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🍗 Chicken & poultry

French mustard chicken breasts

Golden chicken tucked into a luxurious mustard cream sauce

⏱️ Time estimate: about 35 minutes

Thin chicken cutlets get quickly sautéed until golden, then finished in a silky sauce of shallots, white wine, broth, cream, and grainy Dijon that feels very French-market-class chic.

French mustard chicken in creamy sauce

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Mustard cream sauce

  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 medium bay leaves
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • Fresh dill, thyme, or rosemary, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Season the chicken. Stir together the garlic salt, herbs, flour, sugar, and pepper. Slice the chicken breasts horizontally into thin cutlets and season both sides with the mixture.
  2. Brown the chicken. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden on the first side, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip and cook 1 minute more, then transfer to a plate and cover loosely.
  3. Start the sauce. Add the shallot to the pan and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
  4. Reduce the wine. Add the white wine, raise the heat, and scrape up the browned bits. Boil until most of the wine has evaporated.
  5. Build the broth. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves and cook at a steady low boil for 8 minutes.
  6. Finish with mustard and cream. Whisk together the cream, mustard, and cornstarch until smooth. Stir it into the simmering sauce along with any juices from the chicken plate. Simmer for about 2 minutes, remove the bay leaves, and taste for seasoning.
  7. Let the chicken finish gently. Return the chicken to the pan, cover tightly, turn off the heat, and let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
  8. Serve. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh herbs.

Tiny triumph: the pinch of flour and sugar on the chicken is mostly there to help it turn beautifully golden.