Mustard Braised Chicken Thighs with Sundried Tomato Cannellini Beans

Pantry staple dinners can be such a godsend. As much we all want dinners abounding with beautiful fresh veggies, sometimes you just need to be able to throw things together. Of course, it still needs to taste good. Better yet if you can get it all done in one pot, which is admittedly not my strong suit. This dish, however, checks all the boxes.

My one gripe with canned beans is that they can be pretty bland tasting, so for this dish I wanted to used ingredients that would add bright flavors--wine, lemon, and mustard. In this case, I used this Maille Lemon and Garlic Dijon to help intensify those flavors--but of course, you can substitute any Dijon you’d like.

We paired this dish with this simple, reasonably priced Albariño for an inexpensive weeknight meal, but I can also see a wide variety of Italian whites working here.

Mustard Braised Chicken Thighs with Sun Dried Tomato Cannellini Beans

Makes 2-4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40-45 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken thighs)
Active cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
¼ cup white wine (optional)
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 - 15 oz can of cannellini beans, drained
4 tsp Dijon mustard, divided
2 Tbsp chopped sun dried tomatoes
⅓ - ½ cup chicken stock
½ tsp mayonnaise
2-4 basil leaves, chiffonade
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Heat oil in a large pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then sear in the pan over medium-high heat until golden brown (4-5 minutes per side). Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Deglaze the pan with white wine if using, making sure to scrape up any brown bits. (You can substitute water or chicken stock if desired. If there are a lot of blackened bits, clean out the pan before continuing.)

4. Add the onions and sweat until nearly translucent. (If onions are starting to brown, add a little water to slow down the cooking.) Add the garlic and lemon juice and continue cooking until onions are soft.

5. Add the cannellini beans and 2 tsp of the mustard and stir to incorporate. Stir in the sun dried tomatoes. Add chicken stock and season with salt and pepper.

6. Combine the remaining 2 tsp of mustard with the ½ teaspoon of mayo. Brush onto the skin side of the chicken. Season again with salt and pepper if desired. Return the chicken thighs and any juices to the pan, skin side up.

7. Transfer the pan to the oven.  Continue cooking to allow the flavors to combine and until an internal read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads at least 165°F. (Smaller chicken thighs were ready in 15-20 minutes, but if you have pieces of varying sizes, smaller pieces will not overcook if you leave them in with larger pieces.) Halfway through, stir the beans. If they’re beginning to look dry, add a small amount of liquid, being careful not to splash the chicken.

8. (Optional) If you like crispier skin (and clearly from the picture, I like mine quite browned) place pan under the broiler for 30 second to minute to crisp and brown the chicken

9. Remove the pan from the oven. Top with basil and Parmesan cheese and serve.