20-Minute Honey Mustard Chicken
I just LOVE this easy recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken! The sweet, tangy pan sauce features two different kinds of mustard, and the whole thing comes together in only 20 minutes in one pan.
Chicken cooked in a skillet with a pan sauce is one of my favorite ways to make a quick and easy meal feel special- any food feels more special (and, frankly, delicious) when you have a delicious sauce to pour over everything!
This honey mustard chicken uses chicken breast cutlets, rather than whole chicken breasts, to cut the cooking time down to only 10 minutes and ensure even cooking.
They’re seared in a skillet in oil before making a simple honey mustard pan sauce in the same skillet, deglazing the pan with chicken broth and stirring in butter (because, yum), whole grain AND dijon mustard, and honey.
Then, the chicken is coated in the delicious honey mustard sauce and served. Here’s how I did it!
What are Chicken Breast Cutlets, and why should I use them?
Chicken breast cutlets are, essentially, whole chicken breasts that have been cut in half horizontally. They’re half as thin as whole breasts, making them easier to cook quickly.
Usually, you can find chicken breast cutlets already cut at your store. But you can easily make your own if you prefer by just cutting a whole breast in half! They’re often marked up in price if you buy them pre-cut.
I used chicken breast cutlets for this recipe because: a) I wanted a leaner meat, since the pan sauce already had olive oil and butter in it, and b) because they cooked up super fast, making this a really fast and easy recipe.
You can use chicken thighs if you prefer. Dark meat takes longer to cook than white, so allow for a few extra minutes of cooking time for boneless, skinless thighs. If you want to use bone-in, skin-on thighs, sear them skin-side down in the skillet, flip, and finish cooking them in the oven before making the pan sauce.
You can also use whole breasts for this recipe- finish baking them in the oven or, after searing them on both sides, add a little chicken broth to the skillet, cover, and turn the heat down a bit to let them finish cooking. You may also want to pound them to be an even thickness, since it’s hard to uniformly cook chicken breasts.
What is a pan sauce, and how do I make one?
A pan sauce is, um, a sauce made in a pan.
Haha but more specifically, it’s usually made in a pan after searing meat in the same pan. When you sear the chicken, parts of it will stick to the pan. This may stress out out, especially if you hate doing dishes, but have no fear… all those stuck-on bits will come off when you make the pan sauce!
After you’re done cooking the chicken, remove it to a plate. What’s left in the pan will be little stuck-on bits of chicken, intensely flavored with salt and pepper.
Then, you’ll deglaze the pan. Often, wine is used to deglaze, but in this recipe I used chicken broth (white wine would be great, too!). Just add the liquid in- it will sizzle a lot. Then, use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits at the bottom.
Then, reduce the liquid in the pan by letting it simmer for a little. It will thicken and the flavor will become more concentrated.
For this honey mustard pan sauce, you’ll add some butter, whole grain mustard, dijon mustard, and honey. Then, add the chicken back in and spoon the sauce on top! YUM.
I served this honey mustard chicken with mashed cauliflower. It would be great with rice, or mashed potatoes, or noodles- anything to soak up that delicious sauce!
And if you happen to have any leftovers, the chicken is great served cold cut up in a salad.
Other chicken and pan sauce recipes
- Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms
- Chicken Piccata with Lemon Butter Caper Sauce
- Crispy Honey Buffalo Chicken Thighs
Other easy chicken recipes:
- Two-Ingredient Crispy Oven Baked BBQ Chicken
- 20-Minute Sesame Chicken
- Oven Broiled Tandoori Chicken
- Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
Enjoy!
20-Minute Honey Mustard Chicken
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Ingredients
- 2 lbs. chicken breast cutlets see notes
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 cup chicken stock/broth
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Season both sides of the chicken liberally with the kosher salt and black pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil (2 tablespoons) and swirl to coat. Add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side, until browned on the outside and fully cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Add the chicken broth (1 cup) to the skillet, scraping any stuck-on bits up from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Continue heating over medium-high heat until the liquid has reduced by about half (about 5 minutes)
- Add the butter (2 tablespoons), whole grain mustard (2 tablespoons), dijon mustard (2 tablespoons), and honey (2 tablespoons) to the skillet. Continue heating and stirring until butter has melted and honey and mustards have fully incorporated into the sauce.
- Add the chicken back into the skillet, spooning some of the sauce on top, and heat for another minutes or so.
- Serve the chicken with the sauce on top.
Notes
- You can usually buy chicken breast cutlets at your store, but if you prefer, you can cut a whole breast in half horizontally to make them.
- You can use another kind of chicken cut, such as thighs (boneless or bone-in, skin on) or whole breasts. Keep in mind, thighs can take a little longer to cook because they are dark meat, and whole breasts will also take longer because they are thicker. If you use whole breasts, I recommend either pounding them to a uniform, thinner thickness so they cook evenly, or you can sear them for 3-4 minutes on each side, then turn down the heat, add a little chicken broth, and cover them to finish cooking, in order to keep them more juicy and not overcooked. If you do bone-in, skin on thighs, finish cooking them in the oven after searing them skin-side down before making the sauce.
- For a dairy-free or paleo version, omit the butter or use ghee instead.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Way under on the cook times. I did everything on a wolf range. It’s was under by 3 mins.
Chicken can vary a lot with cooking times depending on thickness and initial temperature and burner temperature and skillet retention of heat and other factors. 3 minutes isn’t “way under” by any standard of cooking chicken. I recommend always using a meat thermometer to double check for doneness, regardless of any recipe instructions that are followed. Hope that helps!
First time using Elizabeth’s recipes. This was super easy and really tasty. Will definitely be making more of Elizabeth’s recipes.
So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks so much :-)
What can I say except “DELICIOUS”. I cut the recipe in half. That’s 2 meals for me.
I sliced a chicken breast in half. Served over rice with vegetables. YUM
Will make again. I will also make with Salmon. Thanks
So glad you liked it! I LOVE the idea of using salmon with it- definitely going to be trying that as well, thanks for the suggestion!