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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.
now this was good. I used red wine vinegar because I didn’t have white… probably added more soy sauce than I was supposed to but you can’t go wrong there! All in all, it was delicious with my garlic & butter rice!
Love this and all your recipes are always the best!! I added a squirt of barbeque sauce in and it turned out fire
We really enjoyed this recipe! I was looking for an air fryer chicken recipe and saw this. I followed others and added some fresh minced ginger (about 4-5 slices) and about 1/2 tsp. chili garlic sauce, and doubled the sauce. I’d add less ginger next time, and maybe a tad more chili sauce. I brushed a small amount of olive oil on thigh skins, then added seasonings. Cooked about 25 minutes in air fryer @ 350, turning over a few times. They were so golden and crispy. Made the sauce in a fry pan as stated, and added the chicken back in at the end to coat. Will definitely make again! Plus…. no “fry” mess to clean up! Thanks!
Delicious, quick, and easy! Will be keeping this recipe in my back pocket. Thank you!
This recipe was promising until the instructions tell you to cook the already cooked chicken with the sauce until it thickens. The sauce took a more than 3-4 min to thicken. For me, this caused the chicken to be over cooked and tough to chew. Next time, I will make the sauce separate and pour it on the chicken. I do look forward to trying it again!
Really good love the flavor.. i think next time I’ll add just a tie bit of cornstarch slurry to the sauce though so its thicker. I will definitely make again.
Made this last week and it turned out really well! What I really like is how it’s so easy and there’s no need to marinade for so long. Great recipe. Will definitely do this again.
I have a question on searing the chicken and draining most of the excess oil from the pan when done searing. There is no mention on oil or butter to sear chicken. ??? Sear in dry pan? Where does the oil come from (to drain when done searing) ???
The video shows using a little olive oil to fry them in.
I watched the video and saw they drizzled the coated pan before the chicken. I hope this helps.
Hi Lisa, chicken produces its own oil when cooked, so you don’t need to add oil. The oil will just come out of the chicken. Just pan-fry it by itself.
i love this place. goodness this website is amazing. i mean its so great honestly. well done thanks. i just tried the fudgy brownie last night and it turned out amazing 🙂
Right up my alley! Recipes with just a few ingredients that are handy and full of flavor. I have a lots of Chicken in my freezer and although I have several go-to chicken recipes there is always room for one more, and this one just made it to the list. The simplicity, flavor, and ease of this recipe is outstanding.
This was so easy and delicious! I had white wine vinegar on hand and it worked nicely! We poured the extra sauce over white rice, every plate was clean and I had no left overs, which is rare with my picky 7 year old. Great dish! I’ll definitely make again.
I am so looking forward to making this for dinner tonight. A question that I have though do I absolutely have to use vinegar or can I just opt it out? I personally don’t like vinegar.
Can’t even taste the vinegar . I did add a little more honey than instructed
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!!! This one is a keeper. I added a some toasted sesame seeds and green onions as a garnish. Thank you for sharing this recipe.