I think what I'm making here was actually called something like Chicken with Mustard Breadcrumbs, out of some long-forgotten cookbook, but sometime when Deirdre was about seven, she referred to it as Chicken Lightly Seasoned, and that name has stuck! (The recipe is at the end of the post.)
It's a real favorite around here, and it's fairly easy if you have breadcrumbs on hand. I try to keep a supply in the freezer — if you use a mason jar instead of your blender container, it seems like less of a commitment to throw the heels of your bread and other stale sundries in there and store them as you go along. Somehow, cleaning the container doesn't seem worth it to me.
{Did you know that any regular mason jar (not wide mouth) works with the blender blade? This fact makes my blender ten times as useful as it would be otherwise. Every once in a while, I ponder getting rid of it. I have a food processor and a stick blender. Do I really need another appliance? But then I go to make breadcrumbs, and the answer is… yes, yes I do.}
Anyway, here's the method. There's not much to it!
Let's break it down.
First, chicken breasts are more appealing (to eat, not necessarily to prepare!) if you pound them. You can do this all at once when you buy your packages on sale, and then freeze them pounded — all ready to go — or you can do it when the filets are even partially defrosted. The first step is to cut the breast so that it's starting out as somewhat of an even thickness. That way the pounding doesn't take long.
You want to make a flap in the fat side (keep in mind that breasts are paired, so one will be the mirror image of the other, in case, like the young me, you kept being puzzled by how it seemed different every time you did it). This helps ensure that the meat is cooked evenly, because you are not going to cook it for very long. You don't want dry chicken. I have a tendency to undercook meat because I have such a horror of dry meat! But pink chicken is a no go. So an even thickness is what we're aiming for.
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So for this meal, I would serve what I've pictured here — roasted squash, rice, and spinach with artichokes — but you could do something like maybe noodles, corn, and a salad.
Erika C says
Looks great, and I am so excited now to try a mason jar on the blender! Who knew? A quick note regarding pounding the chicken breasts: bags out of cereal boxes are great for this. They are thicker and tougher than plastic wrap and everything stays very nicely contained.
_Rosie says
Someone did give me a meat pounder as a wedding gift… and I still use the bottom of a glass, just like I did before!
I love chicken lightly seasoned… maybe we'll have some this week!
Anel says
A saucer rim, is what my family always used… 🙂
priest's wife says
what a yummy meal- perfect for a Sunday
I have arugula- I wonder how that would substitute for the spinach
Lisa G. says
That looks mighty good. I would never think to make breadcrumbs in the blender – you're sensible. I never use that little jar that came with the blender – I just use the large thing. Is is better in some cases to use a smaller glass?
I just baked a spaghetti squash last week after pricking it all over – oh, how wonderful and easy! I've been wondering if it worked with other winter squash. Thank you! This is great to know. Do you know if thick-skinned acorn squash is doable this way, too?
_Leila says
Lisa, I honestly just always wish I was eating butternut squash when I eat any other kind, so I pretty much just make that. Acorn squash loses its point, I would think, if you peeled it, but halved and roasted it's pretty good — it just usually isn't as sweet and flavorful as butternut.
As to the mason jar, I just use whatever size works for the job — a small one for salad dressing (although I usually use the stick blender for that), a medium one for nuts, a large one for breadcrumbs. It doesn't matter. And a lot of times I just stick it into the freezer, but for whatever reason, this time I had a plastic bag 🙂
Lisa G. says
Thank you, Leila! I've had a stick blender for two years, and have used it twice – I've gotta get with the program!
As for acorn squash, I don't buy it because it's so darn hard to cut!! Maybe I'll stick a whole one in the oven and see what happens. Thanks.
Lori @ IMK,IML says
I'm so intrigued by the blender/mason jar info — did NOT know. Of course, I just have a stick blender, but still…
Your meal sounds lovely!
Rabbit says
The entire meal looks delicious and I also had NO IDEA about the mason jar on the blender! Awesome tip! I love spinach and artichokes and eat them together in all sorts of things (pasta, dip) but never anything SO simple! Will be making this soon. Thank you so much! [I also wrote most of this in a tweet to Leila (I'm @JentoInfinity)]
Flying Squirrel says
Right-o, blender and mason jar now at the top of my thrift store list. That's exactly what we need—step elimination. And glass food storage! Beautiful. Not to mention peeling the squash AFTER roasting. Why did that never occur to me?
You are such a practical woman, Leila!
nancy says
Looks good to me…thanks for the spinach and artichoke idea!
A @ Classical Quest says
Oh thank you. I have two butternut squashes on my counter right now.
Looks so easy. I've always done it the hard way.
Briana/Justamouse says
the mason jar fits over the blender? Who knew! (you, apparently!)
Anne says
yum! thanks, now i know what we're having for dinner. 🙂 I had the chicken part and the sides down, just wasn't sure what to do with the chicken!
Faith says
Delicious! Thank you! I was loving the pictures of the home brew, and is Our Lady holding toothpicks or matches?– your family sure knows how to live!
_Leila says
Faith, that little statue sits on the table with the salt, pepper, matches in a decorated (by a child) box, and little cordial glass that holds spent matches.
The photo is just of the glass behind the statue 🙂
Anne says
mm, tried this chicken recipe, delicious! and John agrees…
Natasha says
This is Nick's favorite! So glad you gave me the recipe way back when… It's even good when you don't saute the breadcrumbs.
Roman says
You always make such lovely posts, whatever the topic! I was wondering if sometime you might be able and willing to share your adaptations/recommendations for frugal and time-saving (but still healthy) meal planning for folks who are single. And really, any other adaptations/recommendations for single folks' household maintenance! Thanks for sharing your learning and wisdom with us!
_Leila says
Haha, Roman, I have never been single! I mean, I went from home to college to married all before I was 19!
An organized freezer is your friend — I know that's true for everyone! 🙂 Try using plastic containers that have lost their tops for bins that will contain your little individual things.
Roman says
Hehe, thanks anyway! Will work on freezer organization… 🙂
Tracy says
Made this tonight. It was delicious. My husband loved it! Thank you for sharing it.
PNG says
I love this recipe. I did the same thing with pork chops for Sunday lunch yesterday. Only I should have pounded the chops….they were over an inch thick.:(. Then I broiled them and still had to bake them a bit. All the handling ruined their appearance so I had to scrap that post. Husband and kids loved the mustard under the breading. It was surely a hit and chicken wouldn't be that much of a recipe tweak. Thanks for the tips. Oh, btw I didn't have enough breadcrumbs or dry bread so I took croutons and ran them through the food processor. It worked great in a pinch!
Margo says
I love your commentary on the menu you chose 🙂
Joy says
Both recipes sound great! I'll have to try this later in the week. The local grocery even has chicken breasts on sale. 🙂
I do have a special meat pounder that my boys gave me. It has the perfect feel and I like it better than my old wooden rolling pin, which is what I used before. I make bread crumbs in my food processor and store them in my freezer.
Thanks for helping me decide what's for dinner on Thursday this week.
Karen says
Love the super simple method of roasting the squash. Do I need to prick the squash? I don't need any explosions to liven up my life.
_Leila says
Karen, I never prick the squash (unless I'm warming it up in the microwave before baking it, to save time).
ayearinskirts says
That looks so yummy!
Andrea says
This looks delicious! I'm definitely going to try it.
I don't know if I have ever commented, but I love your blog! I use it to teach my daughters homemaking skills.
We use mason jars to make single-serve smoothies in our blender – we drink them right from the jars. Saves a dish and the kids can use what they like for their own smoothies. 🙂
Sara says
What a smart idea! I already use mason jars on my blender, but I never thought of using them for that purpose. There is something about using a mason jar instead of the big blender container that is liberating somehow—less to wash maybe?
Deb Meyers says
what a useful post! I am making the spinach-artichoke dish tonight!
I also learned Pounding Chicken to be a moister way to cook it, but I never have come up with a decent solution for the plastic wrap covering. It always tears and bits and drops fly. Maybe I pound too hard.
thanks,
Deb Meyers
_Leila says
Deb, I buy Stretch-Tite (I think it's called?). It's very sturdy. And you don't need to overdo the pounding 🙂 Just sort of flatten and spread to an even thickness, more or less.
Missy Rose says
I'd never heard of the mason jar trick before! What a great way to make breadcrumbs!
And I'd never heard of roasting the squash first and then peeling it – I love butternut squash, but it's such a pain to peel that I almost never buy it – sounds like roasted butternut squash soup (my favorite) will have to go back on the menu soon!
Thanks for all the tips and tricks.
Kh. Patty says
I'm confused about the blender/mason jar thing. Are we talking the stick blender? Or somehow putting the jar over the regular blender?
_Leila says
Patty, you can screw your blender blade assembly right into a regular mason jar full of whatever you want to blend. Leave enough airspace of course. Then just use that jar for storage, drinking, what have you.
shwell says
Leila, you can do this with white fish too – on a Friday (haddock, cod, maybe tilapia)
usually I use powdered mustard on the fish, but breadcrumbs, parsley, cheese etc on top
Pour a little wine or milk around the fish and bake till done. I don't really have recipe with timing and temperature. About 375 and I check it after 15-20 mins or when I can smell it.
A @ Classical Quest says
I thought I would stop back by to tell you that I am making this meal for dinner tonight.
Thank you for taking the time to give us so many good pictures and careful instructions. You are my cyber-mentor:)
Blessings!
~Adriana
Mary says
This looks so good and is so simple. I am adding it to my menu rotation. Yummo!!
LIbby Jane says
I really adore you! I am going to try a mason jar on my blender tomorrow, because I love my blender, and hold out against getting another machine for the kitchen, but that would make it so much more food-processor-like!
I'm right with you on pounding meat too. Things with batteries or multiple parts have a very high burden of proof in our house, but things for pounding? I can think of six pounding things in my kitchen! I didn't realize I had so much multiplicity.
thanks for everything
polly says
This makes me smile. Because it makes me think of my great, late mom's chicken specialty–it was a honey-mustard lightly-breaded chicken very much like this. And so good! And so *her!* I haven't made it in years. But I think I will soon.
The spinach looks killer.
Anne-Marie says
I tried this and it was a hit. The eight year old guest ate seconds, after which he said, “Oh dear, I don't like mustard.”
Frugal tip: use the meat from split breasts, then you get less shrinkage and watery mess (because the split breast, unlike the boneless ones, aren't injected with a solution), plus you have bones for stock.
Penny says
Thank you for this! I tried it the other night and it was a hit. I didn't have anything suitable for pounding in the kitchen, then remembered the rubber mallet in the garage – very satisfying! The only change I made was to mix honey with the mustard to make it more kid friendly. I will be making this again for sure, and freezing some too for my friends expecting babies soon.
ayearinskirts says
HI Leila- I'm hosting a murder mystery dinner party for my friend's 40th birthday and I think this will work perfectly! I knew I'd come back to this recipe some day 🙂
Meredith says
I wanted to make this tonight, but there was no chicken in my freezer. We had some tilapia, though, so I did that instead. I baked it at 400 for about 15 minutes, and it was fantastic! I so wish I had had someone like you when I was a young wife. I have had to find and learn all of this on my own.
Christina A says
How many pounds of chicken would you say this amount of breadcrumbs covers? Sometimes they’re so small, but other times ridiculously huge! Excited to try this spinach recipe; I have a feeling I won’t even be disappointed if my kids just take their politeness portion and I have to have it for lunch the next day. 🙂
Leila says
Christina, I am not sure about how many pounds. Maybe 3 lbs chicken? The thing is it’s about area, not weight! That’s why I like to have an abundance of crumbs handy. I don’t like to be caught short. One thing though, start with a cup and then add – don’t contaminate all your crumbs at once with raw chicken!
The spinach is great left over!
Christina A says
Thank you!