Korean Chicken Thighs
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These delicious Korean chicken thighs are marinated in a sweet and smoky chili paste called gochujang and make an easy weeknight meal. Serve them with a side of rice or cauliflower rice for a full meal. You will LOVE them!
We could honestly talk about how good these Korean chicken thighs are until we’re blue in the face! Actually, don’t take our word for it – here’s what one recipe tester had to say:
Hands down the best chicken recipe I can remember making. It brings the heat and sweet and made me think I was eating at a restaurant. This will be added to my normal dinner rotation.
~Jessie F.
- All aboard the flavor train: Between the slightly spicy, salty gochujang paste, the sweet honey, and the savory soy sauce and sesame oil, these Korean chicken thighs are a winning flavor combination. The spice from the fermented chili paste has a slight kick, but it’s truly a dish the whole family can enjoy!
- Easy & inexpensive: This recipe has 4 steps and only 10 minutes of prep time, making it a great weeknight option. Not to mention, chicken thighs are usually less expensive than chicken breasts, and many of the ingredients needed you likely have in your pantry or on the door of your fridge.
- Versatile: These chicken thighs can be served over rice or sliced and tossed on a salad for a lighter meal. If you’re following a paleo diet, you can easily make your own gochujang or use a paleo-friendly variety. This is a delicious paleo option served over cauliflower rice! If your household is gluten-free, you can order gluten-free gochujang to make these Korean chicken thighs.
Is this a traditional Korean chicken thigh recipe?
This chicken thigh recipe features Korean flavors. To achieve the flavors characteristic of Korean cuisine, we use gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger. It’s a delicious combination.
A few ingredient notes
7 ingredients are all you need to make this sticky, spicy-sweet chicken dish:
- Honey: 3 tablespoons of honey adds enough sticky-sweetness to balance the salty and savory flavors in this dish.
- Gochujang: Add 3 tablespoons of gochujang (homemade, store-bought, paleo, or gluten-free varieties will work perfectly) to give your chicken a distinct spicy, funky, salty quality.
- Soy Sauce: Add a tablespoon of soy sauce, or coco aminos if you’re making paleo chicken thighs, or tamari if going gluten-free. This adds another layer of flavor and depth to the marinade.
- Sesame oil: Is there any better smell than sesame oil? Just a teaspoon will go a long way in adding a nutty and sweet component to the sauce.
- Ginger & garlic: Time to add a fresh zing to the chicken by incorporating 2 finely minced cloves of fresh garlic and a teaspoon of minced fresh ginger.
- Skinless chicken thighs: Chicken thighs are a great cut to use for this recipe as they stay tender and juicy as the sauce caramelizes in the oven.
- Optional garnishes: To finish off the dish, you can optionally toss some sesame seeds and sliced green onions over top.
What to serve with Korean chicken
Let’s make it a whole meal! Alongside your Korean gochujang chicken, here’s some other tasty sides sure to please the entire table:
- Ginger Rice or Cauliflower Rice
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Miso Tahini Butter
- Crispy Eggplant Fries
- Spicy Long Beans
- Asian Salad with sesame ginger dressing
- Avocado Cucumber Salad
Recipe FAQs
Can I use another cut of chicken other than chicken thighs?
You can definitely make this recipe using other cuts of chicken, like drumsticks or breasts. That said, since the thighs are a tender cut they will perform better in the oven as the gochujang sauce has time to caramelize and crisp up.
What can I use instead of gochujang?
You can use miso paste (made from fermented soybeans, so some of the flavors will be replicated) or sriracha, in a pinch!
How to store leftover Korean chicken thighs
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in your fridge for 3-4 days.
Can I freeze Korean gochujang chicken?
Absolutely! You can follow the recipe to step number 2 and then pop the chicken in the freezer. Thaw the chicken before baking when you’re ready to eat it.
Korean Chicken Thighs Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons gochujang – Korean chili paste (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (use coco aminos for paleo)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Sesame seeds and sliced green onions (to serve)
Instructions
- In a medium-sized baking dish, mix the honey, gochujang, coco aminos, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.3 tablespoons honey, 3 tablespoons gochujang – Korean chili paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger, 2 cloves garlic, 1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Add the chicken thighs and mix them around in the marinade. Let the chicken marinate for 1-24 hours in your fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the chicken from your fridge and let it come to room temperature while your oven preheats. Bake the chicken for 20 minutes. Turn your oven to broil and broil the chicken for another 5-10 minutes, until the chicken starts to darken.
- OPTIONAL STEP: For a thicker sauce, pour the sauce from the baking dish into a small frying pan and boil it rapidly for 3-4 minutes, until it thickens. Baste the chicken with the thickened sauce and broil it for a few minutes, until it turns dark red.
- Serve the chicken with sesame seeds and sliced green onions on top.Sesame seeds and sliced green onions
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Korean paleo chicken thighs:
- To make this paleo-friendly, start by using paleo-friendly gochujang paste. Gochujang contains glutinous rice (and sometimes wheat) that ferments over time to enhance the paste’s sweetness, so you will want to find a paleo-specific chili paste for these Korean chicken thighs or consider making your own.
- Consider whether you want to serve your chicken as is or with a side. A perfect vehicle or accompaniment to your paleo chicken thighs is this cauliflower rice.
Gluten-free Korean chicken thighs:
- For the same reason, traditional gochujang isn’t an option for those who follow the paleo diet; the wheat in the paste means a gluten-free gochujang is what you’ll need instead.
- For a gluten-friendly marinade, replace the soy sauce with tamari.
- Consider serving your Korean chicken thighs with a salad, roasted broccoli, cauliflower rice, or sweet potato fries.
More chicken thigh recipes
For more inspiration, check out all of our chicken recipes!
Yikes… I followed the recipe and marinaded the thighs for 5 hours. I then prepared the chicken per the recipe. OMG, this was excellent. I hate to admit it but after eating all of the chicken served over rice, I licked the parchment paper clean.
I added this to my “Keepers” board and I’ll definitely be making it again!
Haha I love it! You just made my day!
I just made this again and it is sooo good. This time I topped off with fresh basil before baking it and served it over rice vermicelli.
This recipe looks so YUMMY! Just wondering what adjustments I would have to make if I used chicken wings?
I haven’t tried it with wings but it should work just fine.
This is one of our go to weeknight meals! Thanks for the recipe – we love it, both toddlers and adults!
So happy to hear that your family loves this recipe!
Is this recipe spicy? I want to try it but I have GERD and I’m not allowed to eat spicy food.
No, I don’t find it really spicy. The spice is mellowed a lot by the sweetness. You can always reduce the amount of gochujang if you’re worried about it. 🙂
I forwarded this recipe to everyone I know?
I love it! Thank you!
Wow I just made these for my family and they loved them! Came out so tender and flavorful. I used bone in chicken thighs and took the skin off before marinating.
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!
I’ve made this MANY time with chicken thighs and it’s so delicious!! What would be the changes if I wanted to use chicken breast instead?
You’ll want to be careful to not overcook the chicken breasts. I would recommend preparing the recipe as is but only cooking the chicken for 20 minutes. The sauce will probably not be very thick. If it’s thin, pour it into a pan and reduce it over high heat until it is thicker then pour it back over the chicken breasts. I hope that helps!
This dish turned out so wonderful for me! I was even happy to have sauce left over. I‘ll be using it to glaze pork chops or hotdogs. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit! Such great ideas to use the sauce in other ways!
Followed everything step by step and it did not turn out with a crispy crust or a thin glaze at all
I’m sorry to hear they didn’t turn out. Some chicken is injected with a salt water infusion to plump it up and make it look better in the supermarket. This can cause sauces and glazes to not thicken. One way to get around this is to pour the sauce out of the baking dish and into a small pan and boil it until it thickens. Hope that helps!
I made this for dinner last night! I grilled the chicken thighs as it was too hot to turn on the oven. Even my picky teenager loved it.
Great idea to use the grill! I actually made a similar recipe last year because it was too hot to turn on the oven here, too! https://www.theendlessmeal.com/gochujang-korean-bbq-chicken/
Recipe looks great, bought some gluten free gochujang and exited to try it. One questions: what is the purpose of using parchment paper? Just curious. Thanks!
Just to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan. It makes clean up easier, too. 🙂
Hey! I haven’t tried the recipe but just a note: gochujang is NOT paleo or gluten free. The first ingredient is wheat. :/
It’s easy to make your own gochujang or to buy gluten=free. Links for both options are in the recipe. 🙂
This is actually really freakin good! I didn’t bake it but did mix everything together and used my sous vide. After it was cooked I broiled it skin side up and it turned out amazing!
What a great idea to use your sous vide!!
This was wonderful and pretty easy to make! I did have a LOT of liquid, and the sauce didn’t stay thick when cooking because of this. I suspect it was just the water from the thighs, so there was a lot of juice leftover once everything was cooked. But it was great, and I would cook it again for sure. My girlfriend and her sister loved it as well.
That can happen sometimes with chicken. To thicken the sauce quickly, you can pour it into a pan and boil it rapidly for a minute or two until the extra water evaporates. Happy to hear the recipe was still a hit!
Most of the sauce was gone after baking, is this supposed to happen? I would like more sauce when I eat it.
Yes, the sauce reduces a lot when it’s cooked. You can always double the sauce ingredients next time if you’d like to have more. 🙂
Made this tonight! SO delicious!! The entire family loved it, which is a feat. 😉 . This will absolutely become a regular in our home.
That’s so great to hear! Hooray!