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This simple recipe produces juicy, flavorful Honey Mustard Chicken seared and baked in the most delicious pan sauce. You’ll love this fool-proof method for perfectly cooked chicken breasts and green beans together in a healthy, easy, one-skillet meal.

Close up of a cast iron skillet full of honey mustard chicken seared and baked with green beans.

This is a dinner I would gladly make — and eat — every week of the year. It uses everyday ingredients and a simple method, but the flavor is truly out of this world. That’s the beauty of a pan sauce for you, I suppose. But when that pan sauce has all the rich tang of honey mustard, and the perk of garlic, paprika, and browned bits of chicken? Now we’re talking dinner heaven.

We love that this honey mustard chicken is:

  • A 30 minute meal. Even better, the last part of cooking is hands-off.
  • Made with everyday ingredients. Pick up some chicken breasts and green beans; odds are decent you already have everything else you need.
  • Juicy and flavorful. Searing, then baking the chicken directly in the sauce delivers the best of both worlds: you get that rich, browned outer crust, but the chicken stays tender and moist all the way through the center.

Serve this with a kale apple salad and crusty bread or roasted potatoes for an irresistible yet super simple addition to your weekly dinner routine. We also like to add roasted baby carrots for another veggie option: they taste great with a drizzle of the honey mustard sauce!

Ingredient & Substitution Notes

Here is a visual overview and explanatory notes on the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for quantities.

Labeled overhead image of chicken breasts sprinkled with garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper; honey, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, olive oil, chicken broth, green beans, and minced garlic, all measured into prep bowls and ready to cook.
  • Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. For this recipe, you’ll want “regular” chicken breasts, not the thin-sliced variety.
  • Green beans. If green beans aren’t your thing, you can just leave them out. But they’re an easy veggie that goes well with the sauce and will usually cook in just the amount of time the chicken needs in the oven. You can use regular or French beans, sometimes sold by their French name, haricots verts.
  • Garlic powder, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. These are used to season the chicken breasts. You can use sweet or smoky paprika, whichever you have and like.
  • Honey. Any variety that you like.
  • Whole grain mustard. This is mustard that still has whole mustard seeds in the jar. It’s versatile, delicious, and keeps indefinitely in the fridge, so if you don’t already have some, make this the recipe that expands your horizons! You can use it to make mustard-crusted salmon next.
  • Dijon mustard. Mustard comes in all varieties, and Dijon is another worth knowing and stocking. Dijon has a smooth, light yellow appearance, a mellow flavor, and is specifically made from Dijon mustard seeds. Save the standard American squeeze bottle mustard for hot dogs; it’s the combination of whole grain and Dijon that make magic here.
  • Minced garlic. For the pan sauce. I find fresh or jarred garlic works well here.
  • Chicken broth. I usually opt for a low-sodium type.
  • Olive oil.

What makes a good honey mustard sauce?

Even though I’m not personally a huge sauce person, I have to make an exception for a really delicious honey mustard. There’s just something irresistible about the sweet and tangy combination, whether you’re dipping chicken tenders, leveling up a crunchy snack like honey mustard pretzels, or whipping up a weeknight dinner.

The challenge, though, is that honey mustard sauces, for all their seeming simplicity, can actually be a bit tricky to balance. Too much of one ingredient or another, and you wind up with something either cloyingly sweet or overly biting.

This particular sauce recipe is, in my humble opinion, perfectly mixed. The tricks? Use two types of mustard, whole grain and Dijon, for depth of flavor, and use almost equal parts of honey and mustard, with one additional Tablespoon of whole grain mustard for tang and richness. Prefer a sweeter sauce? Leave out that extra Tablespoon so you have exactly equal proportions.

A honey mustard chicken skillet with a golden brown crust, rich pan sauce, and green beans, just out of the oven and ready to serve.

How To Make Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts

The other reason this honey mustard shines is that it’s a pan sauce. By incorporating the fond — bits left behind from the browning of the chicken — this adds so much flavor and ties every element of the dish together. Plus, it’s easy!

  1. Season and sear the chicken in a hot, oiled skillet.
  2. Make the pan sauce. Add a little garlic, chicken broth, and the mustards to the empty skillet – whisk, stir, and swirl, while all those flavors get to know one another. Scrape the bottom of the pan, and any browned bits from the chicken are just more flavor incorporated straight into your sauce.
  3. Return chicken to the skillet, spoon sauce on top, and tuck green beans into the empty space.
  4. Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the green beans are tender. This takes around 15 minutes for me at 375° F.

No flavor left behind? Is that a thing? It definitely should be.

Remove, serve, and enjoy!

Recipe FAQs & Expert Tips

For tender chicken breasts, sear then bake

This recipe also relies on one of the best and easiest ways to make a juicy, perfectly-done chicken breast every time: the sear-bake combination. The initial pan fry earns you that crisp, brown exterior, while finishing the chicken in the oven makes it more likely that the middle will be cooked through before the outside gets dry.

Thin-sliced breasts are super quick-cooking and convenient for meals that cook all on the stovetop, but when using full-sliced breasts, I strongly prefer the two-step method for the best, most reliable results.

What if my green beans aren’t done and the chicken is?

Green beans are a natural pairing here and usually perfectly done — tender-crisp and just a little wrinkly on the edges — in just the amount of time it takes the chicken to bake in the oven. Timed for success, just the way a good one-skillet meal ought to be.

If your chicken is unusually thick or thin, however, the timing could be off. In that case you would be better off removing the chicken when it is done and leaving the green beans to cook longer, or vice versa.

How to tell when chicken is done?

Chicken is safe and ready to eat when it is white all the way through and has reached 165° F, per official USDA guidelines. A simple instant-read meat thermometer is affordable and completely eliminates the guesswork, meaning you can say goodbye to your days of over-cooked, dry chicken. Simply insert the tip of the thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken as the recommended cooking time draws to a close and watch for that 165° benchmark. When it hits that temperature, remove the chicken right away.

Overhead view of a serving utensil about to lift out a portion of honey mustard chicken and green beans from a black cast iron skillet.

Storage & Reheating

We love having extra honey mustard chicken; it always disappears fast for work lunches!

  • Storage: Place leftovers in any airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. (These are our favorite meal prep boxes for the fridge.)
  • Warming: Reheat on 50% power in the microwave until warmed through. Using half power reduces the odds that your chicken will dry out in the microwave; it’s worth the extra few seconds it takes.
  • If the sauce gets thick or lumpy: don’t worry. It will loosen up a bit as it warms. You also can always thin a light sauce like this by placing it in a small saucepan over medium heat and whisking in 1-2 teaspoons of broth or water.
  • Freezing: I don’t really recommend freezing this.

Related Recipes

Who doesn’t need more easy chicken recipes in their life? Next, try my chimichurri chicken skillet, balsamic cranberry chicken skillet, creamy Tuscan chicken, lemon thyme chicken, or chicken in a light white wine sauce. They are all packed full of flavor – no boring chicken dinners here!

Want another spin on the one-pan wonder? Lemon chicken pasta and cozy chicken and dumplings are two family favorites!

If you try this Honey Mustard Chicken recipe, don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.

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5 from 7 votes

Honey Mustard Chicken Skillet

Juicy, flavorful chicken seared and baked in a honey mustard pan sauce. Pair with green beans for a healthy, easy, one-skillet meal!

Ingredients

  • 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • a few turns freshly-ground black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
  • 8-10 ounces green beans
  • 3-4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth low-sodium preferred
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
  • 2 Tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375° F. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with the garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
    3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, a few turns freshly-ground black pepper
  • Warm 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken. Sear for 2-3 minutes on each side, then transfer chicken to a clean plate, keeping the pan on the heat.
    2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • While the chicken cooks, place green beans in a bowl or on a cutting board. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Set aside.
    8-10 ounces green beans
  • After removing the chicken, add garlic to the skillet. Saute for 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant. Whisk in the chicken broth, followed by the honey and both mustards. Stir until smooth and combined, and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet, spoon a bit of sauce over each piece, and tuck the green beans around the sides.
    3-4 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup honey, 3 Tablespoons whole grain mustard, 2 Tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
  • Transfer pan to the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes. The chicken’s internal temperature should reach 165 degrees F, and the green beans will be tender and slightly wrinkled. Remove from the oven and let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

  • This recipe is written for “regular” chicken breasts. If using thin-sliced breasts, they will cook much more quickly and dry out in the oven before the green beans are tender.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 370 kcal, Carbohydrates: 26 g, Protein: 39 g, Fat: 12 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Cholesterol: 108 mg, Sodium: 1006 mg, Potassium: 898 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 20 g, Vitamin A: 885 IU, Vitamin C: 13.1 mg, Calcium: 55 mg, Iron: 2.1 mg
Did you make this recipe?Leave a review below, then snap a quick picture and tag @nourishandfete on Instagram so I can see it!

This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated with new photos and more helpful information on variations, storage, and related recipes.