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.
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
- 110 g (1/3 cup) honey
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) 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.8 chicken thighs, 2 tbsp cornflour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan (skillet) over a high heat.2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 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.1 tbsp unsalted butter, 4 cloves minced garlic
- To make the sauce, combine the honey, stock, rice vinegar, and light soy sauce in a bowl and stir together.110 g (1/3 cup) honey, 80 ml (1/3 cup) chicken stock, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 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.1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, 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 1/4 tsp of sugar.
- If you don’t have light soy sauce, you can swap for 3/4 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This turned out to be delicious. I don’t like chicken stock and used beef broth instead. The sauce wasn’t as thick so I added a little flour and cornstarch until it become thicker. It turned out so good!!
Just made this for the family and everyone loved it!
Fantastic, So glad you enjoyed the recipe Jane 🙂
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
This was really yummy. The whole family enjoyed this. I topped mine off with fresh chili paste instead of the chili flakes and left it off for my kids. I will be making this again. Thanks for the great recipe!
This popped up in my feed somehow. I’m in NYC and been craving Chinese food, so glad to bump into this recipe cause I’m putting my FreshDirect order together, gonna make this and pair with a nice wine. BOOM. Thanks!
Another sure winner for this Honey chicken, absolutely fantastic and my husband (a lover of Chinese takeaway) said this was better..
Made this for the first time this week, it won’t be the last, absolutely delicious, looking forward to trying your orange chicken now, thanks for the recipes they are great
Another successful recipe! Extremely yummy, it got the thumbs up from my other half too which is when I know I am on to a good thing! Thank you for sharing, looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Partner and I both licked the plate! Definitely will be having again
Partner and I both licked the plate!
I made this on Saturday, so quick and easy. Love the fact that it is so easy to make this gluten free. This is going on my menu rotation. Thank you 😋
It yummy and I will like to learn more about your experience with them to be more perfect. Thank you . Patience dofo Arthur