If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest, any time at all, you’ve surely seen a pin for Maple Dijon Chicken. Pretty much every blogger out there has made it and it has been pinned to the moon and back. So, I thought I’d play a little game of pintester and try it out myself, because unless every single blogger out there is a liar, this stuff has got to be good.
Of course, I didn’t want to just beat a dead horse with a stick, so I threw my own spin on the recipe. I made the basic Dijon and maple syrup marinade, tasted it, and then added what I thought it needed.
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Maple Dijon Chicken My Way…
I made a few changes to the recipe found all over Pinterest. First, it needed garlic. I mean, it was just begging for a little garlic. The bulk of the marinade is Dijon mustard, which can be very sharp and tangy, so it needed some low garlic notes to bring it back to the ground. Second, I added a touch of soy sauce. This acted in the same way as the garlic to help round things out and balance the high and low notes. Not to mention, it provided a little bit of much needed salt to balance the sweet maple syrup and just help all of the flavors pop.
I only made about half the amount of marinade as most other people do. I found that it covered my chicken very well and that helped keep the costs low (real maple syrup is NOT cheap). Lastly, I baked my chicken in a casserole dish (as opposed to on a baking sheet) so that the juices would stay near by and keep the chicken moist, rather than evaporate away and leave the edges dry and burned. It resulted in super tender, delicious chicken and ample juices for braising.
Thyme, Rosemary, or Both!
You can make this Maple Dijon Chicken with either thyme or rosemary. When I began preparing the recipe I found that I was out of both. I almost wanted to give up on life right then and there, but suddenly remembered that I have a rosemary plant on my front porch. :D So, I used fresh rosemary. I have dried rosemary listed in the ingredients, but you can use fresh instead (I’d use about the same amount).
What to Serve with Maple Dijon Chicken
I paired this succulent chicken with my Carrot and Orzo Salad this time around, but I think it would also go quite well with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables, or a nice Fall inspired salad, like my Autumn Kale and Sweet Potato Salad. If you’re looking for some more classic comfort food type sides, try it with mashed potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Whether I need one or two chicken thighs for a serving depends on the size of your thighs, so I just listed the price per “serving” as the price per thigh.
Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs
Servings 6 thighsIngredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a small bowl, stir together the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, olive oil, and soy sauce. Mince the garlic and chop the rosemary. Stir both into the marinade.
- Arrange the chicken thighs in the dish so that they are close, but not overlapping. Pour the marinade on top and then spread it around until the thighs are completely covered.
- Bake the chicken thighs in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until they are cooked through and the liquid around the thighs is simmering. Spoon some of the liquid over the thighs, return them to the oven, then switch the oven's setting from bake to broil. Broil for about 5 minutes, or until the top of the chicken is golden brown. Watch the chicken closely as it broils, as broilers can vary.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Add the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, olive oil, and soy sauce to a small bowl. Mince the garlic and roughly chop the rosemary, then add them to the bowl as well.
Stir the Maple Dijon sauce ingredients together, then set the sauce aside.
Coat the inside of a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Arrange the chicken pieces inside the dish so that they are close, but not overlapping.
Pour the Maple Dijon Sauce over the chicken pieces, covering them as much as possible.
If necessary, use a spoon to scoop up some of the runoff back up over the surface of the chicken. You want the chicken completely covered.
Bake the Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until they are cooked through and the liquid around them is simmering. Spoon some of the the liquid back up over top of the chicken, then place them back in the oven, switch the oven from bake to broil, and let them broil for about 5 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Watch the chicken closely as it broils, as broilers can vary. (That extra rosemary is just a garnish)
The Maple Dijon Chicken Thigh is pictured here with my Carrot & Orzo Salad.
The other bloggers didn’t lie – It’s one of the easiest, tastiest chicken dishes I’ve ever had. I want to eat it every day!
I’ve made this several times and I really love it too! Definitely going to try your variations. Love, love, love the new look!
Will be trying this next week. You can never have too many easy chicken recipes!
By the way, I LOVE the new look, and I’m so glad we can easily print recipes now.
Thanks! :-)
Hey Beth! Love the new site design! I particularly like the choice of fonts – very oldey-timey cookbook style! I’m curious, since you’re updating things, have you thought about adding calorie counts? I’m not only on a budget, I’m also a porker who could stand to watch what he eats ;) I often do the math myself, which is fine, but just thought I’d throw the idea out there!
Thinking of trying this with salmon tonight.
Beth, do you think it could work?
Yes, I think it would :D That reminds me of this video that I bookmarked because I loved the video so much, but it has a similar Dijon salmon recipe… Check it out: http://vimeo.com/41515111 (it’s only 44 seconds long)
You could just use the honey Dijon marinade and then cook the salmon the same way as they did in the vido.
Luckily I had some maple syrup my mom brought me from Canada I had been saving. I ended putting the salmon with the marinaid over it under the broiler on high for 10-13 min.
It was really good. You were right about the garlic. It definately softened the mustard.
BTW- love LOVE lOvE your website! When you break all the ingredients down by cost it makes my inner nerd happy. I also love the new look!
Keep up the good work. You are my go to recipe book.
I made this last night because I had some chicken thighs I needed to use up and all the ingredients on hand. I halved the recipe because I only had 6 thighs, and used dried rosemary. It was really, really good! My boyfriend and I both loved it and will be making it again. I might have used too much rosemary, but I love it so it didn’t really bother me. I will probably use less next time, just to let the other flavours come through more.
Hi Beth!
Love the new site and this looks delicious (as do all of your recipes)! I’ll be trying it soon :)
Quick (and possibly stupid) question; I don’t see your usual price breakdown by ingredient. Am I just blind, or will that not be included on the print card?
Thanks!
The ingredient prices are still there, but they’re kind of camouflaged because they are right in line with the ingredient names, instead of separated out by a table :P That’s the only way I can figure out how to do it with the printable recipe cards. Although, if I ever find a better solution in the future, I’ll be sure to make the change! :)
Wow, haha, I just realized that for *this* post I hadn’t typed in the individual ingredient prices :P I just went back and added them in. Thanks for the heads up!
I literally just saw this on Pinterest for the first time today, and was wondering about trying it – but seeing you try it and add to it makes me want to try it even more now! Looks DELISH.
I have a Big Green Egg (grill/smoker) and I can just see “baking” this on the Egg with some sugar maple chunks thrown in the charcoal.
If I didn’t already have another dish promised for guest night on Sunday, I’d be doing this. Instead, I’m going to have to wait a week. *pout*
The typical ratio of fresh to dry herbs is 3:1 because dried herbs are more concentrated (so if you needed 1 TBSP of fresh rosemary you would use 1 TSP dried). I always use more dried spices and herbs than recipes call for, so I agree that the flavor can be different for everyone. I was going to make this chicken last week and didn’t have the maple syrup, but a Canadian friend of mine gave me a jar of maple syrup last night as a hostess gift!
Love the new site and the new look! Excited about trying this one. Do you think it would work with chicken breasts and/or in the crockpot?
Yes. I think if you were to do this with chicken breasts it would be best in the crock pot, so that they’d turn out just as tender as thighs. :) Mmm… now I want to make some!
I used breasts as I’m not much a fan of chicken thighs, and I didn’t have time to use the crockpot, so into the oven they went! It was still absolutely delicious, but I agree, in the crockpot, they probably would’ve been a bit more moist. Either way, you can’t go wrong, this recipe is awesome!
This recipe sounds delicious! I’m itching to try it! I happen to have some chicken breasts; how long would you recommend cooking them in the crockpot, and maybe at what temperature..? (Mine only has low and high settings.)
Four hours on high is usually pretty good for chicken breasts. They’ll be tender and shreddable at that point. :)
I don’t like this big fat font…looks weird and hard to read. Keep it up with the great recipes Beth! Been reading you for years and have tried at least 25% of your recipes, baked crock taters last weekend and the turkey sausage lentil stew several times a year. You ROCK GIRL!
I’ve had this bookmarked from Pinterest forever! Good to know that you’re giving it a good review.
I LOVE your new site… You make printing recipes amazingly easy! My recipe print-out binder is filled with your recipes. Thank you!
Dried herbs are generally more potent than fresh herbs – so you’d want twice as many fresh as you do dried. Or does rosemary behave differently?
Hm, I find that it is just the opposite. The fresh herbs have more potent essential oils and provide a much stronger flavor. I guess the experience must be different for everyone! :)
I agree with Sherrie. I have always read dried are stronger than fresh. Even google agreed.
I share your experience in that fresh are stronger.
Yeah, I think the reason that fresh are stronger for me may be because my dried herbs are a bit old ;)
Love the new look!