Golden chicken breast bites in a sweet and tangy homemade honey dijon mustard glaze, bursting with flavour in every bite. Tender, juicy, and ready in under 20 minutes - perfect to pair with some rice and vegetables for a weeknight dinner or meal prep.
These amazing chicken breast bites are coated in my Honey Mustard No Mayo sauce and is one of my partner's most requested recipes for a very good reason! By lightly coating the chicken bites in cornflour and mustard seeds, you can really taste the tang of the mustard and complimentary honey flavours.
This dairy-free honey dijon mustard chicken recipe is a lighter and healthier alternative to your "traditional" honey mustard sauce because I like to use it for a meal prep recipe for both me and my partner (and he is dairy-free). Plus, I find that by removing the dairy and the creams from this recipe, that the honey and mustard flavours can really shine through strongly.
Serve honey dijon mustard chicken with potatoes and vegetables for a deliciously balanced weeknight dinner recipe, or find my tips in the post for how you can meal prep chicken and keep it deliciously fresh throughout the week.
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Ingredients and substitutions
Chicken breast bites
Chicken Breast. I used diced chicken breast as it is extremely versatile. You can purchase chicken breast whole and cut it yourself, or you can purchase pieces that have been diced already. You could also use other proteins, for example tofu if you're looking for a vegetarian option.
Cornflour. Cornflour acts as a thickening agent for the honey mustard sauce and allows it to stick to the diced chicken breast. If gluten-free, you can substitute with arrowroot powder.
Herbs. It's not necessary to add herbs, but I always think they make chicken taste better. Added to the cornflour, I like to add some oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder and mustard seeds. This gives the chicken pieces coating flavour as well as the honey mustard marinade.
Eggs and soy sauce. This mixture acts as a binder for the cornflour to the chicken breast pieces. I add a touch of soy sauce as the salt helps balance the tang and sweetness from the strong honey mustard flavours in the sauce.
Honey dijon mustard sauce
Dijon Mustard. I prefer the use of Dijon mustard over yellow mustard because it brings an added complexity to the sauce. Yellow mustard is stereotypically used because it is cheaper and brings out a strong yellow colour, but it often has a lot of unnecessary ingredients and is a lot milder in flavour.
Wholegrain Mustard. The texture from the mustard seeds compliments the chicken really well as they roast in the pan with the chicken bites and create a beautiful flavour. You can omit, but I highly recommend.
Honey. Make sure you get GOOD QUALITY honey, especially if you've spent a couple extra bucks to get dijon and wholegrain mustard. The sweetness helps cut through the tang of the mustard for an excellent balance.
Lemon. Helps balance the tang and sweetness with some acidity (you could use white wine vinegar or white vinegar here instead). If you're a HUUUUUGE fan of lemon, try out my Grilled Chinese Lemon Chicken.
Olive Oil. A good quality extra virgin olive oil is a must for honey mustard chicken recipe because there are so few ingredients which help bring this together. It's also an excellent source of healthy fats which are often preferred to vegetable oils.
Please check the recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantity. See below for substitutions and variations.
How to make honey mustard chicken bites
In one bowl, mix together eggs and soy sauce. In another bowl, mix cornflour with herbs.
Slice chicken into 1 inch cube bites.
Coat chicken pieces in the egg mixture and then in the cornstarch mixture until each side of the diced chicken is coated.
For a one-pan honey mustard chicken, heat oil in a large pan and then add the coated chicken pieces. Cook until they're golden brown (approx. 5 minutes). While the diced chicken is cooking, add sauce ingredients into an airtight sealed jar and shake until well combined.
Pour sauce into the pan over the chicken and allow it to bubble. Once heated, reduce the heat and add in the water/cornstarch mixture to help it thicken. Stir gently with the chicken and allow the honey mustard sauce to thicken and coat the diced chicken breast.
Meal prep and leftovers
Honey mustard chicken can be served with a grain of your choice (such as Truffled Mashed Potatoes or Pineapple Fried Rice) and some vegetables (like my Honey Roasted Carrots).
Storing
Store the honey mustard chicken pieces with or without your additions for a full meal in an airtight meal prep container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
You could also pre-cook the chicken pieces and store separately to the sauce before cooking together and combine when you want to serve it.
Reheating
Chicken meal preps can sometimes be a little dry so I recommend adding a drizzle of water over the chicken pieces (and rice if this is part of your meal prep) and reheat in the microwave in 1 minute intervals. You could also reheat the chicken in the airfryer for about 5 minutes if you're after a crispier coat.
If you've stored the chicken and honey mustard sauce separately, when ready to reheat, add the sauce to the pan and allow it to bubble. Once bubbling, add chicken and lower the heat until the chicken is heated.
Freezing
You can freeze honey mustard chicken in an airtight container, reusable ziplock or foodsaver vacuum bag for up to 3 months. You want to ensure that there is as little air as possible able to seep in (which is why I really like using the ziplock or vacuum bags). This will ensure it doesn't get freezer burn and change the texture of the chicken.
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as per above.
If storing the chicken and sauce separately, you can definitely freeze the sauce in the same manner, but I would recommend making this fresh on the day (as it'll only take you a couple minutes)
If you want more meal prep information, check out my Meal Prep for Beginners post and my Meal Prep Basics E-Book.
FAQs
You can definitely use regular mustard instead of dijon and wholegrain. The flavour won't be as strong, but it will still taste good.
Yes. Freeze in an airtight container, reusable ziplock of vacuum bag with as little air around the chicken as possible to prevent freezer burn and texture change. Store for 3 months in the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating in the microwave on 1 minute intervals.
Honey mustard chicken bites are a good "pick-and-eat" recipe where you can have them on their own as a snack, or you can pair it with a grain of your choice (such as rice, potatoes, even pasta) and some colourful veg to make it a complete meal.
More chicken recipes
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Recipe
Homemade Honey Dijon Mustard Chicken Breast Bites
Ingredients
Chicken
- 400 g chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces. See post for substitutions
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ cup corn starch
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano optional
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
- 1 lemon juice & rind
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In one bowl, whisk eggs with soy sauce. In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch with garlic powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
- Dunk chicken breast in the egg mixture and then into the cornstarch mixture. Move around until fully coated. Repeat for all diced chicken pieces.
- Add all sauce ingredients to a jar or bowl and shake or mix together (leave out the cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoon water)
- Heat olive oil in a large pan then add chicken pieces. Cook until golden brown (approx. 3-5 minutes each side).
- Add honey mustard sauce to the diced chicken and allow it to bubble. Add the cornstarch/water combo and lower the heat until it thickens (approx. 5-10 minutes).
- Serve with your choice of sides (I used rice and vegetables). See post for meal prep and leftover tips and tricks.
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