“Can we make the chicken for them?” Phoebe whispered in my ear. (And when I say “whispered”, I mean she breathed. Little puffs of inspiration delivered straight to my ears. How can one request be so tickly and so excited all at once?)
Paul’s parents were visiting from Florida and after a disastrous dinner the night before, this was their last night in town. I didn’t even remember the first time we tried this chicken dish but my 5-year-old sure did.
So I made a double batch this time. One to freeze for later, and one for this night.
You never know who she’ll want to make it for again.
What you need:
- chicken thighs or breasts
- olive oil
- mustard (any kind)
- honey
- rosemary
What to serve it with:
- Roasted broccoli, carrot sticks (which double perfectly as baby-friendly finger food) or cauliflower work perfectly since the oven will already be on. Just add the veggies to the oven for the last 15 minutes before you take the chicken out. Then crank up your oven to 450 to finish off the veggies (or use your broiler to get a little carmel color on the edges.)
- And there’s a bit of nice sauce here, perfect for slathering over quinoa, brown rice, cous cous or like we did, tabbouleh. A new dish for the kids with an awesome name to pronounce.
Tip: Don’t dirty a whole bowl just to make the sauce. Set your chicken in the baking pan and mix your sauce in a 1-cup glass measuring cup with a spout. Pour the sauce over the top for convenience with little cleanup.
PrintHoney-Mustard Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2–3 pounds chicken thighs
- Salt
- 2–3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix sauce in a small measuring cup or bowl. Place chicken in a baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then drizzle sauce over the your chicken and pop the rosemary in the pan.
- Bake for about 30 minutes for boneless thighs and 40-45 minutes for thighs with bones.
What do you think? Did you like this recipe? Let us know! I’d love all the details too:
- How many kids do you have?
- How easy was this dish to prepare?
- What did the kids say? Thumbs Up, Middle, or Down?
- Would you make it again?
Looks delicious! We’re going to make one batch and freeze the other. Think thyme would be good? That’s a family favorite.
Yes, absolutely! Use the flavors your family likes best.
For clarification, do you use Dijon mustard or regular ol’ yellow mustard? Thanks! Recipe sounds great!
We’ve used both! I thought the Dijon would be too spicy but it was delicious. The honey canceled out the heat. But I’ve also used plain ol’ yellow and that was great too.
I’m jumping to this post from The Food Network. After we freeze half, what’s the best re-heat method? Thaw then bake like the first time or put in the oven frozen for a certain time? I’m looking to make a handful of freezer meals after not having a kitchen for three years, I feel like I forgot how to cook!!! ;0)
Hello, and welcome!
Thaw it out in the fridge for 24 hours or so and bake it like the first time. That’ll get the best results.
Also, some of your juices might get stuck in the plastic bag (or whatever you used to freeze it), so feel free to add a little more olive oil or a couple tablespoons of water to this second batch. Even a few tablespoons of white wine would be delicious (and will cook completely out).
Good luck!
So new to freezer meals! So do you cook it, freez it, defrost and cook again?
Or do you just mix all ingredients, freez, thaw and cook?
Sorry if it’s a dumb question
No problem! I’m glad you asked. I would put the chicken with the sauce in a zip-top bag or a reusable container and freeze UNCOOKED. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight the night before you want to cook it. Transfer to a baking pan and bake as usual.
Can this be a crockpot meal or do you think oven gives best results? Looking for easy freezer crockpot meals!
Tonight’s dinner- honey mustard chicken. How have I never made anything like this before???? It’s a good thing Chris wasn’t home, because there wouldn’t have been enough! I loved that it was SO EASY to make and my boys love meat, honey and mustard, so we’ll, that was an easy sell. They ate 3 servings! God help me when they’re teenagers! Obviously, this dinner was 3 thumbs up! Thanks!!!
Hi! Is the olive oil for the sauce?
Thanks!
Yep!
This looks great. Just one question…skin on or off the chicken? From the pictures it looks like skin off, but you didn’t say so I thought I’d ask.
Thanks!
Our store sells skinless, boneless thighs so that’s what I use.
Do you use skin-on thighs or skinless?
Skinless! But that’s really just because that’s how my store sells them. I think it would work either way.
Thank you for the recipe! My boyfriend and I both really enjoyed it.
I used dijon mustard and dried rosemary. Served with quinoa and asparagus.
Sounds delicious!
Do you bake first then freeze?
I would put the chicken with the sauce in a zip-top bag or a reusable container and freeze UNCOOKED. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight the night before you want to cook it. Transfer to a baking pan and bake as usual.
Couple points to clarify….how long for breasts? And when freezong one is that after cooking it then freezing…or is that prepping then freezing? And lastly the rosemary do we put the whole sprigs or all we breaking those up and slreading around as seen in your dishes pictures….
Thank you
I would put the chicken with the sauce in a zip-top bag or a reusable container and freeze UNCOOKED. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight the night before you want to cook it. Transfer to a baking pan and bake as usual.
If you use breasts, I’d cut them in half so the pieces are similar to thighs. That way the cooking time will be similar — plus that’s a great serving for kids.
I made this last night and my hubby and all threè of my boys loved it! I’ve already bought more chicken and rosemary to make it again this week!
Awesome! Hope it’s a hit every single time. 🙂
Can I make this in a crockpot? Thanks!
Hi Sabrina!
I think so but haven’t tested it. Since there’s a lot of honey, you might want to spray your insert with non-stick cooking oil first. Otherwise, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Let us know.
I’m still new to the whole mustard flavor, but this sounds delicious! Does this dish have a really heavy mustard flavor? Or just enough?
This recipe was just so darn easy and my two picky kids and husband all loved it! I followed the directions exactly. For the mustard, I used 1/2 yellow and 1/2 dijon. Don’t be afraid to really get enough rosemary nestled in there. It adds great flavor. Our boneless, skinless chicken thighs were on the smaller side and 30 min was plenty for them. We serve it with white rice and the sauce from the pan was great with it. Will definitely make again.