Sticky tender boneless chicken thighs in a garlic, soy, and honey sauce. This honey garlic chicken is so simple to make and it's ready in 20 minutes. Serve with rice for an easy Friday night fakeaway.
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A classic combination of honey, soy sauce and garlic working together to produce a sticky, sweet sauce to coat golden tender chicken pieces.
I love to whip this up to serve over boiled rice for dinner, or as an easy addition to a homemade Chinese banquet. Check out my list further down the post for ideas to include in your homemade Chinese banquet!
How to make it
- First we dredge the chicken in cornflour (cornstarch), salt and pepper. Then we fry in oil over a hot pan until golden brown.
- Add a little butter to the pan (this will enrich the sauce later) along with some minced garlic.
- Add honey, stock, rice vinegar and light soy sauce to a bowl and stir together. Add to the pan with the chicken and bring to the boil. Let it simmer and reduce until thick and sticky.
- Top the chicken with chopped parsley and chilli flakes.
I sometimes shy away from using chicken thighs in recipes, as they're more fiddly and usually require more trimming to remove the fat than chicken breasts.
However for this recipe, you can leave some of the fat on, as the chicken is fried over a high heat, so that fat will crisp up nicely. The thigh meat is also more tender than breast meat, and it can handle the short burst of high heat without drying out.
Then serve over boiled rice. Mmmmm look at the golden brown crispy chicken......
Why not make this as part of a homemade Chinese banquet - including:
- Special fried rice (full masterclass recipe)
- Spicy Ginger Beef
- Sticky Chinese Pork Belly - melt-in-the-mouth tender
- Baked Cauliflower Wings in a delicious Asian sauce
- Oven-Baked Ribs with Crispy Onions
- Pulled Crispy Duck - tastes authentic, but super easy to make
Check out our Honey Garlic Chicken Web Story!
More Delicious Chicken Recipes:
If you're looking for more chicken recipes then why not try one of these:
The Honey Garlic Chicken Video
Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs - (skinless and boneless)
- 2 tbsp cornflour - (cornstarch)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- ⅓ cup (110g) honey
- ⅓ cup (80ml) chicken stock
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
To Serve:
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- boiled rice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and add the cornflour (cornstarch), salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in the cornflour until fully coated.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan (skillet) over a high heat.
- Add the chicken thighs, and cook on one side until golden brown (about 4-5 minutes), then turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the butter to the pan, let it melt, then add the garlic and stir together. Turn the heat down to medium so the garlic doesn't burn, then make the sauce.
- To make the sauce, combine the honey, stock, rice vinegar and light soy sauce in a bowl and stir together.
- Add the sauce to the pan. Turn the heat up and bring the sauce to the boil, then simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens, and the chicken is cooked through (and no longer pink in the middle).
- Sprinkle on the chopped parsley and chilli flakes and serve over boiled rice.
Video
✎ Notes
Can I replace the chicken thighs with chicken breast?
Yes, you can do this. Chicken thighs are a little more tender, and stand up well to cooking over a high heat without drying out, but you can replace with chicken breast if you prefer. I would suggest slicing the chicken breast into thick strips, or flattening the chicken using a rolling pin to ensure it cooks through quickly and evenly in the pan.Can I make this gluten free?
Yes, replace the soy sauce with tamari and use gluten free chicken stock. Ensure you brand of rice vinegar is gluten free too.Can I freeze it?
Yes, although the chicken won't be quite as tender (it'll still taste great through). Cook, quickly cool and cover the chicken, then freeze. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat in the oven at 180C/350f on a baking tray. Cover the chicken with foil before placing in the oven to help prevent it drying out. Cook for 12-15 minutes until piping hot throughout.Can I make ahead or save leftovers and reheat?
Yes, although the chicken won't be quite as tender when reheated (it'll still taste great through). Cook, quickly cool and cover the chicken, then refrigerate. Reheat in the oven at 180C/350f on a baking tray. Cover the chicken with foil before placing in the oven to help prevent it drying out. Cook for 12-15 minutes until piping hot throughout.Ingredient swaps:
- If you don't have rice vinegar, you can swap for apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar plus ¼ tsp of sugar.
- If you don't have light soy sauce, you can swap for ¾ tbsp of dark soy sauce.
- The vegetable oil can be swapped for any neutral tasting oil that can be cooked at high temperatures (such as rapeseed, sunflower and ghee).
Nutrition
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Connir says
very simple and tasted great. Thank you
Rasheedah says
Absolutely delicious! Only issue is I doubled the sauce but it would not thicken up. Not sure what I did wrong. Ended up making a slurry to thicken the sauce. But it was still good.
Wanda White says
Made this last night it was unbelieveable made it with double sauce and garlic rice if I didnt know better I would have thought it was a Chinese takeaway, yum.
Jess says
This was SO good!!! I had to substitute vinegars, and I added some sautéed asparagus/ squash/ zucchini that I cooked separately, but that chicken was fire. My family doesn’t particularly like chicken thighs, but this recipe really added such good flavor to them! Will be adding this to the regular rotation- thanks for sharing!
David Churchill says
Was a little concerned about having enough chicken I had 6 thighs but when cut up in chunks I had a lot, might have been big thighs. I double the sauce because it didn't look like much while in the bowl. Full of flavor and grandkids went back for seconds. Will definitely do again, thanks for the recipe.
BEB says
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Tastes like takeout. I only had 4 thighs and wish I had the full amount the recipe called for. One of my kids asked for seconds and there was none. I used a bit less than 1/3 cup honey since I had less chicken to coat, and cut the chicken into large bite size pieces, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Served over white rice. Definitely will be a repeat.
Tanisha says
Hi there! Can I do bone in? That’s all I have atm!
Jessi says
Can't speak to the method of cooking the chicken, as I went rogue with mine, but the sauce is good! I doubled it exactly but would agree with another comment I think I saw - going with slightly less honey next time because it was a tad too sweet. I also used minced garlic from the jar and guessed at how much the equivalent would be for fresh garlic - would recommend fresh (as always, I know). I had a hard time getting mine to thicken but I don't think it affected the outcome too much. Overall, I would say give this one a try! I will definitely try again.
Doris Cooper says
This recipe looks simple to make. I'm hoping it tastes just as delicious as it looks.
Julia Simmonds says
I made this tonight and it was totally delicious. It didn’t quite look like yours, maybe because i used chicken breast.
Then flavours worked beautifully.
I added a whole load of vegetables but they got a bit lost so will cook those separetly next time and then add.
A really lovely meal 😀
Shar says
I always have an issue with sauce becoming thick. I did what it said it was kind of watery. Help.
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Shar, it's the honey that's helps it to thicken as it simmers, so maybe it's down to the brand of honey you use? is it quite a thin honey?
If you keep having the problem, you can stir a little cornflour slurry into the sauce to thicken (mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 3 tbsp cold water and slowly pour it into the sauce while stirring). Hope that helps 🙂
Nettie says
This was a very tastie dish! I doubled the sauce. As I’m not a huge honey fan, I think the next time I will only add 1/3 cup of the honey n not double that. For more bulk to the dish, I did add zucchini, red pepper and green onions to the pan! I did have to add more cornstarch (slurry) to thicken it to my liking. I did add the chilli flakes in the sauce to give a more kick. Overall, it was very delicious! My husband keeps licking his chops! Lol 😂
Kathy says
Loved this recipe. I totally forgot to add in the chicken stock but added extra soy sauce n rice wine vinegar n a dash more honey. I added lots of stir fry veges, batch cooked sliced chicken breast n put it all together. Was really yummy!! On our weekly menu now!! Everyone said it was better than takeaway!!