Honey Garlic Chicken
Honey garlic chicken delivers juicy, tender chicken in a simple, flavor-packed lemon honey garlic sauce that’s out of this world. You’ll love this scrumptiously easy dinner!
This recipe has long been overdue. Finally, after racking my brain about how to give you guys the best chicken recipes, I realized I hadn’t posted my family’s favorite quick meal. Golden brown, juicy, tender, and bursting with vibrant Asian-inspired flavors—what more could we ask for?
And boy, I was thrilled with how all the pictures turned out just as I wanted them to. Picture perfect and drool-worthy. Just so you know, nibbling it down to the bone isn’t a crime. You’ll love the lemony tang perfectly balanced with sweet honey and garlicky flavor coating the protein. Geez!
Why Honey Garlic Sauce Works for Chicken
The list of reasons honey garlic chicken will become your new favorite is long. But we’ll settle with three big reasons to add this to your weekly rotation.
- First, chicken is an economical (relatively speaking) protein source, which is the main reason I have so many chicken recipes.
- Second, it only takes 30 minutes (yep, yep) to throw this dish together from start to finish. Quick and easy meals have been my BFF lately. You can have this on the table faster than takeout or delivery. You’d never imagine that this mighty fine dish is so quick and easy.
- Third, this recipe is convenient. No need to scour your grocery store for unfamiliar ingredients because it uses pantry staple ingredients. Plus, with only eight ingredients, it creates an out-of-this-world, finger-licking-good sauce.
How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken
- Sauce – Combine the honey, soy sauce, and lemon juice (½ tablespoon of rice vinegar makes a good substitute if you don’t have lemon juice) in a small bowl. Set aside. (Photo 1)
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and Creole seasoning, then set them aside. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Brown the chicken on both sides until golden and cooked through (5-7 minutes per side), turning frequently if needed for even cooking. Juices run clear, and the internal temperature will reach 165℉ (75℃). Set chicken aside. (Photos 2-3)
- Sauté the garlic and ginger in the same pan for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Burnt garlic is bitter. (Photo 4)
- Assemble – Return chicken to the pan, and quickly pour in the honey mixture. Continue cooking the chicken for about a minute while the sauce reduces to a thicker consistency. (Photos 5-6)
- Serve – Toss the chicken to coat it with the sauce, then turn off the heat and garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately with rice and vegetables.
Tips and Tricks
- Double the sauce ingredients to serve extra over rice.
- Don’t stop stirring once you add the honey because the sauce cooks fast.
- Make it gluten-free with tamari or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Feel free to replace the boneless thighs with boneless chicken breasts, but be sure to reduce the cooking time accordingly.
- You can use bone-in chicken, but it takes longer to cook.
- To make it even healthier, serve it over brown rice and garnish it with sliced green onions.
- For a slow cooker, remove the skin (soggy chicken skin isn’t appetizing). Sear the chicken, then add it and the remaining ingredients (except the parsley) to the slow cooker. Cook them for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.
Make-Ahead and Leftover Makeovers
Double or triple the recipe so you can freeze part of it in meal-size portions for an even faster weeknight meal. It should last for 3-4 months, and reheating it in the microwave or oven is easy.
Chop the leftover chicken and add it to fried rice along with the sauce. It also goes great in soups, on top of salads, and in sandwiches.
What Chicken Loves to Pair With
We love topping it with steamed broccoli or cucumber salad for a healthier meal. But don’t waste that sauce because that is the star of the show. You’ll want it to smother almost anything. I finished an entire bowl of rice just for the sauce alone; ssshhhh.
More Frugal Chicken Recipes to Enjoy
- Baked Crispy Chicken Legs
- Brown Stew Chicken
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Caribbean Chicken and Rice
- Trinidad Chicken Roti
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”ASEOKO59″ upload-date=”2019-08-03T15:13:03.000Z” name=”Honey Garlic Chicken” description=”Honey Garlic Chicken – juicy and tender chicken soaked in a simple and flavorful lemon honey garlic syrupy sauce that’s going to take you out of this world. You’ll going to love this easy and scrumptious dinner!”]
This blog post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 4-5 boneless chicken thighs (boneless, skinless breasts also work fine)
- salt to taste
- 2 teaspoons (9g) Creole seasoning
- ¼ cup (85g) honey
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice (plus optional lemon slices for garnish)
- 1 tablespoon (5g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (5g) minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons (8g) fresh parsley
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and Creole seasoning and set it aside.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, then brown the chicken on both sides until it is browned and cooked through (5-7 minutes per side). Turn frequently if needed for even cooking. The internal temperature will read 165℉ (75℃), and the juices will run clear. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the honey, soy sauce, and lemon. Set aside.
- Add garlic and ginger to the pan and stir constantly for about 30 seconds, being careful not to let it burn. Burnt garlic can be quite bitter.
- Return the chicken thighs to the pan, then immediately pour the honey mixture over them and continue cooking for about a minute.
- As the sauce reduces to a thicker consistency, gently move the chicken around to coat it evenly in the sauce. Turn off the heat, garnish with parsley if desired, and serve immediately with rice and vegetables.
Tips & Notes:
- Feel free to replace the boneless thighs with other chicken parts or even a whole chicken cut up into serving-size pieces.
- This recipe tastes great with duck as well.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe
This recipe had me licking my fingers and hoarding the leftovers – definitely a winner in my book!
Woohoo! That makes me happy. Thanks for letting me know.
Is this recipe glutin-free?
Hi Irene. To make this dish completely gluten-free, opt for a gluten-free soy sauce. Do let me know how it turns out for you :).
Could I use drumsticks as well ? Don’t have any chicken thighs thawed
You absolutely can. Use what you have. Please let me know how it goes.
I was scrambling to find your original Pin for this recipe so I could leave this comment on your Pinterest as well as here.
Couldn’t find it but here it is anyway.
I made this for dinner yesterday. I’ve made a lot of Pinterest recipes, and no offense to the ones I’ve got saved and use regularly but this is literally the first recipe I had to make a comment on — because it was so good.
My fiancé told me the chicken was so juicy he had to cut into the rest of it to make sure it was fully cooked: ’cause he is *not* used to chicken this good.
Imma: this is a Grade A recipe. Insanely quick and easy to make, not to mention it being nearly foolproof for beginners (like me!).
Thank you so much for sharing this, you’ve got a follow from me!
Awesome!!! You are more than welcome. And if there’s a recipe you’d love to see, please let me know.
This is one of my go to recipes, very delicious.
Thank Jessica, stay tuned to have more amazing recipes 🙂
What do you sear the chicken in? Oil?
Yes, you sear in about one tablespoon of oil.
The flavors are so good and the cook time is so short. Perfect for worknights. This is a new staple for me.
Thank you, Kim! I appreciate you’re taking the time to let me know!
Sounds like a delicious recipe. Can you cook it in a slow cooker?
Hi Howard! Yes, you can cook it in a slow cooker, although I still suggest cooking it in a pan because you’ll need to reduce the sauce and finish it with the honey mixture. Please let me know how it worked out if you try it in a slow cooker.
This was so delicious! I went back and ate the rest of the sauce with rice. So thrilled with this!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it.
Step 3 should say LEMON but vinegar is written.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention Chelo. I had experimented with vinegar before, but lemon does work better. Recipe updated!
Thanks for a new idea. My daughter who is usually hard to please cleaned her plate.
WooHoo!!Happy it worked out well.
Slamming! I got the eyebrow hop from my husband when he bit into it. And my two-year-old son was very much into it.
Delicious as usual. Thanks so much!
Just wanted to let you know I made this recipe this week and my whole family loved it! My 2 year old ate two of the thighs and my husband requested that I make it again next week. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yaay! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback, Lauren! I appreciate it.
Hi is it my eyes as i still cannot see instructions for vinegar and the amount we should use…
Thanks
Hi Ola, Same amount as lemon juice . You one or the other.
Thank you so much for a great dinner idea tonight it was delicious and we all loved it.
Hi Imma I normaly prepare this chicken on a friday knigt on my open fire BRAAI here in SA together with Braai Pap always a winner with friends just to pop in. I allso ad a spoon of garlic and Tabasco for the kick of it
Thanx for all the nice recipes
Mornay SA Pretoria
Lovin that little kick. Thanks for stopping by!
Which part of skinless I dont understand. All the photos show delicious chicken skin.
My bad. I meant boneless and skinless chicken breasts works fine, too. Updated the recipe now. Thanks!
Hi Imma,
My name is Stephanie and I’m a first generation Ghanaian American and I just love your recipes and your websites. Keep up the great work.I had a question for this recipes can I use drumsticks my family doesn’t really like boneless chicken.
Thank You,
Stephanie
Hi, Stephanie. I haven’t tried it with drumsticks yet. But yes, they’ll work fine.
Hi! I’d like to try this dish but I didn’t see vinegar in the ingredients list or the amount to add but it’s in the directions part. Can you clarify? Thanks!
I made there corrections, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Do let me know how it works out for you. Thanks:)
This is one of my new favs!!! So delicious and full of flavor!!! Thanks for the recipe!
I can’t wait to try this! You mentioned I. The instructions an ingredient that I don’t see in the ingredient list. Can you specify?
It’s been updated to make it clearer . Thanks