Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce

A creamy honey mustard sauce takes just a few minutes in the pan you cooked the chicken in: soften a shallot, deglaze, then add cream, wholegrain mustard, Dijon mustard and a spoonful of thyme honey, finishing with a dash of lemon off the heat. The chicken breasts, browned for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, are served sliced with the sauce and some rocket. Allow 30 minutes for 4 people.

Method

1. Prepare the chicken breasts Take the chicken breasts out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. If some are very thick, gently flatten the plumpest part so they cook evenly. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Sear the chicken In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and butter over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and leave them to brown for 5 to 6 minutes without moving them.
3. Turn and finish cooking Turn them over, lower the heat to medium and cook for a further 5 to 6 minutes. The centre should no longer be pink; with a thermometer, it should reach 74 °C.
4. Rest the chicken Set the breasts aside on a board, covered with a sheet of foil, for 5 minutes: the juices settle and the meat stays tender.
5. Deglaze the pan In the same pan, over a low heat, gently fry the finely chopped shallot for 2 minutes in the cooking fat. Deglaze with the white wine or water, scraping up the caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan.
6. Make the honey mustard sauce Add the cream, both mustards and the honey. Stir and leave to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. The honey dissolves in the hot cream; avoid a rolling boil, which would reduce the sauce too quickly.
7. Adjust the seasoning Off the heat, add the lemon juice and the juices the chicken has released on the board. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
8. Slice and serve Slice one or two breasts, arrange them on the rocket and serve the sauce on the side, in a ramekin, or spooned over the chicken.

Which honey should you choose?

Thyme honey harvested in Provence, aromatic and slightly herbaceous, carries on the notes of the mustard and is a natural match for poultry. Garrigue honey, with its aromas of wild plants, gives a slightly rounder sauce. A single spoonful is enough: the honey is there to balance the acidity of the mustard, not to sweeten the dish. For a sweeter, oven-glazed chicken, see our honey chicken.

Tips and variations

• For a lighter sauce, replace half the cream with chicken stock and let it reduce for one more minute.
• With boneless chicken thighs, which are more tender, allow 7 to 8 minutes’ cooking on each side.
• Add a few leaves of fresh thyme or tarragon to the sauce just before serving.
• Serve with roast potatoes, rice pilaf or green beans, which the sauce will coat nicely.
• If you love mustard, increase the wholegrain mustard rather than the Dijon: its seeds add texture without too much bitterness.

Variation: honey mustard dressing

The same flavours come together in a honey mustard dressing, ideal on the rocket served with the dish, or on a chicory or lamb’s lettuce salad. For 4 people, mix 1 tablespoon of Dijon or wholegrain mustard, 1 tablespoon of thyme honey and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar or lemon juice, with a pinch of salt and some pepper. The honey dissolves more easily at this stage. Then add 5 tablespoons of olive oil, whisking to emulsify. Remember the ratio: one part mustard, one part honey, two parts acid and five parts oil.

Storage

The chicken and its sauce keep for two days in the fridge, in separate airtight containers. Reheat the sauce over a low heat, adding a spoonful of water or cream if it has thickened, then add the sliced chicken for a few minutes, without letting it boil so that it does not dry out. The dressing keeps for three to four days in the fridge in a closed jar: shake it before serving. Find more dishes among our honey recipes.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make honey mustard sauce without cream?

Replace the cream with 200 ml of chicken stock reduced by half, then finish the sauce off the heat by whisking in 20 g of cold butter. You can also use Greek yoghurt, added off the heat so that it does not split.

How can you tell when chicken is cooked through?

The juices that run out when you pierce the thickest part should be clear, and the meat should no longer be pink in the centre. With a kitchen thermometer, the core temperature should reach 74 °C.

Which mustard should you use for a honey mustard sauce?

A mix of wholegrain and Dijon mustard gives both heat and texture. With Dijon alone, the sauce is smoother and more punchy; with wholegrain alone, it is milder.

What are the proportions for a honey mustard dressing?

Allow one spoonful of mustard, one spoonful of honey, two spoonfuls of vinegar or lemon juice and five spoonfuls of olive oil, with salt and pepper. Dissolve the honey in the vinegar before adding the oil.