Healthy Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

My neighbor Maria told me about this honey mustard chicken recipe in March 2020. We were both standing in our driveways looking exhausted, and she said she'd been making the same chicken three times a week because her kids would actually eat it. I grabbed a pen and she wrote down the basics on the back of a gas station receipt.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

From making this for maybe 70 families in my cooking classes, I know why it works. The Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe doesn't dry out like most baked chicken. The glaze gets sticky and a little crispy on the edges. And when you're tired on a Wednesday, 20 minutes of work is all you can handle. The oven does the rest.

Max eats it without complaining, which matters because he spent six months only wanting chicken nuggets. My friend Sarah makes a double batch every Sunday for her work lunches. The leftovers taste fine cold the next day - I've eaten plenty of this straight from the fridge in a sandwich. And if you forget about it for five extra minutes, it doesn't turn into shoe leather like some recipes do.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Ingredients for Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
• How To Make Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe Step By Step
• Smart Swaps for Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
• Tasty Twists on Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
• Equipment For Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
• Storing Your Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
• Why This Recipe Works
• Top Tip
• My Aunt's Secret Recipe That Changed Everything
• FAQ
• Time to Get Cooking!
• Related
• Pairing
• Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

Ingredients for Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

The Chicken:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Chicken thighs

The Glaze:

• Raw honey
• Dijon mustard
• Whole grain mustard
• Fresh garlic cloves
• Olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Fresh thyme leaves
• Salt and black pepper

Optional Stuff:

• Smoked paprika
• Red pepper flakes
• Fresh rosemary instead of thyme
• Lemon zest

Tools You Need:

• Rimmed baking sheet
• Small bowl for mixing
• Meat thermometer
• Pastry brush or spoon

See recipe card for quantities.

How To Make Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe Step By Step

Get Everything Ready:

• Pat the chicken dry with paper towels
• Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides
• Let it sit on the counter while you make the glaze

Mix the Glaze:

• Whisk honey and both mustards in a bowl
• Smash the garlic and add it in
• Pour in the vinegar
• Drizzle olive oil while you keep whisking
• Taste it - should be tangy and sweet, not just sweet

Bake It:

• Heat oven to 400°F
• Put chicken on a lined baking sheet
• Brush half the glaze on top
• Bake 15 minutes
• Pull it out, brush the rest of the glaze on
• Bake another 10 minutes or until it hits 165°F inside
• Let it rest 5 minutes before cutting

Smart Swaps for Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

Chicken:

• Chicken breasts → Chicken thighs
• Boneless → Bone-in (add 15 minutes)
• Fresh → Rotisserie chicken (skip cooking, just glaze and broil 3 minutes)

Honey:

• Regular honey → Maple syrup
• Raw → Store brand (works fine)
• Light → Dark (stronger flavor)

Mustard:

• Dijon → Spicy brown mustard
• Whole grain → Yellow mustard (less interesting but okay)
• Both → Just Dijon (use more)

For Dairy-Free:

• This recipe has no dairy already

For Gluten-Free:

• Check your mustard label (some have wheat)

Tasty Twists on Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

Spicy Version:

• Add cayenne to the glaze
• Use hot honey
• Throw red pepper flakes on top
• Serve with ranch to cool it down

With Herbs:

• Use rosemary instead of thyme
• Add chopped parsley at the end
• Put lemon zest in the glaze
• Drizzle with garlic butter after baking

Asian Style:

• Add soy sauce to the glaze
• Grate fresh ginger with the garlic
• Sprinkle sesame seeds on top
• Serve over rice

Sheet Pan Dinner:

• Throw baby potatoes on the pan
• Add Brussels sprouts tossed in the glaze
• Everything cooks together
• One pan to wash

Equipment For Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

• Rimmed baking sheet (keeps drips from burning in your oven)
• Small mixing bowl
• Whisk or fork
• Meat thermometer
• Pastry brush (or just use a spoon)

Storing Your Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe

Fridge (3-4 days):

• Let it cool completely first
• Put in an airtight container
• Reheat at 325°F for 10 minutes
• Add a splash of water so it doesn't dry out

Freezer (2 months):

• Cool it down first
• Wrap each piece separately
• Write the date on it
• Thaw in the fridge overnight

Make-Ahead:

• Mix the glaze up to 3 days early
• Keep chicken in the fridge until you're ready
• Don't bake until you want to eat it
• Tastes best fresh

Why This Recipe Works

From making this hundreds of times, here's what's happening. The Dijon mustard has vinegar and heat that stops honey from being too sweet. Whole grain mustard adds those little seed pops you feel when chewing. Apple cider vinegar gives you more acid so the honey doesn't just coat your mouth like syrup. When I first made this, I skipped the vinegar and Max said it tasted like I poured Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe. He wasn't wrong.

The temperature matters more than I thought. At 400°F, the sugars in honey caramelize without burning. Go lower and the chicken cooks before the glaze gets sticky. Go higher and the honey burns to the pan while the inside's still raw. I ruined five baking sheets figuring this out. Two coats of glaze make the difference between dry chicken with sauce and that glossy sticky finish everyone asks about. First coat starts caramelizing, second coat at 15 minutes makes it look like you know what you're doing. Room temperature chicken cooks evenly - cold chicken from the fridge takes longer inside while the outside overcooks.

My Aunt's Secret Recipe That Changed Everything

My aunt taught me the trick that fixed this recipe back in 2016. I'd been making Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe for about a year, and it was fine - people ate it - but nobody asked for seconds. She came over one Tuesday and watched me make it. Didn't say anything until I put the pan in the oven.

"You're not letting the garlic sit in the honey first," she said. Turns out she'd been mincing her garlic and letting it sit in the honey for 10 minutes before adding anything else. The honey pulls out the garlic oils and mellows the sharp bite. When you add the mustard after, everything tastes more rounded instead of like separate ingredients mixed together. She learned this working in a restaurant kitchen in the 80s where they made gallons of honey mustard dressing every morning.

FAQ

Time to Get Cooking!

Now you've got everything for Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe from Maria's fence-line tip to Max's apple juice spill that actually improved it. This works when you're tired on a Wednesday and need something fast that doesn't taste like you gave up.

Want more quick dinners that don't fall apart? Healthy Beef Stroganoff cuts the heavy cream but keeps the flavor. Try our Delicious Jambalaya Recipe when you need one pot to feed everyone. Or make The Best Cabbage Recipe that even vegetable-haters finish Max included.

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Pairing

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