When Brian and I were dating, I invited him over for dinner. You may recall that I had not yet “blossomed” in the kitchen so I was a tiny bit worried about what I would make to impress my new beau. My go-to recipe in times like these, the ONLY dish I knew how to cook and could cook really well, was shrimp-n-grits. Alas, my future husband is allergic to shrimp so I had to improvise.

I can’t remember how I found the recipe but I landed on “mustard chicken.” The recipe is fairly simple, calls for chicken coated in a butter-Dijon mustard mixture and rolled in breadcrumbs. Easy enough right?

It is, and should’ve been then, but as a novice in the kitchen I was unfamiliar with the use of breadcrumbs. I didn’t realize you could buy them in a can. I saw something about making your own breadcrumbs with stale bread in a food processor, but I had no stale bread or a food processor. So I thought it was a good idea to toast slices of white bread in the toaster oven and then “shred” it by hand. I was a site to be seen feverishly working on these “bread crumbs.” The meal didn’t turn our terrible but it makes me laugh to think back on that faux pa.

Anyway, faux pa aside, once I learned about canned breadcrumbs, mustard chicken has become a family favorite in the Walters household. We like this dish because its cheap, quick, easy and tastes great! In fact, we had it for dinner tonight!

Mustard Chicken Recipe

There are many mustard chicken recipes out there on the interwebs, but this is mustard chicken a la Walters and we think its the bees knees 🙂

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breasts
1 stick butter
2-3 TBSP Dijon Mustard (I use Country-Style Dijon)
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Mix together the breadcrumbs and cheese in a shallow dish for dredging, I just use a paper plate.

Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish (about 1 minute). I use a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup. Once melted, remove from microwave and add the mustard. Mix well until the butter and mustard are incorporated.

Clean chicken and cut each breast in half. Use a mallet to pound the chicken so its flat and will cook evenly.

Dip the chicken pieces, one at a time, into the butter/mustard mixture. Coat and shake off excess. Dredge chicken in breadcrumb/cheese mixture. Press down to get an even coating.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. I recommend placing a cooling rack on top of the foil onto the cookie sheet. This prevents sticking and gets a more even cook without having to turn the chicken.

Place the chicken pieces on top of the cooling rack or foil if no cooling rack available.

Slide the cookie sheet into the oven and cook for 20 minutes. When 20 minutes has passed use your digital meat thermometer to check the temperature, it needs to be between 160-170 degrees, do NOT over cook it.

Tonight I served mustard chicken alongside the Pioneer Woman’s Crash Hot Potatoes. These taters are to-die-for. Make them asap. Use red bliss potatoes.