The Pinterest hit known as “Man Pleasing” Chicken

I am not a mustard person, which is why I had pinned this recipe quite some time ago but have been finding reasons to put off trying it.  But I had company coming over and needed a quick, easy dinner I could throw together.  And thus, I decided to tackle the ever-present “man-pleasing chicken” recipe from Pinterest.

I was really worried that the three main ingredients—dijon mustard, maple syrup, and a sweeter vinegar—would just make this way too intense, all the flavors fighting each other.  But I was pleasantly surprised by how the flavors actually kind of balanced each other out, making the end result sweet, tangy, and with just enough bite to keep your interested.

The other nice flavor component was the rosemary.  If you don’t have it the recipe is still great, but the fresh rosemary just adds another great layer of flavor with the mustard-maple sauce.

[June 2019:  This is one of my most popular recipes, so I’ve updated the images to be better…though it’s hard to make this chicken look pretty 🙂  But it IS delicious]

Preheat your oven to 450ºF.  First, whip up the sauce.  It takes only three (fairly intense) ingredients, and gives you a great sweet/savory end result.  And if you don’t have rice or rice wine vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar (and maybe add a tiny pinch of sugar).  It was delicious.  Whisk everything together.

Line a pan with tin foil (not a baking sheet, but more like a 9×13 pan)…trust me on this one, it makes cleaning up SO much easier!  Pour a drizzle of olive oil in the bottom and and throw in some fresh-ground salt and pepper, then place your chicken breasts on there and season with more salt and pepper.

Spoon or pour the sauce over them, making sure they get fully coated.

Bake for 20-40 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.  It will be closer to 20 if you are using more like chicken tenders, or more like 30-40 if you have fat chicken breasts.  The most important thing is that the fattest part of the chicken should be 165ºF inside when using a meat thermometer (they’re a total game changer!).

Once out of the oven, let the chicken rest for 5 minutes and sprinkle some fresh chopped rosemary on top before serving.

This maple dijon chicken recipe was so easy and JAM PACKED full of flavor.  It made my house smell amazing, and was absolutely delicious.

Pinterest’s Famous “Man-Pleasing Chicken”

Or the less obnoxious maple dijon chicken 🙂

• 1-2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I recommend cutting them to be semi-even sized)
• 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of rice or rice wine vinegar (if you don’t have, can substitute apple cider vinegar & a tiny bit of sugar)
• Fresh rosemary, chopped
• Fresh-ground salt and pepper, extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450ºF.  Whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, and vinegar in a bowl.

Line a baking dish with foil and put a drizzle of oil in the bottom with some salt and pepper.  Then place the chicken breasts in the dish and season with more fresh-ground salt and pepper.  Spoon or pour the sauce over them, making sure they get fully coated.

Bake for 20-40 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.  It will be closer to 20 if you are using more like chicken tenders, or more like 30-40 if you have fat chicken breasts.  The most important thing is that the fattest part of the chicken should be 165ºF inside when using a meat thermometer (they’re a game changer, this is the one I use!).

Once out of the oven, let the chicken rest for 5 minutes and sprinkle some fresh chopped rosemary on top before serving.

Original recipe here

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