I call this Sticky Pantry Chicken because you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry to make this right now! It’s a chicken thighs recipe that’s sweet, sticky and spicy (optional), with an incredible depth of flavour for such a quick recipe.
Any day chicken thighs recipe
The sauce for this quick chicken thigh recipe tastes like a country style sauce, with a kick of heat if you so desire!
The beauty of this recipe is that it’s made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Hence why I call it a Sticky PANTRY chicken thigh recipe.
Simple it may be, but the combination of ingredients creates a sauce that’s got terrific depth of flavour, and though I usually make this dish as a quick “OMG what am I going to make with this chicken tonight??!”, I’d proudly serve this up for company as well.
Chicken thighs, breast or tenders!
This recipe is suited to thighs, breast or tenders (aka chicken tenderloins). I usually tend to choose chicken thighs over breast simply because they have more flavour and are far more juicy than breast, and typically better value at the grocery store!
But this will work just fine with breast too – just halve them horizontally to make thin steaks, then cook per the recipe.
What to serve on the side
Make dinner extra fabulous by serving these chicken thighs with this addictive Mushroom Rice! Add this Everyday Cabbage Salad for crunch (a great standby salad) or make a quick garden salad.
Otherwise, try a lovely crisp salad with French Dressing, Italian Dressing or Balsamic Dressing.
Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
More chicken thigh recipes
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Sticky Pantry Chicken Thigh recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil (for frying)
- 6 (1.5-2lb / 750g-1kg) chicken thigh fillets , boneless skinless
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup water
Sauce
- 1/3 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dijon or American mustard
- 2 tbsp hot sauce (optional)
- 2 tbsp vinegar (any)
- 2 1/2 tbsp honey
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
Instructions
- Whisk Sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a non stick pan over medium high heat.
- Quickly dip chicken in Sauce, shake off excess, then place in pan.
- Cook the first side for 2 to 3 minutes, until it caramelises and is dark golden, then turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes.
- Add remaining Sauce and water.
- Bring to rapid simmer, stirring occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- When the sauce has thickened (around 1 to 2 minutes), remove from heat.
- Turn chicken in Sauce to coat.
- To serve, place chicken on plate and spoon over Sauce.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Hello! If I have bone in thighs with skin can I sear the meat first then pop it in the oven (how long?) then finish it in the stove simmering in the sauce?
Hi Carmela, yes you can definitely do that although the caramelising of the sauce in the oven gives the great flavour. N x
Nagi!! This was amazing! It came together quickly and easily. I served it with green beans and a soft dinner roll. Delicious! Thank you!
I swear this site never fails me, this was so freaking good! I made the mistake of using bone-in chicken thighs (read it wrong) but I just popped them in the oven separately for a few more minutes and they still turned out great
My husband loved this so much that he asked me to print the recipe, he rarely asks me to print a recipe lol. It was soooo quick and easy too. This recipe needs more love!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear! N x
This very was very good. It’s like making wild rice from scratchy. It went great with the Chicken.
The chicken was great. It was quick, easy and the sauce was thick. I made it with the mushroom rice. It’s a keeper.
Hello Nagi. Can this recipe be used with bone in chicken thighs? If so, how would the cooking time change?
Thank you!
Hi Charles, you can use bone in however I would bake them as they’d take too long in the pan and you might find the marinade starting to burn. They will take about 50 minutes in a 180C/350F oven 🙂 N x
Enjoyed the recipe. Chicken was even better as a leftover after sitting in the sauce in the refrigerator. I had sauce left over after finishing the chicken and could not bear to throw it out. Ended up adding it to ground beef and making hamburgers. Made really good hamburgers with diced onion in them. Try it; don’t throw away the sauce.
We made this as part of Asian themed Christmas lunch for friends, it was a huge hit and so easy to make….they are still talking about how good it was
Made this tonight!
The flavor of the marinade omgggggg sooo good!!! Like sooooo good!!!
This will def be a staple!
Used Cholula hot sauce, spicy brown mustard cause that’s what I had, ketchup and apple cider vinegar! Amazing 🙂
OMG Ria! I had totally forgotten about this one, I must reinvigorate it! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂 N xx
Hi Nagi! I will be preparing this recipe today but I will be using chicken drumsticks. I am a bit concerned about the cook on the chicken because your recipe says to cook the chicken for 3 minutes each side. Won’t that leave the chicken drumsticks undercooked? is there another method I could use? thank you 🙂
Hi Adanna! Good pick up 🙂 This recipe is for thigh fillets which cook MUCH faster. For drumsticks, I would bake them for around 35 minutes. Baste them occasionally with excess marinade / drippings in the pan. It will be YUM! 🙂
Hi Nagi! Thank you for your tips on the drumsticks. Funny story, I was actually really hungry and needed something fast so I actually used your 5 Ingredient Sticky Stove Top Balsamic Drumsticks method. Except I used the ingredients listed in this recipe and I replaced Balsamic Vinegar with Red Wine Vinegar because I felt balsamic would overpower the other ingredients in this recipe. It worked like magic and the chicken along with the glaze still came out tasting great! I finished it off with a dash of sesame oil as well. Thank you very much and I will try the baking method the next time I make this recipe. Thanks again!
Oh wow Adanna! I’m so glad it worked so well!!
Nagi, your site is my new kitchen beat friend!! Working full time and being the mom of a 2 year, the recipes are so easy to make and just delicious! My husband and I couldn’t get enough of this one! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh Deana! I can just imagine how busy your life is. I so admire all full time working mothers. 🙂 Actually, you are exactly who I created this blog for because most of the recipes I share I do so with one of my best friends in mind who is a full time working other of THREE!! 🙂 Thanks for your lovely message!
Just made this last night… YUM!
I’m a little wigged out by chicken thighs, so I may substitute chicken fillets next time and adjust cook time. But WOW. Very impressed with the flavour and ease of this recipe. Nagi, you’re amazing! Your recipes make me love cooking! Such easy recipes that taste like restaurant meals. A++++
Hi Marti, I’m so glad you enjoyed this! It’s pretty nifty isn’t it? I make wings and drumsticks using this recipe, so handy because I always have all the ingredients on hand! 🙂 Thanks so much for coming back to let me know you enjoyed it!
Gosh, I never thought of steaming the broccoli in the rice pot. What an ingenious idea! That chicken needs to be in my tummy. Now. 🙂
Ah yes, the ingenious ideas the fundamentally lazy come up with….anything to save on washing up!