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Sticky and Easy Honey Garlic Chicken made fast and simple, with the most amazing five ingredient honey garlic sauce that is so good you’ll want to use it on everything!
A recipe that allows for the use of either chicken breast or chicken thigh, this dish is bound to become a fast family fave! This honey garlic chicken recipe is the perfect meal to have when you’re struggling to decide between sweet and savoury.
Catering to lovers of crisp and sticky chicken skin, as well as those who prefer a soft, succulent piece of chicken, it doesn’t get any better than this recipe. With a beautiful sauce and perfectly cooked chicken, you’ll absolutely love this tasty Asian inspired dish. If you’re craving extra crunch and a little heat, these garlic chicken strips with a sweet chilli kick are another delicious way to switch up your garlic chicken rotation. And if you’re in the mood for something just as sticky but completely hands-off, try this slow cooker Asian sticky glazed chicken for an easy dinner alternative.
This super-simple recipe makes crispy, tender chicken with a perfect, sticky glaze. You may (or may not) remember the Crispy Oven Fried Chicken I made a couple of months ago?
Well, those crispy chicken pieces were scrumptious covered in our honey garlic sauce, so I wondered what would happen if I cooked some chicken pieces right in the sauce without any crumbing or breading. That’s when our easy honey garlic chicken recipe was created!
HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
As you may have already noticed, we love honey garlic sauce. Overtime, we have created a plethora of recipes which use a similar flavour palette that you’ve all loved, like our Easy Honey Garlic Salmon, Easy Honey Garlic Pork Chops and our Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp.
This sauce not only tastes amazing, it’s incredibly satisfying to watch as it bubbles and morphs into a perfectly balanced savoury, sweet, garlicky syrup. The sauce thickens and coats your chicken as it cooks making for delightfully, caramelised chicken pieces.
The great thing about this recipe is that the recipe accounts for a generous amount of sauce which means you’ll have extra to pour over your broccoli and rice when you’re finished cooking.
CHICKEN BREAST OR THIGH?
To be honest, it’s really up to you and your personal preference. For this particular recipe, I prefer to use chicken thighs since dark meat is super moist and packed full of flavour. Although, we also enjoy this recipe with chicken breasts.
One of my favourite things about this honey garlic chicken recipe is that I usually have all of the ingredients ready to go in my pantry and refrigerator. I incorporated a bunch of staples into this recipe to make it as easy to throw together as possible:
- Honey? YES ✓
- Soy Sauce? YES ✓
- Vinegar? YES ✓
- Water? OF COURSE ✓
- Garlic? Not even a question ✓
So few ingredients needed for such an irresistibly sweet and salty dish!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
You want to make sure you’re making the most out of that sauce, so I would recommend pairing your chicken with some Buttery Sautéed Green Beans and some Fried Rice with Bacon.
WATCH US MAKE THE MOST ADDICTIVE HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN RIGHT HERE!
For more Chicken Recipes, try these!
- Browned Butter Honey Garlic Chicken
- Honey Garlic Sriracha Chicken
- Oven Fried Chicken with Broccoli + Honey Garlic Sauce
You may also love these!
- Easy Honey Garlic Salmon
- Lobster Tails with Honey Garlic Butter White Wine Sauce
- Browned Butter Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Honey Soy Baked Chicken Thighs
- Sweet Potato Bun Cheese Dip
Need to cook it in a slow cooker instead? Try our Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken recipe!
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Easy Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs bone in or out, with or without skin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt to season
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder to season
- 6 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup water or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, or any white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper to season
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder; set aside.
- Heat a pan or skillet over medium high heat; sear chicken thigh fillets or breast fillets on both sides until golden and cooked through.
FOR BONE IN THIGHS:
- Reduce heat after searing on both sides, cover skillet with a lid and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through, while turning every 5 minutes until done. Alternatively, see notes for oven method.
- Drain most of the excess oil from the pan, leaving about 2 tablespoons of pan juiced for added flavour.
FOR SAUCE:
- When chicken is done and cooked through, arrange chicken skin-side up in the pan (if cooking with skin); add the garlic between the chicken and fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the honey, water, vinegar and soy sauce. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook until the sauce reduces down and thicken slightly (about 3-4 minutes).
- Garnish with parsley and serve over vegetables, rice, pasta or with a salad.
Notes
*For oven baked, bone-in thighs: Preheat oven at 400°F or 200°C. Sear chicken in an oven proof skillet or pan, skin side down first for 3 minutes. Flip and sear for a further 3 minutes until browned each side. Then bake in the oven for a further 20-25 minutes, until completely cooked through and no longer pink inside. Continue directions from the sauce, onwards.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was so delicious! I added about 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, but kept everything else the same. I served it with brown rice and sauteed brussels sprouts w/ bacon and onion. My whole family loved this – thanks so much!
I made this with chicken breast and my husband loves it. How do I make this for lage crowd (60 people)
Oh wow! That is a large crowd! This will need to be made probably in batches and then you can bake them on a pan all at once in the oven for the 30 minutes. That will keep them all ready at the same time. I hope they all enjoy it! Best of luck!
Hi, just wondering what you sprinkled on the end? Thanks
I sprinkled parsley at the very end. It is optional if you like. Thanks so much for following along with me!
This was easy and delicious, and I really did have all the ingredients in my pantry!! I cut the chicken breasts into chunks; next time I think I’ll dredge them through flour before I sear them. I served the chicken over some pecan rice, and finished the dish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, a few crushed candied pecans, and dusted it with some cilantro. It made a beautiful dish that looked as good as it tasted!
Greetings to everyone,
I just read thru all the messages and I can’t wait to make this dish for dinner tonight. Sounds super easy and very flavorful….can’t wait. Surely it would be great re-sautéed the following day-therefore I will double the batch!! Can’t wait!!
I made a bourbon chicken the other day and I think the recipe was from this site…awesome recipes!!
Thank you!! ?
Made this tonight on a whim and WOW! Next time i will take the chicken out and make the sauce, also would like to add some cornstarch to thicken it more. Other than awsome!
This recipe was delicious!! It was incredibly easy and didn’t require a lot of planning! And whoa was I blown away by how incredible it tasted without having to put much thought or energy into it. I will definitely be making this over and over! I also cooked the sauce a little longer than the recipe stated to make it thicker but overall, incredibly pleased with stumbling on this recipe!
Only one word – EXCELLENT!
I made this tonight for the first time and my son and I LOVED it. The only thing I did differently was to mix all the honey sauce ingredients, including the fresh garlic together in a bowl and then add it when the chicken was almost done. I also cooked the sauce longer than the recipe said about 10=15 minutes to really reduce it and thicken it. (I added the chicken breasts back into the pot to finish the cooking process and used a spoon to put the sauce over the chicken once the sauce thickened to keep the chicken moist while it finished cooking! This is a great recipe that will be a regular in my home now!!! Thank you!!
YAY!! That is exciting to hear! I am so glad that you both loved it! A win for you! I am glad that it is going to be a regular in your home! Thanks so much for sharing!
I just love this recipe. I am not a cook and this made my husband go, “Wow!” I felt super proud of myself. Finally a dish that tastes great and is easy to prepare. I love that I have almost everything in my kitchen already. I’m making it again tonight. This time no skin and no bones. Can this also be used with other meats or even shrimp or salmon?
That is awesome! I am so happy for you! I am so glad that everyone loved it! I like the way you think! Yes, you are welcome to try other meats and see what you like best! Thanks so much for following along with me!