Laurie Colwin’s Baked Mustard Chicken Recipe (2024)

I'm always on the look-out for "fried" chicken without the need for deep-frying - and this recipe more than meets the need! I used legs and thighs (instead of 2 whole chickens) and panko bread crumbs.

I have made this several times and am always pleased with the results. Always use bone-in chicken (never boneless) and understand that the cooking time of the original recipe is for six pounds of chicken. I find the generous application of mustard helps keep the white meat from drying out. My usual finish time is 1.5 hours.

I used to make this years ago, but I do take exception to referring to Laurie Colwin as just "the great food writer." She was a fairly prolific novelist and short story writer of distinction, who wrote two charming volumes of recipes and food lore for Gourmet magazine that endeared her to readers because of the sly charm of her domestic life and simplicity and goodness of the recipes. Sadly she died prematurely of a heart attack around the age of 48. She is greatly missed.

Delicious. I used boneless pieces and took them out when they reached 165 degrees after about 45 mins. Combo of smooth and seeded Dijon to give a little texture. Easy, healthy m, and very tasty weeknight dinner.

Cooked this last night. Excellent dish. However, the suggested cooking time of 2 hours is way too long. Perhaps it's because the author did 2 chickens at once but even then it's a long time. 1 hour at 350 (1 chicken, cut into pieces) was perfect. Moist, crunchy, flavorful and satisfying.

Good, But a little dry. Used legs and thighs and panko. The mustard is salty, so I put too much salt in - be careful.

In recipes such as this, always use bone-in, skin-on pieces as called for in the recipe. The bones impart a richer flavor, particularly when cooked over several hours, and the skin (and the bones) help keep the meat moist. In any event, don't depart from the recipe, then complain that it doesn't work.

I saved this recipe long ago and just made it last night. This is a grown up (and healthier) version of my childhood favorite - Shake -N-Bake - but none of the "fake" quality of that supermarket staple. Don't get nervous, the crust gets quite brown, but it was lovely and juicy inside. I agree, breasts could come out a bit early. My 11 year old said it was better than fried!

Thank you for helping to keep one of Laurie Colwin's wonderful recipes out there...Home Cooking, and More Home Cooking, sit on my kitchen island much of the time. Her writing and recipes helped to shape how I approach cooking and many other things in life. I find many recipes on websites in newspapers and on cooking shows steal liberally from her, without any credit given. She is greatly missed but very much alive in my kitchen!

I've made this several times now and am pretty happy with the results. Bone-in chicken (usually thighs and/or legs) coated with not-too-much mustard mixture (skipping the cinnamon) then panko (just on top for thighs, otherwise they get goopy), 45-50 minutes @ 375 then let rest as long as possible. Great flavor!

Years ago, my mother used to make baked chicken and she used corn flake crumbs instead of bread crumbs and it was divinely delicious. My mother would have been 113 years old so you can tell this is an old recipe. We loved it. When I'm feeling sentimental, I make it and think of her. But she baked her chicken, never fried. The next day if there were any leftovers they tasted better, of course.

This was great! Used skinless, boneless breast meat and I followed other people's instructions to up the heat (425) and reduce the baking time. I pounded out the meat to a consistent thickness and it took about 30 minutes to bake. This dish was so tasty. The outside was crispy and the inside was tender. It's in my "make again list" without a doubt!

This is a delicious dish. The breasts turned out a little bit dry for me, though they were excellent cold the next day. I'd either make this with the moister legs and thighs only or remove the breasts from the oven early.

I used all dark meat and the chicken came out perfectly

The chicken came out succulent on the inside and crisp on the outside, which is what I'm always going for. We used half a chicken, cup in pieces, and it took a bit more than an hour. I didn't care for the cinnamon and will leave it out next time.

Sort of forgot about this in the oven and it went 2.5 hrs. Thought it was going to be dry, but was fall off the bone tender and crispy crunchy on the outside. And a big hit with the kids!

The chicken pieces I get in my local grocery store are a bit small. I have settled on 90 minutes at 375 for the perfect results every time in my convection oven setup. I cook this regularly, it's my favorite of the NYT oven-"fried" chicken recipes. I do reduce the mustard a tad and double the garlic.

Help! This recipe calls for dry breadcrumbs. The Colwin recipe as printed in Molly O'neill's New York Cookbook calls for fresh breadcrumbs. What does this mean? What should I do?

Has anyone tried this recipe using an air fryer? It might reduce the cooking time considerably.

I needed a gluten-free substitution for the breadcrumbs and used pecan meal instead. Worked very well!

At one hour/350, our boneless skinless thighs were crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. We make this cinchy recipe often, but this is the first time we've gone boneless/skinless. We always triple the garlic and never add salt on this one as the mustard itself is super salty.

Made as written and it was great, easy and delicious

Loved making this. I used 1 chicken cut up. Baked for about one hour 20 minutes. I used a combination of Panko and regular breadcrumbs. Loved the extra crunch. Would definitely make again.

Saved for the crust recipe

Question.do you cover the chicken with aluminum foil when cooking? Or leave it open?

This was a great base for my dinner last night. I used 1/4 of this recipe on 2 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs coated in sweet potato chips because I wanted the color for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Baked at that temp because I also had some wedged butternut squash with EVOO/coriander/cayenne in the oven at the same time. Both turned out great!

Used panko - made a very crispy satisfying crunch. Liked the dijon flavor. Next time, I'd add some heat - maybe a substituting some sriracha for some of the mustard?

It's a wonderful recipe, don't mess with it! If you don't cook for the full two hours, the skin won't get crispy.

used bone in thighs and drumsticks, gluten free bread crumbs. a lot of mustard. It was delicious.

I had to make a few adjustments based on what I had—used 5 drumsticks, yellow mustard, grated garlic cloves, 1tsp dried oregeno (I grabbed the wrong herb jar), .5tsp dried thyme, few shakes of cayenne because we like spicy, and panko. Cooked it at 350 for 1.5 hours. extremely good and flavorful, next time I make this I'll follow the recipe exactly.