Bake
by: Eric Kim
April2,2021
4.7
18 Ratings
- Prep time 20 minutes
- Cook time 30 minutes
- Serves 1
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Author Notes
This baked boneless, skinless chicken breast is both tender and flavorsome, thanks to a sweet-salty marinade starring honey and a double whammy of Dijon mustard.
The trick to cooking white-meat chicken so it doesn't dry out? Sear it in a hot pan with a bit of oil. Once browned, flip and transfer into a hot oven (about 350°F) to finish baking. "If you were to cook it completely in the pan," my chef friend Jesse tells me, "the outside might get overcooked before the inside cooks through. You want it to reach an internal temperature of 165°F, keeping in mind that it will continue cooking once you take it out of the oven. I usually take mine out around 160°F and let it finish cooking on the counter." It's important, then, not to go by time, but by internal temperature when deciding how long to bake chicken breasts.
The star here really, though, is the panzanella salad that goes with. Crunchy-sweet raw corn and toasted sourdough bread get tossed in a punchy vinaigrette of garlic, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, and red pepper flakes. It's summer on a plate, the perfect accompaniment to honey-mustard chicken. —Eric Kim
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: A Dish I Cook for Myself When I Don't Feel Like Thinking. —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Honey-mustard chicken breast
- 1 tablespoonolive oil, plus more for searing chicken
- 2 teaspoonsred wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoonsDijon Mustard
- 1 teaspoonhoney
- 1 teaspoonfresh thyme, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoonmustard powder
- 1 teaspoongarlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoonkosher salt
- 1 pinchfreshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pinchred pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- Raw corn salad
- 1 slice sourdough bread
- 1/2 garlic clove, grated
- 1 teaspoonred wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoonDijon mustard
- 1 tablespoonolive oil
- 1 pinchkosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pinchred pepper flakes, to taste
- 1/2 cupraw corn kernels, scraped from the cob
- 1/2 cupcroutons
- 1/2 cupgrape tomatoes, halved
- 1 sprigfresh thyme leaves, for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Honey-mustard chicken breast
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients (olive oil to red pepper flakes) and smother the chicken breast in it. Set aside to marinate, covered, for 10 minutes or overnight.
- Heat a cast-iron or oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add some olive oil to the pan, then sear the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side. Flip and transfer to the oven and cook 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breast, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Let rest for 5 minutes before carving against the grain (which means perpendicularly to the direction that the meat's fibers run). Meanwhile, make the corn panzanella.
- Raw corn salad
- Pop bread into the toaster. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, vinegar, mustard, oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Toss dressing with the raw corn kernels. Once the bread pops out of the toaster, cut or tear it into small pieces and toss with the salad. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired, and serve alongside the chicken.
Tags:
- American
- Chicken
- Honey
- Chicken Breast
- Mustard
- Thyme
- Weeknight Cooking
- Bake
- Entree
- Lunch
- Dinner
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Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.
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5 Reviews
Pamelayne November 10, 2022
Everyone at the table thought this was a keeper! It is very tasty and hard to believe the chicken breasts stay so moist. The panzanella was very tasty as well.
Jessamin May 24, 2022
I thought this was great and super easy for a weeknight, and I will be making it again. There are croutons and tomatoes in the corn salad ingredients list. The croutons I assume are just listed accidentally and are the croutons you make from the bread listed, but the tomatoes are not in the instructions or the pic. I did add them and we liked it a lot.
Cassie F. October 31, 2020
Rarely do I comment on recipes I try, but this recipe is absolutely DELICIOUS so I had to! I couldn’t picture the corn panzanella and the mustard chicken without each other. Both are so tasty, and this was such an easy meal. So beyond happy I’ve found this, and it will absolutely stay in my rotation!
jozhou September 15, 2020
That corn panzanella was life-changing! Best recipe I've made all summer. Thanks for your amazing writing and recipes; I'm a huge fan!
O O. April 2, 2020
This was delicious and easy to prepare as a weeknight meal! Chicken breasts came out so moist it was unbelievable. Thanks for the recipe!
