The work aims to investigate the effect of surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) plasma treatment on the microbial inactivation and quality attributes of fresh chicken breasts. The chicken breasts samples were treated with SDBD plasma at 260 W for 2 min and 4 min respectively and then stored at 4 ℃ for up to 12 days. The physicochemical properties of chicken breasts were measured every three days, including the total viable count (TVC), color, pH, drip loss, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) as well as textural parameters. After storage at 4 ℃ for 12 days, the TVC of samples treated with SDBD plasma for 2 min or 4 min increased to 7.16 lg(CFU/g) and 6.70 lg(CFU/g), respectively, lower than the 7.55 lg(CFU/g) of the control samples. In addition, the SDBD plasma treatment also effectively improved the quality attributes of refrigerated chicken breasts, including pH, color (L, a, and b), drip loss, TVB-N content, and textural parameters (such as hardness, springiness, and chewiness), but remarkably promoted the lipid oxidation of chicken breasts. In summary, SDBD plasma treatment has good microbial inactivation for fresh chicken breasts and maintains the quality attributes, which has great application prospects in chicken breast preservation.