Mouthwatering Baked Honey Garlic Chicken Breast with a simple sweet and tangy honey garlic sauce. It’s a restaurant quality Asian inspired healthy dinner that will become your go-to!
This honey garlic chicken breast is oven baked until tender and juicy, then smothered in a delicious sweet and sour glaze made from honey, garlic, soy sauce, and lemon juice.
Reader’s Review
I’ve made this honey garlic chicken twice so far and the sauce is so delicious. I used chicken breast this time and chicken thighs last time, so delicious either way but I prefer thighs.
Brianna
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Baked not fried: A flavorful and saucy baked chicken recipe is so much healthier than any fried chicken!
- Easy: It’s an easy 30 minute dinner. 10-minute marinade is one of my favorite chicken marinades that sits while the oven preheats!
- Impressive: The beautiful sheen on this delicious glaze is pretty enough to serve dinner guests.
- Pantry staples: Made with budget friendly ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Especially great when you have stocked up on chicken breast!
Ingredients for Baked Honey Garlic Chicken
- Chicken breasts: About 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts. Cut them into thin cutlets lengthwise as I did with this chicken and tomatoes. This way the breasts come out juicy and saucy.
- Honey: Be sure it’s liquid. I try to buy unpasteurized and raw honey for its health benefits. Keep in mind once heated it loses many of its good properties, so for this recipe, it doesn’t matter which kind you choose.
- Soy sauce: Regular soy sauce or liquid aminos have the same amount of sodium. I used only 2 tablespoons of aminos, they are also gluten-free if it’s important to you.
- Acid: You can use freshly squeezed lemon juice, lime juice, or apple cider vinegar.
- Fresh garlic: I like to use 2 grated garlic cloves to bring out even more flavor in the sauce and 1 minced garlic clove for texture in the final product.
- Cornstarch: Or arrowroot powder to thicken the sauce. You can skip it if you don’t have it.
- Green onion and sesame seeds (optional): This honey garlic chicken is meant to be Asian-inspired and although not exactly authentic, we can still add some delicious garnishes for zing and crunch!
How to Make Baked Honey Garlic Chicken
- Marinate: Marinate chicken breasts in a sauce which is a combination of honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, and garlic for 10 minutes. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and let them sit while the oven is preheating to 450 degrees F.
- Bake: Arrange chicken in a single layer and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once. Chicken is ready when it reaches 165 degrees F internal temperature. You can even pull it out when the internal temperature is 155 degrees F and allow it to keep cooking with the residual heat.
- Make the sauce: While chicken is baking, pour marinade into a small pot and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, whisk cold water with cornstarch, add to the boiling marinade and cook on low heat until sauce has thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Combine: Transfer baked chicken onto a platter, drizzle with honey garlic sauce and sprinkle with green onion and sesame seeds.
Marinade Safety
The only time it is safe to reuse marinade is if you boil it first to kill harmful bacteria from coming into contact with raw chicken. Make sure to bring marinade to a rolling boil, check with a thermometer it registers 165 F, if not sure.
Variations
- Chicken thighs: This chicken recipe works with bone-in and boneless chicken thighs as well. Chicken thighs are darker, less lean than chicken breast, so they’ve got a bit more fat and flavor. There is no need to cut them thinner.
- Ginger: Add 1/2-1 teaspoon grated ginger to the marinade or sauce.
- Heat: Add some red pepper flakes into the marinade for a little spice.
- Garlic: Grate all the garlic instead of combining grated and minced, if preferred.
- Grill it: Preheat the grill to 450-500 degrees F and rub with an oiled paper towel. Grill chicken for 8-10 minutes, flipping once. Make sauce on the stove or over the side burner on the grill. So good!
Tips for Best Results
- If your honey is solid: Be sure to melt it on the stove in a small pot on low heat or in a microwave. Otherwise you won’t be able to make the marinade.
- To reduce sodium: You can use low-sodium soy sauce or reduce it to 1 tablespoon, if you are watching your salt intake.
- Slurry tips: Cornstarch settles fast, so whisk again before adding to the sauce. It makes for a much smoother finish! Also cold water is the key to avoiding lumps.
- I do not recommend to pan fry it: Don’t cook chicken on the stove because honey burns quickly. Been there, done that! Try my pan fried chicken breast instead.
- Making ahead: Because the marinade contains a bit of acid, I do not recommend marinating the chicken for longer than 24 hours. After that meat will be too mushy as acid breaks its tissues down.
Serving Ideas
Serve baked honey garlic chicken with:
- Grains: Instant Pot brown rice, quinoa, or rice noodles.
- Veggies: Classic steamed vegetables, healthy broccoli salad or Asian chopped salad completes our Asian-inspired theme.
- Low carb: Serve with low carb side like cauliflower fried rice.
- Craving comfort food? While the chicken is baking, make healthy mac and cheese or even easier Instant Pot mac and cheese.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Refrigerate leftovers in a covered container for up to 5 days.
Freeze: It also freezes extremely well for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Place chicken in a skillet or saucepan and reheat on low heat. The sauce will thicken in the fridge, so add a splash of water and watch it come back to life. Easy-peasy!
I hope you enjoy this super easy baked honey garlic chicken recipe! Come back and let me know in the comments. I reply to every single one of them.
More Chicken Recipes to Try
Baked Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
Baked Honey Garlic Chicken breast made juicy with a sweet and tangy honey garlic sauce. It's a restaurant quality easy Asian inspired dinner!
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup honey, pourable
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons green onion, for garnish
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and line large rimmed baking sheet with silicone baking mat or unbleached parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise to make thinner cutlets. More sauce will coat the surface of chicken this way.
- Grate 2 garlic cloves and mince the other one. This method adds more flavor.
- In a large bowl, add chicken, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic. Stir with tongs and let marinate while oven is preheating.
- After arrange chicken in a single layer and bake for 15-20 minutes on the lowest rack, turning once.
- While chicken is baking, pour marinade into a small pot and bring to a rolling boil or until thermometer reaches 165 F. It's important to boil it to kill the harmful bacteria.
- In a small bowl, whisk cold water with cornstarch. When marinade is boiling, add slurry, whisk and cook until sauce has thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the oven and transfer onto a serving platter. Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with green onion and sesame seeds.
- Serve honey garlic chicken with Instant Pot brown rice or Instant Pot quinoa or healthy broccoli salad.
🎉 Last step! If you made this recipe, please leave a review and let us know what you think!
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Perfect for a meal prep.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cutlet, Calories: 242kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 97mg, Sodium: 512mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 16g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Yummy marinade. Totally agree with another commenter, mine were done closer to 10-15 mins. People should be checking theirs early, 20 would have been WAY too long for mine.