With a sticky sauce that is both sweet and savory, this Honey Garlic Chicken recipe is sure to become a family favorite! It’s the perfect meal for busy weeknights or Sunday family dinner.
I’m always in the need of an easy weeknight dinner recipe. Especially with after school activities and the normal chaos of our lives.
After making my honey garlic sauce, I knew I needed to create a dish to celebrate the flavors of that sauce.
Easy chicken recipes are usually my go to, but they can become quite ho hum and boring. These honey garlic chicken thighs are anything but!
Why You’ll Love This Honey Garlic Chicken
An easy chicken recipe that’s both sweet and savory- what’s not to love? Here are a couple of reasons why we think this recipe is incredible.
- Loved by all – This chicken recipe is one that will be loved by the whole family. It’s sure to please even the pickiest of eaters.
- Quick and easy – With less than an hour or prep and cook time, this recipe is perfect for those busy nights when you need to have dinner ready quick.
- Great for meal prep – If you like to prep meals ahead of time, this is a great recipe for prepping. Simply store in airtight containers in the fridge.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this honey garlic chicken stir fry are really quite simple. I bet you’ll even have most of them already on hand.
Marinade
- Olive oil – I like the flavor of olive oil for the marinade, but you can certainly use sesame oil or vegetable oil to make this savory sauce instead.
- Garlic powder – I can almost guarantee you already have this in your spice cabinet. Simple ingredients are always the way to go!
- Honey – Because sweet honey is one of the main flavors of this dish, I recommend using a good quality honey. Pure and local are always good bets.
- Chicken broth – You could also use chicken stock, but I always opt to use the low sodium version. You can always add more salt if you need it!
- Rice wine vinegar – If you don’t have or can’t find rice vinegar, you could swap it out with apple cider vinegar instead without much changing the flavor.
- Hoisin sauce – Hoisin is a regular condiment in Southern Chinese cooking, it is pungent and syrupy and used for many purposes. After you taste hoisin sauce you might recognize it from some of your Chinese restaurant favorites.
Chicken
- Chicken thighs – Boneless chicken thighs are what I prefer to use for this recipe, skins removed. You could also use boneless skinless chicken breasts if you’d like.
- Vegetables – I use a combination of baby bok Choy and carrots. They have the same cooking time as the chicken pieces and the flavors blend well together.
- Green onions – Also known as scallions, I like to use these as a garnish for both color and flavor. If you aren’t a fan, you can omit them.
- Sesame seeds – These are an optional ingredient, but I love the crunch and flavor they add to this honey garlic chicken dish.
How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken
This easy recipe is super easy to follow. Check out the steps below for exactly how to make it.
- Make marinade. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients of the marinade
- Marinate chicken and veggies. Add the chicken with the veggies to a large bowl, and pour the marinade over it. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Add to sheet pan. Place the marinated chicken and veggies on the sheet pan in a single layer.
- Cook. Place the sheet pan on the top rack of the oven, and cook.
- Garnish and serve. Remove from the oven, garnish with green onion and serve on rice if desired.
What to Serve with Honey Garlic Chicken
To make this a complete meal, there are plenty of serving options. To go along with the bok choy and carrots, I like to add in another vegetable. Green beans or cauliflower rice are great options.
I also like to have a carb. White rice or brown rice are great options here, and they also taste incredible with that delicious sauce. Some garlic bread is always nice too.
Variations
We like this delicious recipe exactly as written, but there are plenty of ways for you to make it your own.
- Make it spicy – If you’d like to turn up the heat, try adding some red pepper flakes, chili sauce or your favorite hot sauce into the mix.
- Garlic – Want to amp up the garlic flavor? Swap out the garlic powder for some fresh garlic. It’s best that it’s minced.
- Vegetables – Instead of the carrots and bok choy, you could really swap out for any vegetables that you like. Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes would be good options.
- Garnishes – Feel free to mix up the garnishes too. You can garnish with sesame seeds, cilantro, and lime wedges for a zesty finish.
Storage and Freezing
Storage: You can store the honey and garlic chicken in the fridge for up to four days. Store it in an airtight container for maximum freshness.
Freezing: You can also freeze the chicken for up to three months. Do this in an airtight container as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
For our recipe, we use a combination of olive oil, garlic powder, honey, chicken broth, rice wine vinegar and hoisin sauce.
Check the section above for serving suggestions, but this chicken pairs really well with rice, veggies or even cauliflower rice.
While I am no doctor and don’t claim to give advice on what is healthy and what is not, this recipe does have quite a high sugar content, so I would not consider it to be very healthy.
Absolutely. You can let it marinate for up to 8 hours, but don’t add the veggies to the chicken if you intend to marinate it for more than 1 hour; just add the veggies directly to the sheet pan with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper when you are ready to cook it.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan
- Ground Orange Chicken
- Chicken Spaghetti Recipe
Spicy Kung Pao Chicken
Marry Me Chicken
One Pot Chicken and Rice
One Pan Honey Garlic Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup honey
- ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
Chicken
- 8 skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 12 baby bok choy
- 2 carrots , sliced
- 3 green onions (scallions) , sliced
- sesame seeds , optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic powder, honey, chicken broth, rice wine vinegar and hoisin sauce.
- Add the chicken with the veggies, tossing to coat.
- Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour, but up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Place the marinated chicken and veggies on a rimmed sheet pan in a single layer. Discard the remaining marinade.
- Place the sheet pan on the top rack of the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, garnish with green onion and serve on rice if desired.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Sheet pan meals are the best! Easy to make, taste great, and the clean up is simple.
Definitely a staple recipe! One pan meal and only a handful of ingredients, plus it’s delicious!
Oh man! This looks incredible! 🙂 And bonus points for being a sheet pan dinner.
We make this often for busy evenings. It is easy, delicious and a well rounded-meal. 10/10!