With a creamy, savory sauce that features Dijon mustard, garlic, and herbs, our recipe for Creamy Dijon Chicken will have the family wondering, “How much longer?” as the fragrance of this dish wafts through the kitchen.
You’ll brown the chicken, sauté herbs, and garlic, and create a creamy, delicious sauce. The fragrance of the cooking chicken and sautéed herbs will fill your kitchen and the whole family will be asking “When can we eat it?”
Our recipe for Creamy Dijon Chicken uses chicken thighs. Many people have seldom cooked with these cuts of chicken. However, chicken thighs are inexpensive, have plenty of moisture, and offer the dark meat flavor that adds a bit of umami to any dish. Of course, many people worry about getting bone-in meat fully cooked.
Creamy Dijon Chicken Recipe
With juicy chicken thighs and a savory sauce, this recipe for Creamy Dijon Chicken will have your family asking for you to make it again and again. If you are in the mood to cook like a chef, this recipe will give you the opportunity.
Equipment
- Large Oven Safe Pan or Skillet with Lid
- Tongs
- Small Dish
- Spatula
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Chicken:
- 2 pounds Chicken Thighs 6 thighs
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cooking Oil
Ingredients for the Sauce:
- 2 tbsp Butter
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tbsp Dried Parsely
- 1 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
- ½ cup Chicken Stock or broth
- 1½ cups Half and Half substitute heavy cream if you like
- 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp Mozzarella Cheese
- 4 tbsp Chopped Bacon
- 1 cup Frozen Chopped Spinach
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove the chicken from the wrapping and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Season chicken with seasoning salt and pepper, sprinkling them all over with the seasoning.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a large, oven-safe pan or skillet with a lid. Do not put the chicken into the oil until the oil is hot, or the chicken will stick to the pan. The oil is hot enough when a few drops of water sizzle when you fling them into the pan.
- Over medium-high heat, cook the chicken until lightly golden brown in color, turning the chicken one time with tongs to cook both sides.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on a plate. The chicken will not be fully cooked yet. You will complete the cooking when you place it in the oven later.
- Pour off the cooking oil that remains in the pan. Add the butter and melt it over medium heat.
- While the butter is melting, measure the garlic, parsley, onion powder, and rosemary into a small dish, stirring to combine.
- When the butter is sizzling, add the garlic and herb mixture to the butter, stirring and cooking it until the garlic is golden brown, about 60 seconds.
- Add the chicken broth to the pan and use the broth to deglaze the pan, stirring any golden brown bits from the bottom of the pan into the liquid with a spatula. Lower the heat under the pan, and let this mixture cook for about five minutes at a simmer to reduce it by about half.
- Add the cream and the Dijon mustard to the pan. Let this sauce simmer on low until it begins to thicken, stirring the sauce the whole time.
- Add the frozen spinach, stirring it into the sauce to allow it to thaw. Let the sauce continue to heat until it is steaming. Add the ½ teaspoon of salt and the ½ teaspoon of pepper and stir these together.
- Take the chicken thighs from the plate where you set them, and put them in the pan on top of the sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the top of the chicken breasts, along with the bacon bits. Use a lid to cover the pan and place the whole thing into the preheated oven.
- Bake this for 25 minutes, or until an instant read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh measures 165 degrees.
- Remove the pan from the oven and serve. The sauce is great served over rice or noodles.
Notes
When you add to the fact that you’re dealing with chicken, the worries about salmonella can tempt you toward grabbing your old standby of a boneless skinless chicken breast. The solution to fully cooked, bone-in pieces of chicken is simple: just have an instant-read meat thermometer in a kitchen drawer.
For less than twenty dollars, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that the chicken that you are about to serve is fully and safely cooked. For chicken, the temperature that you want is 165 degrees.
This recipe creates a delicious, creamy, savory sauce from herbs, butter, heavy cream, and spinach. This sauce helps keep the chicken moist while you bake it in the oven, and it is also wonderful served over rice, noodles, or potatoes. This sauce features Dijon mustard. Don’t worry if you do not care for Dijon mustard.
The flavor is very subtle and blends well with the other tastes in the sauce. If you’re still suspicious, just add one tablespoon of the mustard, stir it well into the sauce to let it blend, and then taste the sauce. You may want to omit the second tablespoon, or you may want to add a little more. Either way, the sauce is so good that you may want to try eating it with a spoon!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
