These grilled honey mustard chicken breasts are perfect for a simple weeknight meal. With an easy, 6-ingredient marinade that’s made up of items you probably already have in your kitchen, this protein cooks up on the grill in about 10 minutes. Turning the marinade into a glaze lends an extra burst of flavor to make this chicken dish a family favorite.
If you’re looking for something sweet and tangy, this grilled honey mustard chicken is for you.
My family loves grilled chicken, both chicken thighs and breasts. From soy garlic chicken thighs to Mexican grilled chicken breasts, we’ve enjoyed lots of different types of chicken. And not to brag, but I’ve created over a dozen different marinades that my friends and family have gobbled up.
The trick, particularly with breasts, is to make sure they don’t dry out, and thankfully this dijon marinated chicken turns out tender and juicy.
By using a honey dijon chicken marinade and making sure the chicken is cooked to the perfect internal temperature, you can make tender and juicy chicken breast too.
Scroll down to see the step by step pictures and instructions, as well as helpful tips, to make this flavorful grilled chicken for your family and friends!
Grab the following ingredients
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.)
- Chicken breasts – this recipe calls for 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, which is anywhere between 1 and 1.5 pounds of chicken depending on the size of the breasts.
- Honey – don’t use your fancy honey here, just whatever comes from the grocery store will work. If your honey has hardened you will want to warm it slightly in a microwave-safe dish before putting it in with the other marinade ingredients.
- Dijon mustard – any brand will do, just make sure it’s dijon and not another type of mustard. The brands I use most often are Annie’s Organic Dijon Mustard or Organicville Dijon Mustard.
- Garlic – you want fresh garlic, not garlic powder. I like to use a garlic press instead of mincing it to get the most flavor. If you love garlic be sure and use large cloves, or even increase the amount used to 3 cloves.
- Oil – you want a mild oil for the marinade that won’t impact the flavor. My preference is avocado oil as it’s both mild and has a fairly high smoke point.
- Ground cinnamon – I used Saigon cinnamon, which I bought at Costco and is very common in America. You could also use Indonesian or Ceylon cinnamon, though I would not use Chinese cinnamon. For more about the different types, check out this article about ground cinnamon from Bon Appetit.
- Kosher salt – This recipe uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt. It is less salty by volume than many other salts, so if you are using a different type of salt (kosher or otherwise), you’ll want to use this salt conversion chart from Epicurious to determine how much salt to use.
Keep your chicken breast from drying out!
The way to do this is very simple:
Don’t let the internal temperature go past 165 degrees F.
Once a chicken breast gets above this temperature, it’s going to start getting dry.
The only way to know the internal temperature of your grilled chicken breast is to use a meat thermometer – and you want one that will take temperature quickly and accurately so you’re not holding your hand over the hot grill forever trying to get an accurate reading. (Trust me on that – ouch!)
The one I always recommended is the Thermapen by Thermoworks. We have had one for years and absolutely love it – we actually own two now.
That’s all you really need to know, but if you’ve never used a meat thermometer when grilling consider checking out this post I wrote on how to use a meat thermometer for grilling.
How to grill honey dijon chicken
(Note: please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the complete written instructions.)
This recipe has several steps, but don’t let the directions overwhelm you! Here are the basic steps:
- Flatten the chicken.
- Marinate the chicken.
- Make a glaze.
- Grill the chicken
Below are pictures showing you exactly how to make these grilled chicken breasts and each step is written out in detail in the recipe card to ensure your success.
Flatten the chicken breasts
Typically breasts are thin at one end and thicker at another. To keep your breasts from drying out it’s best to flatten them so they’re the same thickness across the board.
Marinate the chicken breasts
Next up is making the honey mustard chicken marinade and covering the meat with it.
Make a glaze
You’ll turn the used marinade into a glaze, which is part of what makes the chicken so flavorful.
Wait, is it safe to reuse marinade?
In this case, yes, because we’re boiling it for at least 5 minutes before reusing it – which is what’s needed, according to the USDA.
I would not recommend reusing it to marinate other chicken breasts, but boiling it and turning it into a glaze is a great way to add flavor to your cooked chicken.
Grill the chicken breast
Then the last step is to get the honey mustard chicken on the grill!
Need ideas for what to serve with grilled mustard chicken?
There are lots of great sides that go with grilled chicken breasts! Some options are:
- Grilled veggies are a great start, like this grilled zucchini.
- A green salad is another good option – my family loves this blueberry spinach salad.
- If a starchy side is your thing, this Instant Pot potato salad would be really good.
To see more options, check out this list of side dishes for grilled chicken!
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Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts
Equipment
- A garlic press
- A small whisk (or other utensil)
- A sealable gallon-sized plastic bag
- A kitchen towel
- A meat mallet (or rolling pin)
- A small sauce pan
- Grilling tongs
- A basting brush
Ingredients
- 1.25-1.5 lbs chicken about 2 breasts
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- ¼ cup dijon musard
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 large garlic cloves pressed or minced
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Prep the chicken breasts first. Place the raw boneless skinless chicken breasts in a gallon-sized sealable plastic bag (like a ziploc). If your breasts are roughly the same thinness throughout, skip to step 3. If not, you’ll need to pound each breast until it’s relatively the same thinness to ensure even cooking.
- Press the air out using your hands and seal the bag, making sure the chicken breasts are lying flat. Place the bag on top of a cutting board and place a thin towel over it – this will help prevent a hole from getting in the bag. Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound on the thicker portion of each chicken breast. You want forceful blows that can help thin the chicken out. Once each breast is about the same thickness (roughly one-third to one-half an inch), you can stop.
- Next make the marinade. Measure out the oil into a measuring cup (or other container). Then measure out the remaining ingredients and add those into the cup as well. Use a small whisk or other utensil to stir everything together, making sure to scrape the bottom as the honey will want to stick there.
- Open the plastic ziploc bag and pour the marinade in it. Press any air as best you can out of the plastic bag, then seal it. Squish everything together in the bag to help cover the chicken with the marinade, then place in the fridge for 40 to 60 minutes.
- After marinating in the fridge, remove the bag with the chicken breasts out of the fridge and place it on the counter to warm slightly for 20 minutes. When the chicken has been warming on the counter for 10 or so minutes, turn your grill on to a medium-high heat and let it get to a temperature of around 400 degrees F.
- While the breasts are warming, turn the used marinade into a glaze. Take out a small saucepan and pour the used marinade from the plastic bag into it, holding the breasts to keep them in the bag. Set it on the stove and turn the burner to high heat. Let the marinade come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let it cook at a low boil for at least 5 minutes while stirring it often with the small whisk to prevent burning. Once it’s done, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
- Once the the breasts have been out of the fridge for 20 minutes and the grill is up to temperature, use a pair of tongs to remove each chicken breast from the bag and place them on the grill grates. Turn the grill temperature down to a medium-low heat (around 350 degrees F) then close the lid and let the breasts cook for 5 minutes.
- When the chicken breasts have cooked for 5 minutes on the grill, open the lid and flip them over with a pair of tongs. Close the lid and let them cook another 4 to 6 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Once they are done cooking, open the grill lid and use tongs to remove the meat from the grill. Set the chicken breasts on a platter or cutting board, brushing a light coating of the glaze onto each breast with a basting brush. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes then slice and serve!
Notes
- If your honey is hard, you will want to warm it slightly in a microwave-safe dish before putting it in with the other marinade ingredients.
- To ensure your meat cooks evenly, use a flat meat pounder or tenderizer and pound the thicker side of each breast until it’s the same thickness as the rest of it. Both breasts don’t need to be the same thickness as each other, but each piece of meat should be one width to help keep your chicken from drying out.
- While marinating or brining your chicken helps keep it moist, you still want to cook it to an internal temperature no higher than 165 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature as you’re grilling your chicken. We have used and loved a Thermapen for years. The only place to get one is through Thermoworks, and it is well worth it!
- The marinade in this recipe is very salty and acts a bit like a brine. As a result, the glaze that it makes will also be salty. Use it sparingly when brushing it on the grilled chicken, adding another layer of it after tasting it if you like.
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