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Mom’s Easy Honey Garlic Chicken

Mom's easy honey garlic chicken recipe is the best around - it's only FIVE INGREDIENTS that you have in your fridge and uses chicken thighs or breasts!

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My mother-in-law has the best recipe for honey garlic chicken. This is not the honey garlic chicken that is little bits and pieces and you serve over rice. This recipe uses full pieces of chicken, which can be chicken thigh or chicken breast, and it cooks up in a skillet so fast and easy that it will soon become your new favorite!

You can also try some honey garlic slow cooker chicken thighs if you want to leave something cooking all day!

Six pieces of honey garlic chicken in a cast iron skillet

How to Make Easy Honey Garlic Chicken

Honey garlic chicken doesn’t get easier than this!

  1. Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken as well. Reserve some of the sauce for later.
  2. Place chicken into the sauce and cover. Marinate.
  3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  4. Preheat an oven-safe skillet with olive oil in it.
  5. Fry the chicken until the skin starts to crisp up.
  6. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the chicken.
  7. Place the skillet into the oven and bake until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 185 degrees F.
Close up of honey garlic chicken in a cast iron skillet
Close-up of chicken in a cast iron skillet

How This Recipe Came About

I was lazing around one Sunday when a message from a reader asked me for a really good honey garlic chicken recipe. I scratched my head a bit and realized that I don’t actually make honey garlic chicken on a regular basis. Yes, I make my Uncle Bob’s Japanese Chicken Wings, but I don’t make honey garlic chicken.

And presto, I was craving honey garlic chicken yesterday, just like that. I became a wee bit obsessed with the thought of honey garlic chicken for dinner and mentioned it to Mike as I was taking chicken thighs out of the freezer that someone had asked me if I knew a honey garlic chicken recipe, and now I was CRAVING IT.

He looked up from his laptop and excitedly said, ” Oh man, my mom has the BEST honey garlic chicken recipe ever! Let me ask her for it!” Now listen, Mr Magpie doesn’t really get excited about food like that, so I was totally game. Don’t tell him this, but he was right. This is seriously the best recipe ever.

Honey Garlic Sauce Ingredients

The reason that this is THE BEST honey garlic chicken recipe is the sauce, of course! Mike’s Mom puts in some easy and amazing ingredients but not necessarily authentic. The ketchup, of course, isn’t authentic, but let me tell you, ALL other sauces pale in comparison to this recipe, trust me!

  • skin-on chicken thighs or breasts
  • soy sauce
  • liquid honey
  • ketchup
  • powdered ginger
  •  garlic powder
Mom's Easy Honey Garlic Chicken sizzling in a pan
Chicken sizzling in a pan

Honey Garlic Chicken Tips and Tricks

  • You can use chicken thighs or breasts, but I highly recommend using the skin for the best honey-garlic chicken. When cooked, the skin becomes crispy, sticky, and utterly delicious!
  • Cook the chicken thighs to 185 °F for the best texture. While you can cook them to 165 °F for safety’s sake, you want to cook the thigh meat to a higher temperature to break it down better. It is tough meat at 165 ° and like butter when you reach 185 °F. This is a trick I learned from some chef friends, and it will make you a chicken thigh addict!
  • Cook the chicken breast to 165 °F and no more.
  • The sauce is beyond amazing. Make sure to reserve some sauce before you marinate the chicken. I like to use fresh sauce later on instead of the marinade.
Chicken in a red cast iron skillet

More Chicken Recipes For You To Try

This chicken is ooey, gooey, sweet, and garlicky, and I was sad that I only made six chicken thighs! Karlynn, you fool! What were you thinking?

You can make as much sauce as you want with it—we reserved 1/2 cup to the side to add to the chicken later after you crisp it in the pan—and just pour that all over the rice after the chicken is cooked. It makes a great sauce. Not only that, but this recipe is so easy—the sauce has only five ingredients! It’s crazy easy!

Happy cooking, you guys!

Love,

Karlynn

Mom’s Easy Honey Garlic Chicken

Mom’s easy honey garlic chicken recipe is the best around – it’s only FIVE INGREDIENTS that you have in your fridge and uses chicken thighs or breasts!
5 from 8 votes
Close up of honey garlic chicken in a cast iron skillet
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
Chinese
Servings
6
Calories
439
Author
Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients
 

  • 6-8 chicken thighs or breasts skin on
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce make it low sodium if salt bothers you
  • 1 cup  liquid honey
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions
 

  • Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken as well. Reserve about a 1/2 cup  of the sauce for later. 
  • Place chicken into the sauce and cover. Marinate for an hour or two if possible, turning if you get the chance.
  • Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Pre-heat an oven safe skillet with olive oil in it.
  • Fry the chicken until the skin started to crisp up ( this helps the skin not get too soggy in the oven)
  • Pour the remaining sauce on top of the chicken.
  • Place the skillet into the oven and bake until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 185 degrees F. You can occasionally baste the chicken with sauce while cooking if wanted.
  • Serve with rice, potatoes etc. It’s exceptional with rice!

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

The nutrition on this is wrong and includes ALL of the sauce in the values, which you don’t eat. The calories are way less.

Tips & Tricks

  • You can use chicken thighs or chicken breasts and I highly recommend using skin on for the best honey garlic chicken. The skin becomes crispy, sticky and utterly delicious when cooked!
  • Cook the chicken thighs to 185 °F for the best texture. While you can cook it to 165 °F for safety sake, you actually want to cook thigh meat to a higher temperature to break down the meat better. It is tough meat at 165 ° and like butter when you reach 185 °F. This is a trick I learned from some chef friends and it will make you a chicken thigh addict!
  • Cook the chicken breast to 165 °F and no more.
  • The sauce is beyond amazing, make sure to reserve some sauce before you marinade the chicken, I like to use fresh sauce later on and not the marinade.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 439kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 110mg, Sodium: 1220mg, Potassium: 326mg, Sugar: 47g, Vitamin A: 115IU, Vitamin C: 0.5mg, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 1.5mg

All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

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Mom's easy honey garlic chicken recipe is the best around - it's only FIVE INGREDIENTS that you have in your fridge and uses chicken thighs or breasts! #honeygarlic #chicken #chickenthighs #chickenbreast #recipe

Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

Learn more about me

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Reader Interactions

Comments & Recipe Tips Share a tip or comment!

  1. Bruce Janis says

    Hi Karlynn…Ling time follower of your recipes and cookbooks. But, I have a question for you. My wife has been diagnosed as “pre-diabetic” and to keep her healthy, I have been adjusting some of your recipes to follow guidelines set by her dietitian.

    Just as a suggestion, you might want to consider adding a recipe or two for diabetics, and I would bet that publishing a complete cookbook would sell well. While there are plenty of diabetic cookbooks out there, they seem to be simply compilations of recipes from other books, many of which remind me of eating C-rations in my younger days. Anyway, thanks for all your insightful recipes and I wish you well…Bruce J

  2. Rich Lee says

    Tried to get your recipe but found it too complicated for me….
    Not everyone is 21 any more.

  3. MARY says

    PINNED ALL THREE. LOVE MAKE AHEAD MEALS. HEAT AND EAT. I HAVE MORE ENERGY EARLY IN THE DAY.

  4. Diane says

    Made this for my husband and me tonight and thought it was delicious!!!!!5 stars

  5. Darlene says

    Do I need to put a lid over the skillet when I put it into the oven to bake?
    Also, what do you do to prevent the chicken from burning when you are frying the chicken to crisp it up before putting it in the oven?

    • Jeannette says

      How do you keep chicken from burning when you fry it at the beginning of the recipec

  6. Taras Serednytsky says

    And another hit from Karlynn! Executed in our kitchen with a precise exactness of 5! ))) ingredients!
    Excellent recipe, easy to prep and cook! Sauce – out of this world! Big hello to Mother-in-law! It was a huge favorite at tonight’s dinner – served with white rice and tossed salad!
    Thanks for a wonderful recipe! Taras.5 stars

    • Karlynn says

      Awesome! I am so glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know!

  7. Leslie says

    This sauce it terrific. I always trust your recipes. Thank you for sharing it with us.5 stars

  8. Jacob says

    Made this for my family tonight. Big hit! I used a dry measuring cup for the honey, but it’s really just to get it close. I wouldn’t worry too much about being exact with marinades.5 stars

  9. Madeleine says

    Made this for my family last night and they gobbled it up!! It’s definitrly a favourite for us! Just wondering, do you measure the honey with a liquid or dry measuring cup ?5 stars

  10. Rita says

    A great recipe – my husband could even cookthi wonderful, but easy. As he is my carer this would be a lovely meal. Thanking You!!!!5 stars

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