My MIYM Chicken has got to be one of my all time favorite dinner ideas. Why? Melt In Your Mouth Chicken is an EASY chicken recipe and packs so much flavor into tender chicken breasts. My family devours this recipe.
We eat more chicken recipes in our house than any other meat for sure. Chicken enchiladas, crack chicken, shredded chicken …the list goes on and on. And real talk, chicken nuggets are basically the perfect food…soooo. Chicken is just an easy starting point for dinner, and you only need a few ingredients to make it completely different every night you use it! Today we’re making “Melt In Your Mouth” chicken, which is basically ultra-tender chicken breasts that are full of flavor and served with cheese.
Why You’ll Love Melt In Your Mouth Chicken
- This is hands-down one of my most popular recipes ever. I’ve been making it for over a decade and still get emails from people who can’t believe how good it is with so little effort.
- Made with sour cream. My mom used to make this with mayo, but I always thought it was a bit much. There is a fine line with mayo in my opinion. Anyhow, to sideline that whole debate, I use sour cream in my recipe, which seems to make everyone happy. Sour cream also tenderizes the chicken breasts, so you end up with these incredibly juicy and flavorful cuts of chicken on your plate. So good!
- Prep takes five minutes, tops. Stir, spread, bake. That’s it. And if you’re feeling extra, broil it for a few minutes at the end to get that golden cheesy top.
- Picky-eater approved. The flavors are mild, cozy, and somehow just work for everyone—this one’s been a winner with even the pickiest people in my house.
What You’ll Need
The prep time on this Melt In Your Mouth Chicken Recipe is literally minutes. Here’s a quick look at what you’ll need along with my notes. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for a printable list.
- Boneless Chicken Breasts: Here’s the deal with chicken breasts, the thinner they are, the faster they bake. I prefer a more “medium” sliced breast, so not ultra thin, but not thick. Be sure to adjust your bake time based on the thickness of your breast.
- Sour Cream: This adds moisture to your chicken. You can sub in Plain Greek Yogurt or mayonnaise in its place.
- Parmesan Cheese: I love using Parmesan Cheese in this dish because it packs a lot of flavor punch. You can absolutely use another type of cheese, but I would recommend using one that is slightly sharper, like a Gruyere, an Extra Sharp Cheddar, or Asiago.
- Seasonings: This is where you can get creative and adapt the recipe to accommodate all the picky eaters in your life! The recipe is written with classic seasonings like garlic powder and seasoned salt, but you can use tons of spices to switch it up! Make it Tex-Mex and use Cumin, make it with a little Italian flair and add Basil or Italian Seasoning, or even add some smoked paprika and cayenne pepper to add a little smoke and heat! I love chicken recipes like this that are so easily adaptable!
How to Make Melt In Your Mouth Chicken
Ok, let’s get cooking! Here’s how to make this super easy chicken recipe:
- Prep your tools. Preheat your oven to 375F. Coat a 9×13 baking dish with PAM and set aside.
- Prepare the MIYM mix. In a medium bowl combine the sour cream, garlic powder, seasoned salt, pepper and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Add the MIYM mix to your chicken. Put the chicken breasts into your prepared pan in a single line, then spread the MIYM mix on top of them. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese.
- Bake. This chicken recipe cooks in 25-30 minutes.
- Broil. I like to broil the chicken for 2-3 minutes, just until they brown a bit on top.
- Serve!
Tips for Success
- Want to prep it in advance? You can do everything up to baking the chicken the day before. Just keep the prepared chicken in the fridge, covered with saran wrap, until you’re reading to bake it. Remove the plastic wrap and continue with the rest of the recipe.
- How can I tell the chicken is done? The answer here is based on the thickness of the chicken you use. If your chicken breasts are trimmed thin, they will bake faster than a thick chicken breast. You bake the chicken until the juices run clear, but if you’re concerned about the doneness, use a meat thermometer and bake until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- What happens if there is a lot of liquid in the pan? This is a very common issue with all baked chicken recipes. Chicken naturally releases juices as it is cooked, and since you’re baking this in a dish, those liquids have no place to go, except for…well…the baking dish. You don’t notice it as much when you are pan frying chicken because of the high pan temperature, the liquid evaporates quickly, but in an oven at 350°F, it won’t evaporate fast. But don’t worry, it’s completely normal! Just drain the liquid, it will be fine! You can drain the liquid before or after you pop it under the broiler.
Serving Suggestions
This recipe is a keeper! I enjoy serving it with my Homemade Egg Noodles on the side when I have the time to make them. But here are a few more options:
How to Store and Reheat
- Store in the fridge: Once cooled, pop the leftovers in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: Warm it up in the microwave or oven until heated through. If you’re using the oven, cover it with foil so the top doesn’t get too brown.
- Can I freeze it? I don’t really recommend it—sour cream doesn’t always freeze great and can get a little weird when it thaws. Fresh is best with this one.
Melt In Your Mouth Chicken
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 6-8 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
A retro/nostalgic & easy MIYM (Melt In Your Mouth) chicken recipe that is in constant rotation in my house!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 3 pounds boneless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream, garlic powder, seasoned salt, pepper, and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Place the chicken breasts evenly into the pan. Spread the sour cream mixture on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Turn the oven to broil and place the pan under the broiler for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned on top.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheat on microwave or in oven at 350°F for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 321
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 642.2 mg
- Fat: 12.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.2 g
- Protein: 46.1 g
- Cholesterol: 145 mg
Want To Save This Recipe?
Find more recipes like this:
PIN for later:
Tried this tonight…..sprinkled a little panko at the end under the broiler…..nice taste and very easy. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing – and amazingly easy. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts because I like them better.
Great idea! I will try that for sure!
Homemade chipwiches <3
Do you cover the chicken while you place in oven?
Nope!
Hello! 🙂 I was just wondering were you get your chicken breast? In the pictures the chicken breast look smaller than normal.
I trimmed mine into pieces that are about 6 ounces each or so!
Wish I would have known to cut them small. I used full size chicken breast and it took over an hour….
Yep, it’s useful to know that the chicken breasts are cut to 6oz portions. I ran into a timing issue the first time I tried using full-sized breasts… I should have realized there was NO way they’d cook in 25 min, but I tried (and failed) anyway. Now I know!
Made this for dinner. Super easy and yummy a
Excellent – just made this for dinner and all thumbs up in this household. Thanks Shelly!
How strong is the sour cream taste? Have you ever tried subbing in Greek Yogurt?
I’d like to know this as well! I sub plain greek yogurt for sour cream a lot on Mexican dishes so I would think it would work well here.
You could sub Greek yogurt, or mayo!
Wow what a recipe I made this tonight and loved the flavor! I’d suggest slicing the chicken horizontally to get thinner pieces. I had thicker pieces of chicken and they were tougher and took longer to bake. I’ll definitely be making this again!
How about cream cheese?
Sure!
have done it with cream cheese since didn’t have sour cream and it was great!!
Hey Pete, I tried this recipe with greek yogurt and it was amazing! I did substitute the garlic powder for actual chopped garlic and added old bay seasoning. Also, I found a great shredded cheese blend at my local Publix with Parmesan. It was great to use as a stuffing for my baked mushrooms too.
Those substitutes sound very delicious
I’m going to try your version!
Hi Shelly, Wow! This looks amazing! How many does it serve?
I’d say about 6-8 depending on how hungry your family is!
my family of 3 gobbled all but 1 piece down. 1 person got it for lunch.
The email link for this recipe doesn’t work. It went to 504 page.
That’s super strange! I just checked my email link and it appears correct. I will look into it, thank you!
What else would I serve with this dish
We serve it with a green vegetable and dinner rolls usually! You could serve it over a salad, or a salad on the side, and with some rice, or potatoes!
I just made this and it truly is melt in your mout! I didn’t have any sour cream and didn’t want to use all mayo and I didn’t have plain yogurt, so I improvised! Used 1/2 mayo with the top of a blueberry flavored Greek yogurt and it was fabulous with your seasoning suggestions. I also added a T of honey!
Oh what a great sweet spin on it!! Love those ideas!
I made this chicken receipe the other night, except I served it over Butter and Parmesan Noodles. It was delicious, everyone loved it.
Made tonight for first time,served with augraten potatoes, green beans and roll, absolutely loved this dish, will make again. Best of all, I usually keep these ingredients in home.