Velvet Chicken Breast With Mustard Sauce Recipe (2024)

This was the most moist and delectable chicken breast we have ever eaten, and we usually detest chicken breast because it is so dry and tasteless. The initial frying step is used to lock in the moisture using the egg white and cornstarch. The mustard and horseradish is softened by the creme fraiche which withstands the high heat used to reduce it to a thicker sauce. The thyme and chives are key because they impart a delicate yet noteable additional flavor to the dish. Absolutely delicious.

Why this has creme fraiche in it I don't understand. No way it can be tasted. I used heavy cream with a couple table spoons of sour cream as a substitute. I also substituted rinsed prepared horseradish for the grated, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme for the fresh thyme, and white parts of scallions for chives. Tasted great!
The "velveting" was a revelation.

Can anyone help me understand the reason for the initial frying step here? If we're just setting the surface of the meat, I'd just wipe the pan with oil, sauté the chicken for the 30 seconds per side, and then add the sauce on top and cook until simmering to save discarding the butter and the extra step.

This chicken is silky and delicious! I used Greek double cream yogurt insteas of the creme fraiche, which I didn't have. The mustard and horseradish provide just the right flavor boost.

This recipe, which is very well-written, is worth following to the letter. The chicken is moist and tender because of the velveting technique, and the sauce is piquant. Fresh herbs in the sauce reduction are what make it all come together. I happened to have thyme and winter savory, plus some parsley (instead of chives). Fresh tarragon might also be nice.

I thought the method was great for producing tender, moist breasts. I was skeptical while following the steps but it turned out perfectly. (I substituted heavy cream with a bit of goat cheese whipped into it for the creme fraiche and it was delicious.)

Remember to follow cooking times in order to avoid overcooking. I did not salt the chicken (forgot) but was plenty tasteful with the mustard. I used tarragon (didn't have thyme) and used Greek yogurt instead of Creme Fraiche and the taste was fabulous

We were dubious that the short cooking times would not cook the chicken, but we flattened the breasts a bit, added about 30 secs. to each step, and it came out perfectly. Notes— I used a hand-mixer with whisk beaters to beat the eggwhites to almost soft peaks, then used a hand whisk for the (we used) potato starch. Used sour cream, but will try créme fraîche next time. I think any fresh herbs will do—we used thyme and sage. We were lucky to have a horseradish root in the garden, so…

Did you even out the thickness of the breasts? Pounding them a bit could help.

Sweet lord this was good. Even if you were out of crème fraiche and had to sub sour cream.

i did use the creme fraiche because i had some, but i suspect that the greek yogurt would work as well. the technique was totally interesting and a success for sure. i used a mustard with horseradish in it and it was fine.
our dinner guests raved about it. i will do this again SOON

I didn't have creme fraiche so I used equal amounts of lite sour cream and light whipping cream as a substitute. The chicken was very moist and tender. I will definitely do this again, maybe trying another sauce.

The frying briefly helps to seal in the moisture. Often velveting calls for putting the chicken in boiling water for a min or two and then pulling out and then stir frying. Worked perfectly for us tonight, but we used olive oil and not butter.

Not really our favorite. We are a devided dark meat and white meat household, so I was anxious to find a dish that made moist chicken breasts. Indeed the breasts were moist and perfectly cooked but neither one of us cared for the velveting or the cornstarch "skin" that formed, locking the moisture in. The dish is tasty enough but we both thought it was like eating boiled chicken, which it is in the sense of poached in the sauce. Love all the ingredients except the corn starch.

Did not care for the texture of the velvet chicken at all! Seemed more poached than anything. Very weird.

I had whipped Philadelphia cream cheese on hand so I subbed it for the crème fraîche, it was delicious. Probably thicker sauce but still great. I didn’t have dried mustard and it was ok. Added a little champagne vinegar for funsies.Rich, delicious.. I recommend!

This method of tenderizing chicken breast is outstanding! I did not have corn starch so used rice flour and it worked fine. Not so crazy about the mustard sauce but I will continue to use the velveting method for other recipes.

This dish was absolutely incredible, I will definitely be making it again. I whipped it up with a few changes. Instead of doing the full breast I sliced it into thin strips against the grain and it came out super tender. I didn’t have creme fraiche so I substituted with sour cream and it worked great.

My sauce was good but a bit too vinegary. Next time I will try to drain the whole grain mustard.

Didn't have creme fraiche so substituted heavy cream. It was delicious but took longer to cook the chicken than recipe calls for.

I read the cautions of unhappy cooks, but my giant chicken breasts had the same problem--to big, even after cutting in half through the center. By the time they had cooked through (extra 10-15 minutes?) much of the velvet had come off in the pan. I think the entire thing would have worked without the coating, however.Good sauce though.

I cooked this exactly as directed and it was fantastic. The most tender chicken breast ever. My hubby was over the moon! I had pretty big chicken breasts so I cut them in half lengthwise and horizontally, making them big and thin and almost uniformly 1/2 inch. I think that was probably key. The sauce was delicious too and there was enough to cover some roasted potatoes as well. Really good!

"Velveting" was new to me and"wow" so good! I did not have horseradish but the sauce worked anyway. Sour cream was substituted for creme fraiche. No problem. This is now a favorite.

Used pork chops instead of chicken breast. Heavenly!

Use a non-stick pan! Huge difference!

This is a fantastic recipe — it worked perfectly and will be a standard on our table. It was moist, incredibly tender, and really flavorful. I velevetize all my chicken, pork, and beef for stir fries — this French-like preparation was such a nice surprise. Not a single change. (Okay, I didn’t wipe the skillet after sautéing the chicken. Why waste butter?)

I thought this was a tasty recipe, but the table was evenly split on that, so it's not for everyone. I like the velveting technique, and I'll definitely use that again on chicken--perhaps with a different sauce to appeal to the anti-mustard crowd.

This was a disappointment. Not worth the effort. Eliminate any added salt. Chicken very tender. Wont make it again.

Delicious sauce. Odd, unpleasant texture for the chicken. Would not make again.