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I not messing with you here. There’s a reason this recipe is called No work Chicken. Cause it is absolutely NO work!
Back when I first met my husband, I had the opportunity to become pals with one of his mother’s best friends, Pat O’Keefe. Beautiful, lovely, charming and far younger than her chronological age, Pat is bubbly and full of life every time I see her.
A few years ago, Pat decided that she was starting her own cooking blog. She told me about all of the recipes she loved to create and share with her family — especially her beloved grandson, Toby — and now wanted others to discover.
Since then I have received an email from Pat almost every week featuring a new recipe — original ideas that are always a little out of the ordinary and with ingredient combinations I wouldn’t normally think of putting together but which make perfect sense when you taste the final product.
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I’ve enjoyed many of Pat’s recipes over time, but when I saw “No Work Chicken” as the subject line of last week’s email, I was beyond intrigued. After all, if there’s a recipe for something with little-to-no work involved and it’s very likely going to be delicious, I’m in! I tweaked Pat’s recipe slightly to suit our family, but this is my interpretation and it’s unbelievably good. Not just another chicken recipe, this one immediately earned a distinguished place in our dinner rotation.
All you do is quickly whisk the marinade ingredients together in the morning (or the night before), add the chicken breasts and then bake them when you get home that night. In less than an hour, you’ll have moist, juicy chicken with a sweet and tangy sauce that is heavenly served over brown rice.
Recipe courtesy of Pat O’Keefe
No Work Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons dijon mustard (mild)
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 cup chopped scallions
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In a 9 x 13 baking dish, whisk the honey, soy sauce, dijon mustard, curry powder and scallions.
- Place chicken on top of sauce and turn to coat.
- Cover and marinate 30 minutes to overnight, flipping halfway through to coat with sauce.
- Cover with foil and bake chicken 30-40 minutes, depending on size of chicken breasts. Baste chicken with the sauce half way through cooking.
- Serve over rice or pasta.
It sounds so good and so easy!
The dijon mustard really adds a lot to this dish! There isn’t anything that I’ve tried that is a good substitute. You can use a different type of mustard, but that will alter the flavor of the dish.
I don’t have dijon mustard. What can I use instead of that? Thanks.
I cook brown rice in a rice cooker. Just follow the cups and water measurement, and put it on the brown rice setting, and that’s it. Sometimes you need to add a little more water for brown rice, so it won’t be so chewy.
I struggle with brown rice as well, instant brown rice turns out better for me than regular, but my best success is with using a rice cooker and following the instructions to a T. I received my rice cooker as a gift and thought it was a ridiculous appliance but have come to appreciate it for the wonderful job it does on brown rice. (Also use it on the porch with the crockpot in the summer to avoid heating the kitchen)
You might need to cook it longer. Brown rice can sometimes take an hour to cook! Follow your package directions, but check on it every now and then to make sure it still has enough water. If it looks like the water is almost gone and you still have half an hour of cooking time left, add a little more water! For more flavor try cooking it in Chicken Stock instead of water, or adding a pinch of salt to the cooking water.
Will try. Looks yummy. I just have a brown rice question. I’ve never been able to cook brown rice well enough to make my fam eat it. Whats the best way to cook the rice and does the brand matter? When i make it always tastes uncooked and flavorless.
Marinating right now I hope it taste as good as it sounds!
Thank you, Catherine! A huge hit with the entire family (4 yr old and 14 mo old included!). Full of flavor, perfect kick of curry. And truly lived up to the “no work” name. So pleased to add this to our rotation.
That is so strange! There isn’t anything in the sauce that would curdle. I mix all the sauce ingredients in the baking pan and baste the chicken about half way through the cooking time. Maybe basting it more than once would help the sauce smooth out more? I wish I could jump through my computer screen and help you!
Hi Catherine,
My family loves all of your recipes – thank you so much! I tried this tonight and it was so tasty – served it over quinoa. But – it looked nothing like your gorgeous photo … the sauce broke I think – it looked curdled and did not thicken or leave a pretty glaze on the chicken like in the photo. Any idea what I did wrong? Thanks!
Great recipe! Always looking for something different for chicken!
(yesterday I put a cut up fryer in the crockpot with some bbq sauce, some salt & pepper, and water, put on low for 8.5 hours… delish!)
By the way, my daughter cannot get enough of your graham crackers! I have the recipe taped to the side of the fridge because we make them so much (and of course she helps… she’s 2). Love that they are egg-free so we can sample the dough!
Love it! Thank you for your comments!
Just had your chicken tortilla soup for lunch(kids #1 fav meal I make). Def going to make this for supper, have everything on hand…going to go good with brown rice and grilled asparagus 🙂
Cheddar crackers just out of the oven as well. It’s a weelicious day here 🙂
i used little pieces of pork, that’s all i have in the fridge, i will let you now how they turn out…i am very excited!
Braggs Liquid Amino Acids is a great product and tastes like Soy Sauce!