Short of “Poaching,” “Baked Chicken Breasts” is often relegated to one of the most tragic ways to prepare chicken. Baked Chicken Breast can be downright offensive as it is often guilty of violating two major flavor crimes: a dried out, 2 dimensional texture and a lackluster amount of flavor. Though it’s simpler than pan-frying and uses less fat, baked in the oven seems a death sentence to most “healthy” foods. How to solve these two issues in one? Bread those bad boys!

Za’atar is a spice blend that is rising in popularity in the western world, but still maintains its charm of being a cult-like blend in the spice world that the phrase “if you know, you know” applies to (we know). Being easily a few thousand years old Za’atar has a major cultural presence as much as it does a culinary one all over the Middle Eastern region. This blend shares its name with an herb native to that region that is similar to oregano or thyme (our blend uses thyme) and also has a strong nutty flavor from lots of sesame seeds. This blend lends tons of flavor to a simple dredge that Chef Jeff lightened up again by using a combination of whole eggs and egg whites, which yielded the same results as a regular breading but is an easy way to knock out some calories from something that is impossible to notice.

Baked on a pretty high heat 425 degrees Fahrenheit, these chicken breasts reached an internal temperature of 165* in around 25 minutes, which was perfectly timed to have the chicken baked and allowed to rest to in the same amount of time to whip up a pot of Lemon Rice to serve with it!