These beginner-friendly oven roasted chicken thighs with wholegrain mustard are succulent, flavourful, and ready in under 30 minutes. And they have the added bonus of being affordable too - yay! My partner requests these regularly so we have them for lunch often, with some boiled veg, chips or salad on the side. If you love mustard and garlic, you're sure to fall in love with this dish.
This recipe, with two chicken thighs, is perfect for two people to have for lunch. Or one person, if you're feeling especially hungry. And you can always double the recipe to serve for dinner!
Step 1
Start heating your oven to 200°C.
If boiling potatoes on the side, this is a good time to peel them, cut them into chunks and soak the chunks in cold water.
Step 2
Mince, grate or crush your garlic. I like to do this by crushing the garlic with the flat edge of a knife first, then dicing finely against the grain.
Step 3
Put your chicken thighs in a bowl along with the garlic, both mustards, brown sugar, salt, pepper and olive oil, then mix.
Make sure to "unfold" the chicken thighs in the bowl so the seasoning can get into every nook and cranny.
Don't be afraid to go heavy on the wholegrain mustard as the sharpness in its flavour profile mellows out as it cooks. As you can see, I really load up the spoon!
I like to use a spoon to stir it all together and coat the meat, but you can use your hands if you prefer. Using a spoon takes longer but you lose less of the sauce than you would if using your hands.
Make sure to turn your chicken thighs over so that the underside of the meat is covered too.
You can coat the meat the day before if you like so it marinades. However, the wholegrain mustard sauce packs enough of a punch that I don't find this necessary.
Step 4
Place your mustard-coated chicken thighs on a baking tray, then use a teaspoon to pour any remaining sauce on top.
I like to place the thighs smooth-side up for a nicer finished look.
Cook at 200°C for just twenty minutes.
While the thighs are in the oven, boil any potatoes you're planning to have on the side. Alternatively, you could make a quick salad with rocket, tomatoes and capers.
Tenderstem broccoli, boiled for just a few minutes then seasoned with salt and pepper, accompanies these chicken thighs perfectly.
Step 5
Your oven roasted chicken thighs with wholegrain mustard are complete! Just remember to leave aside to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Season any accompanying vegetables humbly with some salt and pepper, or even garlic butter. You'll find that these chicken thighs are so flavourful that they only need simple flavours to accompany them.
A small squeeze of fresh lemon juice before serving finishes off this dish nicely if you have it. Definitely try it without first however as the mustard, sugar and garlic are wonderful on their own.
How do I know my oven roasted chicken thighs with wholegrain mustard are fully cooked?
I have made this recipe, as well as various iterations of it, many times and I've never known it not to cook perfectly in 20 minutes.
Chicken thigh fillets cook quickly as they're relatively small pieces of meat and they've had the bone removed. The fat in the olive oil helps speed the process along too.
But as always, if in doubt, you can make an incision with a sharp knife and if the juices are clear rather than pink, the meat is cooked. Or, better yet, you can use a meat thermometer to check the internal cooked temperature has reached 74°C.
