This easy yogurt-marinated chicken recipe makes the most flavorful baked chicken ever. Tender, juicy, and coated with a crunchy golden crust, this simple chicken breasts recipe is a winning dinner idea!
I love no-fuss dinner ideas that deliver big on flavor. In fact, this yogurt-marinated chicken is exactly what you need on a busy weeknight when all you really want is a delicious meal everyone will devour. This recipe makes the most flavorful chicken breasts, thanks to my easy yogurt marinade with garlic and thyme. You can start with marinating the chicken breasts in the morning, then bread them and pop them in the oven when you get home after work. The end result is ultra-tender chicken that’s juicy on the inside and perfectly crunchy on the outside.
Why We Love This Yogurt-Marinated Chicken
- Easy. Simple pantry ingredients, a baking pan, and an oven are all you’ll need to make these chicken breasts. There’s nothing complicated or fussy about this recipe!
- Perfect for meal prep. Since the chicken is marinated for hours, it’s the perfect make-ahead meal.
- Goes with many sides. These golden, baked chicken breasts go with so many sides: mashed cauliflower, roasted veggies, cucumber salad; you name it. I’ve shared some of my favorite ideas below.
What Does the Yogurt Marinade Do?
- The marinade takes just a few minutes to put together and does a couple of things to your chicken; the acidity of the yogurt helps to tenderize the meat, making it more tender and juicy. It also infuses the chicken with tangy flavor and moisture, resulting in succulent baked chicken.
- In addition to the yogurt marinade, we will pound the chicken before marinating it. This further tenderizes the meat by breaking down the muscle fibers. It also ensures that your chicken cooks evenly in less time.
How to Make Yogurt Marinated Chicken
Are you ready to make this easy chicken dinner? Here’s a quick overview. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for step-by-step instructions and the full ingredients list.
- Make the yogurt marinade. It comes together in a snap.
- Marinate the chicken. I recommend marinating it for a few hours, but as little as one hour works. You have to give the yogurt time to work its magic!
- Add the panko breading and bake. The chicken is done when light golden and when the juices run clear if you pierce it with a knife. It should register 165˚F with an instant-read thermometer.
This is a serious, melt-in-your-mouth chicken dinner. I can’t even begin to tell you how often this appears on our table. It goes with many different side dishes too, so you can serve leftovers again later in the week and just switch up what you serve with it.
Serving Suggestions
- Salad. I love serving these chicken breasts with crunchy Green Goddess salad or Jennifer Aniston’s Bulgur Salad.
- Veggies. These grilled veggies with halloumi are incredibly good with chicken. You also can’t go wrong with crispy air fryer potatoes or creamy mashed turnips.
- Pasta. You can slice up these breaded chicken breasts and serve them on top of pasta! I love this Mediterranean Baked Feta Pasta with chicken as well as this Creamy Garlic Butter Pasta with Spinach.
More Chicken Recipes
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Broccoli Pasta
- Easy Baked Chicken Breasts
- Chicken Taco Soup
- Italian Dressing Chicken
Yogurt Marinated Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (4 chicken breasts total)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, or your favorite blend of fresh herbs
- ¼ cup panko crumbs
Instructions
- Lightly pound chicken just enough to even it out; do not pound it thin.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine garlic, yogurt, and thyme; mix until combined.
- Pour the yogurt mixture over the chicken; mix around until the chicken is thoroughly coated.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
- Grease a baking dish/pan with cooking spray.
- Remove the chicken from the bowl and shake off any excess; discard the yogurt mixture.
- Transfer the chicken breasts to the baking pan.
- Sprinkle panko bread crumbs over the chicken breasts.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to check for doneness; chicken is cooked through when its internal temperature registers at 165˚F.
- Remove from oven and let stand for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Serve.
Notes
- Ideal for Meal Preparation: The long marinade time makes this chicken perfect for prepping meals ahead of time.
- Versatile Pairings: Pair these golden, baked chicken breasts with a variety of sides, be it mashed cauliflower, roasted vegetables, or a salad.
- To Store Leftovers in the Fridge: Let the chicken cool to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To Freeze: Place the cooled chicken in an airtight, freezer-safe container and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- To reheat: You can reheat your chicken in the microwave on a plate lined with a paper towel, which will help prevent moisture from building up below your chicken. I recommend reheating single servings in the microwave. You can also reheat your chicken in an oven preheated to 400F for 7 to 10 minutes or until warmed through.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Using Air Fryer with this recipe?
Sure! Air fry at 390˚F for 20 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through the cooking time.
Recipe looks great. I am going to try it. It says 169 calories. Is that per serving? And how much is one serving?
Hi! Hope you’ll like it! ☺️
4 ounces of chicken = 1 serving.
panko is not gluten free so idk why you’re claiming this is a gluten free recipe
I have GF panko in my cupboard; maybe they do to.
I had excess vanilla yogurt so I’m marinating thighs w Moroccan spice, Odobe seasoning and a dash of hot paprika and garlic to counter the vanilla. Fingers crossed for a one pot meal later!
Bone-In Chicken Thighs were on sale today, in preparing, I removed the skin from 4 thighs and slashed the meat to the bone in a couple of places for the marinade to penetrate the meat. Used a generous ½ cup of yogurt, juice of one lemon, at least 6 cloves of garlic (maybe a smidge more to keep the vampires away!), and used McCormick Greek Seasoning which in includes a bit of mint, and finished with salt and pepper. I marinated the thighs for 2 ½ hours, baked off at 350F until chicken temp with a probe thermometer reached 160 degrees F. Removed from the oven and let the dish ‘rest’ for 5 minutes or so while mixing the salad. Temperature on the thighs came up to 165, safe for serving and was nóstimos (Greek for delicious!). Accompanied with your recommended rice and a nice Greek Salad with feta, kalamata olives, and dressed with a lemon vinaigrette using a fruity olive oil..
Why even post here when you didn’t make the recipe as written?
Can I make this with cherry flavored yogurt? I don’t have any plain.
Hi!
Well, if you don’t mind cherry-flavored chicken, sure, go right ahead. 😊
How can this possibly be only 3 WW points!?!?!?! When I was in turkey I remember a friend marinading chicken in yogurt. This was absolutely delicious and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
Can I leave out the breadcrumbs?????
Sure, but it will be without that bit of crunch 😀
The chicken was tender and delicious! I did add onion quarters and lime slices. I devoured it with rice! Thank you.
I really love yogurt but I ‘ve never tried it with chicken before.So I made it last week. So delicious :).
This is the perfect combination. Thanks for sharing.
had something this past week that was just about like this. My friend said to look it up online and this is what I found. I’ve babied the chicken all afternoon and will be ready to bake it in about 2 hours. I expect it to be just about what I’m looking for. I’m serving fresh summer squash with it…
WAAAYYYY TOO MUCH GARLIC. ANYONE ELSE???
Nope! We loved it with 6 cloves of garlic and ours were large cloves too.
Hi Katerina!
Your recipe of Garlic Yogurt Baked Chicken looks amazing! i have already bought chicken thighs not breasts though.. so think they would work out with the recipe? Also it calls for yogurt but it doesn’t say if its greek or not..any recommendations? Thank you!!
Hi
Looking forward to trying this at the weekend, however, may sound a stupid question but what did you serve this with? I’m unsure between rice or potatoes?
Thanks Mel
x
Hi Mel! I almost always serve it with rice and a big salad on the side. 😀
that sounds interesting. could i get your big salad recipe? I think I’ve perfect the garlic chicken . 🙂
Ok maybe it was just one or two cloves two many garlic. anyone else?? pls don’t delete me
Flavors were fantastic! Super easy. One of our new favorites. Would love to add the sliced lemon, did you cook on top or bake separately? Thanks!!!!
I messed up, lol. My chicken breasts have been marinating all day but now I just realized I used 4 whole chicken breasts instead of the halves. So they’ve been marinating in half the marinade required (I was wondering why it barely seemed to cover the surface of them) and they’ll probably cook all strangely, too. Sigh.
I guess I’ll just double the cooking time and panko crumbs and hope for the best.
OH! haha 🙂 It might not take double the time to cook, but I hope that the marinade will be enough and the chicken won’t be dry! Let me know! Fingers crossed, it will be amazing! 😀
I tried lowering the temperature to 350 and went up to a cooking time of an hour. It may need to cook longer than that but I hope the lower temperature will keep it from drying out as badly. I will let you know how it turns out!
It turned out okay, but it definitely would have been tastier with less chicken! 😀 Can’t wait to make it again the right way!! Thanks for the awesome recipe. Went great with panko-parmesan-zucchini crisps!
Stumbled across your site and this recipe while searching for a split pea soup recipe, of all things. [It was in a side-bar link.] This looks so good, I wish I could make it tonight! Unfortunately, no yogurt in the house. But this will be made and devoured soon, I promise! With some herb-seasoned rice and a nice, big green salad on the side, this will make a great meal.
I noticed that you cooked it with carrots and ? is that orange or lemon slices?
Hi Joann! Yes, those are lemon slices, I also added some sliced carrots and red onions… mostly for color, but they taste great, too! 🙂
Hi!
I had my heart set on making this (Garlic-Yogurt Chicken) tonight but missed the part about having to refrigerate 4- hours before cooking. Is that a requirement? I can place in fridge for about an hour only. If that wont work, ill have to make it another night.
Thanks for your help. Your site is fantastic!
XX
Jessica
Hi Jessica!! So, if you allow it to marinade, the flavors will be deeper and more distinct. If you can let it sit for at least one hour, then I’d go ahead and make it. It’s delicious no matter what! 😉 THANK YOU!!
Can it marinate overnight?
Hi Jo! Chicken can get mushy if left in marinades too long so a couple of hours is enough… overnight can be too much.
I need to try this recipe, saving it for later!
Diana.
Hi Diana!! Yes, it’s really, really good! I hope you have a chance to try it!
Amazing! Seriously I’ve already made this recipe and just checked to see if I can cook with yoghurt and I can’t believe I’ve cooked it with the exact same ingredients! This doesn’t happen to me often and just wanted to say thanks for.the reassurance. 🙂
The garlic yogurt chicken recipe was so easy and yummy. Thank you so much for sharing.
That’s great!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Looks delicious and i am gonna try this out today, Hope it will look delicious as your dish looks.
I made this tonight and it was so good! My boyfriend liked it a lot, too, even though we got a little thyme’d-out a few months ago–this was a great way to bring thyme back into our cooking! I didn’t put any garnish in with the chicken; I just baked it alone with the bread crumbs (regular, not panko), and then I squirted a little lemon juice on top when I took them out of the oven. Delicious–thanks so much for sharing!! 🙂
YAY! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! Thank you! And I’m lovin’ the “thymed-out”!! hahaha 🙂
Made this for dinner last night and had to use two substitutes: greek yogurt and regular breadcrumbs as this was what I had in stock. Came out great, only I would suggest that if using regular bread crumbs to use half of a 1/4 cup suggested for the panko because mine didn’t seem get the “look” like the ones pictured here. Delicious meal and my husband LOVED it.
That is great, Ruthy!!! I am SO happy you all enjoyed it! THANK YOU!
What is the spice sprinkled over the lemon?
Thanks! Looks amazing!
HI! Sometimes, to make the photo work, I start throwing things on there to add contrast, color, etc… SO, I’m thinking it’s probably a bit of red paprika? 🙂
Can I use a different brand name bread crumbs? I have Progresso Italian Style bread crumbs in my house… Or will that throw the flavor off?
Hi Jaclynn! Yes, you can definitely use those bread crumbs – it will still taste just as good.
Bone in chicken breasts? Or boneless?
Hi Laurie! That would be, boneless. 🙂
So do you mean two whole chicken breasts cut into four halves or four whole chicken breasts cut into eight halves? I’m trying to double the recipe
Hi Michaela!
Yes, two whole chicken breasts cut in half. And, yes, double it – the more, the better! 😉 ENJOY!
I made this for dinner. Wow!! Loaded with flavor. I did use Greek yogurt & dried thyme as that is what I had on hand. May cut back 5 min on cooking time, otherwise very happy. Extremely flavorful even my 4 yr old asked for seconds 🙂
Hi Katerina, just made this for dinner along side Foxes love lemons loaded potatoes recipe and salad. It was amazing. The thyme in it brought everything together nicely. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Gorgeous, girl!! This needs to go on my menu plan. 🙂
Are those oranges or lemons? And how long do you cook the veggies and citrus? Skinless chicken? Looks great!
Hi! Yes, the chicken is skinless. The citrus is actually slices of lemon. Put everything in at the same time – together with the chicken breasts. Roasted veggies are the best! 🙂 Let me know how it goes! Have a great day!!
I love it, we’re preparing it tonight!
ENJOY!! 🙂
So yum looking, and your food photography is exceptional.
I love marinating chicken in yogurt… it’s way to tenderize the meat. 🙂 Looks yummy. 🙂
We stuffed our faces with enchiladas on V-Day. Best. V-Day. Ever! I fell in love with this dish as soon as I saw it float across my Pinterest page. It looks rustic and comforting.
I’ve tried this garlic-yogurt chicken Kate.
It’s delicious!
Thanks!
Kate, only you can make chicken look sexy. You slay me woman. This is spectacular.
Yum! It’s not easy to make chicken look pretty – you pull it off brilliantly.
This chicken is perfection, just what I need in my life!
This chicken looks absolutely fantastic!
This looks great! Do you use Greek yogurt ?
Hi Zelda! That’s too thick … I just use plain yogurt. The brand I use is “Dannon”. Hope that helps!
Baked lemons do me in every time. These photos are gorgeous!
One peek and this dish needs to be mine. I can only imaging how flavorful this chicken is.
This is stunning! This chicken and that Black Magic cake of yours would be my ideal meal!
Gosh, that’s a perfect meal for anytime of the day or week. Love it.
Not very often do I look at something and want to make it immediately but I do right now! That chicken looks purely scrumptious. I can’t wait to feed it to my family.
I love chicken dishes! I have yet to try and bake it in yogurt. Looks amazing, Kate!
I LOVE this!!!
Marinating the chicken in yogurt makes it so moist and tender and combined with the other flavors I am sure this chicken must have been amazing.
I too enjoy chicken, esp. low fat chicken breast. Your baked chicken breast halves look amazing, Kate.
Such a simple yet great looking meal!
Delicious looking chicken. I’ll have to give it a try the next time I’ve got some breasts on hand.