Maple-Mustard Glazed Chicken

If you're like me, you are likely on the constant hunt for a new tasty chicken recipe. We don't eat a lot of red meat- mostly chicken, fish, pork and turkey. So it is exciting to find a new fantastic chicken recipe! These glazed chicken breasts are exactly that- fantastic! Just the right amount of sweet and tangy, tender, moist and flavorful. The added bonus is that they are quick, easy to prepare and only 264 calories per serving! The recipe calls for an ovenproof skillet (a cast-iron one, I'm assuming!), which I have yet to acquire (but I want one bad- they are just expensive)...maybe someday I'll bite the bullet and go for it. Anyhow, since I didn't have one, I simply transferred the browned chicken breasts to a glass baking dish and spooned the sauce over them for the last step. It worked beautifully.

Since I had one breast leftover after dinner, I discovered the next day that this chicken is also delicious in a salad! I cut it up and tossed it with lettuce and veggies and even used the leftover sauce as dressing- yum! I will definitely be making this again!

Maple-Mustard Glazed Chicken

(printable version)

adapted from MyRecipes

serves 4

2 tsp olive oil

4 chicken breast halves

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp thyme

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 TB apple cider vinegar

1 TB Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. (If you don't have an ovenproof skillet, use a frying pan or other skillet.) Add oil, swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; saute 2 min. on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan.

Add broth, syrup, thyme and garlic to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook 2 min., stirring frequently. Add vinegar and mustard; cook 1 min., stirring constantly.

Return chicken to pan and spoon mustard mixture over chicken. (If not using ovenproof skillet, place chicken in baking pan and spoon sauce over it.) Bake for 10 min. or until chicken is done. 

Remove chicken from pan; let stand 5 min. Place pan over medium heat (if not using ovenproof skillet, transfer sauce back to original pan); cook mustard mixture 2 min. or until liquid is syrupy, stirring frequently. Serve with chicken.