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This honey soy chicken is as equally flavorful as its sister, holy yum chicken, but just a different flavor profile! Asian and saucy!
I came up with honey soy chicken because of the overwhelming response to my holy yum chicken.
Quick and easy chicken dinners that can be made in one casserole dish seems to be the way to your hearts!
I know it is for me because when you’re tired after a long day, the last thing you want to do is make an elaborate dinner.
Have no fear that just because this is an easy chicken recipe that it is lacking in flavor.
It is just the opposite!
Honey soy chicken has so much flavor!
The ingredients in honey soy chicken give it a lot of flavor. Here’s the run down of the ingredient list:
- Honey
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Garlic
- Ginger
How do you get it all nicely browned on top?
I stick the entire casserole dish under the broiler to get the nice golden brown color you see in the photos.
This step is absolutely optional and you don’t have to. I obviously did it because I think it looks better and I love a crispy caramelized edge on my chicken thighs.
Can you use chicken breasts?
You can but I love using dark meat/chicken thighs.
They are foolproof and don’t dry out like chicken breasts do.
They also tend to take less time to cook.
Is the sauce supposed to be thick?
No. I keep getting comments from people saying their sauce is runny.
It’s supposed to be runny like you can see in the photos.
There’s nothing in the ingredients that would make the sauce thick.
I did mention that soy sauce and honey are both sticky ingredients when cooked at high heat but that doesn’t mean the sauce is going to be thick.
I’m saying that the excess sauce that may be on the sides of your baking dish or foil will be sticky/crusty. Hope that clarifies things!
Can you make this in the slow cooker?
I mean, I guess you could but it already whips up so fast in the oven that I feel putting it in the slow cooker would be a bit of an overkill.
Here are some tips to help you make this honey soy chicken recipe a success!
- If you don’t follow directions and want to improvise, that is definitely ok! But please do not come back to yell at me for a failed dish. The instructions are laid out completely above because I have tested it myself and it works the way it’s written above.
- If you do not use the right equipment it will likely not turn out either. 8×8″ pan means 8×8″ pan. 2 layers of foil means 2 layers of foil. Why? 8×8″ pan will keep the sauce together and compact and won’t cause it to spread out over a large surface area. If you put it in a larger pan, it will spread, therefore, causing the sauce to get cooked off and you’ll end up with dry chicken and little to no sauce. Double layering the foil insulates the sauces and the chicken, it’ll keep the sauce from burning on the scalding hot pan.
- Yes, it really is cooked at 425 degrees. I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, it’s high but it also works (proof: above pictures!)
- If you’re using (thin cut) chicken breasts, reduce cooking time by 10-15 minutes or you’ll end up with dry chicken.
More chicken recipe ideas:
- Holy yum chicken
- Roasted chicken with olives and tomatoes
- Fig and rosemary glazed skillet chicken
- Coconut harissa curry braised chicken
- Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
Honey Soy Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ – 2 pounds (1 ⅗ kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs, (most of the fat cut and discarded)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 °F (218 °C). Line a 8×8" oven-proof pan with 2 layers of tin foil. I HIGHLY advise using foil in this dish because soy sauce & honey are STICKY and tend to adhere heavily on glass dishes when cooked at high temperatures. Unless you want to be scrubbing forever, use the foil!
- In small bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ground ginger, and pepper.3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 5 tablespoons honey, 4 cloves of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Place the chicken thighs in the foil layered pan then pour the mixture on top of it. Turn the chicken around in the sauce to make sure it gets all coated.1 1/2 – 2 pounds (1 ⅗ kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure the tops are not browning too quickly. If they are, cover with foil and resume baking until chicken is done.
- Remove from oven and let chicken sit for 5 minutes then transfer to a plate. Do NOT discard the liquid.
- Immediately after plating chicken, pour sauce over top of chicken. It’s delicious so you want all the sauce you can get!
- Serve with white or brown rice and some steamed veggies.
Notes
Nutrition
Photography by Ari Laing
How about chicken drums and wings? Will they dry out cause I want to make it for my co-workers, which there is a lot of, so thighs are not pratictal for me.
Hi Nilda, I’m sure drums and wings would work just fine!
This was SUPER tasty…. It’s my first time making it! I just ate fingers crossed bc idk if my bf will love it as much as I did.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it. If your bf doesn’t like it, more for you :)
This chicken is sooooooooo good! I have made it twice in a weeks time! The first time I made it with chicken breast because that’s what I had on hand, it was dry but the flavor was great! So I had to make out again with the chicken thighs! Soooooo good! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear this, Sara! I’m thrilled you have enjoyed it so much!
Got this recipe yesterday and said it looked so good that I was going to try it right away. Well, I did and the wife and I both just loved it. I did find out one thing and that is, I’m going to double the sauce, it was so good. Thank you very much for the great recipe. OH, and by the way I will also be trying Holy Yum Chicken next.
I’m so glad to hear this, Matt!! Thanks for letting me know! I hope you enjoy the holy yum chicken :)
Love this recipe. And I think I will try it on pork tenderloin. Speaking of pork tenderloin. I wonder if you have any ideas or could help me with a recipe I forgot ! YIKES I know it called for balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and I used mango preserves. (Instead of apricot). But it was missing something, because it was too wet and runny. When I first had the correct recipe, the balsamic, preserves and sugar got real thick and glazey like….but something is missing …there are more than 3 ingredients. HELP.
Hi Deb, I don’t know why that’s happening to you, as that particular recipe is not on my site. Some suggestions: have you tried adding cornstarch or arrowroot powder as a thickening agent? That might work. Or you might want to reduce the sauce for a bit to get it to thicken up after cooking.
Thanks for getting back to me. I don’t remember where I got the recipe lol But, I will take your advice, and try thickening it with cornstarch. Thanks again Happy Cooking !!
I had intended on making Holy Yum, but I left my bag with the maple syrup in it at the store…oops. I doubled the recipe with chicken breasts and there is no left overs after 3 hungry boys and a husband devoured it. Might have to back off on my time a little more with the chicken breasts as they were just starting to get dry. Brown rice and broccoli as a side and I had happy campers. My only complaint is that there are no leftovers for my lunch tomorrow.
So glad you enjoyed this! I hope you get a chance to make holy yum soon :)
I made your honey soy chicken recipe tonight and was dissapointed in it.I followed all your directions.The sauce was just ok.It should of been thicker.It wasnt as tastey as I thought it would be.
Hi Linda, sorry to hear; that’s unfortunate you didn’t like it. Mostly everyone else that’s made it has had positive reviews, as you can see in the comments above, and I know of readers who have this on their weekly menu. Everyone’s taste preference is different so I completely understand this not being a favorite dish for you. If you wanted a thicker sauce, you could’ve added some arrowroot powder or cornstarch to thicken it up.
It won’t get too dry?
Not rice for me thank you. Mashed potatoes with that lovely sauce. Yum.
It shouldn’t get too dry as this is made with chicken thighs/dark meat as opposed to chicken breasts/white meat.
Thank you.
I didn’t think of that. SMH
Hey Julie!!! I LOVE your blog and all your recipe posts- thank you so much for doing what you are doing! I tried this recipe and fell in love with it. I am going to a “make-a-freezer-dinner” party and I was wondering if you think your recipe would still be good/taste the same if we mixed the sauce and the chicken together and then froze it, defrosted it and then make it according to your directions.
Hi Rachel! I’m so glad you love my blog :) thank you! I don’t see why it would change anything if you froze it prepared and then made it according to my directions. I haven’t tried this but I honestly don’t see a problem. Enjoy!
I’ve made this and froze it. Worked Great! Except I put mine in the crock pot. I’ve also made it fresh then cooked in thr oven. Both great.
I just made this tonight and we ALL loved it. My picky husband and children loved every bite and even ate seconds. I am so glad you shared. Thank you so much! By the way, I followed your directions to the “T” and it turned out great!!! Mine even looked like yours. :)
Yay! Great to hear, Rhonda!