This recipe for Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce is probably the first tarragon chicken recipe I ever tried! And now I think the combination of chicken + tarragon is such a good reason to grow French Tarragon in your garden, and everyone who likes Tarragon will love this low-carb chicken dish.

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Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce shown on serving plate.

I still remember when I first planted French Tarragon in my herb garden, and how it was the beginning of a huge love affair with the flavor of tarragon. Through the years I’ve tried lots of different recipes using fresh tarragon, and these Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce are one of the fresh tarragon recipes I’ve ended up making over and over.

Now it’s herb-planting time again at a new house, and this year I’ll be planting some French Tarragon among my flowers and praying that the deer don’t like Tarragon! And I’m looking forward to trying more tarragon chicken recipes and some other ideas with tarragon.

What ingredients do you need?

What is French Tarragon?

Of the various types of tarragon, French Tarragon is the most prized for cooking, and it’s the distinctive flavor in Béarnaise sauce. And among fans of French food, this type of tarragon is sometimes called the King of Herbs. It has a strong flavor and should be used sparingly. French Tarragon can be hard to find because it can’t be grown from seed, but the plant is a perennial and gets quite large once it’s established.

Other types of tarragon include Russian Tarragon (which is easier to grow but much milder and slightly bitter in flavor) and Texas Tarragon (also called Mexican Mint Marigold; a perennial herb with a similar flavor.)

What does French Tarragon taste like?

To me, the flavor of tarragon is somewhat like a combination of basil and fennel, slightly sweeter than basil to my taste buds, but with a similar anise flavor and I think it’s adds a lovely flavor to this tarragon chicken recipe. Like basil, tarragon should be added towards the end of the cooking time.

More Recipes with Tarragon to Wake Up Your Mouth:

Want more ideas for using Fresh Tarragon?

If you’re a fan of the flavor of French Tarragon like I am, check out Cooking with Fresh Tarragon for even more ideas.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce on KalynsKitchen.com

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce would taste great with Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese and a perfect green salad for a low-carb meal.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce
Yield: 4 servings

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce are a good reason to grow French Tarragon in your garden!

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 T olive oil (use more or less, depending on your pan)
  • salt and pepper, plus other seasonings of your choice to season chicken (see notes)
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock (see notes)
  • 1/3 cup half and half
  • 1 T Dijon mustard
  • 3 tsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon (preferably French tarragon)

Instructions

  1. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts. (I save these scraps in the freezer until I get enough to make chicken stock.)
  2. If chicken breasts are quite thick, pound them with a meat mallet or other heavy object until they are about 3/4 inch thick.
  3. Wash tarragon leaves and finely chop with chef’s knife.
  4. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy frying pan just big enough to hold all the chicken without crowding.
  5. While oil heats, season chicken with seasonings of your choice I used Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link) and pepper, but no salt).
  6. Add the chicken and saute until chicken is cooked through and well-browned, about 10 minutes. (Actual cooking time will depend on your pan and how high you have the heat.)
  7. Remove chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
  8. Add chicken stock to pan, scraping off any browned bits, and cook until reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes.
  9. Whisk in mustard, tarragon, half and half and any juices from the chicken which have accumulated on the plate and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes more.
  10. Serve immediately, with some of the sauce drizzled over each piece of chicken.

Notes

I used Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link) and pepper to season the chicken, but no salt. I used homemade chicken stock, but you could use canned chicken broth, preferably low sodium

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Great Food Fast.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 315Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 335mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 44g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce on KalynsKitchen.com

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Mustard Pan Sauce is suitable for low-carb or Keto diet plans. If you made the sauce with milk instead of cream, you could make the sauce with milk to make it work for the original South Beach Diet too.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Chicken Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This delicious tarragon chicken recipe was first posted in 2008! The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.

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