own!
Oh my goodness I can’t believe how good this turned out from it being so easy! I added garlic powder along with the salt and pepper. Very juicy and loved the drippings to dip the chicken in. I will definitely make this again thank you so very much for this recipe! God bless you!
You are so kind! I’m so happy it turned out so good for you! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave me a comment!
I love that you just tell the basics and don’t story tell while doing recipe it makes reading your recipe so much more convenient and it turned out great I’ve used this recipe a lot actually just change up spices everytime family and friends live it amd I’ve shared it as well thanks xoxo
Thank you so much!! I really am so happy you like this recipe. I made the spices pretty simple in hopes that people would experiment on their own and try their own flavors. Thanks for taking the time to share and leave a comment!
Have always been afraid of cooking chicken breasts from frozen, but finally took the plunge! Thank you!
It’s so easy! Glad you finally gave it a try!!
I just finished making this with Garlic Salt, Lemon Pepper and Onion Powder and it turned out perfect!! I will cook them this way from now on! THANK YOU!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment!! I’m so happy it turned out so good for you! Love the additional spices you added, sounds delicious!!
Just trying this out. Do you need to cover this dish with foil?
The chicken turned out fine but the oil started to smoke. Is there a way around this?
Thanks
Wow, I have never had that happen before. Was your chicken centered in the oven or was it too close to the heat element? Perhaps you should use an oil with a higher smoking point such as canola or avocado.
Seriously how refreshing that you just give the recipe/basics without telling a whole unrelated story I have to scroll through. We are all so busy! This was great, what a TIMESAVER! On every level! Thank you!
OH … MY …. GOSH… This worked!! My chicken came out delicious & tender & as I told my friend, this tip I believe is so game-changing, it could have potentially saved my marriage!! It makes life that much easier!. I have been thawing chicken in the microwave, in bowls of water, in the refrigerator…. FOR DECADES! This cooking method, starting with them frozen made them turn out just fine! I feel like there should be some support group for all of us weathered cooks who’ve been messing around with thawing chicken for years!!
Haha! I love this!! I would totally join that support group because I too have wasted so much time thawing chicken!! I’m so happy you found this recipe helpful!! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave me such a kind comment!