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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
I made this tonight very yummy…. I did omit the ginger since I don’t like it but I don’t think it would have made a difference. (For me at least) also when she says use two foil sheets use them… I did and it still leaked out somehow and I was scrubbing FOREVER!!! Next time I will layer it different. I did get a little scared as my chicken was talking awhile to brown but in the end it was yummy and delish!!! Can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow… Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed this!
Do you think chicken legs would work?
Probably would!
Oh my, all of your recipes look wonderful and I can’t wait to make all of them.
Thanks Joe! Hope you enjoy them!
Love that you put the detailed instructions in the recipe..Sounds delish, and I cannot wait to try out! Poo on the Negative-Nellies! You go girl!
Hope you enjoy it!
Omg!! It is soooo good. My daughter is two and any meat is a struggle to get her to eat. She LOVED it.. she was eating mine!
I made this last night and it was AMAZING! I accidentally forgot the ginger and pepper but it was still delicious. I can’t wait to make it next time I have friends over. So easy!
So glad you enjoyed this, Sara!
Can the sauce be put in a container and refrigerated if I don’t want to use it all at once? This recipe looks delicious but I live on my own and would be cooking for one, so I definitely don’t need to cook 1 1/2 pounds of chicken. However, I’m not very good at cutting down recipes and always seem to get the math wrong. So could I just make the normal sized batch of sauce, use as much as I need and put the rest in the fridge for the next time I want to make it? I’m just asking because I’m not sure if the ingredients in the sauce would separate if it sat in a container for a little bit. Thanks!
Yup, the sauce can be put in a container. You’ll just have to whisk it up when it gets to room temperature to get everything all nice and incorporated again!
Just did this for my family, only that I used thighs with the bones, and they were amazed!! The chicken was tender and moist, full of flavor and it’s really easy to make. I will do the other yum version. Seriously, this is an outstanding recipe.
in the oven right now, smells divine! Thanks for sharing!
hey! i made this last night, with skinless chicken breast, bone included. i cooked it for 40 or so minutes at 425, however, although tender, i didn’t see the sauce congeal as much as i expected…it was all just liquid at the bottom of the pan. i did cover my chicken loosely for about 30 minutes of the cooking time. how can i get the sauce sticking to the chicken? appreciate it!
The sauce it actually supposed to be more of a liquid-base sauce, as you can see in the photos. If you want it to stick to the chicken and congeal more, you could add a bit of flour/cornstarch/arrowroot powder to thicken it.
Would you reccomend adding cornstarch during cooking or after?
After.