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Home Quick and Easy

Sticky Honey Soy Baked Chicken

By:Nagi
Published:21 Jul '21Updated:19 Sep '21
211 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Honey Soy Baked Chicken is a good one for busy weeknights and lazy Sundays. Just mix up a simple honey-soy-garlic sauce, pour it over chicken and bake in the oven. Out comes a sweet, salty, sticky chicken dinner – just the sort of flavours everybody loves!

Quick-to-prepare baked chicken recipes like Balsamic Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken and this sticky soy chicken are great back pocket recipes because they’re just made with pantry staples. Finger licking good!

Close up photo of freshly baked Honey Soy Baked Chicken

Easy Baked Honey Soy Chicken

The best way to make Honey Soy Chicken is to marinate it for 24 – 48 hours, followed by constant basting while cooking on the stove or BBQ and serving it with a glossy honey soy garlic sauce. And here’s the recipe for how to make it that way – if you have the time!

This recipe is the baked version that’s effortless, with completely hands-off cooking. It’s ever-so slightly adapted from this Baked Sticky Honey Soy Sesame Chicken by Claire from Sprinkles and Sprouts, a fellow Australian food blogger.

The glaze is perfect. Strong in flavour, but there’s not an overwhelming amount of it – just enough to coat the chicken which is all you need. And it’s because the glaze has such great flavour that you don’t even need to marinate the chicken.

Just throw a handful of ingredients in a pan, bake it, and this is what you get:

Overhead photo of pan of Honey Soy Baked Chicken fresh out of the oven

What you need to make Baked Honey Soy Chicken

Here’s what you need to make this dish:

Honey Soy Baked Chicken ingredients
  • Chicken thighs – This recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on thighs so they can be in the oven for the 50 to 60 minutes required for the sauce to reduce down and caramelise.

    It can also be made with drumsticks and chicken marylands without altering the recipe.

    For boneless thighs and breasts, the chicken will be in the oven for substantially less time so I’d give the sauce a head start in the oven first to start reducing before adding the chicken.

  • Red onion – This is cut into wedges and used as the bed on which the chicken is baked. The onion adds an extra element of flavour into the sauce, much like the way so many savoury recipes start by sautéing onion.

  • Garlic – Flavour! We are a huge fan of garlic in (almost!) everything savoury!

  • Honey – This is the sweetness in the sauce which makes it a glaze that coats the chicken.

  • Soy sauce – This is the salt in the sauce. The recipe calls for all purpose soy sauce, but light soy sauce can be used too. DO NOT use dark soy sauce (flavour is far too intense) or sweet soy sauce like kecap manis (too sweet and too strong). See here for more on different soy sauces, and when you can interchange.

  • Cider vinegar – Essential to balance out the sweet and savoury.

  • Sesame oil – I adore sesame oil for the flavour it adds to anything it’s used in, whether a dressing (like this Asian Sesame Dressing) or into soups (like Hot & Sour Soup).


How to make Honey Soy Baked Chicken

Mix the sauce > pour over chicken > bake.

Anything else you need to know?? 😂 (Just joking!!)

How to make Honey Soy Baked Chicken
  1. Sauce – Mix the honey, soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, sesame oil and pepper.

  2. Line pan – Line a pan with both foil AND baking paper (parchment paper). This is a jammy glaze we have here, and if you just use baking paper, you’ll be suffering through a serious scrubbing session like I did!

    Then spread the onion out in the pan.

  3. Pour sauce over chicken – Top with chicken upside down (ie skin side down) and pour the sauce over. We start with the skin side down to get a bit of colour on the underside (because colour = flavour) otherwise the underside is just stewing in the sauce the whole time.

  4. Bake 25 minutes – Bake the chicken for 25 minutes at 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).

  5. Turn and baste – Turn the chicken and spoon the pan juices over the chicken.

  6. Bake 25 – 35 minutes – Bake for a further 25 to 35 minutes until the chicken is nicely browned. Hopefully, the sauce will be reduced down to a syrup and require no adjustment, but sometimes it will still be too thin. If it’s too thin, it’s an easy fix: remove chicken to a plate, pop pan back into oven. It will thicken quite quickly.

    The reason it’s hard to say whether your sauce will be perfectly syrupy straight of the the oven is due to varying factors such as pan size (more space around chicken = faster reduction), juiciness of chicken (juicier = leaches more water = thins sauce more), if the chicken was frozen (tends to drop more water) and how evenly head circulates in the oven.

  7. Squidge! Turn the chicken over and squidge the chicken skin into the syrupy sauce. And yes, “squidge” is a real word. See?

  1. Baste – Spoon the sauce over the chicken to coat it more. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and something green if you want to pretty it up a touch (coriander/cilantro leaves, green onion, parsley, chives). And serve!

Overhead photo of pan of Honey Soy Baked Chicken fresh out of the oven

Fork picking up piece of Honey Soy Baked Chicken set on rice

What to serve with Baked Honey Soy Chicken

In the photo above, the chicken is pictured with plain rice. Even though there’s not a ton of sauce, what you do have has a fairly intense flavour so a little goes a long way when mixed through rice.

Choose from: white rice, jasmine, basmati, brown rice or (just in case you’re doing the low carb thing) try cauliflower rice. Actually, this is a good one for cauliflower rice because the sauce flavour is quite strong so it will disguise any remnant of cauliflower flavour!

If you want to raise the bar, try it with a side of flavoured rice! Here are some options:

Close up of seasoned rice with butter, ready to be served (copycat boxed rice)
Buttery Seasoned Rice – super economical, super tasty!
Fluffy coconut rice in a white bowl, ready to be served.
Coconut Rice (fluffy, not gluey!)
Coconut Cilantro Lime Rice in a bowl with a spoon, ready to be served.
Coconut Coriander/Cilantro Lime Rice
This Lemon Rice Pilaf is so delicious, it can be eaten plain! Lovely bright fresh lemon flavours with herbs. www.recipetineats.com
Greek Lemon Rice
Rice side dishes
Rice Side Dishes

Love to know what you think if you try this chicken dish. And tell me what you served on the side! – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

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Close up photo of freshly baked Honey Soy Baked Chicken

Sticky Honey Soy Chicken – baked

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Total: 55 mins
Chicken, Dinner
Asian influence
4.86 from 49 votes
Servings5 – 6 people
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 248
Recipe video above. This is still the best, EASIEST sticky honey soy chicken recipe I have come across. And I've tried many over the years!
Marginally adapted from this recipe by Sprinkles and Sprouts. The sauce is very thin when you put it together and gets even thinner while baking, but miraculously, it suddenly thickens into an incredible glaze to squidge the chicken in. It's salty and sweet with a lovely hit of sesame.
Please do not double the recipe or sauce, this will prevent the sauce from reducing down to the sticky glaze you see pictured.

Ingredients

  • 1.2kg / 2.4lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs OR drumsticks (5 – 6 pieces) (Note 1)
  • 1 red onion , peeled, cut into wedges

Glaze

  • 3 cloves garlic , minced
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce (Note 2)
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or ordinary white vinegar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Garnish (optional)

  • Sesame seeds
  • Fresh coriander/cilantro leaves (or other green things like green onion, parsley, chives)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
  • Line pan: Line a baking dish with foil then baking paper. The baking tray should fit the chicken comfortably, not too spaced apart (glaze will dry out), not too snug (glaze won't thicken enough). (Note 3)
  • Glaze: Mix the Glaze ingredients together.
  • Pour glaze over chicken: Place onion and chicken in the baking dish skin side down, then pour the Glaze over.
  • Bake 50 – 60 minutes: Bake for 25 minutes, then turn and bake for a further 25 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is browned and the glaze is sticky. If the glaze is not syrupy, remove the chicken to a plate and put the pan back in for a few minutes (it will reduce quickly).
  • Squidge/coat chicken – Turn chicken and squidge in the glaze, then also spoon it over.
  • Serve! Serve with rice and steamed greens, sprinkled with sesame seeds and fresh cilantro/coriander leaves.

Recipe Notes:

1. Chicken – Bone in, skin on thighs work best because the sauce should reduce down to a syrup in the same time it takes for the chicken to cook. Drumsticks also work, without any alteration to the recipe.
Boneless skinless thighs and breast – Pour sauce over onion, bake 15 to 20 minutes until syrupy. Place boneless thighs in, turn to coat. Bake at 220°C/425°F for 20 minutes, basting once or twice, until chicken is cooked through. Caramelisation won’t be as good as pictured (need skin).
2. Soy sauce – Use ordinary, all purpose soy sauce. Sub light soy sauce (though sauce colour will be slightly paler).
Do not use dark soy sauce or sweet soy sauce. 
3. Sauce thickness – Factors such as pan size, space around chicken, how much juice the chicken leaches in the oven (sometimes chicken is injected with brine, frozen is more watery etc), how evenly you oven circulates heat will all affect exactly how thick the sauce is at the end of the bake time. 
However, it’s an easy fix – just take the chicken out then return the pan into the oven. It reduces really quickly.
This recipe doesn’t make a lot of sauce, which is the way it is supposed to be because it is quite strong in flavour. It reduce to a jammy sticky glaze, enough to coat the chicken. That’s all you need!
4. Nutrition per chicken, assuming all sauce is consumed.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 207gCalories: 492cal (25%)Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)Protein: 34g (68%)Fat: 34g (52%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Trans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 196mg (65%)Sodium: 658mg (29%)Potassium: 471mg (13%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 10g (11%)Vitamin A: 157IU (3%)Vitamin C: 2mg (2%)Calcium: 26mg (3%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: Baked chicken, honey soy chicken
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Recipe originally published in 2016. Update was long overdue with the addition of a new recipe video and most importantly, a Life of Dozer section!

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211 Comments

  1. Kylie says

    December 15, 2022 at 3:46 pm

    Hi Nagi/ cooks, Would this recipe work with little chicken wings or chicken nibbles? I’m wanting to make it for a supper with guests but am unsure of the cooking times etc. Can someone please LMK?

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      January 8, 2023 at 11:53 am

      Use Nagi’s Honey Soy Wings recipe! It’s a winner with the boys in my household. (I don’t eat meat)

      Reply
    • Kathy says

      January 8, 2023 at 12:01 pm

      Sorry I meant to say Sticky Chinese Chicken Wings recipe. 👌

      Reply
  2. Fiona says

    September 15, 2022 at 10:31 pm

    5 stars
    Wow, another one Nagi, this was so simple but the flavours were sensational, absolutely delicious! Did it in the air fryer as well. Whenever I don’t know what to do for dinner, you come to the rescue every time. I can’t wait for your cookbook to arrive 👏👏👏

    Reply
  3. Nicole says

    August 27, 2022 at 10:58 am

    What pan size do you use??

    Reply
  4. Lola says

    August 21, 2022 at 11:14 am

    1 star
    I usually love your recipes but this one was just very bland tasting!! I was disappointed and Wouldn’t make it again sadly

    Reply
  5. Mark says

    June 29, 2022 at 7:21 pm

    My wife accused me of buying pre-marinated chicken. She couldn’t believe I made it from scratch.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 29, 2022 at 7:59 pm

      Best accusation ever. take it! 😂

      Reply
  6. Victoria Rodriguez says

    June 15, 2022 at 9:27 am

    Thank you Nagi, I will try it, looks delicius.

    Reply
  7. Judy says

    June 5, 2022 at 7:49 am

    5 stars
    This Honey Soy Chicken recipe is my new ‘best ever’ chicken recipe! I put it in a long slow oven (275 degrees for 1.25 hours) while I was at swim class & then pumped it up to 400 degrees when I got home. Finally drained into sauce pan and boiled it down to a thick glaze that went back on the chicken. Yummy

    Reply
  8. Tammy says

    May 25, 2022 at 8:41 am

    My husband does not like onions. Suggestion for something else that the chicken can sit on while baking

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 25, 2022 at 9:15 am

      Try some chopped carrots and celery sticks Tammy! N x

      Reply
  9. Susan says

    May 18, 2022 at 5:18 am

    Loved just about all of your recipes

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 18, 2022 at 1:23 pm

      Thanks so much Susan! I am happy that you are enjoying them! N x

      Reply
  10. Kirsty Andrews says

    March 10, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    5 stars
    I made this but doubled it as I had a lot of drums (I know you weren’t supposed to!) but it was really great!…not sticky, but I wanted a sauce to go on the chicken and rice so I just thickened up the sauce on the stovetop with some cornflour in a bit of water. Great flavour, super easy and the kids loved it…awesome! Thank you Nagi🤗

    Reply
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

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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