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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.
OMG I love this recipe!! It is so easy to make but yet so full of flavor! Thank you for this delicious recipe 🙂
The recipe only has instructions for oven cooked bone in chicken. Is there a reason to not use chicken breasts in the oven?
OH no, not at all. You are welcome to use chicken breasts instead. Sometimes they tend to dry out quickly when cooking them so I prefer a bone in with the darker meat and a little more moist. Hope that helps! Enjoy!
I’ve made this recipe twice so far. My family loved it both times. I used chicken thighs the first time, and breasts the second time around. I definitely liked the thighs better, as they’re just a more moist and flavorful cut of meat, but the breasts were okay too. The sauce is the best part anyways. I paired it with some parmesan and lemon black rice, and roasted asparagus. The whole family mmmmm’d and mmmmm’d. I followed the recipe exactly both times and it turns out perfectly. It’s for sure a keeper.
AMAZING! I made this tonight for dinner because I was in a rush. Taste was amazing.
That is great to hear! I am so glad that it came together smoothly and simply for you!
This recipe was such a hit! So easy to make and looked brilliant when served.
That is awesome and just what I love to hear! Thanks so much for sharing!
Just made this for dinner tonight. Followed the directions and it turned out great. I used two chicken breasts (all I had in the freezer) and cut them into bite size pieces. No leftovers this time. Next time I will use more chicken so we have leftovers.. (I’m not a big fan of leftovers, unless it’s something that was really good and this definitely was.)
That is so great to hear! I am so glad that you found a recipe that you all love AND didn’t have leftovers!! YAY!! Win-Win!
I don’t have rice vinegar what can I substitute for it?
Rice wine vinegar can be substituted with white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar with a pinch of sugar, or a mixture of three parts white vinegar and one part water. Hope that helps!
I just tried this recipe tonight for dinner. I used 2 chicken breasts and didn’t filet them. I think I might have overcooked them a little bit but it still turned out very tasty. It is a very easy recipe and cheap (I’m a college student on a budget!) Thanks for the recipe!
YAY!! Good luck at college! I am so glad that it turned out okay and it was affordable for you! Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight and I was blown away with how good it was. Made it just about exactly as written except I may have made the sauce a little thicker as directed which turned out soooo good. I gave it 5 stars but several pluses should be added to it!! This will be a regular meal in this household!!
AWE!! Thanks so much! I am just so happy that you enjoyed it and that it turned out great for you in your own home! Thanks so much for sharing and for all the love!!
My family loves it. I cut up chicken breasts, then put it over rice and broccoli. I used a similar recipe, and they didn’t like it, so had to scour the internet to find this again.
This was one of the best chicken recipes I have ever made!! I have shared it with everyone at work. Love love love 🙂