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Close up of honey garlic chicken in a cast iron skillet

Mom's Easy Honey Garlic Chicken

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 439 kcal
Author: Karlynn Johnston

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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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

  1. 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. 

  2. Place chicken into the sauce and cover. Marinate for an hour or two if possible, turning if you get the chance.
  3. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  4. Pre-heat an oven safe skillet with olive oil in it.
  5. Fry the chicken until the skin started to crisp up ( this helps the skin not get too soggy in the oven)
  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. You can occasionally baste the chicken with sauce while cooking if wanted.
  8. Serve with rice, potatoes etc. It's exceptional with rice!

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 Facts
Mom's Easy Honey Garlic Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 439 Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Cholesterol 110mg37%
Sodium 1220mg51%
Potassium 326mg9%
Carbohydrates 49g16%
Sugar 47g52%
Protein 20g40%
Vitamin A 115IU2%
Vitamin C 0.5mg1%
Calcium 16mg2%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.