Crispy Mustard Chicken With Bread Crumbs
Published Oct. 26, 2023
- Total Time
- 40 to 50 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 to 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 3pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or use a mix of thighs and drumsticks)
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), more for sprinkling
- ¼cup/57 grams unsalted butter, melted
- 1¼cups panko bread crumbs (or use regular bread crumbs)
- ¼cup Dijon mustard
- 2garlic cloves, grated
- 1½tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
643 calories; 48 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 39 grams protein; 565 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle chicken thighs lightly with salt.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, panko and ¼ teaspoon salt until the panko is well coated.
- Step 3
In a medium bowl, combine the mustard, garlic, thyme, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon zest, red-pepper flakes, black pepper and remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
- Step 4
Lightly brush the thighs all over with the Dijon mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheet, skin sides up. Top evenly with the panko mixture and drizzle lightly with oil.
- Step 5
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the panko topping is golden brown. If you want more color on the thighs, broil on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute, watching closely. Serve with lemon wedges.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Zips
In my experience when you leave the skin on while baking bread crumb chicken, it all falls off with the first bight. Also, if cooked right on a sheet pan, the bottom will be greasy and wet. Take off the skin, salt and pepper liberally and then slather on the mustard mix and the panko. cook the pieces on a rack set in the sheet pan and you will have great results.
Greg
I like all of Melissa Clark's recipes, so I suggest modifications with trepidation. But here you go: I make a Dijon chicken much like this, but marinate the chicken thighs in Greek yogurt for a few hours before applying the herby mustard coating and panko. Worcestershire sounds like a great tweak. Thanks Melissa (and Mom)!
Auralee
I have been making a similar recipe for years and I highly recommend mixing some freshly grated parmesan cheese and a teaspoon of smoked paprika in with the crumbs. This is a great way to cook thighs!!
Harriet
I agree with Julie from Sonoma that this is a riff on Laurie Colwin's baked chicken. I've made my own version of it for years. But this recipe changes what I think is the key to Colwin's recipe: the long low-temperature bake. If you bake chicken thighs low and slow (I start at 275F and gradually increase to 325 over 90 minutes), the meat comes out luscious and juicy, and the skin crisps beautifully if you baste with the juices every half hour. Try it.
Jen W
We made this exactly as instructed as per the recipe and … wowza! We paired the chicken with a kale Cesar salad (from the artisan bag in the Whole Foods fridge) and a medley of different sweet potatoes we roasted underneath the chicken. We tossed the sweet potatoes in the leftover ingredients from the main dish— the juice of the lemon we zested for the recipe, as well as the fresh thyme. We added olive oil, orange zest and fresh squeezed orange juice, red pepper, black paper, and kosher salt.
Steve
I use cast iron griddles instead of sheet pans. I find that cleaning a cast iron griddle is much easier than cleaning a sheet pan and the griddle heats more evenly and keeps food warm for longer.
William Wroblicka
If your family likes breasts then just use breasts in this recipe. There's nothing about it that absolutely requires thighs. If you don't overcook the breasts they won't be dry. Just temp them from time to time with an instant-read thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, they're done!
John
Really delicious. Recommend serving with white rice. The excess Panko crust that falls off the chicken in the plate is delicious when used as a mix-in with the rice. Also, don’t skip the lemon juice squeezed on the top. It adds a brightness to the chicken which is wonderful.
Allison
I have been doing similar variations of this for many years: different types of mustard (spicy brown, yellow, honey, etc.), and combining it sometimes with mayonnaise, sometimes with chili garlic sauce. In addition, I add a little complementary spice to the Panko to boost the flavor. As for browning, I start the pieces skin side down for about half the cooking time.
Andree
A variation of this is a staple in our house. To cut fat remove the skin and slather on Dijon mustard. Roll the chicken in a mixture of breadcrumbs or pinko with some thyme and tarragon or herbs of your choice and some grated Parmesan cheese.
Donna
Just cooked this recipe’s near identical twin a few days ago. It was delicious, especially with apple chutney and an arugula salad.
Julie, Sonoma
Sometimes you just gotta eat the fat! This is quite good. Credit to Laurie Colwin in her "Home Cooking" book, 1988, for the first iteration of this that I tried. This version is higher end, a few more tasty ingredients, but anytime you put Dijon on chicken, top it with buttery goodness and bake it, it's going to be a winner. Eat that crispy skin! Toss some root vegies on that sheet pan and you have dinner.
RES
Yes. Olive oil is an excellent substitute for butter in this dish.
jordan
Had bacon I needed to cook, I took two cooked slices and crumbled into the crumb mix. Great addition IMO. Served with roasted brussels and pickled shallots, spätlese riesling
Richard
What do you normally substitute for butter?
Kelley
It was fantastic! don't be afraid of the mustard sauce going on thicker if you like mustard, it adds great flavor to the thighs. Made with broccoli cheddar rice and a wedge salad- deelish!
Doreen
Good flavour, I used honey Dijon, but I think it would be much better with no skin.
Sarah — Indianapolis
Delish! Acted on others suggestions of serving with a grain (farro) and roast chicken atop carrots (bravo)! And do not make my mistake of making extra mustard combo to use as a salad dressing! Waaaaaay too intense, even with sturdy romaine.
Nick
I followed the recipe exactly. 5 minutes prep time? Ms Clark's timer must be on Jupiter. The skin was not crispy. It was fatty and flabby. The bread crumbs were very crispy. In fact, they were charred at 40 minutes. I shouldn't have been surprised, given that the smoking point of butter is 350F. As others have noted, the crumbs (including the few that weren't charred) fell off the flabby, greasy skin. I know how to cook, but I don't know how this horrible thing remains on NYTimes site.
DawnJM
This was so good! I bought skinless, boneless thighs, and took someone else's suggestion to suspend these on a wire rack and threw new potatoes in, after rolling them around in the bowl to get coated with the marinade. VERY delicious - totally making again.
Deb Reese
Usually make more complex recipes, but given the rating and that it was from Melissa Clark we gave it a try. Outstanding!! Can’t believe something so easy tastes so good. My family raved! We will definitely be making this again and again.
Nicole
I found this recipe this morning and had all the ingredients on hand, no running to the grocery. I cooked it at 350 until it was done. It did not take that long. Even though I only used two boneless skinless thighs, I still made all the sauce and made sure the panko was enough. I have found that if you cut the liquids, etc. the same say one cuts down the protein for a solitary diner, it's always a disappointment. Make all the sauces!
Lynn
Delicious! I soaked the chicken in thinned Greek yogurt for a few hours. When time to prep, I removed most of the yogurt clinging to the chicken, spread the mustard on the top, and piled the breadcrumb/butter mix on top. My breadcrumbs were a combo of panko, ritz, and cornmeal (what I had on hand). Sprayed the tops with evoo and baked on a rack set into a sheet pan. This added another dimension to my normal 'oven fried chicken' with just yogurt and breadcrumbs. Will definitely make again!
TIm Fris
Pretty much as directed with buttermilk instead of butter. Used three bowls for the dunk - buttermilk then mustard then panko. It was really good paired with a quick sautéed of rapini chopped with garlic and red pepper as a bed vegetable. The heat was very good with the mustard.
xtraspice
Cooked as directed. Finished off with a drizzle of honey mustard under the broiler. Delicious!
John
Delicious. However, the recipe is really just a rehash of Julia Child's Deviled Chicken. I absolutely love it. Julia makes it with a whole chicken.
Kim D
A new family favorite. Followed the recipe exactly except made it with boneless, skinless thighs. Delicious!
Betsy
Against all advice and encouragement, my husband is just not a fan of thighs. Sigh. So I made this by cutting breasts into chunks - maybe 1x2” or 2x2” - dumped the chunks into the bowl with the mustard mixture and stirred to coat, then rolled each piece in the panko. Baked about 12-14 minutes and wow - the most perfect chicken nuggets. Delicious!
breadmama
This was great - used boneless skinless as that’s what I had on hand. Took down cooking time to 20-25 mins, and didn’t need all of the panko mixture (also didn’t use all of the butter, just enough to hydrate the panko). Definitely a fan of the tip to use a rack on a roasting pan (added some potatoes underneath plus the rest of the panko mixture, delish). Pro tip: add a half slice of swiss cheese to each thigh a couple minutes towards the end! Melty goodness!
Aleta
This was superb. The only changes I made were using garlic powder in the bread crumb coating because I had just run out of garlic cloves, and I did not have fresh thyme. The bread crumb coating did have a tendency to slide off while eating, but it did not detract in the least from the enjoyment of the meal. Served alongside Alexa Weibel's carrot risotto with chile crisp and the combo went together wonderfully.
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