These Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs are crispy, sweet, sticky, and easy to make in under 30 minutes. Pan-frying the chicken as opposed to baking gives the skin an extra crispy crust and beautiful golden brown color.
Looking for my easy chicken recipes? Try my creamy garlic chicken next!
About This Recipe
Honey garlic sauce is still one of my all-time favorite sauces. The combination of sweet honey and spicy garlic is simply irresistible, especially when you slather it over crispy meat. In case you missed it, one of my favorite honey garlic recipes is my honey garlic ribs, which you can view here.
A few weeks ago, I shared my honey garlic chicken bites, which is one of my favorite weeknight meals, but this week I wanted to share a slightly different version that uses bone-in chicken rather than boneless. It's just as tasty, and arguably better (according to my wife) because the meat near the bone is the most flavorful.
The key to this recipe is pan-frying the skin for a sufficient amount of time so that it can develop a crispy crust and golden color. If you don't do that, you'll end up with bland and flavorless skin that downgrades the entire dish.
I used a nonstick skillet and pan-fried the chicken on the skin side for about 7 minutes on medium-high heat. Be careful as the skin releases quite a bit of fat and moisture so there is a lot of sizzling and oil splatter. I recommend an oil splatter guard to minimize the mess.
Key Ingredients
Chicken Thighs: For this recipe, I used bone-in and skin-on. You can technically use boneless as well, but make you cook them for less time because they cook faster.
Honey: Fun fact, a lot of bloggers like to emphasize using high-quality honey (ones made with pure honey and no filler) but it doesn't really matter for dishes like this. When restaurants make "honey garlic" dishes, they usually substitute some of the honey for corn syrup because it's cheaper. I know a lot of you want to cook like restaurants, so using lower-quality honey might actually yield a result closer to what you're looking for.
Garlic: You will need two tablespoons of minced garlic or about 6 cloves.
Soy sauce: I use regular soy sauce in my cooking. I know many of you use low-sodium soy sauce, so just keep in mind your version may be less salty than mine. You can add some extra salt if so.
Rice vinegar: Just a tiny bit helps bring out the flavors.
Oil: For searing the chicken and garlic.
Instructions
STEP 1: Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken skin side down and cook undisturbed for 5-7 minutes until the bottom turns golden brown.
STEP 2: Reduce the heat to medium. Flip and cook the other side for another 7 minutes until cooked through (the inside should reach 165F). Remove the chicken to a plate and leave about 2 tablespoons of chicken fat in the pan.
STEP 3: Add the minced garlic and let it sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
STEP 4: Add the sauce mixture and continue cooking until it foams up and thickens into a glaze.
STEP 5: Add back the chicken and spoon the sauce all over. Enjoy!
Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
- ⅓ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the honey, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Set aside.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs skin-side down, and cook for 5-7 minutes without moving. Reduce the heat to medium, flip the chicken, and cook for another 7-10 minutes until the juices run clear or the inside reaches 165°F.
- Remove the chicken to a plate, and leave about 2 tablespoons of the chicken fat in the pan.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds.
- Add the sauce mixture from earlier and cook until it starts to foam up and thicken. The sauce should be as thick as a glaze (it will thicken even more as it cools down). Add the chicken back to the pan and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Karen Morgan
delicious and easy. thankyou for sharing recipe
Grumpy
You're welcome, Karen!
Laura
Do you have to have rice vinegar?
Grumpy
I think a bit of acidity balances the sweetness well. You dont have to add it though. Ive had honey garlic chicken at restaurants that puts no vinegar, and it was still rly good.