Easy Honey Garlic Chicken: Your Ultimate Recipe for Sticky, Sweet & Savory Perfection
Prepare to fall in love with our incredibly sticky and Easy Honey Garlic Chicken, a dish so simple and quick to prepare, it’s destined to become a staple in your kitchen. Featuring the most amazing five-ingredient honey garlic sauce, it’s so irresistibly good, you’ll want to drizzle it over everything! This versatile recipe allows you to use either tender chicken breast or succulent chicken thigh, ensuring that whether you prefer crispy, glazed skin or a soft, juicy bite, this dish will hit all the right notes.
This honey garlic chicken recipe is the perfect answer when you’re caught between cravings for something sweet and something savory. It beautifully balances the rich, umami flavors of soy and garlic with the golden sweetness of honey and a hint of tang from vinegar, creating a symphony of tastes that truly stands out. It’s an Asian-inspired delight that guarantees a perfect blend of a beautiful, caramelized sauce and perfectly cooked chicken, making it a delicious family favorite that’s sure to impress.
The Journey to Sticky Perfection: Our Easy Honey Garlic Chicken
This super-simple recipe is designed to deliver perfectly crispy, tender chicken enveloped in a rich, sticky glaze without any complicated steps. You might remember the Crispy Oven Fried Chicken we shared a while back, which featured our beloved honey garlic sauce as a glorious topping. That experience sparked an idea: what if we cooked the chicken *directly* in the honey garlic sauce, foregoing the breading or crumbing entirely?
The result was nothing short of spectacular, leading to the creation of this incredibly easy honey garlic chicken recipe. By simmering the chicken right in the sauce, it absorbs all the fantastic flavors, becoming wonderfully tender while the sauce reduces and thickens around it, creating that signature irresistible sticky glaze. It’s a game-changer for weeknight dinners, proving that you don’t need a lengthy ingredient list or complex techniques to achieve restaurant-quality results at home.
The Irresistible Honey Garlic Sauce: A Flavor Powerhouse
As you’ve probably gathered, we have an undeniable passion for honey garlic sauce here! Over the years, this versatile flavor profile has inspired a plethora of recipes that have become fan favorites, including our Easy Honey Garlic Salmon, Easy Honey Garlic Pork Chops, and our indulgent Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp. This sauce isn’t just delicious; it’s a testament to how a few simple ingredients can create profound flavor.
The magic of this sauce unfolds right before your eyes in the pan. As it simmers, it bubbles and slowly morphs into a perfectly balanced, savory, sweet, and garlicky syrup. The natural sugars in the honey caramelize, giving the sauce a beautiful golden-brown hue and a delightful depth of flavor, while the garlic infuses every inch of the chicken. This thickening process creates a delightful, glistening coating on each piece of chicken, locking in moisture and intensifying the taste.
One of the best aspects of this recipe is that it calls for a generous amount of sauce. This means not only will your chicken be perfectly coated and bursting with flavor, but you’ll also have plenty of extra sauce to pour over your accompanying rice, noodles, or steamed vegetables. No need to make a separate sauce; this all-in-one approach ensures every component of your meal is drenched in that delicious honey garlic goodness.
Chicken Breast or Thigh: Choosing Your Perfect Cut
When it comes to selecting your chicken, the choice between breast and thigh truly boils down to your personal preference and what you have on hand. For this particular recipe, I often lean towards using chicken thighs. Their dark meat is inherently super moist and packed with incredible flavor, making them incredibly forgiving to cook. They stand up beautifully to the high heat of searing and the subsequent simmering in the rich honey garlic sauce, guaranteeing a tender and juicy result every time.
However, if you prefer the leaner profile of chicken breasts, this recipe works just as wonderfully! For chicken breasts, I recommend slicing them horizontally in half to create thinner cutlets. This helps them cook more evenly and quickly, preventing them from drying out while ensuring they absorb plenty of that delectable sauce. Whether you choose bone-in or boneless, skin-on or skinless, the method remains adaptable, promising a fantastic meal.
One of the most appealing aspects of this honey garlic chicken recipe is that it relies on a handful of pantry and refrigerator staples that most home cooks already have. I intentionally designed it with common ingredients to make it as effortless as possible to throw together, even on the busiest weeknights. Here’s a quick look at the simple components that create such an irresistible sweet and salty dish:
- Honey: The star, providing natural sweetness and that glorious sticky glaze. YES ✓
- Soy Sauce: Adds a crucial depth of umami, saltiness, and savory notes. YES ✓
- Vinegar: Whether it’s rice wine, apple cider, or a good white vinegar, it provides essential tang to balance the sweetness. YES ✓
- Water or Chicken Broth: Forms the liquid base of the sauce, allowing it to reduce and thicken. OF COURSE ✓
- Garlic: The aromatic foundation, offering pungent, savory warmth. Not even a question ✓
- Salt & Pepper: Basic seasonings to enhance the chicken’s natural flavor. YES ✓
- Garlic Powder: For an extra layer of garlicky goodness directly on the chicken. YES ✓
With so few ingredients, you might be surprised by the incredible depth of flavor and irresistible stickiness this dish achieves. It’s truly a testament to the power of simple, high-quality staples.
What to Serve with Honey Garlic Chicken: Complete Your Meal
To truly make the most of that incredible honey garlic sauce, pairing your chicken with the right side dishes is key. The sauce is so versatile that it complements a wide range of accompaniments, soaking into them and elevating every bite. I highly recommend serving your chicken with some tender Buttery Sautéed Green Beans, which offer a fresh, vibrant contrast to the rich sauce. And for a truly satisfying meal, don’t forget a generous portion of Fried Rice with Bacon, whose savory notes and fluffy texture provide the perfect canvas for the sticky glaze.
Beyond these excellent suggestions, consider other easy and delicious options:
- Steamed Rice: A classic choice, white or brown rice will soak up all the flavorful sauce.
- Noodles: Simple egg noodles or even ramen noodles (without the seasoning packet) tossed with the chicken and sauce make a quick and delightful meal.
- Roasted Vegetables: Broccoli florets, asparagus spears, or bell peppers roasted until tender-crisp provide a healthy and flavorful addition.
- Quinoa or Couscous: For a lighter, grain-based side that still soaks up the sauce beautifully.
- Mashed Potatoes: Creamy mashed potatoes are an unexpectedly comforting pairing, perfect for scooping up every last drop of the sweet and savory glaze.
- Simple Salad: A crisp, fresh green salad with a light vinaigrette can offer a refreshing counterpoint to the rich chicken.
No matter your choice, ensure you have something to catch every drop of that luscious honey garlic sauce – it’s too good to waste!
Watch Our Easy Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe Video!
Craving a visual guide? See exactly how we make this incredibly addictive honey garlic chicken come to life in our step-by-step video:
More Chicken & Honey Garlic Inspired Recipes to Explore
If you’ve fallen in love with the sweet and savory notes of this dish, you’ll be thrilled to discover more recipes that feature similar delightful flavor profiles. Expand your culinary repertoire with these fantastic options:
- Browned Butter Honey Garlic Chicken
- Honey Garlic Sriracha Chicken
- Oven Fried Chicken with Broccoli + Honey Garlic Sauce
And for those who simply can’t get enough of that magical honey garlic combination, these recipes are absolute must-tries:
- Easy Honey Garlic Salmon
- Lobster Tails with Honey Garlic Butter White Wine Sauce
- Browned Butter Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Honey Soy Baked Chicken Thighs
Prefer a Slow Cooker? Try Our Version!
Life can get busy, and sometimes you need a hands-off approach. If you love the idea of this incredible flavor but prefer the convenience of a slow cooker, we’ve got you covered! Check out our dedicated Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken recipe for an equally delicious, set-it-and-forget-it meal.
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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
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Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder; set aside.
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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:
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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.
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Drain most of the excess oil from the pan, leaving about 2 tablespoons of pan juiced for added flavour.
FOR SAUCE:
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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).
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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.
