Easy Crispy Baked Chicken with Delicious Maple Mustard Sauce

One of our family’s favorite dishes, this crispy baked chicken with maple mustard sauce is so delicious it’s asked for birthday dinners! Made with just six simple ingredients, this easy recipe will become a must-have in your dinner rotation. Experience the perfect blend of sweet maple and tangy mustard flavors, from both dry and prepared mustard, that create a mouth watering dish all your friends and family will love!

If I were to ask my family to vote, this recipe for mustardy baked chicken would probably be their #1 chicken recipe – they all love it. It’s also a good option for entertaining as well as regular weekday menus, since it’s basically a “mix-coat-bake and serve” type of recipe (like real food “shake and bake” chicken!).

Well, and the fact that everyone I’ve served it to loves it, not just my family!

The great thing about baked chicken recipes is that most of the cooking is hands-off. So while the chicken is baking you can make the rest of the meal (I’ve got some side dish ideas for you below) and whip up the two-ingredient maple mustard sauce that pretty much makes the dish.

Is baked chicken healthy?

According to most nutritionists, chicken is healthiest when it’s either baked or stir fried. And this specific chicken with its crispy crumb coating will remind you of fried chicken without any of the added fat.

In addition, it uses only a few easy to find, real food pantry ingredients.

One of my favorite things are simple, healthy recipes made amazing with just a few great ingredients – and this recipe is definitely that!

I found the original recipe years ago in a newspaper and I adapted it to our tastes, to be easier to make, and as a way to use our homemade breadcrumbs.

Ingredients Needed

This is basically a crispy-coated baked chicken, but the twist here is LOTS of mustard – both dry and Dijon. The mustard is never overwhelming, though, probably because the mustard flavors are layered, which what makes this chicken taste so amazing.

In addition to the chicken and some salt, you’ll need these five ingredients:

• Breadcrumbs: I like to use homemade breadcrumbs, but I’ve also used panko crumbs which does result in a sightlier crunchier crust.
• Dry mustard
• Dijon mustard
• Pure maple syrup
• Olive oil

When you see the amounts of mustard called for in the recipe you may think it’s too much, but trust me – don’t be afraid to make it as written! Between the layers and the cooking, it all mellows into some of the best chicken you’ll ever eat – you won’t be disappointed.

What kind of chicken pieces work best in this recipe?

Our family prefers dark meat, so I mostly make this recipe with thighs and sometimes drumsticks. I think the extra fat in dark meat really helps the coating to crisp up and give a mouth feel like fried chicken.

That said, I have made it with a whole chicken, cutting up the pieces into thighs, legs, and breasts (if you want to know how to cut a whole chicken, I have a tutorial here). I especially do this when serving to guests, since I know many people prefer breast meat.

Breasts do work great, though they should just be pulled out of the oven about 10 minutes sooner than the dark meat to avoid drying out.

Let’s Make Crispy Mustard Baked Chicken

To make this baked chicken, you take three steps to layer the flavor:

• Step 1: Marinate the pieces in a mustardy brine for about an hour.
• Step 2: Toss bread crumbs with dry mustard and then roll the chicken pieces in the mixture. Bake on a rack placed in a sheet pan.
• Step 3: Serve the chicken with a mustard-maple pouring sauce.

It’s All About The Sauce

What puts this chicken over the top, I think, is the amazing maple mustard sauce served with it. And that’s all the sauce is – pure maple syrup and Dijon mustard. Sometimes the simplest ingredients create the best flavors!

TIP: I don’t pour the sauce on the chicken before serving, but let each person add it to their chicken when putting it on their plate. That way the crust will stay crispy until just before the first bite and they can take just what they want.

Storage

If you have any leftovers, go ahead and pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. The crust won’t stay crisp in the fridge anyway and this gives the sauce a chance penetrate all the coating making for a different, but still delicious, lunch the next day (we may or may not fight over the leftovers…).

What to serve with Crispy Mustard Baked Chicken

• Grandma’s Baked Tasty Rice (I go ahead and bake this at the higher temperature the chicken needs, just checking it and pulling it out earlier than the recipe states.)
• Sour Cream Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Amazing Garlic Green Beans
• Classic Caesar Salad
• Orange Almond Salad
• And if it’s a birthday dinner, serve this giant skillet birthday cookie for dessert or maybe these chocolate chip cookie cups filled with ice cream!

This is such a special recipe to our family, I’m pretty sure you are going to thank me for this – and please leave a review and rating so I can know how you liked it!

More Easy Chicken Recipes To Try

• Soy Sriracha Marinated Chicken (to grill or bake)
• Rotisserie Style Slow Cooker Spiced Whole Chicken
• One Dish Spiced Lemon Skillet Chicken with Kale and Garbanzo Beans

 

This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in 2009.