Roasted Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs with Steamed Bok Choy
Chicken so full of flavour, yet so simple, that these need NO marinading. Who has time to marinade anyway? Especially when you come home in a manic rush and starving to the point of raiding anything that looks good in the pantry.
You know how I like to keep things simple, right? And juicy? Well, to get to the point…that’s this chicken.
The glaze on its own is such a beautiful thick sauce, the perfect combination of sweet and sexy — I mean sweet and salty — it’s hard not to dip your chicken into it with every bite.
To prepare the glaze, bring it to a boil and then simmer until it thickens. Once it’s cooled slightly, pour just over half a cup over the chicken and coat it any way you want. I found it easier to use a pastry brush, but you can roll it around the sauce until completely coated.
To reduce weight watchers points or calories, this recipe works with skinless thighs and with breast. But there’s something about the deep flavour of chicken thighs baked with the skin on that’s unbeatable…golden, crispy skin; tender and juicy on the inside. Full of so much flavour — one thigh isn’t enough. Trust me. I usually find someone face planting the pan, burnt fingers and all, just ‘trying’ it before it hits the table. Mmm-hhm.
While the chicken is baking, steam your veggies until perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. When the chicken is done, dip your bok choy (or any green veg really), into the sauce in the pan and serve just like that.
Sprinkle some green onion/shallot slices over your chicken and DINNER IS DONE!
A meal that can be eaten on its own; served over rice or cauli rice for a lower carb/calorie option, or with more vegetables. It’s completely up to you. Just make sure you drizzle the sauce over whatever it is your teaming it up with!
See? Simple.
Simple Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 2 tablespoons pure sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic , crushed
- 1 teaspoon crushed ginger (fresh)
- 2 bunches of baby bok choy (quartered horizontally)
- sliced green onions/shallots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C | 425°F
- Wash chicken thighs and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil; reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally until sauce thickens. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly. Place chicken thighs into an oven proof pan/skillet or baking dish. Pour 2/3 of the sauce mixture over the chicken, rotating each thigh until evenly covered. Rotate the chicken to be skin side down, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn thighs and continue to bake until beginning to brown on the skin (about another 15 minutes). At this point, start steaming your bok choy (or any other vegetable), to your desired texture (crunchy, soft, etc).
- Change oven settings to grill/broil on medium heat and grill until the skin changes to deep golden in colour (about 5 minutes).
- Allow chicken to rest for 10 minutes. Serve with the steamed bok choy, shallots/green onion slices and remaining sauce.
Viv Jordan says
This is our new favorite recipe for chicken thighs! I always add an onion and have been known to double the sauce recipe because YUMMMMMM! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
paula tillman says
These recipes look amazing thank you
Misha Minute says
Hello, Rookie cook here. Just want to say thank you very much for sharing the Asian Roasted Chicken. My seasoned and “elegant” chef Mother thought the Asian Roasted Chicken was fantastic….and, yes, I used substitutes….white vinegar, olive oil and a big fat ol’ onion. Thanks so much for sharing. Thank you.
Linden says
I have been looking for a great chicken thigh recipe and this is it! So easy and so good!
Anjali Gupta says
Made this for dinner tonight with bok Choy and rice it was absolutely delicious!!! My whole family loved it and the house smelled so good while it was cooking!!
Pam says
This was really good! I was afraid the skin wouldn’t get crisp but I followed the directions and it came out great! I had large thighs so after I turned them I put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes and it caramelized perfectly! Served with the baby bok choy and white rice. Pan juices over the rice and the extra sauce on the chicken. Yum!
Kris says
This one is a keeper! Loved it!
Sush says
Really tasty. Love the marinade. Very simple to cook, once you have all the ingredients.
I am a newbie at cooking and if I could do it, anyone can.
Thanks for sharing.
Jolene says
Wondering when to use the rest of the sauce? Going to just pour it on before baking- hope that is right.
Haley says
I’m hoping to make this tonight and am wondering how long you would bake it for in a cast iron skillet? Thank you!
Judy Sullivan says
Have you ever made this on the bbq? Would like to try it for a summer bbq we are planning. Sounds delish!
Karina says
I have not! But that does sound delicious! Let me know how it turns out! Enjoy!
Kelsey says
I can’t seem to find the recipe. It is not showing up anywhere
Karina says
Hi! I’m so sorry about this. It seems to be a technical issue on mobile only and we are working on it right now. The recipes are on desktop if you need them urgently! Hopefully we will have all recipes up again soon! Thank you for your patience! Karina X
Melissa says
Must try!
Eileen says
I wanted to know if anyone has made this recipe with less sugar. Need to watch sugar content for health reasons
Thanks
Nadia says
This recipe is great, but make sure you use the thighs bone in/skin on as described in the recipe. I only had boneless thighs and it they turned out on the dry side. Like others, I found the sauce didn’t reduce much on the stove but it thickens up while in the oven.
Karina says
Thanks for the tip and sharing with everyone!
Lisa says
I just found your site thanks to Pinterest. This was amazing, and it was so easy to make. Thank you for this delicious recipe! My family wanted to me to make it again the day after we ate it. I’m so surprised at how tasty it was without marinating!
BrennaKat says
Um, wow. Now that was just deeeeelightful!! Seriously, I’m with Kitschen Cat – I always forget to check my recipe in the morning, but this. Not many ingredients – stuff you likely have already – simple, tangy, sweet, moist chicken with a crunch, thanks to that broiler. Thank you, Karina – you are making quite a presence in my kitchen lately – nice work and many thanks!
Karina says
AWE!! That is so sweet of you! Thanks so much for sharing and being so thoughtful! It is a delicious meal that is simple to make on a weekday! Thanks so much!
Pamela says
Oh my! I prepared this Roasted Asian Glazed Chicken this evening and it is absolutely amazing! A new favorite for sure! I’ll even likely be preparing this sauce for dipping with some of my other dishes. It is so very good! Thank you Karina!
Kay says
Just simply AMAZING!!!
Nancy says
I can set my oven to medium broil 400 degrees, but should I move the oven rack up to closer to the broiler or let the final browning of the skin take place from the middle rack?
Claudia Inoue says
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just made this for dinner…..I am German, my husband is Japanese…..he said he would marry me after eating this, if he hadn’t married me already!!! 🙂
WONDERFUL, easy recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!
Karina says
Oh Claudia! Hahaha that’s awesome! You could always re-new your vows! 😉
Steve says
Made this tonight to go with my left-over pork fried rice. I followed the recipe exactly and it came out GREAT. My family says it’s a KEEPER. I love it when the recipe comes out per time and instructiuons. Good Job
Dat says
As an Asian, I love marinated foods for deep bold flavors. So I was caught by surprise when I made recipe that has so much flavor without marination! Kudos!
Melita Lewis says
Delicious and easy to make! Big bonus, my hubby loved it!
Louise says
Was very easy to make and delicious! While the chicken was baking I made some asian buckwheat noodles and stir fried some red pepper, snap peas and carrots. The chicken was very moist and tender and the dish benefitted from the extra sauce. Would definitely make again!!
Hayley says
Instant family favorite! And the sauce is (or was I should say) incredible! Highy recommend people make this. I wish i could give it 10 stars, but i guess 5 will have to do!
Crystina says
Instant favorite! Made for dinner tonight with stuff I had around the house. I don’t normally like chicken tights so I had no idea what do do with them, and that’s how I came across the recipe. Awesome! My sauce took a little longer boiling to thicken but once it did it was great. Used broccoli, carrots, shredded broccoli stems, and snap peas instead of bok choy (because I had it around) and it was great! Served with rice. Thanks so much. Even my fiance who doesn’t like Asian food inhaled it.
diana says
what oil ccan i use instead of sesame? coconut? olive? canola?
Karina says
Yes all of the above 🙂
Brooke Tejada says
Made this tonight- wonderful! Thank you for an easy, yummy and interesting weeknight dinner!
Karina says
You’re very welcome Brooke! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know! I’m so happy you tried it!
Michelle says
Unfortunately, this recipe didn’t work out for me. I followed everything exactly, except I doubled the proportions. My glaze couldn’t thicken up no matter how long I simmered, and I wasn’t a fan of the taste – a little too strong on the vinegar side. Such a bummer, because yours looks absolutely delicious!
Karina says
I wonder why Michelle? A few people have made this over on Instagram with great success! So strange? I wish I could tell you what happened…
Renae says
I love this recipes and how easy it was to follow. The glaze was to die for. We made extra for tomorrow’s lunch. You write with such ease. Well done. By far my fave recipe site. You should know I base most of my meal planning around your food! Thanks for bringing joy back into cooking.
The-FoodTrotter says
Your glaze looks so appetizing, so tasty! I really need to make this recipe! Plus your pictures are gorgeous, it’sa nice invitation to try your recipe 🙂
Karina says
Thank you!
Kitschen Cat says
Yum! I love that marinating isn’t crucial for this dish. All too often 6:00 hits and I realize my window of marinating passed about 10 hours ago…
Karina says
Yes! Exactly. I’m so last minute sometimes I can’t think what I’m making for dinner first thing in the morning — let alone marinade anything 🙂 Thank you for making me feel normal!
June says
This looks fantastic, and I’ll be trying it soon. Here in England, we have a product called globe ginger. I’ve made a similar chicken thigh recipe using that (it’s sweet and sticky), and I’ll add some in to this recipe. Thanks.
Karina says
Globe ginger! I’m googling that now. Sounds interesting! You’re welcome June. I hope you enjoy it!