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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Heidi says
Absolutely adding this to the rotation. My picky family loved it. Even got a “it’s realllly good” from my husband! I might double the sauce next time so there is more for the rice.
Delish. Thanks!
Haylea Bennett says
Added to our favorite dinners, it is super easy and soooo delicious!!
Melissa Torres says
This was tasty! I doubled the sauce. It turned out so good and it was easy.
Cass says
By far the BEST honey garlic recipe i’ve tried. My husband and picky toddler LOVED IT. Can’t wait to make this again!!
Mason says
The chicken was five stars. Use much less chicken than they specify (maybe four thighs/breasts) because I can't imagine a normal person having a pan big enough to fit everything. I gave the recipe two stars because it takes much longer to make than specified, the sauce was digusting, and as I was making it I got the feeling that this was another one of those cooking-show-esque recipes that seem so easy and painless, but are a huge endeavor for a beginner or average cook. I would make the chicken many more times, but without the sauce.
Sam says
WOW SO GOOD!!! I was doing that thing where it was 6pm, and I didn't know what to make for dinner, and none of my normal recipes were speaking to me, so I was Googling random chicken recipes trying to get inspired. I somehow (luckily) found this one, and the simple ingredients made it a done deal (no grocery store for me on a Friday night!).
It honestly tastes like a way better, homemade General Tso's (in the best way). The only changes I made were: I used boneless skinless chicken breasts (all I had, and again: was not going to the store); I did the chicken in two batches because my pan is small and I wanted to make sure it browned; and I added the chili flakes with the sauce to simmer. It turned out perfect!! I served it over the "Parslied Brown Rice Pilaf" from Mealgarden, which I always make with white rice and a dash of soy sauce.
KILLER! Definitely a keeper, got rave reviews all around!
Kirsten Malcom says
Okay I never give myself time to come on here and leave reviews. Home chef here with a picky husband and 3 picky kids. This was a hit! Make it, you won’t regret it.
PS: make sure you sear the chicken well to get that brown crust and don’t be shy letting the sauce simmer aggressively to thicken that up and make it nice and sticky! Sooo good! Next time I might 1.5 or double the sauce because it was sooo good over rice with a side of sautéed veggies.
Pat says
Sauce is excellent. So as I was simmering meat I added slices of red and orange pepper and about cup of chopped pineapple. Wow. Nice dinner
Kristina McVicars says
This was an excellent dish will definitely make it again. Thank
You.
Keri says
was easy to make & was delicious! Definitely recommend:)
Rhonda says
This was delicious! Easy, fast, and so much flavor. I will be making this again!
Crystal says
This was excellent!!! Your recipes look amazing, plan on trying more!!!
Sue says
This dish was fantastic! We really like chicken but needed a new taste so our daughter-in-law sent this recipe to me and we loved it. It will be one of our regulars from now on.
Ombe says
Lady, can we use flour instead of corn starch?
Melissa says
Made this tonight for dinner. Followed the recipe except I used regular soy sauce and chicken breast,becausethats what i had. It was delicious. Family loved it. Thanks for sharing this one.