Baked Chicken. People are always looking for something different to do with baked chicken. Why? Because it just so happens to be a total snooze-fest. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are boring on their own, no matter how perfectly you cook them. Facts are facts: chicken needs a little love when it comes to the flavor department.
Like most things that require a little sprucing up, accessories don’t typically hurt one bit. In this case, we will be dressing up our chicken breasts with sautéed onions and melty Colby Jack cheese. Yes, please. The real beauty of it is that it’s not going to require that much more effort or mess. The onions are sautéed in the same pan that the chicken breasts are seared and baked in, and beyond that, all that’s left is to grate some cheese to top it all off. It’s delicious, it’s easy and it’s anything but boring. Please, enjoy.
For more exciting ways to spruce up your chicken breasts, go to TheAnthonyKitchen.com and click the “Chicken” category.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon + ¼ cup Canola oil, separated
4 teaspoons TAK House Seasoning (recipe at TheAnthonyKitchen.com)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/3 cups Colby Jack cheese, freshly grated
Preheat oven to 350° and have ready a baking dish just large enough to house the chicken breasts.
Add two chicken breasts to a gallon-sized, freezer-safe zip top bag. Press air out of the bag, seal it and using the smooth end of a meat mallet, or a rolling pin, pound out the the chicken breast until it is a ½” thick and of uniform thickness. Remove from the bag, set aside and repeat with remaining chicken breasts. Remove any loose flaps of chicken with a sharp knife and discard, or reserve for another use. Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of Canola oil. Season both sides of each breast with a 1/2 teaspoon of TAK House Seasoning and pat to adhere.
In a large, oven-safe sauté pan, heat a ¼ cup of oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil has come to temperature, add the butter. Immediately after the foaming has resided, add chicken breasts, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Sear 5-6 minutes, without moving or jostling, until it has developed a golden-brown color. Turn and allow to sear on opposite side for about 4-5 minutes more until golden in color as well. Remove from the pan, place chicken in a baking dish and repeat with the two remaining chicken breasts.
Add the onions to the pan and sauté, gently scraping up any browned bits left over from the chicken. Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes, until they begin to take on a dark caramel color. Remove from heat and spoon onions over the chicken breasts. Top each breast with a 1/3 of a cup of cheese, slightly pinching it together as you place it on top. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve.
