Easy 20-min. Honey Garlic Chicken

Easy 20-min. Honey Garlic Chicken

Pan-fried juicy chicken thighs coated in a sweet honey garlic sauce made with minimal ingredients! This quick and easy honey garlic chicken recipe is ready in 20 minutes and budget-friendly. Great as a main dish or for meal prep for the family! I also share how to air fry the chicken in the notes section below.

Note: This recipe has been recently updated as of Nov 2024 and includes an additional ingredient not shown in the attached video.

5 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 14

Cook Time 6

Total Time 20

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Asian, Chinese

Servings

Calories per serving 340 kcal

Ingredients

4 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs (or substitute with boneless skinless thighs)
2 teaspoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¾ teaspoon garlic powder

Honey Garlic Sauce

5 cloves garlic minced
¼ cup honey or maple syrup/brown sugar/light corn syrup if you're allergic to honey
3 tablespoon water cold
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
½ tablespoon regular soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch or potato starch/tapioca starch

Instructions

Debone the chicken thighs by turning the chicken thigh bone side up. Then locate the bone and make small slits around the bone with a sharp paring knife until you’re able to remove it.
Pat dry the chicken pieces on both sides with clean paper towel.
Season on both sides of the chicken thighs with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine the honey garlic sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Place the chicken skin side down and fry until skin is golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Fry on the other side until the meat is cooked through (about 2 mins) or until an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit with a digital cooking thermometer or until juices run clear.
Reduce to low-medium heat. Pour in the honey garlic sauce around the chicken thighs and let the sauce thicken. Flip the chicken over so it’s skin side down for 15 seconds so the skin can absorb the sauce and flip over again.
Garnish the chicken with green onions.
Transfer cooked chicken to a cutting board to slice into smaller pieces and enjoy!

Notes

To Air Fry

Spray the air fryer basket with neutral oil or cooking spray or line the base of the basket only with a square piece of parchment paper. Make sure your parchment paper is not touching the hot elements of the air fryer. The latter makes clean up easier.

Place the seasoned chicken thighs in the basket in a flat single layer and skin side up. Do not overlap. You will need to air fry in batches depending on how many thighs you can fit without overlapping.

Air fry for 6-9 minutes at 375 degrees F or until you reach an internal temperature of 165 F and skin is browned to your liking. No need to flip halfway.

In a large pan, simmer the sauce until thickened on low-medium heat and add in the cooked chicken thighs.

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