Honey mustard chicken tray bake

Published April 2025 | 5 min read
Words by Alana Wulff

The whole family will enjoy this quick and healthy meal from one of Australia’s favourite cooks, Adam Liaw.

To make weeknight meals that little bit easier (and faster), here are some handy tips for meal prepping, menu planning and finding the right dishes for your family, including one-tray recipes that reduce washing up time.

The benefits of meal prepping

Busy schedules often lead to quick meal decisions – and this can mean more takeaways and convenience food that isn’t good for you. Meal prepping puts you in the driver's seat. It's a chance to think carefully about choices and the food you eat.

Recent studies show meal preppers who cook at home eat better quality food and fewer kilojoules. They also spend less and gain less weight over time.

With meal planning you can tailor dinners to your cooking skills, the ingredients you like and any health or wellness goals you’re trying to reach. Keen to focus on dinners that are high in protein or high in fibre? Here’s how to make that happen.

To get started, think about your meals for the week ahead, put together an ingredient list and head to the shops. You might even want to create a document (or use the notes app on your phone) to pull together your meal ideas and favourite recipes. You could introduce a regular theme like ‘meat-free Mondays’ to bring consistency to your planning.

The next stage is to set aside some time on the weekend to batch-cook your meals. Start with the food or ingredients that take the longest time to cook, like proteins and roasted vegetables. These will form the foundation of your weeknight meals. If you’re adding carbohydrates or grains like rice and pasta, cook them beforehand so you can easily whip up a meal when you need them.

Explore a healthy meal service

If the idea of spending your weekend cooking isn’t particularly appealing, you might consider a meal service where healthy ingredients or healthy pre-cooked meals are delivered directly to your door. Not only have studies shown meal-kit subscriptions encourage individuals and families to cook and eat at home, they also help you reach your recommended daily vegetable requirements.

Plus, these services commonly encourage healthier cooking methods, like swapping canola oil for olive oil or grilling meats rather than deep-frying. And they give you the opportunity to try new ingredients and new flavour combinations while improving your cooking skills. You could also consider a local fruit box service. They’re often full of vegies you might not have tried before.

Benefits beyond the plate

While cooking at home can have a positive impact on your time, energy and bank balance, it can also play a vital role in keeping you – and those you love the most – healthy.

When preparing your own meals, you have control over what goes into your food and your body. Simple ingredient swaps can make a big difference to your health, without missing out on taste.

Consider using:

• ricotta cheese instead of cream
• natural Greek yoghurt instead of sour cream
• nut butter, avocado, tahini or hummus instead of butter 
• roasted or grilled lean meats, legumes and eggs instead of processed or high-fat meats.

The way you cook your food at home matters, too. Healthier methods include poaching your eggs or fish and steaming your vegies or stir-frying them with a small amount of oil. For lean meats, try roasting them with a handful of herbs for extra flavour instead of using salt.

Another healthy dinner option is a tray bake, says chef Adam Liaw, especially if you’re cooking extra for lunches the next day.

“Tray bakes are easily scalable both up and down,” he says, “and you don’t have to change the cooking time [just the quantity of the ingredients]. If you’re making more portions, just use more chicken and onions and put them in a bigger roasting tin.”

One of his favourite tray bakes is chicken cutlets cooked with honey and mustard.

“These two are a great combination because the sweetness of honey helps to balance the sourness and slight bitterness of the mustard,” he explains.

Honey mustard chicken cutlet tray bake

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Resting time: 5 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 3 red onions, cut into wedges
• ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
• ¼ cup (90g) honey
• ¼ cup (60g) Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• 10 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
• 6 chicken thigh cutlets (bone in, skin on)
• black pepper, to season

Method

1. Heat your oven to 200°C fan-forced and line a roasting tin with baking paper.
2. Toss the onion in the oil in a large bowl and arrange in the prepared tin, leaving any remaining oil in the bowl. Add the honey, mustard, vinegar, salt and thyme to the bowl and mix to combine. Roll the chicken thighs through the mixture and place in the roasting tin with the onions.
3. Pour in any remaining mixture, season with black pepper and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then serve.

This is an edited extract from Time for Dinner by Adam Liaw, published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography by Steve Brown.

Helping your family stay healthy

We’ve partnered with Ethos Health to bring our members Healthy Families for Life and Healthy Teens for Life – resources to support kids from birth to teens to develop positive nutritional habits for growth and development and reduce the risk of chronic conditions in their future. Eligibility criteria apply^*.