This Honey Mustard Chicken with Bacon is exra juicy and has the best sauce – easy enough for a quick weeknight dinner, but elegant enough for company, too.
Brown chicken: Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium-high. Add chicken breasts and sear/brown well on each side (it doesn’t have to be cooked through yet, just nicely browned). Remove from skillet and cover on a plate.
Sauté aromatics: Bring pan back up to medium-high heat (do not drain or wipe! That’s delicious flavor in there!) and add bacon. Cook for a minute, then stir in onion and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 1 minute.
Deglaze pan: Pour chicken broth (OR white wine) into skillet and bring to a boil, scratching any browned bits off the bottom. Stir in both mustards and season with salt and pepper.
Cook chicken: Add rosemary sprigs and seared chicken to skillet with sauce and cover with a lid. Gently simmer for about 6-10 minutes (exact time depends on size of chicken breasts), turning chicken once halfway through. Once internal temperature of chicken registers 165°F (74°C) at thickest part, remove chicken to a clean serving plate and cover.
Finish sauce: Bring sauce to a boil, then cook until reduced by ½. Remove rosemary and stir in honey. Serve over chicken.
Notes
Ingredient notes
Mustard: I like using both whole grain and smooth Dijon mustard. Feel free to use only smooth if you don’t like the graininess.
Honey: A mild, runny honey works best for this recipe. It should complement the dish, not overpower it.
Oil: A mild vegetable oil works best, although olive oil can also be used.
Chicken broth/wine: Either use ¾ cup chicken broth, or ½ cup white wine and ¼ cup chicken broth. I personally love it with wine, but I know it’s not everybody’s thing, so the recipe is perfectly delicious with just chicken broth, too.
Rosemary: If you don’t keep fresh on hand, feel free to use ¼ teaspoon dried. Thyme can also be used in place of the rosemary – either 4 sprigs fresh or ¼ teaspoon dried.
How to make this recipe with chicken thighsIf you prefer using chicken thighs here, follow the recipe as written, making sure to sear them really well on the skin side until very crispy (about 8 minutes) and 5 more minutes on the other side.Cooking time will be around 15 minutes for medium chicken thighs. Be sure to check the internal temperature before serving.
Recipe tips
To avoid a dinner ruined by dry chicken, I have some super easy tips for youto make the best, juiciest honey mustard coated chicken:
Only sear the chicken at first, but don’t cook it through. This is to get the outside of the chicken nicely golden brown to add so much additional flavor to the sauce, but the chicken doesn’t dry out. Just set the browned chicken breasts aside on a plate and cover them with foil until you’ve got the sauce ready.
Cook the seared chicken in the sauce with a lid on. The flavors of the sauce kind of infuse the chicken that way, it’s more a poaching and the meat doesn’t even stand a chance of drying out.
Check the internal temperature of your chicken with a thermometer. Regular sized chicken breasts will be done in less than 10 minutes, but I will say that it can take up to 15 minutes for the chicken to reach a safe internal temperature (165°F or 74°C) IF you have very thick, large chicken breasts.