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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 for my boyfriend last summer and he raved about the chicken! Lost this recipe and couldn’t find it online for a while so I tried a few other copy cat recipes that were just gross… SO GLAD to have found this recipe again! This is getting saved, bookmarked, and emailed to myself so I never lose it again! Thanks so much for sharing!
Can I just say that I love your disclaimers. I don’t mind hearing the comments from others on how things turned out or how they changed things but that doesn’t mean it’s YOUR fault! :)
Made this tonight and it was deeeeelicious!!! Definitely a keeper. It was so quick and easy. There WAS a hole in my 2 layers of foil and the pan looked like tar but I don’t care. A little soak in hot water and its fine. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
simply delicious, loved it ?
we loved it . It was great potatoes and carrots
Yea, this is incredible. New staple in our house for sure. Served over Trader Joe’s frozen jasmine rice – insane! I love a fix it and forget it meal, and this is just that!
HOLY DELICIOUS!!!! Omg what a yummy recipe! My husband was giving me all kinds of side eye when I told him what I was making, but he came back for thirds lol. My 8 yo said it was the best thing he’s ever tasted! This will definitely go into our meal plan rotation!
Thank you so much for the great recipe! I followed the directions to a T and it turned out perfect! We will be putting this into the dinner rotation!
Hi I was thinking of letting the chicken sit in this sauce as a marinade. Have you tried? What do you think about tha
I haven’t tried but this sauce would be a perfect marinade!!
I have made this recipe twice. The only complaint I have is that I eat too much of the sauce with a spoon. And then I lick the tin foil. When I get caught, my guests don’t really want to eat the chicken anymore. I don’t understand. JK. I’ve never been caught. But I do love the sauce so I double it. I also prefer to broil it to caramelize the sauce a little as you did for the photos. Thanks for such an easy, fabulous recipe. (A hint for others. YES use double foil–even if you’re using the extra-strength stuff. Be careful you don’t get a hole in the foil or you’ll be sorry when it’s time to clean up. You can change out anything else, but do not skip this part. Double foil, 9×9 pan.) Making it again tomorrow night! Can’t wait.