Honey Garlic Chicken
This is the most amazing Baked Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe made with a 5-ingredient deliciously sticky sauce. It's guaranteed to be a hit at your dinner table!

I tend to think of chicken like this: its sole purpose is to act as a vehicle to help get more of whatever delicious sauce it's coated in into my mouth. Are you the same?
After you make this recipe you'll want to lick your fingers, the plate, and the pan these were cooked on. This honey garlic chicken is that good.
It also comes together in only 35 minutes, and most of that time is spent staring at your oven willing this mouthwatering honey garlic chicken to hurry up and cook faster. So easy. So good.
We're big fans of easy chicken recipes. If you are too, then you'll also love our lemon garlic chicken. It's a marinade made with minimal ingredients yet it is full of flavor.
Why you'll love this honey garlic chicken
- The sweet garlicky sauce coats every bit of the chicken so every bite is too good for words.
- The ‘secret' trick I have of grating the garlic and onion means that they dissolve into the sauce and make the sauce 100x better.
- Sticky sticky sticky … as honey garlic chicken should be.
- This is one of those healthy recipes (paleo and gluten-free!) that doesn't seem like it should be. It tastes too delicious to be good for us.

How to make this honey garlic chicken recipe
This baked honey garlic chicken is SO EASY to make.
- Start by roasting the chicken until it is almost cooked through – about 30 -35 mins.
- Then make the sauce. Pop the 5 honey garlic sauce ingredients into a small frying pan and bring it to a boil for a couple of minutes. This thickens the sauce so it sticks to the chicken. Trust me that this little extra step is 100% worth it.
- Dip the chicken in the sauce and broil the bottom side. Then flip the chicken over and baste the rest of the sauce on top before you broil it for a few more minutes. Broiling the chicken at the end will caramelize the sugars in the honey to make it extra delicious.

What to serve with honey garlic chicken thighs
I like to load up on the veggies when serving this chicken. Often it's as simple as a big green salad and some roasted carrots or broccoli. Rice (or cauliflower rice, if you're weird like me) is great with any leftover honey garlic sauce drizzled over the top.
Here are a few of our other favorite sides:
- Bacon Kale Caesar Salad
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Easy Asian Coleslaw with Orange Sesame Dressing
- Smoky Roast Potatoes
- Sweet and Spicy Yam Wedges
- Smoky Parmesan Corn on the Cob

Our favorite honey garlic recipes
- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
- Sticky Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
- Paleo Honey Garlic Chicken Fingers
- Honey Garlic Corn on the Cob

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Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes
- Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets
- Cheesy Fajita Stuffed Chicken
- Asian Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
- Saucy Peanut Chicken with Broccoli and Peppers
- Quick and Easy Honey Lemon Chicken
- Paleo Honey Garlic Chicken Fingers
- Perfect Baked Chicken Breasts

Honey Garlic Chicken
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon each: salt and pepper
Honey Garlic Sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, can sub brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- 4 cloves garlic, grated with the small holes on your grater
- 1 teaspoon grated onion, grated with the small holes on your grater
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place one oven rack in the middle and another rack at the top. For easy cleanup, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Season both sides of the chicken with the salt and pepper. Put the chicken on the baking sheet skin side up and bake for 30-35 minutes. (35 minutes for big thighs.)8 chicken thighs, 1 teaspoon each: salt and pepper
- While the chicken is cooking, bring the honey garlic sauce ingredients to a boil for 2 minutes in a small frying pan to thicken the sauce.3 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, 1 teaspoon molasses, 4 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon grated onion
- Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully drain any liquid from the pan. Dip each chicken piece in the sauce and put the chicken back on the pan skin side down. Broil (on the top oven rack) for 5 minutes.
- Turn the chicken over and baste the skin with the remaining sauce then broil for 5 minutes more.
OMG!!! This recipe is so good!!! Baked chicken thigh and served it on top of a rose cream cheese spaghetti and all my guests loved it!!! It is a go to recipe from now on.
We definitely need these for football season around here! Can’t wait to try them!
This looks delicious. I’d like to make it but I want to know what I can use instead of molasses. Thank you. I love your recipes. <3
If you don’t have it, you can omit it. It adds an extra layer of flavor, but it’s not 100% necessary.
This recipe is THE BEST! I’m never making hg chicken any other way. Thank you!!!
I’m happy you think so, too!
Kristen, this chicken dish looks over the top yummy! I love anything honey, garlic and saucy. Such a GREAT combination. And even better that it’s out of the oven in 40 minutes. Looks like a WINNER. Thanks for sharing.
You are very welcome!!
How would you adjust the time, etc., for chicken drunsticks?
Bone in thighs and drumsticks cook at about the same time so the 25 mins total cooking time should do. If you have a meat thermometer, you can check to make sure the chicken is at least 165 degrees. If they’re big drumsticks you can leave them in for an extra 5 minutes or so.
It was very good. But for a diabetic , I do not know .I will soon tell. The only thing to say is have everything done ahead of time. And keep a wet cloth handy. It is a good recipe can be sticky.
but good!!!
I hope dinner didn’t throw your sugars all out of wack. I’m happy to hear you liked the recipe!
I made this tonight. It was very yummy. Two things I’ll do different next time.. First, I’ll precook for 25 minutes. I found the chicken was ‘just’ a bit underdone after the 2nd broil. I put it in the oven at 425 for 5 minutes more. Also, I will take a fork after the precook and pierce the chicken to let the yummy sauce go deeper into the chicken. The recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
I’m so happy you checked it before digging in! Sometimes exact times can be hard to give as the size of chicken breasts or thighs can vary quite a bit. Good idea to poke the chicken to let in the sauce!
Made this for dinner tonight using skin-on thighs and drumsticks and it was absolutely delicious! Excited to try with boneless, skinless chicken breaks next as I’m sure they will be delicious as well, albeit a bit healthier. Great, quick, and tasty meal for any night of the week. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
So happy you like the recipe! It’s still one of my personal favourites. 🙂
This has become one of my favorite recipes! My kids and husband love it, and it’s actually pretty easy to do. The flavor is perfect exactly as the recipe is written, but I might experiment with adding or altering the flavor components just for fun.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I’m so happy to hear you and your family love it. 🙂
This is wonderful,easy and healthy
Does it matter if i use table salt vs. sea salt??
I always use sea salt as I find table salt is too strong and has an almost bitter quality to it. If you use table salt just start with a little and add more to taste 🙂
This chicken is awesome! ❤
This is amazing!!! I make this when I want to bribe hubby to do something 🙂 haha!!!
Hi Kristen,
I stumbled upon your website while looking for recipes to boost my grandma’s immune system. I’ll definitely try this one and cook it for her! Hope it turns out well like yours! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
What can I use instead of Molasses?
I would try substituting a little brown sugar, or just omitting it 🙂
This sounds sooooo good I think I will be trying it real soon….maybe tonight
Thank you for all you work you recipes are mouth watering and your photos are amazing….great work!!!
Oh man! I can’t wait to try this. It sounds so easy and looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Can this be done in the slow cooker do you think until the broil part?
Hi Kristen,
I just made this recipe for dinner & WOW, it’s so ridiculously yummy!! I used boneless/skinless breasts because that’s all I had, but will definitely use skin-on thighs next time for that extra deliciousness of fat (mmm…guilty pleasure!). I served it with a cheater-spaghetti noodle version of lo mein, and the hubs and I thought it was a perfect combo! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe. I originally found it on Pinterest, but will now be a new follower of your blog. 🙂
Thanks again!
Kas
The broiler on my oven is tiny and useless, can you just cook the chicken in the oven with the temperature turned up after adding the sauce?
I definitely think that would work. It is really just to get the sauce to ‘stick’ to the chicken a little more. Enjoy!
Just tried this recipe tonight, and it was AMAZING!!!..thank you from me and my husband 🙂
This was awesome! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much!!
Wow, made this for dinner tonight, and it was absolutely amazing.
This chicken was so delicious. I will be making it again for sure!
Wow — these were soooooo good! Thanks for the recipe; the whole family enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for letting me know, Anna! And you are very welcome 🙂
Going to make this receipe ,what if I don’t have molasses can I substitute, something else or can i just leave it out, also what can i serve with this dish
Hey Martha,
You can just leave it out, it will still be delicious. I like to serve this with a big salad but you could make any kind of veggies and maybe some crispy baked potatoes 🙂
Honey garlic chicken is my weakness. I love that you add molasses in the recipe, sounds very tasty!
Mine too! The molasses really gives it more depth 🙂
Wow, that skin is gorgeous! I love the ingredient combination and can’t wait to try this!
Thanks, Rachel! Honey garlic is one of my fav’s too 🙂
Oh my! This chicken looks fantastic with such crunchy delicious skin! I’m featuring this post in today’s Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution as always). Thank you so much for keeping me inspired with such delicious creations…
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Here’s my question: Can I cook the chicken with the skin to add flavor, but not eat the skin and decrease the fat? Does cooking with the skin on add fat to the chicken meat per se?
Thanks,
Kelly Grace
Hey Kelly,
I would choose to do it one way or the other. The extra flavour from the skin comes from eating it directly and from the fat you add to the honey garlic sauce, not from soaking into the chicken.
It will still be delicious with the skin off since there is so much flavour in the sauce. Maybe save the skin on version for a treat and the skinless version for everyday 🙂