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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
Making this tonight, I followed everything to the T and we will see what the family thinks. I used the foil and serving with white rice. I used minced garlic that I had in the fridge, about 3 tsp. I am planning on using the broiler for 3 min on each side. I have been reading the comments and that seems to be the key…Thanks for such an easy recipe!!
Enjoy!!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! My husband loved it. Will make this again real soon.
If I could give this recipe a Hundred stars out of five I would! Bottom line the best chicken recipe I’ve ever eaten. I Have cooked in a lot of hospitals hotels and restaurants and needless to say I’ve tasted a lot of recipes, but this by far, hands-down has won my heart, thank you!
Oh this makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for your feedback!
Just made this, with a few minor variations, and it was awesome
This recipe is lit. I did exactly how the recipe says but added garlic salt and cayenne pepper to the mixture. Next time i am going to exit the veggie oil and add more sesame oil. I topped it on jasmine rice!
I’ve made this several times and my family loves it! We have high standards for recipes and this really hits the mark! The only change I make is to thicken the sauce a bit and broil the chicken at the end. I cook for 35 mins instead of 40. Add cornstarch slurry (1 TB or so). Baste chicken then broil 3 mins. Baste again (thicken sauce more if needed), and 2-3 more mins broil. This is so so good! Our favorite side with it is buttery mashed potatoes. Mmm.
Made this tonite. Looked beautiful! Smelled even more beautiful. Comments were…..bland. With more soy sauce added to finished chicken was better. Will definitely make again with added justments! So there!! I’m NOT telling at you!
Loved this! Made as directed and added a pinch of red pepper flakes. Question: I’m curious about omitting the oil in the sauce. The finished product seemed to have a decent layer of oil floating on the top. Granted, I could use a separator, but that’s another step and another thing to wash. Wondering if I omit the oil, since the fat renders off the thighs, if I’ll have similar tasty results. Thoughts?
You could definitely omit the vegetable oil; I wouldn’t omit the sesame oil though!
Had it tonight. It was so good. It’s definitely a keeper.
I’ve made this a bunch and it’s delicious every time! Love it!