Chicken in Mustard Sauce

By Jacques Pépin

Chicken in Mustard Sauce
Suzy Allman for The New York Times
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(3,154)
Comments
Read comments

This healthy yet elegant weeknight chicken dish came to The Times in 1988, courtesy of Jacques Pépin. It's simple but loaded with flavor, and you can throw it together in about a half hour. Just sauté the chicken until golden, then make a quick sauce from onions, water and mustard and reduce until thick. Serve with rice to soak up the sauce, and a crisp green salad. If white meat is not your thing, it would be equally delicious made with boneless chicken thighs (just be sure to add a few minutes of cooking time).

Featured in: FOOD; HANDICAPPING

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:8 servings
  • 85-ounce chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
  • ½teaspoon salt
  • ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1cup onion, finely chopped
  • 2tablespoons flour
  • 2cups water
  • 1½teaspoons dry mustard
  • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

204 calories; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 32 grams protein; 234 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Sprinkle the meat with the salt and pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, brown the chicken for one-and-a-half minutes on each side.

  3. Step 3

    Mix in the onion and continue cooking for one minute.

  4. Step 4

    Sprinkle the flour on the chicken pieces, turning them so that all the pieces are coated. Cook one minute to lightly brown the flour.

  5. Step 5

    Add the water and stir to dissolve the flour until the mixture comes to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the skillet and boil gently for five minutes.

  6. Step 6

    Remove the meat to a serving platter and keep warm.

  7. Step 7

    Cook the sauce to reduce it to about one-and-a-half cups. Mix the dry mustard with the Dijon mustard and stir until smooth. Stir the mustard mixture into the sauce and heat, but do not allow the sauce to boil after the mustard has been added.

  8. Step 8

    Place the chicken pieces in the sauce and warm over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes to develop the flavor.

  9. Step 9

    Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Ratings

4 out of 5
3,154 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

Fran Eckert

Adding to suggestions by others I floured the chicken first, removed the breasts and cooked off the onion and some sliced mushrooms (and a few cloves of minced garlic near the end) before deglazing pan with white wine. Used chicken broth instead of water and added a sprinkling of herbes de Provence. A splash of lemon juice and parsley at the end. My husband, who saves praise for when due, declared it the best chicken he'd ever had.

Figaro

It's not too surprising that many commentors are not too excited about this recipe. There are many ways to take this from 'meh' to gourmet. Water? Add broth, white wine, and/or lemon juice, a sprig or 2 of thyme. Use a whisk for the mustard. Don't pound? Don't be too upset that the skinny tip is tough as nails. Brown the 'public side' of the breast; lightly do the bottom. Remove while you make the sauce; return on bottom side to finish. 10-15 min? - Sacre bleu! Try 3-4. Add parsley to garnish.

Tom Hu

For the small number of ingredients, of which the most "exotic" is the dry mustard, this elegantly simple dish is packed with flavor and richness without all the calories of heavy cream or butter.

The simplicity of the recipe makes it easy to improvise, as you can see from other comments here. I increased the mustard a bit, added a bit of wine and replaced some of the water with chicken broth to add some additional flavor.

A wonderful, sophisticated dish.

Debe C

I incorporated a lot of the tips others suggested and they really improved the dish: chicken stock instead of water, some white wine, extra mustard, a few sprigs of thyme, the juice of one whole lemon. I also chopped up some mushrooms and added them to the sauce. It was very tasty served over rice and my husband loved it.

Tom Dorrance

Not easy. Split fluid wine & water. Added butter, mushrooms, garlic, capers, parsley I did 2 batches, sliced breasts horizontally. sprinkled Flour clumped. Should dredge instead

Julia

Floured the chicken breasts, which were divided in half to reduce thickness. Chicken was fine but lacked a lot of flavor, despite following reviewer advice and adding extra herbs and mustard. Not especially driven to make this again.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.