This 5-ingredient, 15-minute honey garlic chicken with an addictively delicious sauce is a perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe!
It uses on hand ingredients, is simple to make and tastes fantastic. Serve with rice and a vegetable for a complete meal.
"My husband and my son love this recipe and ask me to make it almost every week since I discovered it a few months ago. It's so easy and so good." - Hannah
This post has been updated with new photos and a new recipe video.
You might know by now that quick and easy is the name of the game most nights at my house for dinner. It's usually all I can handle!
This honey garlic chicken recipe fits the bill perfectly.
Just 5 ingredients and 15 minutes are all you need to whip up this dinner.
No dredging and mess, no specialty ingredients or sauces, and we're taking the shortcut of cubing the chicken so it's small and cooks up quickly. (That's one of my favorite hacks for creating quick and easy chicken recipes.)
In fact, you probably have all of the ingredients on hand already to make this tonight.
And just wait until you taste the sauce. Oh that sauce!
It's got sticky sweet honey, the salty rich soy sauce, a kick of garlic and a hint of spice from the red pepper flakes.
It gets glazed on to the chicken and simmered down and concentrated slightly so it's ready to drip and drizzle all over your plate. Please, put it ALL over your plate!
I also use this sauce in my slow cooker honey garlic chicken recipe, if you want to check that one out for a hands-off dinner you can start earlier in the day.
There's also this 15-minute honey garlic pork chops if you're always looking for more pork chop recipes like me.
Or browse all the most popular 15 minute dinner recipes that I go back to again and again.
Back to today's recipe. Let's get cooking.
Recipe Notes:
Be careful not to overcook the chicken. We are cubing the chicken into small pieces so they cook fast, which is kinda the point with this dinner. But you don't want them to go too far and be overdone.
On the other hand, that sauce is seriously so good, it'll disguise your chicken if it gets a little overdone. It's a forgiving dish!
You could substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the chicken breasts if you prefer, but the cooking time might be a little longer.
I use and recommend low-sodium soy sauce so you can control the amount of sodium in this recipe. You could also substitute a gluten-free tamari if you need this recipe to be gluten-free.
Thickening: If your sauce doesn't seem thick enough, try adding a quick cornstarch slurry in the last 1-2 minutes. Mix 1-3 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and add it to the pan to help thicken the sauce. I don't ever need this but it's a nice option and better than having to dredge the chicken in flour beforehand.
Also, lots of people double the sauce. It's a good idea if you want to have plenty for your rice and veggies in addition to the chicken.
To make a complete meal for dinner, just add some steamed rice and a veggie.
I use brown rice, which takes a little longer, so I get that started first then I prep my chicken and get it cooking. While the chicken is going, I get a veggie ready to steam. For us it's usually broccoli, green beans or snow peas. You could also use a steam-in-the-bag veggie.
And voila, dinner is ready and on the table in no time!
Finally, let's finish this off so we can eat.
Topping Ideas:
- Sliced green onions
- Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
- Chopped peanuts
- Lime wedges to squeeze over the chicken
- An extra sprinkle of red pepper flakes
- Drizzle of sriracha for a spicy kick
I hope you give this a try soon for your new favorite go-to weeknight dinner!
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
15-Minute Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil (or canola oil)
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes (about ½ inch)
- Salt and black pepper
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, adjust for heat)
For serving (optional):
- Brown or white rice, sliced green onions, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, lime wedges to squeeze over chicken
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Lightly season the cubed chicken with salt and pepper. (Go easy because the soy sauce has plenty of sodium.)
- Add the chicken to the skillet and brown on one side, about 3-4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, in a small bowl until well combined.
- Turn the chicken pieces over to begin cooking on the other side. Add the sauce to the pan and toss to coat the chicken pieces. Cook until chicken is cooked through, 4-5 more minutes. (The small pieces cook quickly, which is the point, so be careful not to overcook them.)
- Serve with steamed rice and top with green onions, sesame seeds and a squeeze of lime juice, if desired.
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Notes
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Nutrition
You can also check out my easy chicken recipes for more dinner time inspiration, like this easy cream cheese chicken or quick chicken curry. Dinner doesn't have to be hard!
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Here's one of the older photos of this recipe:
Kerhys says
Thank you everyone loved it! Delicious 🥰
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh that's great to hear! Thank you for sharing!
Youssef says
Made this for my wife for a quick dinner and she absolutely loved it. Looks like it will be a regular dish cooked at our household, so do you have any suggestions for veggies that go well with it? I plated with some marinated cucumbers, but maybe I will steam some broccoli next time. I think the bold flavor needs some blandness next to it to make it shine even more.
Kathryn Doherty says
I'm so glad you and your wife loved it! I almost always pair this with some steamed broccoli. It would also go well with green peas or a mix of frozen veggies, as well as with steamed or sauteed green beans or asparagus. Bok choy would be a great veggie side as well.
Elizabeth says
My family loves this honey garlic chicken i have to make it at least one a week
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh I'm so happy to hear it's a hit for your family! Thank you for sharing!
Lillian says
The recipe is great but I would honestly triple the sauce part if you want to have it over rice. I ended up making more quickly as we realized it wasnt enough for our liking.
Katie says
Super fast and really tasty! Perfect for a last minute dinner idea that one of my kids liked and the really picky eater didn't hate! 😆
Kathryn Doherty says
Haha, I call that a win in my house! I'm so glad you loved it, thanks for sharing! : )
Liz says
We did this last night. My husband cooked it. It was fantastic. Definitely a do again recipe. Only problem he had is it barely had any sauce. We served it over white rice but I have to have sauce mixed into the rice. Not sure if he goofed or what. Wish I had taken a photo. I was lucky to get what sauce there was over my rice. I'm a picky eater. He held back on the red pepper flakes. It still had a nice kick to it. I can't wait to enjoy it again. Thanks.
Kathryn Doherty says
I'm so glad this was a hit, Liz! If the heat is too high or on for too long, it can cook the sauce down. Not sure if that's what happened or not. You can also double up on the sauce, which a lot of people do to have plenty for drizzling over rice and veggies. Hope that helps! : )
Philip says
So how much of this dish is considered 1 serving?
Kathryn Doherty says
Hey! The recipe as written is for 4 servings, so 1 serving will be 1/4 of the total prepared dish.
Theresa Miller says
Quick, easy and delicious! I doubled the recipe for my family of 6. Made it with steamed white rice and broccoli. Perfect, thanks for the recipe!
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh yay! I'm so glad it was a hit for your family! Thank you so much for sharing! : )
Maddie C says
Just made this and it lives up to the 15 minute name! So yummy too! Thank you for this recipe!
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh I'm so glad to hear you loved it Maddie! Thank you for sharing! : )
Portia Jones says
In the process of making this now & sooo simple !!! I can’t wait to do the taste test on it with the family and see how they like it !
Joyce Clifford says
Quick and tasty! Thank you
Kathryn Doherty says
Yay, that's great! Thank you for sharing!
Kelsey says
Such a good recipe! I don’t understand how it has 4.4 stars. Here to fix that 😉 Knocks it out of the park especially for a true 15 minute or less meal!
Vicky says
Really good. We substituted hot honey and didnt use red pepper. Will definitely make this again. Ty
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh I'm so happy to hear you loved this! And love the hot honey substitution - gonna have to try that! Thanks so much for sharing! : )
Carla nichols says
Write a list about it please thank you very much
Mary says
I made this recipe and my husband said soooooo delicious! I agree. Very easy to make and I will definitely be making it again. I served Ben's basmati brown rice, microwave and Green Giant green beans also washed and microwave.
Kathryn Doherty says
I'm so happy to hear you both loved it! Thank you so much for sharing! : )
Shirley says
Great recipe, quick and easy!! I doubled sauce as I had more chicken--also after cutting up chicken I threw it into a bowl and added a good 2 tbsp. of cornstarch and mixed chicken into it( had almost 3 lbs of chicken). The sauce was perfect consistency, and the flavour was superb, everyone loved it!!
Kathryn Doherty says
Yay! I'm so happy to hear it was a hit! Thank you so much for sharing! : )
Caleb says
Family favorite - even for my picky eater!
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh yay, that's such a win! So happy to hear it; thank you for sharing! : )
Hoonay says
Very good, and very easy to make. I didn't make any modifications, but I may borrow the other reviewers idea and use hot honey next time. This recipe is going in the rotation. I'll definitely make this again.
Kathryn Doherty says
I'm so glad you loved it! Thanks for sharing! : )
May says
So delicious but I needed to double the sauce! The whole family loved it even the kiddos! Thank you for the recipe!
May says
Meant to give this 5 stars, not 4. I doubled the sauce and it turned out amazing. The whole family loved it even my kiddos! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Kathryn Doherty says
I'm so happy you all loved it!! It's the best when you find a recipe the WHOLE family enjoys : )
Chris says
Perfect recipe. Made extra sauce to put on top. I’m adding to my recipe book!
Kathryn Doherty says
Yay! I'm so glad to hear you love this honey garlic chicken! : )
Rose Grabowski says
Just tried this evening and it was great. Next time I’m going to add some peanuts or cashews.
Kathryn Doherty says
I'm so glad you loved it! : ) And yes, adding some nuts would be great for some crunch!
Keiana S. says
We made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! We added panko breading to the chicken and popped it in the air fryer, then added the sauce (we warmed it up on the stove and added the corn starch slurry) and it was incredibly DELICIOUS! My husband has requested that we add it to the weekly rotation!
Kathryn Doherty says
That's fantastic, I'm so happy to hear you all loved it! And thank you for sharing how you made this chicken using the Air Fryer - so helpful! : )
Steph says
Very quick to put together. Recipe is perfect as written. I did add a little water at the end to make it saucier. Thank you!
Kathryn Doherty says
Oh I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it Steph! Thanks for sharing!
Natalie says
Love this i added yellow bell pepoer and snap peas. The double sauce was a great 8dea too. Thank you my family loved it and so did I tastes great and it was super easy.