Lemon Dijon Chicken — 🍋 Tender, juicy chicken with a scrumptious sauce made with lemon butter, Dijon mustard, and a splash of wine for extra flavor!! This EASY skillet chicken recipe is ready in 20 minutes and will become a family dinner FAVORITE!
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If you’re in need of a fast and easy 20-minute chicken dinner, this comforting chicken with Dijon mustard sauce will become a new family favorite that’s sure to go into your dinner rotation.
My favorite kinds of recipes are the ones made in one skillet, like this one, which is awesome because there are less dishes to do later.
This chicken is pan-seared on the stovetop and is so tender, juicy, rich, and buttery. Between the lemon butter, Dijon mustard, and white wine, the pan sauce has so much depth of flavor.
I adapted this recipe from my Garlic Butter Chicken recipe. If you’re in need of another fast, easy, 15-minute chicken dinner, check that recipe out.
Ingredients Needed
For this fast lemon mustard chicken made with common fridge and pantry ingredients, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 21 Salute Seasoning or poultry seasoning
- Salt
- Pepper
- White wine or chicken broth
- Butter
- Dijon mustard
- Lemon juice
- Honey, optional
- Fresh parsley, optional
- Lemon slices, optional
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Lemon Dijon Chicken
This is such a fast and easy chicken dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights!
- To a large skillet, add olive oil and seasoned chicken breasts and sear on the first side for about 5 minutes. Flip chicken oven and cook on the second side for about 5 minutes.
- When the chicken is done and cooked through, remove it from the pan and allow it to rest on a plate.
- To make the dijon mustard sauce for the chicken, deglaze your pan with a splash of wine, add the butter, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and cook for one minute, or until the butter has melted.
- Return the chicken to the pan and toss it in the lemon butter sauce.
- Optionally garnish with parsley, lemon slices, and dig in.
Recipe FAQs
Technically yes, but I do recommend Dijon mustard for its richer flavor. The splash of white wine that’s used for deglazing the pan marries perfectly with the Dijon mustard. After all, Dijon mustard is made from mustard seeds, white wine, water, and salt so the wine is a natural fit.
You can experiment with a brown grainy mustard or a semi-spicy mustard, if desired. I don’t recommend yellow mustard — save that for hot dogs and burgers!
Use whatever dry white wine you have open or on hand. Chardonnay, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, or even a dry rose is fine. Just make sure it’s not sweet.
If wine isn’t fitting for you, use chicken broth instead. Note that the alcohol in the wine burns off and what you’re left with is a richer flavor in the lemon butter Dijon mustard sauce.
I used Trader Joe’s 21 Salute Seasoning which is mixture of oregano, thyme, rosemary, and more. Use poultry seasoning or a mixture of those spices if you don’t have 21 Salute. The flavor of the seasoning is going to be subdued by the Dijon mustard which I think takes center stage of the flavor profile of this chicken recipe.
Cooking Tips
You need to pound your chicken to an even thickness so that it cooks evenly. Chicken breasts have a thick side and a thin side and you want to pound the thick side so it’s not as thick. Pounding also breaks down muscle fibers so the finished chicken is more tender.
After searing, your pan (if using a stainless steel or cast iron pan) is going to have lots of chicken bits and cooking juices stuck to it.
This is where deglazing comes in. Meaning, you add either wine (or chicken broth) to the pan to remove the stuck-on bits of food. Adding wine or even chicken broth to a very hot skillet will cause the liquid to bubble up with lots of ensuing steam. Be careful!
What to Serve with Lemon Dijon Chicken
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Lemon Dijon Chicken Skillet
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness (4 average to good-sized breasts)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons 21 Salute Seasoning, or poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ½ cup white wine* or chicken broth, or as necessary
- ¼ to ⅓ cup Dijon mustard, use more if you want extra sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 to 2 tablespoons honey, optional and to taste
- lemon slices, optional for garnishing
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, pounded chicken, evenly season with 21 Salute, salt, pepper, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Do not touch, move, or disturb the chicken while it is searing. After 5 minutes, flip chicken over. It should have a medium golden color. For thicker/bigger chicken breasts, sear for 6-7 minutes.
- Allow chicken to cook on the second side for about 5 minutes, or until done and cooked through. Again, do not disturb the chicken while it’s searing.
- Remove chicken with a slotted spatula and place it on a plate to rest.
- Using caution, deglaze your skillet by adding wine (or broth) and allow the liquid to bubble up and steam violently for a few seconds.
- Add the Dijon mustard, butter, lemon juice, and allow the butter to melt, about 1 minute; stir continuously until melted and the sauce has combined.
- Turn the heat off, taste the sauce, and if you want it a bit sweeter, optionally add honey, to taste, and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken back into the skillet, flip it around in the lemon butter sauce, and spoon the sauce over the chicken.
- Optionally garnish with lemon slices, parsley, and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Skillet Chicken Recipes:
Creamy Parmesan Dijon Chicken Skillet —Tender, juicy chicken bathed in a divine cream sauce made with garlic, cream, Dijon mustard, and a splash of wine for extra flavor!! This restaurant-quality EASY stovetop chicken is ready in 20 minutes and will be a family FAVORITE!
Garlic Butter Chicken — Tender, juicy chicken bathed in a rich garlic butter sauce with a splash of wine for extra flavor!! This EASY stovetop chicken recipe is ready in 15 minutes and will become a family FAVORITE!!
One Pan Lemon Butter Chicken and Potatoes – A DELICIOUS family dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes and full of lemon buttery goodness!! ONE PAN keeps things EASY for you with less dishes!!
Easy Lemon Chicken with Caramelized Lemons — If you like lemons you’re going to love this very lemony LEMON chicken!! Easy, healthy, ready in 20 minutes, and bursting with bold lemon flavor!!
One-Skillet Honey Dijon Chicken with Potatoes and Green Beans – An EASY, one-skillet recipe that’s ready in 20 minutes!! Juicy chicken, crispy potatoes, and crisp-tender green beans for the WIN! Great for busy weeknights or date-night-in!!
Easy Lemon Chicken Piccata — 🍋 Learn how to make this EASY Italian classic complete with juicy chicken breasts in a creamy lemon sauce that’s studded with capers! Ready in just 30 minutes, made in one skillet, and rivals chicken piccata from a fancy restaurant! Serve the chicken with angel hair pasta, steamed rice, or mashed potatoes to soak up every last drop of the creamy sauce!
Originally posted January 18, 2021 and republished with updated text April 5, 2024.
Nice flavor and easy to make but the presentation was not great, the sauce did not look appetizing at all, like a brownish sludge. Not sure where things went wrong, I followed all directions. I’ll probably look for a similar version of lemon chicken that looks prettier on a plate.
You could have possibly just overbrowned things or cooked a bit too long – hence the color and thick texture. I suggest cooking for less time overall and perhaps reduce your heat output too a bit. Thanks for trying the recipe.
My incredibly picky daughter just ate her entire piece of chicken. Well worth the mess I made of the stove top! It was a little too much flavor for my sensitive palate but I served it with plain, brown rice and problem solved.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Iris, and I am glad your daughter enjoyed this and you were able to modify it with rice on the side to your liking.
i first made this a couple of years ago when i was first learning to cook and it has become a very beloved staple dish in our rotation. i wrote it down to add to my physical recipe box just in case i ever couldn’t find it online again!
as a note, i highly recommend buying the 21 seasoning salute, the blend of spices and herbs is a bit hard to replicate with the average pantry and it’s cheap and delicious.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Samantha, and I am so glad this has been a beloved dish for you over the years! And yes totally agree re the 21 Salute. Cheap, easy, delish!
I love your recipes but I am used to cooking with ingredients that tell me how much I need. This doesn’t happen with the recipes that I have seen.
There’s a recipe card in each post with the ingredients listed. You probably didn’t scroll down quite far enough to see the recipe card. There’s also a Jump To Recipe button at the top of every post unde the title and clicking that will bring you directly to the recipe.
Could you do this in a slow cooker?
While of course you could, for me, there’s no point in turning a quick 15-20 minutes stovetop recipe into an hours-long slow cooker event. Plus, it’s better to just sear the chicken like I direct, deglaze the pan with wine, and follow as directed rather than trying to slow cook it – it would not turn out as well IMO.
It would dry out the chicken breasts not to mention making them very tough as
well.
great
Could I do this with bone in skin
on thighs?
Yes but they will take longer to cook more than likely so make sure you adjust for that.
What would you serve this with in your opinion?
You can serve it with anything including rice, potatoes, roasted vegetables, a side salad, French bread, you name it.
great
great
Would love to try this ..
I have everything except the lemons ..
Can I use the bottle one from fridge ?
Thanks
Yes that’s fine if that’s what you have!