Honey Soy Chicken is a sweet, salty, sticky chicken dinner that’s incredible quick to prepare. Mix up a simple honey soy sauce, pour over chicken and bake. You’ll be a rockstar when you serve up this incredible sticky Baked Chicken that kids and grown ups will go nuts over!
Quick baked chicken recipes like Balsamic Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken and this sticky soy chicken are great back-pocket recipes because they’re made with pantry staples. Finger licking good!
Honey Soy Chicken
The best way to make Honey Soy Chicken is to marinade it for 24 – 48 hours, then baste constantly while cooking on the stove or BBQ and serve 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 every so slightly adapted from this Baked Sticky Honey Soy Sesame Chicken by Claire from Sprinkles and Sprouts, a fellow Australian food blogger.
The glaze was perfect. Strong flavour, but there’s not an overwhelming amout 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.
One key tip that she emphasises that I made the mistake of ignoring the first time – line the baking dish with 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!
I learnt my lesson the hard way – never again! 🙂
Before I sign off, I want to share some of my favorites from Sprinkles & Sprouts. Claire’s food is very similar to mine – fuss free food with big flavours, everyday ingredients, with a focus on dinners. We both agree that potatoes are one of the greatest foods on this planet and are yet to come across a way with potatoes we don’t like. In fact, Claire is so obsessed with potatoes that she’s created an entire Potato recipe collection! (Psst! Her Smashed Crispy Potatoes are so good I included them in my latest feature in Super Food Ideas magazine!)
MY PICKS FROM SPRINKLES & SPROUTS
- Peri Peri Portuguese Chicken
- Homemade Ricotta
- Hollandaise Sauce in 2 Minutes
- Smashed Crispy Thyme Potatoes
- Cheesy Garlic Butter Potatoes
- Garlic Chicken Parcels
- Homemade ‘Tater Tots
This sticky Honey Soy chicken tops the list. 🙂 – Nagi x
More simple baked bone-in chicken thigh recipes
- Sticky Baked Balsamic Chicken
- Baked Chicken and Rice
- Honey Mustard Chicken – also this version with Potatoes and crispy bacon!
- Baked Greek Marinated Chicken
- Italian Baked Chicken with Potatoes
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Sticky Honey Soy Chicken - baked
Ingredients
- 6 bone in , skin on chicken thighs, about 2 lb/1kg
- 1 red onion , cut into wedges
Glaze
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or ordinary white vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
Garnish (optional)
- Sesame seeds
- Fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F (fan forced) or 200C/390F for conventional.
- 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 2)
- Mix the Glaze ingredients together.
- Place onion and chicken in the baking dish skin side down, then pour the Glaze over.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then turn and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the glaze is sticky. If the glaze is not syrupy, remove the chicken onto a plate and put the pan back in for a few minutes.
- Tilt baking dish and spoon out excess fat. Turn chicken skin side down and squidge around in the glaze to coat it.
- Serve with rice and steamed greens, sprinkled with sesame seeds and fresh cilantro/coriander leaves.
Recipe Notes:

Nutrition Information:
Hi! I’m using this recipe on Cornish hens, how would you recommend using this glaze on them? Thanks!
Hi Lily, you can use as is just depending on the size of the pieces, if they are smaller you may need to reduce the cook time. N x
I tried this recipe for supper. It was delicious. I paired it with your Chinese fried rice. Yum. Thank you.
So delicious and went jammy and sticky as hoped 👌
Sounds perfect Vickie!
The sauce just doesn’t go sticky for me!
Hi Michelle, are you making any adjustments to the recipe? – N x
Soo tasty! Sauce didn’t reduce to sticky but I added 1 extra of everything for the glaze then finely sliced chilli and shredded spring onion to the mix pre baking….a massive hit in this house. Will definitely make again..and again!!
Hi, just wondering if you knew that Official Australian tablespoons are (weirdly) 20ml, while the rest of the world uses 15ml, so if you’ve taken this recipe from an Australian cook, the tbsp volumes might be off.
Another hit, Nagi, that makes it 3 for 3! Our California chickens must be on steroids bc I had to double the sauce for my 6 thighs. The smell coming from the oven was so aromatic and mouth-watering. After removing them from the oven they looked very ordinary. But don’t be fooled, the taste is extraordinary! I couldn’t get a sticky texture, but I didn’t want to leave them in the oven to overcook. When I returned the sauce itself to the oven, it still did not caramelize. Nonetheless, very tasty.
If you doubled the sauce it could be the reason as to why it didn’t reduce and caramelise in time (you could always do this in a saucepan while the chicken it out of the oven). I’m so glad you loved it anyway! – N x
Yum, yum and yum! Loving all your recipes since discovering your site. Nagi, I wish you could convince the major supermarkets to stock parchment lined foil. Every time my husband goes to the UK, he brings me back this stuff and it’s brilliant! So popular there, so convenient, and fantastic for anything sticky and messy.
OMG YES! That’s so clever Georgia! PS Invent it, patent it, make a gazzilion dollars! 😂
Pretty darn yummy! 😁 Had a huge red onion waiting to be put to good use.
This was so good with some brown rice and broccoli.
Will definitely be making this again.
I’m so pleased you enjoyed this Sandra! Thank you for letting me know! N x