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Home Collections Quick Dinner Recipes

Baked Balsamic Chicken

By:Nagi
Published:19 Apr '17Updated:20 Mar '19
121 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Balsamic Chicken is a baked chicken dinner that’s incredible quick to prepare: just mix balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic, pour it over chicken and pop it in the oven. And out comes this glorious chicken that’s savoury, tangy, sweet and very, very sticky!

Quick baked chicken recipes are mid week life savers and this balsamic chicken is a back-pocket gem along with simple Honey Mustard Chicken, Juicy Baked Breasts and country-style Baked Thighs.

Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic is all you need to make this super easy and fast Baked Balsamic Chicken! No marinating required. www.recipetineats.com

Sticky Balsamic Chicken

This is a baked chicken recipe for busy weeknights, lazy Sundays, and every other day in between.

When it’s this effortless to make something so lip smackingly good with ingredients that are basic pantry essentials, frozen meals and home delivery aren’t even a passing thought. No matter how nuts your household is at dinner time, no matter how tired you are, no matter how irritating and incompetent your boss is, how bad the commute home was, how miserable the weather is – you got this.💪🏼

2 minutes to make the sauce (and that includes reaching / taking lid off / measuring).

Pour over chicken and bake.

No marinating required – the glaze is so sticky and has enough flavour that you don’t need to marinate. Though you can if you want. I don’t. Don’t think I ever have. This is a quick-unplanned-on-the-fly type recipe, in my books. 🙂

And this is what comes out of the oven.

This baked chicken recipe is effortless – high returns for very little effort!

Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic is all you need to make this super easy and fast Baked Balsamic Chicken! No marinating required. www.recipetineats.com

This Balsamic Chicken is so sticky. You just want to grab it with your hands and suck your fingers clean. Frankly, I’m all for that. I am a huge fan of eating with hands, I just always wonder where that line is where eating with hands becomes unacceptable!

Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic is all you need to make this super easy and fast Baked Balsamic Chicken! No marinating required. www.recipetineats.com

The sugar and honey in the glaze balances out the tartness of the balsamic

When I wrote out this recipe for this Baked Balsamic Chicken with the intention of posting it, I did hesitate for a moment at the amount of honey and sugar in the balsamic glaze. But it needs it. Not only because it’s what makes the sauce reduce down into a sticky glaze, but also because balsamic vinegar is very tangy and needs a decent amount of sweetness to offset it.

Even my anti-overly-sweet-things mother, who happened to be over when I was shooting this (she does tend to drop by at rather convenient times i.e. when there’s a massive pile of washing up to do),  declared that it’s not too sweet because of the tanginess of the balsamic.

She really liked it. She hoovered down a drumstick incredibly fast [for a woman of her age😂] then reached for another before I smacked her hand away. I wasn’t finishing photographing!!!! This stuff is hard to photograph – they have a tendency to look like black blobs of coal!!! – Nagi x

Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic is all you need to make this super easy and fast Baked Balsamic Chicken! No marinating required. www.recipetineats.com

More simple baked bone-in chicken thigh recipes

  • Sticky baked Honey Soy Chicken

  • Baked Chicken and Rice
  • Honey Mustard Chicken – also this version with Potatoes and crispy bacon!
  • Baked Greek Marinated Chicken

  • Homemade Chicken Doner Kebabs

And more popular chicken recipes

  • JUICY Baked Chicken Breast

  • Greek Chicken Gyros
  • Chicken STROGANOFF!
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  • Browse all chicken recipes

Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic is all you need to make this super easy and fast Baked Balsamic Chicken! No marinating required. www.recipetineats.com

BALSAMIC CHICKEN
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Baked Balsamic Chicken recipe video!

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Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sugar and garlic is all you need to make this super easy and fast Baked Balsamic Chicken! No marinating required. www.recipetineats.com

Baked Balsamic Chicken

Author: Nagi
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Total: 55 mins
Dinner
Western
4.71 from 34 votes
Servings4 - 5
Tap or hover to scale
Print
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Recipe video above! No marinating required, just mix together a simple sauce, pour it over the chicken and bake. You will be amazed how incredible it tastes - and how sticky they are! PS If using the recipe scaler (hover over Servings), please read notes. 

Ingredients

  • 1 kg / 2 lb chicken thighs (5 pieces, bone in, skin on), or drumsticks or wings (any combination) (Note 1)

Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup (65 ml) balsamic vinegar
  • 2 1/2 tbsp / 50 ml soy sauce , all purpose or light (not dark soy sauce)
  • 1/4 cup (85 g / 65 ml) honey
  • 1/4 cup (45g) brown sugar , loosely packed (Note 2)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 1/2 tsp garlic paste from jar)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
  • Line a baking dish with foil and baking / parchment paper.
  • Mix together Sauce in a bowl.
  • Place chicken in baking dish, skin side down for thighs and wings. Make sure the pan is big enough so the chicken is squished up next to each other (sauce may not reduce enough), but not so large that there is more than 4"/10 cm between every piece of chicken (sauce may reduce too much).
  • Pour over Sauce. Bake 30 minutes. Turn chicken over, spoon over sauce.
  • Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. The Sauce should have thickened.
  • Stand for 5 minutes, then spoon Sauce over chicken and serve.

Recipe Notes:

1. Chicken - can use bone in thighs, drumsticks, wings. Needs skin.
If using frozen chicken, ensure it is thoroughly thawed, then pat dry before proceeding with recipe. Otherwise there will too much excess liquid and the sauce may not thicken.
Breast - Recipe does not work with breast. Recipe needs amendment as follows: Double sauce, place in saucepan over medium high, simmer rapidly until it reduces by over half to a syrup. You should end up with about 3/4 cup of balsamic reduction. Sprinkle breast with salt and pepper, sear or bake, spoon over sauce.
2. Sugar measurement - To do this, just scoop up brown sugar and level it off. Don't pack it down into the cup then top with more sugar - if you do that, you will use about 30% more sugar.
3. SCALING: If you scale down, use a smaller baking dish. If you scale up, you need to use a larger dish. If the chicken is too snug and there's no space between them at all, then it affects how the sauce reduces and thickens. You don't need loads of space, just a bit - watch the video!
4. MARINATING: The sauce is quite intense flavoured (you wouldn't drink it!) so you don't need to marinate the chicken. You can marinate for up to 24 hours if you wish. Or freeze immediately after combining Sauce and chicken, then as it defrosts the chicken will marinate.
5. MAKE AHEAD / STORING / FREEZING: Reheats really well for up to 3 days. Just cool and refrigerate, then microwave to reheat (oven can make glaze burn). Cooked leftovers also freezes really well. See Note 4 for freezing marinated chicken.
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 255gCalories: 475cal (24%)
Keywords: Baked Balsamic Chicken, Baked chicken
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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121 Comments

  1. Connie says

    December 12, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    OMG! I made this for a quick dinner tonight. It was amazing even with slightly runny sauce (my fault for overloading the tray). This will be my go to party food now! Thanks Nagi

    Reply
  2. Nicole says

    September 2, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    Having troubles with the sauce not thickening and the chicken getting over cooked? Use a large cookie sheet with non-stick aluminum and cook at 335 for 25 and 10 min if chicken is completely thawed (instead of 50 which gives tough chicken).

    Nagi said the chicken can safely be 4 inches apart! I know the sauce doesn’t look like much, but the chicken skin and thighs release a surprising amount of liquid.

    Reply
  3. lizz says

    May 7, 2022 at 12:21 pm

    I tried this and it was good. used only one tbs of the soy sauce and used coconut aminos instead for less salt. we served it with wild rice and mixed veggies. Someone posted about doing it in a cast iron and i will try that next, as that sounds like a good idea. Mine was squished together and my sauce didn’t thicken but that was okay with me, next time i think i’ll add diced potatoes to it when i want a more liquidy sauce to fill out the recipe a bit more. I did cut an onion into large rings and sit them at the bottom of the pan before laying the chicken and it was a very nice addition.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 8, 2022 at 12:43 am

      Thanks for those tips, Liz! Enjoy! N x

      Reply
  4. Pam says

    December 27, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    So good! I made a tray of balsamic roasted veggies with it and put it all over white rice with feta on top. Sent the recipe to many friends.

    Reply
  5. Suzy Charto says

    October 11, 2021 at 11:55 pm

    4 stars
    My chicken never got sticky, but no matter it was still delicious

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 13, 2021 at 2:15 pm

      Make sure the pan size is right…that’s critical here (see Note 4). N x

      Reply
  6. Sumara says

    September 27, 2021 at 5:05 am

    2 stars
    I followed the instruction to a tee and it tasted like chicken broth. I dried my chicken before putting it the container and I got an aluminum pan for roasting a Turkey so it was huge. Don’t know what I did wrong but it went to trash.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 27, 2021 at 10:26 am

      Hi Sumara, not sure what you mean exactly since there is no broth in this recipe? What exactly went wrong? N x

      Reply
      • Mindy says

        April 29, 2022 at 11:14 am

        5 stars
        Dang good! I poured the sauce over a cold salad and ate the chicken sliced on top. So yummy!

        Reply
  7. Deb says

    July 28, 2021 at 11:54 am

    5 stars
    Hi, I was positive this would be too sweet, but I surely was wrong! I cut the brown sugar back very slightly, but followed the recipe otherwise. Baked the chicken in a a cast iron skillet and it was truly outstanding! Sticky, syrupy, full of flavor, and delicious! Served with pilaf and pickled cucumbers, A definite keeper.

    Reply
  8. Mik says

    July 16, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Fantastic! Another amazing Nagi recipe ♡. I used large drumsticks & removed skin. Then I save the bones, rinse the sauce off & throw them in a slow cooker, cover with water and leave on low for the day. I then add some gelatin disolved in hot water, the drumstick skins and leave for about an hr. When it cools it becomes a jelly treat for our family doggie

    Reply
  9. Holly says

    April 2, 2021 at 10:20 am

    5 stars
    Nagi,

    This was absolutely delicious. End result was exactly like your photos. Tasty, tangy, sticky, delicious. Served with mashed yukons and green beans.

    Reply
  10. Mike says

    November 23, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    Hi Nagi, in step 4 you say “ so the chicken is squished up next to each other” but I assume you mean “ so the chicken is NOT squished up next to each other” right? Just doesn’t make much sense otherwise.

    Looks great though – this is dinner tonight 🙂

    Reply
    • Cathy says

      December 16, 2021 at 4:46 pm

      I reckon you’re right Mike because I ‘squished’ my chicken and the sauce did not thicken up.

      Reply
  11. CATHY GREGORY says

    September 23, 2020 at 3:41 am

    5 stars
    I love this scrumptious recipe. I make it once a week. Thank you Nagi.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 23, 2020 at 11:01 am

      I’m so glad you love it Cathy!!! N x

      Reply
  12. Carol says

    August 27, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    Yo Nagi… gonna try this right now… just curious. In this sentence, did you leave out the word “not” before “squished”…. eg is it supposed to say make sure the pan is big enough so they are NOT squished up next to each other? Or do you want them to be squished up to each other? Thank you… this looks great.

    “Make sure the pan is big enough so the chicken is squished up next to each other”

    Reply
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