I call this Sticky Pantry Chicken because you probably have all the marinade ingredients in your pantry. It’s sweet, sticky and spicy (optional), with an incredible depth of flavour for such a quick recipe!
Because the marinade makes such a great saucy glaze, you don’t need to marinate the chicken overnight, though you can if you want.
A handy shortcut I use is to steam the broccolini using the residual heat when resting the rice – it works perfectly! You can substitute the broccolini for other vegetables, such as sliced carrots, asparagus, or any other vegetable that cooks in around the same time as broccolini.
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Sticky Pantry Chicken with Rice and Broccolini
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Chicken, Meal
Servings4 - 6
Tap or hover to scale
I call this Sticky Pantry Chicken because you probably have most of the ingredients for the marinade in your pantry. You'll have this sweet, sticky chicken on the table in 15 minutes! You can marinate it overnight if you want, but this makes such a great sauce it's really not necessary. This recipe also uses a handy shortcut for cooking the broccolini by using the residual heat while resting the rice - less washing up, and perfectly cooked broccolini!
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade
- 6 (1.5-2lb / 750g-1kg) chicken thigh fillets
- 1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dijon or American mustard
- 2 tbsp hot sauce (optional)
- 2 tbsp vinegar (any)
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp oil (for frying)
Rice and Broccolini
- 2 cups rice
- 3 cups water
- 2 bunches broccolini
- 1 tbsp flaked almonds (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the rice and water in a pot, bring to boil then turn down to simmer until the water is absorbed (6 to 8 minutes).
- Remove rice from heat, place broccolini in the pot on top of the rice, put lid back on and leave for the rice to rest for 5 minutes and the residual heat to steam the broccolini.
- While the rice is cooking, combine the chicken marinade ingredients.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat, quickly dip each piece of chicken into the marinade, shaking off the excess, then place in the 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 to 3 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the pan, add the remaining marinade with an extra 1/2 cup of 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, return the chicken to the pan to coat in the sauce.
- To serve, place rice on a plate, top with chicken and broccolini on the side. Garnish broccolini with flaked almonds if you wish.
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.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 445gCalories: 491kcalCarbohydrates: 59.5g (20%)Protein: 36.4g (73%)Fat: 11.3g (17%)Saturated Fat: 2.4g (12%)Cholesterol: 127mg (42%)Sodium: 910mg (38%)Potassium: 176mg (5%)Fiber: 1.5g (6%)Sugar: 6.7gVitamin A: 22%Vitamin C: 88%Calcium: 6%Iron: 27%
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!