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Home Chicken

Sticky Pantry Chicken Thighs recipe

By:Nagi
Published:11 Jun '14Updated:7 Sep '19
21 Comments
Recipe v

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.

Stick chicken thighs with sauce made from pantry ingredients

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.

Close up of sticky chicken thighs recipe

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.

Close up showing the inside of Sticky Chicken

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

  • Sticky Baked Chicken Thighs
  • Garlic Chicken Thighs
  • Emergency Chicken Rice Casserole (from SCRATCH!)

Close up of Sticky Pantry Chicken thighs in skillet, fresh off the stove

 

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Sticky Pantry Chicken Thigh recipe

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Chicken, Meal
Western
4.78 from 9 votes
Servings4 - 6
Tap or hover to scale
Print
I call this Sticky Pantry Chicken because you probably have most of the ingredients for the marinade in your pantry. It tastes like a fabulous country-style sauce. You'll have this sweet, sticky chicken on the table in 15 minutes!

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:

1. You can substitute the brown sugar for honey or maple syrup.
2. Any hot sauce will work, just be sure to adjust for spiciness to your taste.
3. You can make this using any cut of chicken, and is suitable for grilling, baking or cooking on the stove.
4. Always refer to the cooking instructions for the rice as the water to rice ratio differs between different brands. Generally the rule of thumb is 1 cup of uncooked rice with 1 1/2 cups water.
5. You can substitute the broccolini for other vegetables if you want, just be sure to cut them to a size such that they would cook in boiling water in 1 to 2 minutes - that is a suitable size to "steam" using the residual heat of the rice.
6. Marinading for a while (up to 24 hours) is optional but not necessary. This recipe makes such a great glaze it's not critical to get the flavours infused into the chicken.
7. This marinade/sauce is fantastic for grilling on the BBQ as well. Omit the hot sauce, and the kids will love it!
8. The nutritional information is based on serving 6 people.
Sticky Pantry Chicken

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 445gCalories: 491cal (25%)Carbohydrates: 59.5g (20%)Protein: 36.4g (73%)Fat: 11.3g (17%)Saturated Fat: 2.4g (15%)Cholesterol: 127mg (42%)Sodium: 910mg (40%)Potassium: 176mg (5%)Fiber: 1.5g (6%)Sugar: 6.7g (7%)Vitamin A: 1100IU (22%)Vitamin C: 72.6mg (88%)Calcium: 60mg (6%)Iron: 4.9mg (27%)
Keywords: chicken thigh recipe
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

 

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21 Comments

  1. Lesley says

    March 3, 2021 at 11:40 am

    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

    Reply
  2. epui7 says

    July 25, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 27, 2020 at 11:57 am

      Wahoo, that’s great to hear! N x

      Reply
  3. Sharon says

    July 20, 2020 at 11:16 am

    5 stars
    This very was very good. It’s like making wild rice from scratchy. It went great with the Chicken.

    Reply
    • Sharon says

      July 20, 2020 at 11:21 am

      The chicken was great. It was quick, easy and the sauce was thick. I made it with the mushroom rice. It’s a keeper.

      Reply
  4. Charles says

    July 7, 2020 at 6:01 am

    Hello Nagi. Can this recipe be used with bone in chicken thighs? If so, how would the cooking time change?

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 7, 2020 at 9:05 am

      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

      Reply
  5. Robert Adams says

    April 17, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    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.

    Reply
  6. Vivienne says

    December 24, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
  7. Ria says

    June 2, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    5 stars
    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 🙂

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 4, 2018 at 9:07 pm

      OMG Ria! I had totally forgotten about this one, I must reinvigorate it! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂 N xx

      Reply
  8. Adanna Ugah says

    December 22, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    4 stars
    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 🙂

    Reply
    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      December 23, 2015 at 6:49 am

      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! 🙂

      Reply
      • Adanna Ugah says

        December 23, 2015 at 7:16 pm

        5 stars
        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!

        Reply
        • Nagi | RecipeTin says

          December 24, 2015 at 10:51 am

          Oh wow Adanna! I’m so glad it worked so well!!

          Reply
  9. Deana says

    August 21, 2015 at 1:36 am

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      August 21, 2015 at 6:07 am

      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!

      Reply
  10. Marti says

    August 19, 2015 at 11:57 pm

    4 stars
    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++++

    Reply
    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      August 20, 2015 at 7:08 am

      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!

      Reply
  11. Farah @ The Cooking Jar says

    June 13, 2014 at 12:21 pm

    5 stars
    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. 🙂

    Reply
    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      June 13, 2014 at 4:39 pm

      Ah yes, the ingenious ideas the fundamentally lazy come up with….anything to save on washing up!

      Reply

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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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