Honey butter chicken is an easy, hands-off and family-friendly recipe that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner! It takes just a few simple ingredients but comes out with so much flavor!

{Note: This post was updated with new photos and a recipe video. The original post and the text below is from July 2015.}

A hands-off dinner is such a help on busy nights, right?

Whether you need your two hands to hold a baby, help with homework or finish up work or laundry, it’s great to have a few staple dinners that don’t require your constant attention.

This is one of those staples.

Honey butter chicken is super moist and delicious! You mix up the sauce, coat the chicken in it and stick it in the oven. Done!

No need to marinate ahead of time. You just put it all together at once and get on with your night. The sauce does all the marinating and glazing work for you in the oven. 👍

Which leaves me free to focus on my little ones and make sure the crayons are being used on the paper, the play doh isn’t getting ground into the carpet and no one’s taken anyone else’s truck or baby doll.

We’ve had some theft problems between M and J recently.

When J was little, he didn’t care if his big sister took something he was holding from time to time. Now that he’s almost 2 and knows the word “mine,” it’s a problem.

A big one with lots of tears. And sometimes, hair pulling. No good.

If you have ideas, I’m open!

But back to dinner.

Serving ideas for honey butter chicken:

• • I like serving this honey butter chicken over brown rice (which also doesn’t require attention and is ready in the same time).
  • Or sometimes I’m in the mood for a potato (who are we kidding? I’m always in the mood for a potato!) and I pair this with my 10-minute microwave potatoes or some creamy mashed potatoes.
  • Pasta – can’t go wrong. We prefer whole wheat and I think a long noodle like spaghetti would be nice with this chicken, but you can use whatever you like.
  • You could even do polenta or quinoa here. Basically, you just want something to sop up those yummy honey-mustard-butter juices.
  • For a vegetable, steam some broccoli or asparagus, sauté some spinach or just heat up some frozen peas and you’ve got a delicious meal on the table!

This also freezes well, so you can double the recipe and store some away to pull out another night.

Maybe one of those nights where everyone’s screaming and breaking down at the same time. Or is that just here? Oh, the early years…

So go and use your hands for something else — whether it’s wiping away tears and giving hugs, reading a book or pouring a glass of wine (or all 3 in quick succession) — because dinner is taken care of. 👍

(Check out all of my easy chicken recipes. Or my easy chicken recipes with few ingredients – all 5 ingredients or less like this one – for more inspiration.)

Enjoy!

XO,

Kathryn

P.S. Be sure to check out my new VIDEO for this recipe to see how easy it is!

Yield: 4 servings

Honey butter chicken

Print

Honey butter chicken is easy, hands-off and very family-friendly!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (half a stick)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon curry powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Melt butter in a pan on the stove (or in a bowl in the microwave). Add remaining ingredients (honey through curry powder) and stir to combine.
3. Dip each chicken piece in the mixture and turn to coat both sides. Place chicken in a single layer in 9x12 pan. Pour remaining sauce over chicken.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, until chicken is cooked and glazed.
5. Serve over brown rice or noodles, or atop a baked potato, to soak up the delicious juices.

Notes

The chicken freezes well, so you can pack the extras in a freezer bag to have on hand for a busy night.

You also could use chicken thighs or other chicken pieces, but you’ll need to bake it for closer to an hour to make sure everything cooks through.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 440Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 133mgSodium: 793mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 35gProtein: 38g