Honey Mustard Chicken with Bacon Recipe - Savory Nothings (2024)

Juicy chicken smothered in a creamy honey mustard sauce – made even better with bacon! This Honey Mustard Chicken with Bacon is exra juicy and has the best sauce – easy enough for a quick weeknight dinner, but elegant enough for company, too.

Easy Honey Mustard Chicken

Honey Mustard Chicken is such a classic! Well, maybe not a classic classic. But you know, everyone has their own way of making it.

One issue I have with recipes using chicken breast? They often turn out so dry. Unless you coat them in endless amounts of butter and cream, and even then you sometimes get a dry, almost-impossible-to-chew dinner. But this one here?

• is easy to make on busy weeknights
• only needs a handful of staple ingredients for super quick prep (and no fancy groceries needed!)
• can be made as healthy or as decadent as you like – add some cream for a richer sauce, use less bacon for a lower calorie meal…
• is low carb diet friendly: simply replace the honey with an equivalent amount of your favorite low carb sweetener and you’ll have a delicious low carb chicken dinner!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Mustard: I like using both whole grain and smooth Dijon mustard. Feel free to use only smooth if you don’t like the graininess.
• Honey: A mild, runny honey works best for this recipe. It should complement the dish, not overpower it.
• Oil: A mild vegetable oil works best, although olive oil can also be used.
• Chicken broth/wine: Either use ¾ cup chicken broth, or ½ cup white wine and ¼ cup chicken broth. I personally love it with wine, but I know it’s not everybody’s thing, so the recipe is perfectly delicious with just chicken broth, too.
• Rosemary: If you don’t keep fresh on hand, feel free to use ¼ teaspoon dried. Thyme can also be used in place of the rosemary – either 4 sprigs fresh or ¼ teaspoon dried.

How to make this recipe with chicken thighs

If you prefer using chicken thighs here, follow the recipe as written, making sure to sear them really well on the skin side until very crispy (about 8 minutes) and 5 more minutes on the other side.

Cooking time will be around 15 minutes for medium chicken thighs. Be sure to check the internal temperature before serving.

How to make Honey Mustard Chicken

This is a walk-through of the recipe with step photos. Skip to the printable recipe card at the bottom for exact times and temperatures.

► 1 Prep ingredients: With recipes like this one, I always like getting the prep work out of the way before I start cooking. So you’ll chop an onion, mince some garlic and chop up some smoked bacon now.

► 2 Brown chicken: Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on either side, then place the chicken breasts in the hot pan and brown well on each side (it doesn’t have to be cooked through yet, just nicely browned). Remove from the pan and cover on a plate.

► 3 Cook the aromatics: Do not drain the pan here – there’s so much delicious flavor in there already! Add the bacon and cook until browned. Then add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute, until starting to soften.

► 4 Deglaze the pan: Deglazing sounds fancy, but it just means you’ll pour some liquid into the pan. So add chicken broth (or white wine!) and bring it to a boil, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Stir in both mustards (smooth and whole grain – but you can only use smooth too if you prefer).

► 5 Cook the chicken: Place the chicken back in the sauce, along with fresh rosemary sprigs. Cover the pan with a lid and gently simmer the chicken for 6-8 minutes, or until cooked through – an internal temperature of 165°F is recommended for chicken.

► 6 Finish sauce: Once the chicken is done, remove it to a plate and cover. Bring the sauce in the pan to a boil and simmer until it has your preferred consistency. Remove the rosemary sprigs and stir in the honey. You can also stir in a few tablespoons of cream for a richer sauce!

Recipe tips

To avoid a dinner ruined by dry chicken, I havesome super easy tips for youto make the best, juiciest honey mustard coated chicken:

• Only sear the chicken at first, but don’t cook it through. This is to get the outside of the chicken nicely golden brown to add so much additional flavor to the sauce, but the chicken doesn’t dry out. Just set the browned chicken breasts aside on a plate and cover them with foil until you’ve got the sauce ready.
• Cook the seared chicken in the sauce with a lid on.The flavors of the sauce kind of infuse the chicken that way, it’s more a poaching and the meat doesn’t even stand a chance of drying out.
• Check the internal temperature of your chicken with a thermometer.Regular sized chicken breasts will be done in less than 10 minutes, but I will say that it can take up to 15 minutes for the chicken to reach a safe internal temperature IF you have very thick, large chicken breasts.

I love usinga kitchen thermometer like this oneto make sure my food is cooked to a safe temperature!(This is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through.)

Serving ideas

We love this recipe with all our favorite classic, comforting side dishes!

Starchy sides

• Mashed Potatoes
• Rice
• egg noodles
• Crusty Homemade French Bread
• Garlic Smashed Potatoes
• Roasted Baby Potatoes or Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Vegetable sides

• sautéed green beans
• roasted asparagus
• sautéed zucchini
• steamed greens
• roasted broccoli

Salad Sides

• tossed green salad with honey mustard salad dressing
• creamy cucumber salad

PSIf you try this recipe, please leavea review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along onPinterest,FacebookorInstagram.

Printable recipe

I first shared this recipe on 02/28/2018. Republished with new photos and better text on 04/01/2021. Shared on FoodFanatic asHoney Mustard Chicken with Bacon Recipe.

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