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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. Barb says

    February 21, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing plate of chicken drummies with the most gorgeous glaze. This is seriously finger licking good.
    I can’t get my head around how so few ingredients can pack such a punch.

    Talk about Wow factor Nagi.

    Reply
  2. Jacqui says

    February 7, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    I need to cook for a larger crowd. You said not to double the recipe. Do you have any recommendations?

    Reply
  3. Jo says

    January 10, 2022 at 9:35 am

    Could this be made with wingettes/drumettes? If so does time need to be reduced

    Reply
  4. amado says

    December 9, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    It’s good, that’s all I can say. Another one of your recipe that I made. Your site is on my Bookmarks bar so that I just click when I need to try a new dish. The video is a big help for newbie like me. Recently, I just started learning how to cook.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      December 9, 2021 at 2:37 pm

      Good for you Amado! N x

      Reply
  5. David says

    November 25, 2021 at 5:14 am

    Sticky sticky mess, in a very good way!

    Reply
  6. Alina says

    November 25, 2021 at 3:20 am

    Hmmm….teaspoon or spoon ? My sauce came out in a very small quantity if im using a teaspoon to measure all the ingriedients.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 26, 2021 at 4:10 pm

      Hi Alina – the recipe as written calls for tablespoons (tbsp), not teaspoons. N x

      Reply
  7. Lynn says

    November 9, 2021 at 4:12 pm

    5 stars
    This Sticky Honey Soy Chicken is amazingly delicious! It’s a very easy, non-fussy recipe. I’ll make this again!

    On another note, I’m wondering why I’m no longer getting emails with recipes and Dozer pics. I had seen, a while back, that you were taking a break to work on your cookbook. I really miss your recipes, but not gonna lie, I miss Dozer, equally!

    Reply
  8. Lyn L says

    October 29, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    5 stars
    Flavor is good and easy to make. Time taken for the chicken thighs to be cooked is shorter for my case. About 25 mins is all it takes to be fully cooked. I continued for another 5 mins and then it became harder.

    Reply
    • Lyn L says

      October 29, 2021 at 8:36 pm

      Forgot to mention that I used boneless skinless chicken thighs. That’s probably why it took less time to cook. Thanks Nagi! Another recipe to add to my list.

      Reply
      • Nagi says

        October 30, 2021 at 7:42 am

        Yes Lyn, cook times are for the cuts of meat that I tested. You would need to adjust if you substitute another cut. Glad you enjoyed it! N x

        Reply
  9. Holly says

    October 20, 2021 at 9:20 am

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi 🙂

    This was the bomb, absolutely loved it. Definately going to be making this again in future. I loved the sweet-garlicky-salty (but not too salty) flavours and the beautiful caramelized onions underneath.

    Served with rice and roasted broccoli.

    Thanks!

    Holly

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 20, 2021 at 10:26 am

      You are welcome! N x

      Reply
      • Mrs M says

        June 7, 2022 at 6:40 pm

        5 stars
        Just made this as needed a quick no marinate option and this is sensational, the kids absolutely loved it. Really like your detailed recipe notes as well. I made roast potato and onion wedges with this and will definitely be adding this to my regular dinner recipes.

        Reply
  10. Elizabeth says

    October 3, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    Amazing on chicken wings too!!

    Reply
  11. Anita says

    September 22, 2021 at 6:35 pm

    5 stars
    What I love is that I can have a couple of chicken thighs I’m not sure what to do with, a quick look at what sauces Nagi has on offer for chicken,and, bingo, a smash hit for dinner. My husband had said he wasn’t particularly hungry, until he walked into the kitchen and smelt the delicious aromas wafting around. Thanks again Nagi.

    Reply
  12. Kerrie T says

    September 17, 2021 at 10:49 am

    Made this last night with fried rice . It was a HIT our guests loooooved . Next time I’ll allow for more than just one fillet each. Love all your recipes and ur down to earth way of explaining stuff,❤️

    Reply
  13. Ricky Thomas says

    September 16, 2021 at 7:44 am

    Hi Nagi Im curious as to why you use foil & baking paper in the tray of the honey soy chicken recipe cheers Rick ps love your work

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 16, 2021 at 3:14 pm

      Hi Ricky, I mention this in the post 😉 N x

      Reply
  14. Colin P says

    September 10, 2021 at 11:48 pm

    Made this last night, whilst tasty it didn’t really give a glaze at the end. Followed recipe exactly. I tried to reduce it on the hob in a saucepan but it never thickened up. Any thoughts/advice?

    I thought maybe the chicken was a bit fatty but I trimmed almost all of the excessive fat off the thighs before cooking etc.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 12, 2021 at 10:31 am

      Hi Colin, sounds like it just needed to reduce a little more, if the chicken was overly fatty or overcrowded in the pan this could have caused your issues unfortunately. N x

      Reply
    • amado says

      December 9, 2021 at 2:23 pm

      Mine is not thick also. I just follow instruction on Nagi’s Recipe Note #3, Sauce Thickness, Take out the whole pan, remove the chicken, leaving the sauce, then put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

      Reply
  15. Joy Jacobsen says

    August 25, 2021 at 2:50 am

    5 stars
    I already loved chicken thighs, but this has to be the BEST recipe ever! OMG, sooooo good. The pan size definitely is key, as is the dark soy sauce. Followed exactly and the results were finger lickin’ phenomenal!! Thank you Nagi xoxo

    Reply
  16. Lindsey T says

    August 4, 2021 at 5:01 am

    5 stars
    Just made this for supper, along with your Emergency Dump & Bake Fried Rice.
    Clean plates all round. Love your recipes and the detailed explanations and reasoning why certain ingredients work as they do. Another one for “My RecipeTin”.
    Thanks Nagi, you’re a very clever girl and really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
    Lindsey xx

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      August 8, 2021 at 9:54 am

      Can we marinate them in the sauce?

      Reply
  17. Karen says

    August 3, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious but next time I would use a disposable aluminium tray. It was a bit difficult to serve the sauce with the 2 layers of lining

    Reply
    • amado says

      December 9, 2021 at 2:26 pm

      I used Pyrex, didn’t put lining. Came out great.

      Reply
  18. Miranda says

    August 3, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    Hi Nagi, did this recipe get updated? We make it all the time but this time it seems different?!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      August 3, 2021 at 9:17 pm

      Hi Miranda! Same ingredients but I tidied up the writing and added new photos and a new recipe video! 🙂 N x

      Reply
  19. Elaine says

    July 30, 2021 at 10:34 pm

    Do you think this would work with duck legs? They take a good 2hours to cook at 350* f.

    Reply
  20. Nicolene says

    July 27, 2021 at 4:51 pm

    5 stars
    Lovely! Easy and delicious. Served with mashed potatoes and peas.

    Reply
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