Crispy panko mustard chicken January 17, 2008

It may not look like much, but this may very well be the absolute best healthy chicken breast recipe ever. I say healthy because it wouldn’t be fair to include something like fried chicken in a comparison with its lower fat breathren. But among the slew of recipes attempting to make something moist, tender, and delicious out of those frozen breasts that resemble hockey pucks more than anything you’d want to eat, this recipe really stands out. In truth, we rarely dip into the giant bag of chicken breasts in our freezer because they rarely amount to anything interesting and usually turn out chewy or bland. So what a revelation to find this recipe for crispy panko mustard chicken originally posted here on Cooking with Amy.

Expecting the usual ho-hum healthy chicken breasts last night when I pulled these out of the oven, we were downright shocked at how good they turned out to be. Beyond their crispy golden exterior (thanks to panko, the Japanese bread crumbs), they were incredibly moist and tender, to the point that I had to ask myself whether they were really done- they didn’t have the slightest trace of toughness or dryness characteristic of the chicken breasts that usually come out of our oven. The mustard gave them enough kick that they didn’t need a lick of sauce or additional spices and the panko gave a crunch reminiscent of fried chicken. I will even go so far to say that I haven’t had chicken this good anywhere in recent memory- not at home, not at a friend’s house, not even in a restaurant. Many thanks to Amy for coming up with this incredibly easy, quick, and delicious recipe that is going straight to our list of stand-by weeknight recipes.

Crispy Panko Mustard Chicken (serves 2, easily multiplied to make a larger quantity)

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp mustard
1/4 cup panko
several tbsp of flour
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

(N.B.: If you’re using frozen chicken breasts, be sure to defrost them first by putting them in a bowl full of cool water for 30 minutes or so. They’ll defrost faster if you change the water more frequently.)

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Melt the butter in a small dish in a microwave oven then combine the butter with the panko crumbs in a small mixing bowl.

2. If your chicken breasts are wet, dry them thoroughly with a paper towel. Then sprinkle lightly with flour, coating the entire breast. Shake off any excess. (This will help the mustard and panko mixture to stick to the breasts.)

3. Coat chicken breasts with mustard then place on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet, top with crumbs and bake approximately 15 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.