Sweet Hot Mustard Chicken Thighs

I’ve been preparing dinner for my family for a long time.  I’ve had a meal plan for almost 20 years, and there hasn’t been much change to it.  I’m always trying new recipes, but there are only a few that have won a spot on the regular rotation, and this is one of them:  Sweet Hot Mustard Chicken Thighs

I’m happy to share with you our new favorite chicken thigh recipe.  This was a hit with the family, and it’s so good that you can serve it to company (and I have).

I will warn you that this needs marinating – not great for the working mom.  Just what you want to do after you’ve made dinner, served and cleaned up – start putting together tomorrow night’s meal.  But, there are a couple things that you could do to make this a little bit easier on the schedule.

One idea is to marinate the chicken and freeze it.  That way you could just take out the chicken the day before you have to cook it.  The other approach is to take two days to prep the chicken.  Make the marinade one night, then prep the chicken/put it in the marinade. 

Ready for the fridge (or freezer).

This chicken has tons of flavor.  It comes out moist and succulent.  And it’s really simple – after you marinate the chicken, you just bake it.  The baking time exceeds my usual limit of 30 minutes for a weeknight meal, but since you put it in the oven and forget it, it’s low stress.  But, if you want to keep the time down,  you can make this with boneless thighs and reduce the cooking time to 30 minutes (or less).

Setting the chicken on top of onion rings gives it an extra flavor while letting the heat circulate while it’s cooking.  You also get yummy onions at the end!

I love that I typically have all the ingredients on hand:

I like to serve this with rice, usually white, but for company I decided to try coconut jasmine rice, and it was the perfect accompaniment.  I used this easy recipe from Sandra Lee of the Food Network.  Add a simple vegetable like buttered carrots or roasted asparagus, and you have yourself a dinner worthy of company.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Sweet Hot Mustard Chicken Thighs

Chef John

Our favorite chicken thigh recipe.

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Prep Time 25 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 1 d 1 hr 40 mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 8 large bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 T honey
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground dried chipotle pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper optional
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion sliced into rings
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil or as needed

Instructions

 

• Make 2 slashes crosswise into the skin and meat of each chicken thigh with a sharp knife, cutting to the bone. Cuts should be about 1 inch apart. Transfer thighs into a heavy resealable plastic bag.
• Whisk Dijon mustard, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, honey, mustard powder, salt, black pepper, ground chipotle pepper, and cayenne pepper in a bowl until smooth. Whisk garlic into marinade.
• Pour marinade into bag over chicken thighs, seal bag, and massage marinade into chicken,coating each thigh thoroughly and working the marinade into the cuts. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight for best flavor).
• You can also freeze at this point - label bag with date and use by months.
• To cook, move a rack to the center position in oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly oil the foil.
• Scatter onion rings onto prepared baking sheet. Place chicken thighs on top of onion rings. Spray or brush thighs with vegetable oil; sprinkle thighs with additional salt and cayenne pepper if desired.
• Roast chicken in preheated oven until the skin is browned, meat is tender, and the juices run clear, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Transfer chicken and onions onto a serving platter, adjust onions on top and serve.

Optional

• Pour pan drippings into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and continue boiling, stirring often, until drippings are reduced. Strain in a fat separator (gravy separator) and add juices back to sauce pan and boil for additional 3 to 4 minutes until thickened.
• Spoon reduced pan sauce over each chicken thigh and serve.

Notes

Prep/Cooking time includes marinating time.
If using boneless chicken thighs, reduce cooking time - start checking doneness after 25 min.