Dijon Chicken

Everyone has his or her favorite go-to chicken recipe, the one that is fast, easy, and always tasty. This one’s mine. The idea for this recipe originally came from one of my college roommates. Her version used non-fat mayo (which I don’t use) and required pounding the chicken breasts (which I am almost always too lazy to do). To make it work for me, I changed it around just a little bit, and it’s been my quick-fix chicken recipe ever since.

The method is simple. Season your boneless chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Slather the tops of the breasts with a mixture of equal parts Dijon mustard and mayonnaise. Broil the chicken until it is cooked through and there is a nice dark crust on top. Eat, enjoy, and feel proud of yourself that you made something so tasty with so little effort.

If you don’t have boneless chicken breasts stocked in your fridge or freezer, or if your broiler is broken, there are ways to adapt this basic method. My mother-in-law likes to smear the mustard-mayo mixture on bone-in chicken pieces and then bake them in the oven. The chicken doesn’t get a crust like it does with broiling, but the mustard mixture seals in all the juices resulting in incredibly tender, flavorful meat. Try it both ways and see which you prefer!

Dijon Chicken

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. mayonnaise
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven broiler.

In a small bowl, combine mustard and mayonnaise.

Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper.

Spread mustard mixture onto chicken.

Place baking sheet in oven and broil until chicken is cooked through and a dark brown crust forms on chicken. This can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Note: Depending on how thick your chicken pieces are, the crust on top may start to turn black before the chicken is cooked all the way through. Don’t worry if that happens. Stan actually loves eating the crust when it has turned black. If you don’t want to eat it, you can peel back the top layer of the crust and still have the yumminess underneath.