A board with broiled tarragon chicken breasts on top.

This pair of words has never made my mouth water: chicken breast. I blame Liza, my mother, who conditioned me at an early age to favor dark meat.

But there’s something about this recipe for breasts that just works. The tarragon-mustard-mayonnaise combo browns and bubbles under the broiler keeping the breasts juicy and tender and flavorful. Even Liza adores this recipe.

And I adore how my kitchen smells when these breasts are broiling. It’s up there with onions sautéing in butter and bread baking in the oven and truffle oil drizzled over just about anything.

I go through phases when I make these breasts once a week. I buy a whole chicken, break it down, save the thighs and drumsticks for one meal and the two breasts for another. For the dark meat, I have many recipes that I love, but for the breasts this is it. Just this one. Try it. It couldn’t be simpler. And with the exception of the tarragon, you likely have the ingredients on hand so if you’re disappointed, which would shock me, you won’t have made a huge investment in time or money.

PS: How to Break Down A Chicken

mustard, mayonnaise, tarragon, salt, and pepper on a board.
A bowl with tarragon mustard mayonnaise stirred together.
A cut broiled tarragon-mustard chicken breast.
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broiled tarragon chicken breasts

Broiled Tarragon Chicken Breasts


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Ingredients

  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to about 3/4-inch thickness
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise*
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • chopped fresh tarragon, lots of it, at least 3 tablespoons

* If you want to be really gourmet, make the homemade version, recipe below.


Instructions

  1. Preheat the broiler to high.
  2. Season both sides of each breast with kosher salt and pepper. Mix mayo, mustard and tarragon together. Grease a broiler pan with olive oil. Place breasts on the pan and spoon half (or a little less than half) of the mayo-mustard mixture over the breasts.
  3. Broil 3 minutes. Remove pan. Flip breasts. Spread remaining mayo-mustard mixture over the breasts. Return to the broiler and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes longer, depending on the thickness of the breasts.
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Broiler
  • Cuisine: Amercian
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Homemade Mayonnaise


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Description

You can make this in a food processor as well.


Ingredients

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 T. lemon juice
  • 1 T. Dijon mustard
  • pinch salt and pepper
  • 1 cup regular olive oil (not extra virgin) or grapeseed oil

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the yolk, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper.
  2. Start beating vigorously while slowly drizzling in the olive oil. Beat until thick and smooth.
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Category: Condiment
  • Method: Whisk
  • Cuisine: American