Honey Mustard Chicken Stir-Fry
This quick and easy honey mustard chicken stir-fry uses fresh spring veggies and a tangy sweet sauce, putting an unexpected twist on the typical weeknight chicken dinner.
When I was in grad school my husband, Andrew, was in charge of making dinner. Stuck in evening classes several nights a week it was nice to have dinner waiting upon returning home late, plus it gave Andrew a chance to show off his skills in the kitchen. Even back then I was all about meal planning and tried to choose meals that were quick and easy.
Before leaving for the day, I’d leave a recipe, along with the ingredients plus notes on substitutions or shortcuts. I remember one night returning home late to Andrew, standing over the stove, with something like nine different bowls strewn around the counter. Dinner was clearly not going to be ready for a while. The guy looked frazzled and really, really annoyed. Apparently the sauce I had picked had too many ingredients in it. I jumped into help, and vowed not to select such a complicated recipe again.
Stir-fries are still one of our weeknight go-to meals, but these days I work to simplify the process as much as possible. This honey mustard chicken stir-fry couldn’t be simpler; the sauce has two ingredients. You don’t even need a separate bowl, just dump everything in the pan and stir to combine. Feel free to use whatever seasonal veggies you have on hand, though the asparagus and snap peas work particularly well with the tangy sweet sauce.
Kid-friendly notes: This dinner includes many kid-friendly flavors, but if you have a resistant eater here are some suggestions:
- Before adding the chicken and onions back to the pan set aside some of each and serve them separately on a plate.
- Before adding the sauce pick out a few pieces of cooked asparagus and snap peas and serve them separately on a plate.
- Alternatively you could serve the snap peas and asparagus raw–just hold a few out before adding to the pan.
- If you’re making rice serve that in a separate pile as well.
- Make a honey-mustard dipping sauce by stirring together 1 part honey to two parts mustard.
- The kid plate now looks like this: chicken, onions, snap peas, asparagus, rice (optional), honey-mustard sauce.
Now, on to the recipe!
Honey Mustard Chicken Stir-Fry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon refined coconut oil
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs), chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 medium yellow onions, sliced
- 1 lb asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- ½ lb sugar snap peas
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 4 tablespoons yellow mustard
Instructions
- In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt, and saute until golden brown and crispy, about 7 minutes. Flip the chicken and saute until the other side browned, crispy, and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the pan. Turn heat down to medium, adding 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, and the onions. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt, and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. If the pan starts to dry out or the onions are browning too quickly turn the heat down and add a splash of water to the pan.
- Remove the onions from the pan. Over medium heat, add the asparagus, snap peas, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ cup water to the pan. Saute, stirring frequently until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. You want the veggies to stay green and slightly crunchy, so be careful not to overcook them.
- Add the chicken and onions back to the pan, then stir in the honey and mustard. The chicken and veggies should be well coated in the honey-mustard sauce. If you want the mixture a little saucier, add more water. Taste, adding additional salt and pepper if you like.
- 5. Sprinkle with green onions and serve hot.
Notes
- Before adding the chicken and onions back to the pan set aside some of each and serve them separately on a plate.
- Before adding the sauce pick out a few pieces of cooked asparagus and snap peas and serve them separately on a plate.
- Alternatively, you could serve the snap peas and asparagus raw–just hold a few out before adding to the pan.
- If you’re making rice serve that in a separate pile as well.
- Make a honey-mustard dipping sauce by stirring together 1 part honey to two parts mustard.
- The kid plate now looks like this: chicken, onions, snap peas, asparagus, rice (optional), honey-mustard sauce.
I LOVE that you use the term “resistant eater” as opposed to “picky eater”. That describes my son perfectly. I feel like picky implies that the behavior is permanent where as resistant just means he is less willing, but there is still hope. 🙂 I’ve stopped putting everything separately on his plate though because he seemed to just reject everything outright, maybe because it was overwhelming. Instead I’ve started putting things in separate serving bowls on the table. Then we pass everything around and offer him some of everything too. Just a slight variation in the way we do it but it keeps him at the table, even if he’s just eating a bowl of sour cream!
Oh my gosh, that bowl of sour cream comment made me smile! I do prefer the term “resistant eater” as opposed to “picky eater” for exactly the reasons you described. I don’t actually think most kids are necessarily picky, more that they are resistant to trying unfamiliar things, tastes, and/or textures. I love the idea of passing bowls at the table in addition to or as an alternative to little piles of food on a plate. I’ll add that into our meal rotation for sure and mention it on the blog as well. Thanks for the tip! xxoo
Delicious, easy & healthy! So good I wanted every last bit of the sauce.
Yay, so glad you enjoyed this one, Angie! Thanks so much for leaving a review!