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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Easy and absolutely delicious!
Delicious. I’ve made this a number of times and it always gets praise
Super easy and quick! My people loved it and my husband said he could eat it once a week and never get tired of it. I did use chicken breasts and doubled the amount of sauce because we like some over the rice. Very good! Next time I may add some broccoli or some type of veggie and triple the sauce but this one is a keeper for sure.
Very good! Will make this again. I did swap out the cornstarch for tapioca flour as I’m allergic to corn. That worked well….even though the sauce tends to be a bit more gooey with tapioca. However, that is easily remedied by adding a bit more broth. Loved the taste of the sauce. Next time I will make twice as much!:) Thank you for sharing your recipe.
OMG I just made this and it’s amazing!!
This recipe was delicious!!! My family loved it and it was easy to make!! Definitely a keeper!!!
It’s so good they wanted it 2 nights in a row.
This was a winner winner chicken dinner. I loved all the flavors. I cut my chicken early on so I didn’t have to worry about it later. This meal is quick and easy incase you don’t have a lot of time in the kitchen. I served it with jasmine rice. Mmmm it was delicious and healthier than getting it from a restaurant..
Same here. I had a wrestling class to get to, and I would not be back until relatively late at night for dinner. Therefore, I cut up the chicken, mixed it with the mixture, prepared the sauce (which shall require a double quantity in the future) and cut up some vegetables. My choices were capsicum and broccolini.
Like I read here, slightly on the bland side though not flavourless. This meal has a lot of potential to be a fallback. It is easy to make, and I often have every ingredient on hand. Plus, it is a heck of a lot cheaper and better for you than the local Chinese takeaway’s version of it.
Very good recipe. Will definitely be making it again
A really good recipe, the cornstarch allowed the chicken to get a nice sear. Personally, I would a lot more of everything to give the sauce a stronger flavour, more garlic, honey and soya sauce for sure. Of course this is a personal preference. Added some broccoli right at the end and just let it steam, sitting on top of chicken