Ina Garten Revealed Her Secret for Getting the Most Moist Chicken In the Oven

You can truly never have enough delicious, easy dinner ideas on hand—especially when they come from the cookbook (literally or metaphorically) of chef, author, and culinary icon Ina Garten.

In the most recent video in her Instagram series “Ask Ina,” Garten walks through how she makes an easy chicken dinner. Specifically, she offers tips on how she keeps her chicken as moist as possible.

“Everyone needs a few dishes you can assemble in 10 minutes, then throw in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes while you drink a glass of wine,” she wrote in her caption. “This is one of my favorite recipes for when I’m too tired to cook but really want a hot meal!”

The meal is simple, but the ingredients bring the flavor: chicken breast with goat cheese and basil. She asks her butcher for boneless chicken breasts with the skin still on. One person commented that they sometimes struggle to find skin-on, boneless chicken breasts, and Garten responded by saying she'd try buying skin-on chicken breasts with the bone and removing the bone herself.

After you've assembled your ingredients and ready to prep, pat some of the moisture off of the chicken with a paper towel, which helps to make sure it browns nicely in the oven, according to Garten.

“So then I’m going to take the skin and separate it from the meat,” she says as she carefully peals the skin back and grabs two slices of goat cheese. “I’m using an herb goat cheese, [but] you can use plain goat cheese if you prefer. Just put it right underneath the skin. [Add in] one basil leaf or two small ones, and just cover it with the skin.”

One person commented that they made the recipe, but instead of buying herb goat cheese, they sauté shallots with rosemary and thyme and mix it with the cheese. While that extra step takes a little more time and effort, you'll be able to taste the difference.

After stuffing the chicken, Garten drizzles it with olive oil and tops it off with salt and pepper. “Lots of salt,” she says. “You want it really well seasoned.”

Cook the chicken in the oven at 375 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes until “it’s just barely done.” The caption instructs letting the chicken rest under foil for 10 minutes after you take it out for maximum moisture.

"When you cut into it, it’s juicy," Garten says after it's rested. "You can see the goat cheese. It’s moist. It’s flavorful. It’s about as easy as dinner gets.”