World’s Pretty Good Chicken
I hate it when recipes are called “World’s Best….”. Sometimes they are pretty good, but they are NEVER world’s best because, really. Long ago, I pinned the recipe for “World’s Best Chicken”, not because I thought it would be “World’s Best”, but because it looked simple, and it probably wasn’t horrible. This has been pinned and repinned thousands of times, and I’m not sure to whom gets credit for this because it’s on tons of blogs.
One blog said it’s adapted from the The I Love Trader Joe’s Cookbook, which actually sounds like a great cookbook, because…I love Trader Joe’s.
Truthfully, I made this even better than the “World’s Best” recipe, because I made a simple pan sauce for it. I didn’t like how thin the juice was in the bottom of the pan and I wanted it to “stick” to the chicken better for more flavor.
Ingredients
- 4-6 chicken breast or thighs (I prefer boneless, skinless, but these were just skinless thighs)
- 1/2 cup dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
- favorite seasonings I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
- 1 tsp. minced garlic (or a few shakes of garlic powder)
- 1 tsp. butter
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1/4 c. cold water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray or butter.
- In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, mix together dijon mustard, maple syrup, and red wine vinegar.
- Place chicken breasts in baking dish. Season with salt and pepper and your preferred seasonings. Pour mustard mixture over chicken. Make sure each breast is coated.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes until meat thermometer reach desired temperature or its no longer pink inside.
- Remove chicken from pan to a plate and cover with foil.
- Pour juice from baking dish into a saucepan and turn heat to medium.
- Add garlic and butter. Stir cornstarch into cold water until smooth.
- Pour cornstarch slurry into simmering pan juices. Simmer and stir until thickened.
- Plate chicken and spoon pan sauce on top. Serve.
Notes
If you prefer to not use cornstarch in the pan sauce, just simmer until it is slightly thickened.
