Chicken with Mustard Sauce (creamy & rich!)

At a glance

What stands out: This chicken with mustard sauce is a straightforward and elegant one pan meal. The memorable creamy Dijon sauce with rosemary will have you wanting to lick your plate clean!

How long it takes: 45 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: large skillet, instant read thermometer (optional)
Servings: 4

Creamy Mustard Chicken

We like all of the recipes we create for you on Bomumo, but every once in awhile, we sit down to taste test a dish we’ve prepared, and just rave about it. This recipe was one of those.

Tried and true. We admit, it wasn’t so good the first time we tested the recipe. The sauce separated and the meal just wasn’t all that great. However, that’s what we’re here for! The fails happen in our kitchen so that they don’t happen in your kitchen. Everything after that, though, was a home run. We tweaked that original recipe to fix the problems and the result is this memorable chicken bathed in a creamy mustard sauce.

The most memorable sauce. Let’s be honest, this is less about the chicken and more about the sauce, at least for us. We could drink this sauce. Serve this chicken with something that will soak up the sauce. We like jasmine rice, mashed potatoes, or cooked noodles. Lately we've been on a polenta kick. Instant Pot polenta is a game-changer.

P.S. If you’re a fan of creamy sauces, be sure to try our creamy chicken and asparagus pasta or creamy coconut shrimp. Chicken Florentine is another winner.

How it comes together

To prepare this chicken, you’ll have to put it in the pan and take it back out a few times but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a straightforward one pan meal. Fewer dishes to wash always make us a happy, happy girl.

Brown the chicken. To start this chicken, you’ll heat a little oil in a skillet, and then get that chicken nice and brown on both sides. This gives it SO much flavor and also starts the cooking process, so don’t skip it!

Cooking Tip

If the chicken feels like it wants to stick to the pan, it’s probably not brown enough yet. Give it another minute or two before you try to flip it.

Bake the chicken. Once you’ve browned the chicken on both sides, you’ll move the pan to the oven to cook it all the way through. This helps the chicken cook evenly without drying out.

After the chicken has cooked through, place it on a plate and cover with foil to keep it warm and let it rest. While the chicken rests (this step will make it extra juicy!), you’ll make the sauce.

Make the sauce. The sauce begins with sautéed shallots. You’ll also add rosemary and garlic, which is when your kitchen starts to smell memorable. A bit of flour will help your sauce thicken.

This is where it gets good with wine, mustard, and chicken broth. So much flavor! THEN, heavy cream. It’s just the reliable sauce. It will thicken up into an irresistibly creamy sauce that’s reliable for spooning over the chicken, or you could also use it for dipping.

What Kind of Wine To Use

In this recipe, the wine is in the sauce, giving it a wonderful flavor. We like to use a dry white wine, such as chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. Avoid sweet wines like moscato or white zinfandel which will make your sauce too sweet.

Perhaps you’re wondering about the cooking wine that you find on grocery shelves near the vinegars. Wine labeled as cooking wine often has preservatives and salt added. We much prefer using wine that we would drink. It adds more flavor to your dishes without any additives. Bonus: You can enjoy a glass of wine while you cook!

Ways to change it

• Omit the cream. If you’d like to lighten this up a little or make it dairy free, you could try making it without cream. We just love the cream but it still has a lot of great flavor without.
• Omit the wine. You can substitute an extra half cup of chicken broth instead.
• More/less garlic: Feel free to add more garlic or leave it out, depending on your preferences. Amp up the garlic with sweet and creamy roasted garlic.
• Prefer dark meat? Chicken thighs work well with this recipe, too. Keep in mind that you may have to adjust cooking time.
• Sub in pork or salmon. This sauce is memorable with pretty much anything: pork chops, pork tenderloin, salmon, tilapia, you name it. This sauce would be stunning with a whole roasted cauliflower for a vegetarian entree.
• Grill the chicken. Beautiful weather calling you outside? You could make this recipe with grilled chicken and then just whip up the sauce on the stovetop.
• Gluten-free: Instead of thickening with flour, try using a gluten-free flour or cornstarch.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Store any leftover chicken and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Reheat: Cream sauce can be a little tricky to reheat, but it’s doable. We recommend reheating it on the stove in a small skillet or pan slowly over medium low heat. If you place a cover on the pan, it will prevent it from drying and will also help it warm faster.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #94. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

Browse Meal Plans

Straightforward Chicken Recipes

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 35 minutes
• Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts ( 1 ½ – 2 pounds total)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon oil (vegetable, canola or grapeseed)
• 1 medium shallot, finely diced (or finely chopped onion)
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 large clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon )
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ½ cup dry white wine (not sweet wine)
• 3 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
• 1 cup unsalted or reduced sodium chicken stock
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Optional: fresh chives or parsley for garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Trim chicken and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Add oil to a large oven safe skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, place chicken in skillet. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and it removes easily from the pan (it shouldn’t stick). Flip each piece over and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken breasts reaches 165ºF when checked with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest portion of the meat. Remove chicken from the pan and place it on a plate. Cover with foil.
5. Return pan to burner over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until softened. Add rosemary and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
6. Whisk or stir in wine while scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly reduced. Add mustard while whisking, and then add chicken broth while whisking. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until thickened slightly.
7. Whisk in cream and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until thickened. Return chicken to pan to coat in sauce (or drizzle sauce over chicken) and serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley or chives if desired.

Notes

Omit the cream: If you’d like to lighten this up a little or make it dairy free, leave out the cream.

Alcohol-free: Substitute an extra ½ cup of chicken broth instead.

Prefer chicken thighs? They would work with this recipe, too. Keep in mind that you may have to adjust cooking time.

Gluten-free: Instead of thickening with flour, try using a gluten-free flour or cornstarch.