I have never gotten so many compliments before, let alone for a piece of chicken. David suggested calling this chicken, “So Good it Can’t Be Described, Explosion on Your Taste Buds Chicken.” Exactly. I have never encountered a dish that is so basic and simple to put together yet creates such a big pay off. This chicken, quite simply, is one of the most savory things I’ve ever eaten. If you are the busiest person on the planet and don’t have much cooking experience, but you have to prepare a meal to woo the love of your life, cook this chicken!
To make this chicken, which you should absolutely do immediately, preheat your oven to 450º F. Then, mix together 1/2 cup of dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and 1 tablespoon of rice/rice wine vinegar.
Put 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs into a foil-lined or disposable oven-proof, 8×8 inch baking dish. Six thighs came in my package, which made enough to serve 3 people. Then, salt and pepper the thighs. Pour your maple mustard mixture over them, turning the thighs in the mixture so they are fully coated.
Put the chicken thighs into the oven, and let them bake for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165ºF. Baste the tops of the chicken with the sauce half way through. I find that a meat thermometer is essential in cooking because it allows me to check for doneness without cutting into the meat and losing its precious juices. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Plate the chicken, whisk the sauce that remains in the baking dish, and then spoon the extra sauce over the top. Sprinkle over some fresh rosemary. If there is ever a time to use fresh herbs, THIS IS IT! The flavors are just so good together. Enjoy the savory goodness of this meal!
I adapted this recipe from “The I <3 Trader Joe’s Cookbook” by Cherie Mercer Twohy. Thanks, Jenna!
Shopping list:
- Chicken thighs- 1 package
- Dijon mustard- 1/2 cup
- Maple syrup- 1/4 cup
- Rice/rice wine vinegar- 1 tablespoon
- Fresh rosemary
- Salt and pepper
I added a half cup of mayo – yeah, I know…extra calories. 🙁 However, it was delicious and for those that don’t like the strong taste of dijon, this really helps tame it a bit. A delicious recipe and it did please both my ‘big man’ and my ‘little man’. 🙂 Thanks for sharing it.
You should try Dijonnaise…i think its Hellmans/Best foods product. Its creamier and less tangy than dijon mustard and only has 5 calories!!! Tasty cakes 🙂
Try low fat yogurt in place of mayo?
I tried this tonight. It was OK. Really not very special.
Yeah, Ive made this. It was just average at best.
I made this last night and agree with opinions above. I baked split Cornish hens…I like Dijon, but it was too much. May add more syrup and try to salvage it for leftovers, rinse it off and make chicken salad, or just discard it. Sorry, it came nowhere near the glowing description.
Ur a poop
I added more syrup to it and also brown sugar. Makes it so much tastier.
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I made this and thought it was very mustardy. Probably won’t make it again.
This was awesome! Made it today and it was a hit, even with the two yr old who normally doesn’t eat meat! My husband said that it was by far the best chicken dish at I’d made! Thks for this awesome recipe. Btw..I followed the recipe to the T!
I’ve made this a few times but as others have commented, it’s too mustardy. So to fix this I reversed the amounts of the maple syrup/mustard ratio. It comes out great this way. Maybe even a little but less than 1/4 cup mustard. Try it that say and I think you’ll love it!
I broiled it for two minutes at the end to brown the top.
Made this tonight with chicken thighs with bones and skin. Had a ton of extra sauce that I didn’t pour on the chicken that I saved to dip pretzel sticks in for a snack later in the week. But, THE CHICKEN!!! Yummmmmmm! I am a huge fan of Dijon (gotta use the Grey Poupon) and this dish was so good! I would make it to impress my own mother, who is a gourmand. So so so good, love love love.
I tried this tonight, and it was okay. I don’t think I’d make it again. I do love Sam’s idea of using the sauce for pretzels!
I’m trying this tonight! I’m really excited! I’m so glad that I found this on pinterest!
I am getting ready to try this! Hope it is as good as it looks!
this was fabulous but I reversed the measurements. 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1/4 dijon mustard. Everyone raved about it!!! The rosemary on top also made this dish.
Tonight will be the second time I have made this dish. I made it for my dad the first time and he LOVED it! To make this even better, my dad isn’t a huge fan of chicken and he requested that I make this again! This time I am making it for not only my dad and myself, but 6 additional family members as well.
As for side dishes I wasn’t really sure what veggie to pair this with and I’m still not. So the first time I made it I put it over a bed of brown rice at the last minute. Turned out FABULOUS and it makes it a bit more filling.
DO try this!
We are making sauteed asparagus…just sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper…it is the only veggie I could think of to go with it.
I make this all the time but I use honey in place of the maple syrup. Everyone love it.
I want to try this, but do you use boneless/skinless thighs, or ones with bone and skin. Or does it matter
just wondered a bout the rice/rice v inegar?? seasoned or not? just plain rice vinegar?
Thank you for posting this recipe. I will be making this for dinner tomorrow night. I have shared your recipe with a link back to your site on my blog. Thank you again looking forward to trying this!
Yes. Good. Couple of things. Not huge mustard fans here, so read one comment about swapping portions of maple syrup and mustard and thought I’d try. Then, after it was in the oven (about 5 minutes) and I read some of the other comments, I got a bit nervous that the sauce wouldn’t set up right, so added more mustard. All in all I would say it was 1:1 syrup/mustard and it worked just fine — though now want to try it with full mustard — it was pretty subtle in the 1:1 mix. Yes, definately use tin foil — I didn’t (’cause I didn’t see it in the picture) and can tell there will be a little scrubbing of the dish — guessing tin-foil would make clean up a breeze. Also mine didn’t brown quite like the photo perhaps because my sauce was different or I didn’t use foil, but browned enough and so so tender! Not sure what kind of meat thermometer you have, but my probe kind went off after about 10 miutes in the oven — chicken thighs just too small for the probe to get a good placement in the meat.Yes for the rosemary! Really nice additional note. Served mine over rice (and used every drop of the sauce) and whipped butternut squash. YUM.
Made this tonight w/chicken breasts…was slightly mustardy so I did add a couple tablespoons sweet mayo/horseradish sauce & it was perfect. I also marinated 4 an hour. Was very good & presentation was awesome with the slight browning on top. This definitely made it into our rotation! Thanks 4 the recipe!
I was a bit skeptical about how this would turn out after reading the mixed reviews but it really did come out well. We really like mustard-flavored foods so that wasn’t a problem for us (I used a more grainy mustard, not dijon). It is amazing how you still taste just a hint of the syrup through the mustard and the rosemary really does add a nice twist at the end. Overall we really enjoyed this, especially because it was so easy to throw together. Definitely a keeper!
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Making it right now, looks and smells wonderful! Keep you posted!
Made this chicken tonite. Followed a suggestion and decreased the mustard and increased the maple syrup to a 1 – 1. Would have liked the sauce to be a little thicker, but it was very tasty.
This chicken is so yummy!
I just made it again for the 5th or 6th time, it is great every time!
Only make this if you really like mustard. I made it as directed and I hated it. Couldn’t even finish one chicken thigh, it is very mustardy not sweet at all. If you REALLY like mustard you will love this, I wanted to love it but was just disgusted.
Oh god I agree I thought it was gross!
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My kids loved it. Thanks so much for sharing
Made this for dinner tonight and it turned out GREAT! I was a little apprehensive because of the negative reviews at the beginning, but it turned out really yummy and tasty. It truly lived up to its name and pleased my man!
I did three thick boneless skinless chicken breasts for the two of us and cooked them for exactly 40 minutes. I did half dijon mustard and half maple syrup (both from Trader Joe’s) plus the rice wine vinegar, added a few shakes of dried rosemary and garlic powder, then marinated for about an hour. The sauce had dried up when I checked on it halfway so I made some more of the sauce to spoon over it and it came out very moist and juicy! A few more shakes of dried rosemary before serving with lemon garlic roasted broccoli and cauliflower for a delicious low carb meal. Next time I’ll try to use some fresh rosemary!
My husband said it was one of the best dishes I’ve made, ever! And for me, one of the easiest!
I made this dish several times and it is amazing! I love maple syrup and my husband loves mustard, this is a perfect combination. I would imagine honey would be just as good. I should try this on salmon too!
Tried this for the second time tonight. Turned out awesome the first time I made it (I just used a couple more tbsp of maple than the recipe and malt vinegar instead of rice vinegar cos I couldn’t find that at my grocery store)… Looked exactly like the pics on the site and tasted awesome! Tonight unfortunately, it just turned out different…the sauce mostly got burnt off and the chicken was dry and the oven all smokey… Dunno what I did wrong 🙁
Definitely ‘man pleasing’ in our home! I used the 1:1 ratio of mustard to maple syrup and substituted white wine vinegar as that’s what I had on hand. Served with whole grain pasta.
im gonna try this in the crock
Made this last night, bought some beautiful free range chicken thighs and my mouth was salavating as i prepared the marinade and carefully placed my chicken in the roasting pan. I was severely dissapointed with the outcome, the taste of dijon was overpowering and the maple syrup made the chicken too sweet with not enough tang. Would NEVER make this again. DIDNT LOOK ANYTHING LIKE THE PIC btw
I followed the recipe exactly and it was just ok. I ate it for several meals, so as not to waste it, but it was not as good as most other chicken recipes I use. I even gave some of it away and I’m pretty sure they threw it out! Don’t bother with the rosemary unless you REALLY like rosemary. Each step in the process looked like the photos, but the finished product did not look like the pic. If you try it, might want to try just a couple of thighs to be sure you like it before “going all in”…..
Definitely man pleasing and woman pleasing. I didn’t have maple syrup or fresh rosemary or rice vinegar so I used honey, dried rosemary, and white wine vinegar. Accidentally put in 1/2 cup of honey instead of 1/4 cup and I doubled the vinegar to compensate. Sprinkled the dried rosemary on top before cooking. Turned out delicious! The rosemary kept it from being an ordinary honey mustard chicken.
Did not like this chicken at all. The mustard is VERY over-powering & it did NOT please my man. I’d stay away if you don’t like strong tastes.
I make this at least once a week-love it! Easy, fast and really good!!
Thanks for sharing this recipe w/me!
Just tried this tonight. I like it well enough, but I think it’s a recipe I’ll play with and see what happens. I added half an onion this time and it was pretty tasty. Next time I’ll probably add garlic and maybe more veggies. I think I’ll try what another person said and put it on a bed of rice. Thanks for the recipe!
I did tweak this a bit and it was a big hit in this house! I did 1/4 cup of mayo, 1/4 cup of dijon mustard and 1/4 cup of syrup. We both do not care for rosemary so we left that off completely. I had served it with potatoes but next time I will use rice or mashed potatoes. It was pleasing to two small children as well!
I didn’t read the recipe too closely I guess and used chicken thighs with the skin still on. Had to p0ur off the fat before serving but they still tasted great.
This chicken was really good! Thanks for the recipe. It was good not to read the comments! 😉 so I can made this without hesitation.
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Second Time Was As Amazing As the First!
My daughter begged me to make this recipe again. I just made it for the first time about a month ago. It turned out fantastic again. Browned on the top and thick, yummy gravy. We had ours with wild rice and a nice crisp green salad. Tender, tender chicken. She just finished her second plate. The best thing about this recipe besides its yummy goodness, is that it has very few ingredients and is so easy. Just follow the simple directions. There are very few steps.
Before you go dabbling and changing it, try to make it as directed using the same kind of chicken, all of the ingredients in their proportions, and follow the cooking time, temp, and directions. Gosh, I have read so many posts that say it didn’t turn out right and then I read how they pretty much used another kind of meat, changed the proportions of the maple and mustard, added new ingredients, varied the cooking instructions, etc. You didn’t even make the same recipe. I am guessing some of you also salt your food before you taste it. You don’t even know if it needs it, but your sprinkling it on anyway. Resist the temptation to change something until you have tried it.
There’s a chemistry to cooking and this recipe relies on the combination of flavors making this dish delicious. The mustard, maple syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper all combine with the juice and just enough fat from the boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The flavor you taste should not be the individual ingredients.
The other thing is that food preferences are very personal and not everyone likes the same thing. Thank goodness for that…life would be pretty boring with all of us having the same tastes. I am grateful for all of the variations of food that our world has to offer and try to sample as many different foods that I can. Some I love and some…well I guess I don’t appreciate them as much as others do. This is a recipe I will make time and time again. It’s so darn easy and so delicious.
Very nicely said, Michele!
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I made this chicken for my boyfriend during a mountain getaway… I think it made him love me even more! I used a little less mustard than called for because I didn’t have enough but it turned out perfectly delicious! I’m keeping this recipe for future use. Yum!
Mission accomplished!
I make this often. It’s requested constantly by my picky 9-year-old. Tried it with chicken breasts the last time instead and it wasn’t very good at all. I have to say that I wonder if the people giving poor reviews are using real maple syrup and name brand mustard?? I know the fake syrup is no good and it does seem to have a stronger mustard flavor if I’ve used store brand mustard.
I tried this recipe last night and it was yummy. But I did decide to make the ration of syrup to mustard equal. Also add a couple tablespoons of mayo but not sure it was needed. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I will make it again.
You can avoid cooking disasters if you TASTE as you go. If something doesn’t taste right to you then tweak it for your taste.
In the oven now and smells amazing!!!!!!!!