Recipe of the Day
Discover a New Recipe Every Day. Give Back With Every Bite.
Every day, we feature a hand-picked recipe for you to discover, cook, and share. The best part?
Every recipe you read helps feed the hungry.
I feel like a lot of the time, I get on here and try to sell a recipe to you. It’s really quick to make! You only have to wash one dish! You only need five ingredients! But for this one, I think all I need to do is tell you the name: Crispy. Bourbon. Pecan. Chicken. Skillet. I mean, you had me at crispy. Or maybe at bourbon pecan. And altogether it’s almost too much deliciousness to behold.
Are you ready for a showstopper of a chicken dinner? Buckle up.
First off, the chicken. You can use boneless skinless breasts or tenders, but if you go with the former, trim them of fat and pound them out to a nice even thickness. Then, brush both sides with a mixture of honey and Dijon mustard. (You don’t want all the flavor in the coating, do you?)
Dredge the honey-Dijon coated chicken in flour and then dip it in an egg wash. The purpose of this is to get the coating to really stick and trust me, you want as much of it on there as you can manage.
See, it’s a delicious mixture of both pecans and breadcrumbs so it’s not just crunchy, it’s also flavorful and nutty.
Coat the chicken in that mixture and then get it into a hot skillet with just enough oil to coat the bottom.
But don’t go TOO hot. The pecans will brown up faster than the breadcrumbs, so take care not to burn them. The chicken takes about five minutes per side and then it’s time to work on the sauce! (That might be the best part.)
If your skillet has collected too many blackened bits, you should go ahead and wipe it out as you don’t want them muddying up your sauce. After that, it’s just a matter of melting down some butter, whisking in some flour, and then adding all the deliciousness, like bourbon, heavy cream, a touch of cayenne, and more chopped pecans.
Once that’s come together, the chicken hops back in to cook through and take on some of that creamy-bourbony-buttery flavor.
It’s every bit as good as it sounds. With crisp but juicy chicken nestled in a creamy sauce that’s studded with pecans and kissed by bourbon, it just might be heaven in a skillet.
Crispy Bourbon Pecan Chicken Skillet
For the chicken:
- 6 large boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast tenders, trimmed of fat and pounded to an even thickness
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- Vegetable oil, as needed
For the flour mixture:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
For the egg wash:
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup water
For the breadcrumb mixture:
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- 3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
For the sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Preparation
- In a small bowl, stir together the honey and Dijon mustard. Brush chicken with mixture on both sides and set aside.
- In a large shallow bowl or dish, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.
- In a separate shallow bowl or dish, whisk together eggs and water. Set next to flour mixture.
- In a third shallow bowl or dish, whisk together breadcrumbs and pecans. Set next to egg wash.
- Dredge chicken in seasoned flour, then dip in egg wash, shaking off excess. Dredge in breadcrumb and pecan mixture.
- Add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken, working in batches, and brown on both sides, 4-5 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- When done browning chicken, wipe out skillet. Reduce heat to medium, then add butter. Once melted, whisk in flour and let cook 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously.
- Whisk in chicken broth and bourbon, and cook until mixture starts to bubble and thicken, stirring frequently.
- Add heavy cream, cayenne pepper, and pecans and whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Return chicken to pan and spoon sauce over the chicken. Cover, reduce heat to low, and let cook until chicken is cooked through, 5-10 minutes.
