Korean Chicken Thighs with Gochujang Glaze
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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 for a full meal. You will LOVE them!
I could honestly talk about how good these Korean chicken thighs are until I’m blue in the face. But don’t take my 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.
These Korean chicken thighs are sticky, savory, sweet, and just a little spicy — basically everything I want from an easy weeknight chicken recipe. The sauce caramelizes in the oven and clings to the chicken beautifully, creating deeply flavorful edges while the thighs stay juicy and tender inside.
The flavor combination here is what makes this recipe so good. Gochujang brings warmth, depth, and a gentle fermented chili flavor, while honey balances it all with sweetness. Soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger round things out with lots of savory flavor that makes it taste as if it took much longer to make than it actually did.
I also love how simple this recipe is. With just a handful of pantry-friendly ingredients and minimal prep, it’s the kind of dinner that’s easy enough for busy nights but flavorful enough to feel exciting. Finished with sesame seeds and green onions, it’s perfect served with rice and something fresh on the side.
Is this a traditional Korean chicken thigh recipe?
This chicken thigh recipe features Korean flavors, but it’s not a traditional recipe. To achieve the flavors characteristic of Korean cuisine, we use gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger. It’s a delicious combination.
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
How to store
How to store leftover Korean chicken thighs? Store any leftovers in a covered container in your fridge for 3-4 days.
Can I freeze Korean gochujang chicken? Absolutely! You can follow the recipe up to step 2, then pop the chicken in the freezer. Thaw the chicken before baking when you’re ready to eat it.
Korean Chicken Thighs with Gochujang Glaze
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.
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Love! Love! Love! But believe me when I suggest using a disposable aluminum pan. And double the recipe. The sauce is yum. I make this almost weekly.
Great tip! So happy that you love this recipe!
I have made this several times with thighs and now started to make it with salmon. It’s delicious
Great idea to use the flavor on salmon – I bet it’s delicious!
I have found that Trader Joe’s Gochujang is not as spicy and it does have sugar so I only add 1 tablespoon of honey
Made this recipe and it was awesome! The gochuchang I have is a bit on the spicy side so I only used 1 Tbsp for the serving size of 3 size. Came out great! Will definitely make this again as it was so easy and so tasty.
It sounds awesome but it is not paleo.
It’s paleo if you use the coco aminos option and the homemade gochujang we linked to in the notes. 🙂
I’ve made this several times and it’s excellent.
Today, I any going with pork loins. The only addition I made was adding Korean chili flakes (Gochugaru) to kick it up. Mmmm.
This was a little too spicy for me, but the flavor was delicious. Is there a way to mail ain’t he flavor but reduce the heat? I was worried reducing the amount of gochujang paste would affect flavor.
I’ve found that some gochujang paste is more spicy than others. If you reduce it, you could add a little more coco aminos and sesame oil to boost up the flavor.
I just whipped this up and it was DELICIOUS! I used Thai red curry because it’s what I had on hand. Still turned out so yummy.
Could Kimchi paste be substituted?
We haven’t tried it but it sounds delicious!
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.
Your link to the gluten-free gochujang is no longer active. Do you have another link for that?
Hi! Yes, we found this gluten-free gochujang as a replacement.
Have you tried freezing this chicken in the sauce and reheating it for an even quicker meal?
I haven’t but I suspect that it would work well!
Oh boy. The flavours were fantastic. I’m already plotting when I can make it again and we only just finished dinner. I did use a bit less honey because I ran out but the flavours were still fantastic although the sauce was probably a bit thinner.
Love this recipe. I make it a lot.
Yes, it’s for both. 🙂
All I could find in a pinch was go chu jang sauce. Can that be used in place of the paste or paste is better?
I haven’t tried the sauce but I suspect that it wouldn’t have quite as much flavor and will be a little thinner. It should work, but it might not coat the chicken quite as well. If it’s quite thin, you may want to try boiling it for a few minutes to thicken it up before using it. 🙂
go chu jang sauce is the sauce made of go chu jang, vinegar, sugar and some other ingredients. As I am Korean, in my opinion, you shouldn’t use go chu jang sauce as the substitute of go chu jang. I am quite sure the taste and flavor would turn out quite differently.
These are AMAZING! So glad I found this recipe. That sauce is magical. I Meade a double batch…I may just make an extra batch of the sauce and use it for a dipping sauce. Yum!