Honey Garlic Chicken is an epic 12 minute chicken breast recipe with a magic 5 ingredient Honey Garlic Sauce! This is a terrific back pocket quick dinner idea for busy nights that’s made with pantry staples. It’s quite amazing how so few ingredients can transform into such a tasty sauce for chicken!
BONUS: This can be made with any protein – beef, pork, lamb, shrimp/prawns, even tofu!
Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
This sauce for chicken breast is a variation of my Honey Garlic Salmon which has been popular with readers for many years.
If I were ever to do a summary of my top 5 Most Used Sauces, Honey Garlic Sauce would probably be right at the top of the list. I love it because it requires so few ingredients that are pantry staples, and when simmered with a seared protein in a skillet so it becomes all bubbly and syrupy…. oh WOW.
It’s just DA BOMB!!! ( <– Who talks like that at my age???! I do. Only in extenuating circumstances. Excitement over crazy delicious secret-weapon sauce falls under this category. 😎)
Terrific quick chicken breast recipe
Though I personally have a preference for chicken thighs over chicken breast (better flavour, juicier!), I find myself putting chicken breast in my shopping trolley week after week.
Thus over the years, I’ve built up a wide variety of quick and easy chicken breast recipes – and this Honey Garlic Chicken is one of my favourite quick dinners that I find myself making over and over again.
What you need
See? I told you that you’d have everything! 😉
How to make Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
Split chicken breast in half – so 2 breasts makes 4 pieces;
Dust chicken with flour (gives the chicken a slight crust so the sauce clings to it better!)
Sear chicken, add butter, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, honey.
Simmer until the sauce thickens. Turn chicken to coat in the amazing honey garlic sauce.
And THAT’S IT!
Want to BBQ it? Use this Grilled Honey Soy Chicken recipe instead.
Notice how the sauce is clinging to the surface? That’s because we dusted the chicken with flour so when it’s pan fried, it creates a crust.
What to serve with Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
There’s enough sauce to drizzle over veggies and soak into rice or whatever you serve it with. The flavour is strong enough such that you don’t need loads – a bit goes a long way!
It’s pictured above with Cauliflower Rice (tossed with a squeeze of lemon, parsley, salt and pepper) with Cucumber Salad on the side.
Even though it’s got soy sauce in the Honey Garlic Sauce, this doesn’t taste specifically Asian-y. But it’s versatile enough that it will go just as well with Fried Rice as it will with a Macaroni Salad or even Mac and Cheese. Yes really! Try it once and you’ll understand (it only takes 12 minutes, you’ve got the time!!) – Nagi x
Honey Garlic Chicken breast recipe
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 500g / 1 lb chicken breast , boneless and skinless (2 pieces)
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup flour (Note 1)
- 3 1/2 tbsp (50g) unsalted butter (or 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white or other clear vinegar)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce , light or all purpose (Note 2)
- 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)
Instructions
- Cut the breasts in half horizontally to create 4 steaks in total. Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.
- Place flour in a shallow dish. Coat chicken in flour and shake off excess.
- Melt most of the butter in a large skillet over high heat – hold back about 1 tsp for later.
- Place chicken in skillet and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until golden. Turn and cook the other side for 1 minute.
- Turn heat down slightly to medium high.
- Make a bit of room in the pan and add garlic and top with remaining dab of butter. Stir garlic briefly once butter melts.
- Add vinegar, soy sauce and honey. Stir / shake pan to combine. Bring sauce to simmer, then simmer for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
- Turn chicken to coat in sauce. If the sauce gets too thick, add a touch of water and stir.
- Remove from stove immediately. Place chicken on plates and drizzle over remaining sauce.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Honey Garlic Chicken breast recipe originally published February 2018, it has since been improved with new photos and video but no change to recipe (I wouldn’t dare, readers love it as it is!).
More quick and easy chicken breast recipes
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Susan DePas says
I don’t have Apple cider vinegar right now. What can I substitute for it if anything? susan
Nagi says
Hi Susan, rice vinegar would work here too! N x
Luanne says
I made this with chicken thighs and dusted the chicken with cornstarch…. I doubled the sauce and mixed honey and maple syrup…. It was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! It literally took about 15 minutes to cook… served it with cauliflower rice….
AMF says
I liked this for a weeknight since its very quick and easy. My sauce didn’t really thicken, however. Maybe its because I tripled the sauce? Or because I used the olive oil alternative instead of butter? Not sure…
Nagi says
Hi AMF, yes both of those reasons would cause the sauce not to thicken, tripling the sauce creates more volume too which would take longer to reduce. N x
Maree says
I cooked this tonight, complete with the cauliflower rice and cucumber salad, and even my fussy eaters thought it was delicious. Every recipe we have tried so far Nagi has been delicious. Thank you so much for making meal times easy.
Janine says
This recipe tonight was delicious. I loved that it was quick to prepare, especially after working all day. Thanks for providing another great recipe!
Janine says
I made this recipe tonight for dinner for my husband and I and it was delicious. I loved that it was quick to prepare, especially after working all day. Thanks for providing another great recipe!
Tony says
Made this and added some roasted garlic and fresh parsley to garnish. Not only was this delicious, but one of the most presentable dishes I’ve ever made.
Arpita says
Tried this Honey Garlic Chicken & it turned out to be awesome. Everyone just loved it & licked every bit of it. Thanks for such great recipes.
Luanne Mellett says
Made this last night with just a salad and it was lovely! Perhaps a tad sweet for me, next time I will try a 1/4 cup of honey. I also cooked boneless thighs… FABULOUS! Combined with the saltiness of the feta in the salad. Really great recipe.
GRETA JOHNSTON says
I made this for my family. The chicken was delicious! What would you use to give it some heat? Would you suggest red pepper flakes?
Nagi says
Yes red pepper flakes would work well! N x
Maketa Colbert says
Just made this for dinner tonight with some sticky rice. This recipe was delicious. Just the right amount of sweetness. Reminds me of the meals we would get in Japan. Definitely going in my recipe tin/book!
Renata says
This was simple and so delicious. My only worry was that if we didn’t like it, how much good raw honey I would have wasted since I used our own honey. $$
Family was hesitant once I added the mixture of garlic, soy, honey etc they asked me what was I making?
The final result was amazing. We all enjoyed dinner, even those that questioned it. I used 3 times the amount for a family of 4, with a side of cheddar broccoli rice.
I will make this again!
Amy Fehlberg says
The honey garlic chicken was a HUGE hit with my whole family – we were just back from a week of camping and this meal was simple and delicious – we will be looking for more recipes!
Hayley Gray says
This was delicious! We used Bragg amino soy sauce alternative and gluten free flour paired with brown rice and brussel sprouts and carrots. Very tasty!
Nigel says
My children never want take out chines again! This is the third recipe I’ve cooked and none have failed and this one was outstanding. Did it with the oven cook veg and rice which is also fantastic, think I’m going to work through all your recipes! Thank you so much. Nigel R
Leslie Thilges says
Just wonderful! Loved the fact that it used everything I already had in my pantry. I doubled the recipe, and we’re looking forward to leftovers today. I’m excited to try your other recipes.
Van says
Winner winner chicken dinner! We brined the chicken overnight for moisture (water + 1tbsp salt in the fridge), and patted the raw chicken dry before the dry rub and flour to get a decent crust. We did about 60g of honey and I found it to be the perfect sweetness. Seriously a banger and we’ll definitely be making this again.
Angie V says
Easy and delicious! My family prefers over orange chicken. Now in our family dinner rotation.
Jacqueline Mico says
Delicious. Quick and easy. Thankyou
Kat says
Ooh the sauce is so good! Thinking of making the sauce for a dipping sauce for fried chicken.