This tender chicken is bathed in a creamy sauce and topped with mushrooms and crispy bacon crumbles. It gets a fresh, tangy flavor from dijon mustard and lemon juice, and even more layers of flavor from chopped fresh herbs.
Take a bite of chicken, swirl it in that creamy dijon sauce, and you’ll have a hard time believing that it really is low in carbs and calories.
An Easy Chicken Recipe
The sauce is so easy to whip up in the blender, and it has just a few basic ingredients. It relies on canned mushrooms instead of fresh, because you use the mushroom liquid from the can to make the golden brown sauce.
This recipe can be easily made on the stovetop in about a half hour. While the chicken and mushrooms are cooking, the sauce can be whipped up in the blender and then added to the skillet to simmer and thicken.
This rich, creamy sauce doesn’t rely on heavy cream like you might think. It’s made from cottage cheese, which is low in fat and calories and high in protein. Protein fills you up and builds muscle. This is one of the most delicious ways to get your grams of protein in!
What to Serve with Creamy Dijon Chicken
The chicken and sauce pairs beautifully with rice and a green vegetable. When I was testing this recipe we had it for dinner with asparagus. The sauce was just as delicious draped over the vegetables as it was on the chicken. I'm sure this would be wonderful with zucchini or broccoli, too. Here are some other excellent ideas for side dishes:
I made this recipe at lunch time so I could get some good photos, and then we had it later for dinner. The sauce re-heated beautifully, and was just as good for dinner as it was for my lunch! In fact, as soon as I got some good photos I just had to dig in - it was SO good!
Simple Ingredients, Delicious Recipe
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets: in this case "cutlets" means chicken breast that is thinly sliced so it cooks more quickly
- butter: I love to pan-fry meat and vegetables in butter, but you can also use oil.
- low fat cottage cheese: this is the secret to rich, creamy sauce with less calories. It really helps boost the protein in this dish, too
- 1 can sliced mushrooms, 8 oz.: I usually prefer fresh mushrooms in my recipes, but this time I actually prefer canned mushrooms. The liquid in the can goes great in the sauce.
- chicken broth
- dijon mustard: feel free to experiment with other types of mustards, but I don't recommend using plain yellow mustard - the flavor is too overpowering!
- lemon juice: fresh squeezed, or from a bottle is fine
- cornstarch
- 2-3 pieces of turkey bacon (or regular bacon): I used turkey bacon in some of the pictures, and regular bacon in some of the pictures.
- fresh thyme leaves, rosemary, or any other herbs that you prefer. I also included garlic chives in these pictures.
- Salt and pepper
How to Make a Chicken Cutlet
A chicken cutlet is just a whole boneless skinless chicken breast that has been cut in half horizontally so it is thin. This will make it cook more quickly and evenly than a whole chicken breast, which is usually very thick on one end.
Here's an easy way to do it:
- Place the chicken breast on a cutting board.
- Using a “claw grip”, hold the chicken in place with one hand. This will keep you from cutting yourself and hold the chicken firmly in place.
- With a very sharp knife, slice through the chicken horizontally.
Each chicken breast will get you 2 thin chicken cutlets.
How to Change up this Recipe
Boneless skinless chicken breast isn’t the only type of meat that works with this recipe.
Boneless pork tenderloin chops are just as delicious and go so well with the creamy dijon sauce.
You can also use skinless chicken thighs, with or without bones. But if you can get them, boneless thighs are what I prefer for this recipe, because they are a little bit easier to cut with your fork and swirl into the sauce.
Here's How to Make it:
Step 1. Salt the chicken and let rest, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will tenderize the meat, and make it juicy when it cooks.
Step 2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Be mindful of the temperature - you don’t want the butter to burn. Add the chicken cutlets and cook for 4-5 minutes before turning over, to get a good sear.
Step 3. Add mushroom liquid, cottage cheese, mustard, chicken stock, lemon juice, and cornstarch to the blender.
Step 4. Add mushrooms to chicken and cook and stir until mushrooms are golden brown.
Step 5. Remove chicken and mushrooms to a plate. Chop herbs.
Step 6. Add sauce from blender to pan. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping up with whisk until thick and smooth. Add chopped herbs.
Step 7. Cook 2 or 3 slices of bacon (I cook min in the microwave). Crumble and set aside.
Step 8. Spoon sauce over the chicken and top with mushrooms, sauce, fresh herbs, and a little bit of bacon.
Chicken Dijon with Low Carb Mushroom Sauce (Easy)
You'd never guess that the delicious mushroom sauce on this chicken gets is decadent creaminess from cottage cheese! A sprinkle of crumbled turkey bacon and fresh herbs add the finishing touch.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: stove top
- Diet: Low Calorie
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets
- 1 ⅓ cups cottage cheese (2%)
- 1 can sliced mushrooms, 8 oz.
- ½ cup chicken stock or broth
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2-3 pieces of cooked and crumbled turkey bacon (or regular bacon, if desired)
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary, or to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Salt the chicken and let rest, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Be mindful of the temperature - you don’t want the butter to burn. Add the chicken cutlets and cook for as long as 5 minutes before turning over, to get a good sear. Season chicken with pepper to taste. Turn down the heat and continue cooking the chicken, adding a lid if needed.
- When the chicken is almost done, open the can of mushrooms. Pour the liquid from the can into a blender, and add the mushrooms to the skillet with the chicken. Cook and stir until the chicken is done and the mushrooms are lightly browned.
- Add the cottage cheese, mustard, lemon juice, and cornstarch to the mushroom liquid in the blender. Blend on high until smooth.
- Remove chicken and mushrooms from the skillet to a plate. Chop the herbs.
- Add sauce from the blender to the hot skillet. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping up with a whisk until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Add chopped herbs.
- To serve, top the chicken with mushrooms and sauce and sprinkle with crumbled bacon and extra herbs as desired.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
If you end up with leftover chicken and lots of sauce, you can store it in a covered container with a tight fitting lid. I prefer to cut the chicken into smaller chunks before storing it. It will make reheating it a lot quicker. It will store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
The best way to reheat it is in the microwave. Remove the lid, but rest it loosely on top of the container to avoid splattering. Heat for 1 minute on high power, then stir or whisk the sauce to make it smooth. Continue heating at 30 second intervals until the chicken and sauce is heated all the way through.
russ says
I would add more mushrooms.