Chicken

This is my version of Honey Mustard Chicken

Gotta give a huge shout out to my father-in-law for introducing me to this dish! This is what he made when I came to their house to meet them for the first time over five years ago. It’s one of my husband’s favorites and it is so easy (and cheap!)  to make. You only need five ingredients: chicken tenders, french fried onions, panko breadcrumbs, salt and honey mustard. 

The chicken tenders were on sale this week at Sprouts (have I mentioned how much I love Sprouts?) for $1.99lb. This is a great price for chicken and I usually buy multiple packs to put some in the freezer when the price goes this low. This pack of chicken was just over two pounds. That makes enough for me and Bobby, plus leftovers for lunches later in the week. I found the french fried onions on clearance, otherwise we would have used an off brand, and I had the panko and salt on hand. (Isn’t my little green salt cup cute!?) Most important to this dish is the honey mustard. Now this is where we splurge a little because we absolutely love Whataburger’s honey mustard. It’s about $3.50 a bottle, but it is so worth it! Of course, if you want to save even more, any honey mustard will do.

Preheat the oven to 375°. First, you will want to season the chicken with salt and pepper. I just sprinkle it on the chicken while it’s still sitting in the package. Next, I like to smash up the french fried onions so they stick to the chicken a little better. I just put them in a ziplock and get smashing!

Next I add the smashed french fried onions to a bowl and stir in the panko. I really like the textural differences of these two on the chicken. It also helps lock in the moisture so the chicken doesn’t dry out. In a second bowl, add about HALF of the honey mustard. You made end up needing more, but you can always add more honey mustard to the bowl later. Especially if you’re using Whataburger honey mustard, you don’t want to squeeze the entire bottle out and end up throwing tons of it away when you are done dredging since it will have touched raw chicken.

This is the messy part – take your seasoned chicken tenders and dunk them in the honey mustard and then the onion/breadcrumb mixture, ensuring they get completely covered. Next lay the chicken onto a slotted pan if you have one. I love my slotted pan for meals like this because the chicken cooks more evenly in the oven since the air can flow all around the meat. If you don’t have a slotted pan, you can use a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet for the same effect.

Once all your chicken is coated, bake it in the oven at 375° for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink inside. When it’s done you will have the juiciest, tastiest honey mustard chicken you have ever experienced! The panko and french fried onions get nice and crispy while the chicken stays moist and juicy!!

Doesn’t this look yummy?? Believe me, it was!