The Best Honey Garlic Chicken You Will Love

Mireille · 09/19/2021 at 6:10 am

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This recipe is done in 20 minutes and results in the softest chicken you have ever tasted. Great for weeknights when you are stressed for time. Only 7 ingredients so super easy. Ready to learn how you can make the best honey garlic chicken? Let’s get started!

What You Need For This Recipe

The basic ingredients for this recipe are simple. Put the following ingredients on your grocery shopping list and have them ready when you start:

Chicken thighs – use skinless and boneless chicken thighs for this recipe
Light soy sauce – choose a sweet soy sauce, you can also use Ketjap manis which is a sweet soy sauce as well
Light honey – I prefer light honey but choose honey you love
Olive oil – to cook the chicken thighs I prefer to cook with olive oil
Onion – regular or sweet onion finely diced
Garlic – fresh garlic finely chopped
Water

Note that the full ingredients list, including measurements, can be found in the recipe card below.

You can substitute the chicken thighs for chicken breasts. To make sure the chicken is cooked properly either cut the chicken breast in half or cut them into big strips.

Chicken breast is usually dryer when cooked compared to chicken thighs. That is why I prefer to make honey garlic chicken thighs.

As it takes longer to cook chicken legs or thighs on the bone, I use deboned chicken thighs. It cuts cooking time in half. A general rule of thumb with chicken is, that it is done when it falls off the bone.

How To Make Honey Garlic Chicken

Start by cleaning your chicken and removing any excess fat and veins from the chicken thighs.
You can season with salt and pepper but I find that the garlic and honey give this recipe lots of flavors already.
Heat a skillet and add some olive oil. Pan-fry the chicken on medium heat. Resist the urge to move the chicken around the pan.
It will stick and get nasty. Just wait for a couple of minutes and the chicken will release from the pan and you can turn it.
When the chicken has gone brown take it out of the pan and set it aside. Then add a little more oil to the pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
Now it is time to add the honey and soy sauce. Move it through the pan to cover all the onion and garlic.
Add a cup of water to release all of the baked chicken bits from the pan for a great jus. Return the chicken to the pan cover it with a lid and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Turn the chicken a couple of times and cover it with the sauce.

Great Combination Of Honey And Garlic

There is something about honey and garlic. A great flavor combination that works very well in savory dishes. Now honey comes in a million flavors and it may sound silly but honey is just like wine depending on the location and flowers the bees feed from.

Honey Flavors

There are about 20 flavor profiles for honey and I’m sure that there are even more. Then you can choose between raw and pasteurized honey.

Raw honey has much more flavor than pasteurized but tends to crystallize and go grainy.

If you store honey in a dark cool place, you can prevent it from crystallizing but the best thing to do is use honey quickly before it goes all grainy and hard.

If the raw does crystallize then put the jar in boiling water on a low simmer. The honey will get liquid again but it will crystallize faster than before.

So, if you are looking for ways to use honey and not only put it in your tea then try this recipe. Chicken is a great ingredient that adapts beautifully to different flavors.

Garlic

The garlic and soy sauce are a great counterbalance to the sweetness of the honey. Raw garlic might have a very overpowering taste but when you sauté it loses that sharpness completely.

As the chicken simmers a subtle sweetness remains. This recipe is done in 20 minutes but works well in a slow cooker or instant pot.

You can make it in a skillet and let it simmer on the stove but you can let it simmer in the oven as well. Just make sure you cover the pan with a lid or make it in e.g. a Dutch oven.

Serve Honey Garlic Chicken With

You can eat this recipe with a lot of tasty side dishes, like:

Basmati rice – white rice decorated with chives or scallions is a great combination.
Fried rice – chicken and fried rice is such a delicious combination. Spice your rice with some chili pepper and add some scrambled eggs, onions, scallions, and shrimp. So good!
Cauliflower fried rice – want to keep it low carb then try it with cauliflower fried. Honey is not exactly low carb but the amount is low.
Noodles – if you like chicken with fried rice then you will love it with noodles as well. Try thin noodles in the wok with stir-fried onion, garlic, and bell pepper, and finish with soy sauce and scrambled eggs. Done in less than 10 minutes while your honey garlic chicken is simmering on the stove.
Vegetable stir fry – if you do not want rice or noodles try it with a combination of stir fry like this veggie stir fry recipe. Add your favorite vegetables if they are missing in this recipe.
Naan bread – naan bread, roti, or flatbread is a great combination with this recipe as well. Dipping the bread in the rich sauce is such a treat.

More Chicken Recipes

If you love chicken recipes then read some of our other chicken recipes:

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Honey Garlic Chicken

Mireille

Serves: 2 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Honey garlic chicken is an easy dinner recipe with just 7 ingredients and done in less than 20 minutes. Great with rice, roti or flatbread.

Ingredients

350 gram chicken thighs
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons light honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup water

Instructions

Heat a skillet and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pan-fry the chicken on medium heat
When the chicken browns take it out of the pan and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft and translucent
Add the honey and soy sauce. Move it through the pan to cover all the onion and garlic
Add a cup of water to release all of the baked chicken bits from the pan for a great jus. Return the chicken in the pan cover with a lid and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the chicken a couple of time and cover with the sauce
Ready to serve

Notes

1. Start by cleaning your chicken and remove any excess fat and veins from the chicken thighs 2. You can season with salt and pepper but I find that the garlic and honey give this recipe lots of flavors. 3. When cooking the chicken in a skillet resist the urge to move the chicken around the pan. It will stick and get nasty. Just wait for a couple of minutes and the chicken will release from the pan and you can turn it.

The Best Honey Garlic Chicken You Will Love

What You Need For This Recipe

How To Make Honey Garlic Chicken