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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 love this recipe and do it once a wek..at home now. Use fresh ginger and did it with pork fillet and was quite simply delicious. A family favourite! Thank you
I’m allergic to garlic; usually I substitute with onion….do you think that would work?
Yes, that’ll be fine :)
Made the chicken exactly like you suggested last night, it was so very good. Perfectly cooked, tender, moist. Will make this many more times. Husband loved it. Soo good. Sauce yummy!!
Love this recipe
I absolutely love this recipe.. the sauce is amazing! It is on our regular dinner rotation. Now that it is summer I was wondering if you have ever used this as a marinade. Any tips?
When I say marinade, I was thinking to grill.
It would be an awesome marinade! Mix everything together and pour into a plastic bag and put the chicken in and put it in the fridge :) I’m sure it’d be delicious!
This is so good. Made just like the recipe says and it’s as good as if not better then a lot of take out I’ve had. Thank you!
Disclaimer, I followed the recipe most of the way. :-P
I used 3 chicken breast.
Husband doesn’t like dishes that are too sweet, so I reduced honey to 3TBSP. I used Liquid Aminos instead of Soy Sauce.
I added either half to teaspoon of Five Spice — I just eye balled and tasted the sauce add as desired.
I cooked in 400F, 10 minutes, then flipped until Meat thermometer reads 165F and beeps — this way I didn’t have to time it.
Husband approved! :-D
Thank you! :-D
Great recipe I’m trying this ASAP. But instead of thighs can I try on eons just less time???
I meant to say wings…
Yes, you could probably use wings instead. I’d reduce the cooking time to 20-25 minutes.
Hi!
I can’t wait to try these!
How long would I need to cook it for if I used drumstick instead?
I would say about 20-25 minutes.
I always make lunches in bulk on Sundays, often enough it’s some variation of baked chicken breast and rice. Haven’t finished cooking your recipe for honey soy chicken, but it’s almost done and I can tell it’s going to be delicious! I’d almost cook this just for the sole purpose of flooding the house with yummy smells. Ive made a double quantity to cater to three adults for the next five days of lunches (15 serves).
I made this last night and it was absolutely fantastic! The chicken was tender and moist and delicious. I made 3 lb of chicken thighs so I did use a 9×13 baking dish and doubled the sauce. It worked perfectly. The kids and husband loved it as well so I will definitely be making it again.
That’s what I did!