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Honey Garlic Soy Chicken is fast and simple and made with ingredients you already have on hand. This Asian inspired dish of juicy chicken thighs bathed in a savory sweet and spicy honey garlic sauce will satisfy your cravings with minimal effort. This super simple one pan honey garlic chicken can be made in under 30 minutes, making it better than take-out.
Honey and soy chicken thighs are juicy and full of flavor. The chicken cooks in just a few minutes, and the incredible sauce is sticky and sweet and coats the chicken beautifully. You will have just enough extra to drizzle over rice or steamed broccoli. You will love this honey soy chicken recipe.
If you love cooking with honey you will love my Crispy Honey Chicken, Spicy Honey Garlic Salmon and my Honey Chilli Chicken.
Why You’ll Love This One Pan Honey Garlic Chicken
- It uses pantry ingredients. This simple recipe uses ingredients you already have in your pantry or that you can easily find in any grocery store.
- It’s sweet and spicy. This honey soy chicken recipe has a delightful balance of sweet and spicy. This sauce is so flavorful you’ll want to spoon it over everything!
- It’s easy. This crowd pleasing one pan honey garlic chicken recipe is so simple to make in just one skillet. Cooking in one pan makes cleanup a breeze.
Honey Garlic Soy Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken: use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- Coating: combine cornstarch with salt and pepper to coat the chicken.
- Vegetable Oil: use any light, neutral oil to saute the chicken thighs.
- Unsalted Butter: use unsalted butter to better control how salty the dish is.
- Garlic: freshly minced garlic adds lots of flavor.
- Chicken Broth: you can substitute water or vegetable broth if you prefer.
- Honey: you can use any kind of honey.
- Soy Sauce: use low sodium soy sauce or a gluten free replacement if needed.
- Rice Vinegar: rice vinegar is mild and slightly sweet. You can substitute other types of vinegar.
- Red Chili Flakes: adjust the amount if you prefer it more or less spicy.
- Garnish: use fresh parsley and sesame seeds to garnish.
How To Make Honey and Soy Chicken Thighs
- Season the chicken. Season the chicken thighs with cornstarch, salt and pepper.
- Sear the chicken. Heat a large skillet with oil. Add the chicken and sear the chicken to golden on both sides for about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Prepare the sauce. To the same skillet add butter, minced garlic and cook for a minute. Stir in the chicken broth, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red chili flakes, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Cook the chicken. Transfer the chicken thighs back to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Garnish and serve. Garnish the chicken with chopped parsley and sesame seeds; serve while it is still warm.
Tips To Make This Honey Soy Chicken Recipe
- You can use skin-on thighs or even chicken breasts, but you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Use low-sodium soy sauce and chicken broth so you can better control the saltiness of the final dish.
- Add a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger for a burst of flavor.
- Adjust the amount of red pepper flake to fit your desired heat level.
- Prep all your ingredients in advance. This recipe comes together really quickly.
- Chicken is cooked when a meat thermometer inserted into this thickest part reads at least 165 degrees F.
Frequently Asked Questions
This flavorful sauce is made of garlic, honey, soy sauce and vinegar. A touch of red pepper flake gives it a little kick.
Soy sauce is not gluten free. To make this recipe gluten free, you will need to replace the soy sauce with gluten free soy sauce, tamari or liquid aminos.
While this does make a fair amount of sauce, you may want extra for serving over rice or steamed veggies. You can double all of the sauce ingredients, but it may take a little longer to thicken up. If the sauce doesn’t thicken as much as you want, add a slurry of water and cornstarch.
Store this chicken in sauce in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat it in the microwave or a skillet over low heat.
Place the cooled chicken and sauce into a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or a skillet over low heat.
The Asian flavors of this dish make it a natural for serving with noodles, rice or steamed veggies. You can also serve with white rice, steamed broccoli, green beans, Cauliflower Rice.
More Sweet and Spicy Recipes
- Sweet and Spicy Asian Chicken
- Sweet and Spicy Shrimp Stir Fry
- Spicy Cashew Chicken Recipe
- Spicy Honey Garlic Salmon
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Honey and Soy Chicken Thighs recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family!
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Honey Garlic Soy Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 pieces chicken thighs, boneless skinless
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch , + 2 teaspoon
- Salt & pepper, to taste to season chicken
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, to garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken thighs with cornstarch, salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet with oil. Add the chicken and sear the chicken to golden on both sides for about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- To the same skillet add butter, minced garlic and cook for a minute. Stir in the chicken broth, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red chili flakes, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Transfer the chicken thighs back to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Garnish the chicken with chopped parsley and sesame seeds; serve while it is still warm.
Notes
- You can use skin-on thighs or even chicken breasts, but you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Use low-sodium soy sauce and chicken broth so you can better control the saltiness of the final dish.
- Add a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger for a burst of flavor.
- Adjust the amount of red pepper flake to fit your desired heat level.
- Prep all your ingredients in advance. This recipe comes together really quickly.
- Chicken is cooked when a meat thermometer inserted into this thickest part reads at least 165 degrees F.
Delicious! I added ginger, everything else the same and I added a slurry to the sauce. Thank you!
This recipe is delicious! No changes or additions needed! I did take your advice on adding ginger and it was so good!!
Glad you enjoyed it Melissa, Thanks for the review.
I butterflies 3 chicken breast and tripled the sauce. My only complaint is the sauce didn’t stick to the chicken very well. Next time I will flour the chicken before searing it so the sauce has something to stick to
Hi Katie,
you can always add a little bit of corn starch slurry to any sauce to thicken it as much as you want.