Honey Mustard Chicken is the recipe that Teresa made the summer she decided that honey and mustard together on a piece of properly grilled chicken was one of the most completely satisfying flavor combinations in the entire world of dinner. She made the sauce from three types of mustard, honey, butter, vinegar, and paprika, divided it between a basting bowl and a serving bowl, and then spent those final minutes at the grill brushing the chicken with the basting portion and watching it caramelize into the most beautiful and deeply golden-brown coating imaginable.
When she brought it to the table the honey-mustard fragrance was so completely irresistible that the first slice was being cut before the platter had even fully landed on the table.
Honey Mustard Chicken is the grilled dinner that combines the most beloved and universally popular dipping sauce flavor with the most perfectly juicy and golden grilled chicken result in one completely easy and deeply satisfying recipe. Chicken breasts seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, and basil, grilled to beautiful golden marks, and basted in the final minutes with a homemade triple-mustard honey sauce that caramelizes into the most extraordinary sweet and tangy glaze. The reserved sauce served on the side completes every bite. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful dinner recipes and easy grilled chicken favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
This Honey Mustard Chicken recipe is the weeknight dinner that makes everyone at the table feel like they ordered from a very good restaurant while being produced in thirty-five minutes from a handful of ingredients that require no special sourcing and no advanced cooking skill. The three-mustard sauce is the element that makes this recipe genuinely exceptional rather than simply a pleasant honey mustard chicken. The combination of Dijon mustard for its sharp and complex European character, yellow mustard for its familiar and slightly sharp American tang, and wholegrain mustard for its texture and its deeper and more robust seed flavor creates a sauce that is more complex and deeply interesting than any single mustard alone could produce.
The two-stage grilling method, quick browning on each side first to seal in the juices, then basting and cooking covered, produces a chicken breast that is extraordinarily juicy inside and beautifully caramelized outside. The covered cooking stage creates a gentler and more even heat environment that cooks the thick center of the breast through completely without drying the outside. Our Marry Me Chicken makes a wonderfully indulgent and equally impressive companion for a complete and stunning weeknight dinner spread alongside this honey mustard version.
Ingredients Needed for This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
For the Chicken:
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Dried Thyme
- ½ tsp Dried Basil
For the Honey Mustard Sauce:
- ¼ cup Honey
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 1 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
- 2 tsp Hot Sauce (optional)
- ½ tsp White Vinegar
- ⅛ tsp Paprika
How to Make This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat, approximately 425 to 450°F.
Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt, freshly ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, and dried basil. Set aside while you make the honey mustard sauce.
In a mixing bowl, combine the honey, melted butter, Dijon mustard, yellow mustard, wholegrain mustard, hot sauce if using, white vinegar, and paprika. Whisk together until the sauce is completely smooth and evenly combined. Divide the sauce into two portions. Remove a quarter cup of the sauce into a separate small bowl specifically for basting. Reserve the larger remaining portion for serving as a dipping and drizzling sauce at the table.
Brush the grill grates lightly with vegetable oil to prevent sticking. Place the seasoned chicken breasts on the hot grill and brown for 2 minutes on the first side without moving to develop a proper sear. Turn and brown for 2 more minutes on the second side. These initial 2-minute browning stages on each side develop the beautiful golden exterior sear that seals the juices inside and creates the surface that will hold the honey mustard glaze in the next stage.
Brush the chicken breasts all over on both sides with approximately half of the quarter-cup basting sauce. Close the grill lid and cook the chicken for 7 minutes with the grill closed. Open the grill, flip the chicken, and brush all over again with the remaining basting sauce. Continue to grill for 5 to 6 more minutes until the chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F, cara mia. Thicker chicken breasts will require closer to the full 6 minutes on this second basting stage.
Remove the grilled chicken from the grill and transfer to a cutting board. Allow to rest for 8 full minutes before slicing. This resting time is essential. The resting period allows the juices that have been pushed to the center of the breast during cooking to redistribute throughout the entire piece of meat so that every slice is equally juicy rather than having all the juice run out onto the cutting board the moment the knife goes in. Slice and serve with the reserved honey mustard sauce on the side.
How to Serve This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
Plate the sliced chicken on a large white serving platter fanned beautifully and drizzle a spoonful of the reserved honey mustard sauce across the surface for the most elegant presentation. The honey mustard sauce gleaming over the golden sliced chicken is a genuinely beautiful visual.
Serve alongside Cajun fries, air fryer potato chips, or a simple fresh fruit salad for a casual and family-friendly dinner. For a lighter meal, slice the chicken and place it over a simple romaine or arugula salad with a drizzle of the honey mustard sauce as the dressing. Our Cajun Crispy Chicken Sandwich makes a wonderfully bold and equally crowd-pleasing companion for a complete and satisfying chicken dinner spread.
How to Store This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
Store leftover cooked chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This chicken is genuinely wonderful eaten cold the next day sliced over salads, tucked into sandwiches, or wrapped in lettuce leaves with extra honey mustard sauce. Reheat gently in the microwave or in a skillet over medium-low heat until just warmed through.
The honey mustard sauce stores covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Give it a quick whisk before using as the butter may have solidified slightly during refrigeration. The sauce is also excellent as a salad dressing, a sandwich spread, or a dipping sauce for raw vegetables.
Tips to Make This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
Heat the grill to medium-high heat before placing the chicken on it. Chicken placed on a grill that has not reached temperature will stick to the grates and cook unevenly. A properly preheated grill surface causes the chicken to sear immediately on contact which naturally releases it from the grate when the sear is complete and prevents sticking.
Allow the full 8 minutes of resting time after the chicken comes off the grill before slicing. This is the most commonly shortcut step in grilled chicken preparation and the one that makes the most significant difference to juiciness. Chicken sliced immediately off the grill releases most of its interior moisture onto the cutting board. Chicken rested for 8 minutes retains virtually all of that moisture within the meat itself for the most juicy and tender possible result.
Helpful Notes for This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
The honey in this sauce makes it particularly prone to burning on the grill which is why the basting happens after the initial browning stage and only in the final minutes of cooking. Honey contains significant sugar that caramelizes beautifully at moderate heat but burns quickly at excessive heat. Basting too early in the cooking process will produce a darkened and bitter exterior rather than a caramelized and deeply golden one. The timing specified in this recipe is calibrated to produce perfect caramelization.
Removing the chicken from the grill at exactly 163°F rather than the standard 165°F is a professional technique detail worth adopting. The internal temperature of the chicken continues to rise for several minutes after it leaves the heat as the residual heat from the outer layers conducts inward. Pulling the chicken at 163°F and allowing it to rest for 8 minutes produces a final internal temperature of approximately 165°F with a significantly more moist and tender result than chicken that reached 165°F on the grill and then continued cooking during resting.
Variation of This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
Maria made a version adding a tablespoon of fresh orange juice and a teaspoon of orange zest to the honey mustard sauce for a citrus-honey-mustard chicken that was bright and fragrant and completely extraordinary on the dinner table. Teresa tried brushing the sauce onto the chicken during the marinating stage the night before for a chicken that had honey mustard flavor penetrated throughout the entire piece rather than only caramelized on the surface.
For a spicier version that adults and heat-lovers will particularly appreciate, increase the hot sauce to a full tablespoon and add a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the sauce for a honey mustard chicken with genuine heat that balances beautifully against the sweetness of the honey. Our Jalapeno Raspberry Chicken makes a wonderfully bold and equally sweet-heat-forward companion for a complete and exciting grilled chicken dinner spread.
FAQs About This Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
Can I make the honey mustard sauce ahead of time?
Yes. The sauce can be made up to one week in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator. The flavors actually deepen and integrate more fully after a day of resting in the refrigerator making the sauce taste more cohesive and complex when made ahead. Whisk or stir thoroughly before using as the butter will have solidified during cold storage.
Can I use only one type of mustard if I don’t have all three?
Yes. If only one type of mustard is available, Dijon is the most complex and flavorful choice and produces the best single-mustard honey mustard sauce. Yellow mustard produces a more classic and familiar American honey mustard flavor. Wholegrain mustard alone produces a rustic and deeply textured sauce. Any single mustard in the same combined quantity as the three mustards specified produces a genuinely delicious result.
What if I don’t have a grill?
The recipe can be made entirely on the stovetop. Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat and cook the seasoned chicken breasts for 5 to 6 minutes per side until golden and cooked through to 165°F. Baste with the honey mustard in the final 2 minutes of cooking on each side in exactly the same way as on the grill. The result is equally delicious with beautiful golden caramelization from the skillet.
Conclusion
This Honey Mustard Chicken is the dinner that makes everyone at the table reach for seconds before they have finished their first serving and the one recipe that makes the most dedicated honey mustard skeptics completely and permanently convert. Sweet, tangy, golden, juicy, and utterly irresistible in every slice with that extra drizzle of sauce on the side. We hope it brings the same deeply impressed dinner table and the same completely satisfied smiles to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa
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Honey Mustard Chicken The Most Tangy Sweet and Juicy Dinner You Will Ever Make
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
The most tangy sweet and juicy Honey Mustard Chicken made with seasoned chicken breasts grilled to golden perfection and basted with a homemade triple mustard honey sauce made from Dijon yellow and wholegrain mustard with honey butter and vinegar. A completely easy and impressive 35-minute grilled dinner.
Ingredients
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 cup Honey
2 tbsp Unsalted Butter melted
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Yellow Mustard
1 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
2 tsp Hot Sauce optional
1/2 tsp White Vinegar
1/8 tsp Paprika
Instructions
1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat 425 to 450°F.
2. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and basil.
3. Whisk honey, melted butter, all three mustards, hot sauce, vinegar, and paprika until smooth.
4. Divide sauce: reserve 1/4 cup for basting and keep the rest for serving.
5. Brush grill grates with vegetable oil.
6. Place chicken on grill and brown 2 minutes per side without moving.
7. Brush chicken all over with half the basting sauce. Close grill and cook 7 minutes.
8. Uncover, flip, and brush with remaining basting sauce. Cook 5 to 6 minutes more until 165°F internal.
9. Remove from grill and rest on cutting board for 8 minutes.
10. Slice and serve with reserved honey mustard sauce alongside.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Main Course, Dinner
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 chicken breast
- Calories: 255
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 364mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 25g
- Cholesterol: 88mg
Keywords: honey mustard chicken, grilled honey mustard chicken, easy honey mustard chicken recipe, homemade honey mustard sauce chicken
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