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Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

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Tender, juicy, flavorful easy skillet Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs is delicious served over rice and a quick weeknight meal!

My Facebook feed is full of food posts from some of the most amazing food bloggers in the world! (Literally the WORLD!)

Chicken thighs seasoned in a honey glaze and sesome seeds

 Sometimes feel like I should pull up a big bowl of popcorn, sit back, and watch one food video after the other. (Someone should just take the best of the best and splice them all together. It would be my kind of Oscar worthy movie!)

Anywho…last week this amazing video, from Café Delites, for Easy Honey Garlic Chicken was shared by a blogger friend on Facebook. The minute I saw it, I knew it was a recipe I was going to try… and share. Especially if it held up to all the “hype”. (Oh boy did it!)

If you want to see the original you can find it by clicking right HERE!  Karina is the blogger and creator of this dish at Café Delites. Her recipes and photography are truly amazing works of art! You’ll love her site. I know I do!

Karina doesn’t use the word “Easy” lightly in this recipe. It is SO easy! I promise if you make this recipe it will turn out as good as mine did. This is a simple easy recipe. It’s a great recipe for a busy week night meal. It cooks up quickly and has ingredients everyone has in their pantry.

Let’s do this! (Be prepared to impress yourself with your mad skills!) 

How To Make Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

Rinse your chicken and pat dry. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Sear chicken thighs on both sides. (You can use boneless, skinless breasts that have been fillet or boneless skinless thighs) I used 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to get a nice crispy sear on my chicken thighs, since I was using bone in thighs.

Chicken Thighs in a hot skillet frying to a golden crisp

Tip: If using boneless thighs or breasts, be sure to cook until golden and cooked through.

Tip: If using bone-in thighs, after searing on both sides, reduce heat, cover chicken with lid and continue cooking until the chicken thighs are cooked through. Turn every 5–10 minutes until done. Drain the pan after cooking leaving a couple of tablespoons of pan juices for flavor.

While those chicken thighs are doing their “thang”… mix together all the honey sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Browned Chicken thighs in a hot skillet

Once the chicken is completely cooked, arrange chicken skin-side up, if cooking with the skin. Next, nudge…that’s right I said NUDGE! (You know…like you do to your husband when he falls asleep in church!) 

Yep, nudge those chicken thighs to the side. Add your garlic and sauté for 30 seconds to release the flavors.

Tip: Watch that garlic…it burns quickly. We don’t want ugly black garlic!

Add the honey sauce. Increase your heat back to medium-high and continue cooking until the sauce reduces down and thickens. It should take about 3–5 minutes.

Adding Honey Sauce to chicken thighs

Garnish chicken with chopped fresh parsley and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Do you see what I see? Do you see all that yummy honey garlic sauce down there in the bottom of the serving dish?

THAT sauce is AMAZING! We don’t want it to go to waste! (They’ll arrest you for “wasteful sauce abuse”! You’ve been warned!)  So to prevent your imprisonment…

Topped Honey Garlic Thighs with sesame seeds and parsley

…serve those crispy, flavorful, yummy, chicken thighs over a bed of fresh steamed rice or vegetable, and drizzle spoonfuls of that sauce over it. Let the rice or veggies soak up all that sweet lip-smacking spectacular sauce!

Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs over rice

If you’re wondering if this dish is REALLY as good as it looks? The answer is a resounding…YES!

Not only is this dish amazingly delicious…your house smells heavenly while it’s cooking! Honestly if you were trying to sell your home…skip the old “cookies in the oven” baking trick and just make this dish about an hour beforehand.

You’ll have a million offers to purchase your home on the smell alone! Heaven!

I chose to serve this dish with white long grain rice and fresh steamed broccoli. That was it. Just a wonderful simple filling meal.

You don’t want to complicate a dish like this. Let the scrumptious flavor combinations speak for themselves.

Other Amazing Chicken Main Dish Recipes

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Happy Cooking from My Nest to Yours!

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Yield: 6 servings

Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

Garlic Honey Chicken Thighs

Tender juicy chicken thighs are seared to a golden brown and then simmered in a sweet honey garlic sauce served over rice or steamed vegetables. A quick healthy easy week night meal.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken thighs, bone in or out, with or without skin
  • Salt and pepper, to season
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder, to season
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup water (or chicken broth)
  • 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Instructions

  1. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder; set aside.
  2. Heat pan or skillet over medium high heat; sear chicken thigh fillets or breast fillets on both side until golden and cooked through.

FOR BONE IN THIGHS:

  1. Reduce heat after searing on both sides, cover skillet with a lid and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through, while turning every 5 minutes until done.
  2. Drain most of the excess oil from the pan, leaving about 2 Tablespoons of pan juice for added flavor.

FOR SAUCE:

  1. When chicken is done and cooked through, arrange chicken skin-side up in the pan (if cooking with skin); add the garlic between the chicken and fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the honey, water, vinegar and soy sauce. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook until the sauce reduces down and thickens slightly. (about 3-5 minutes)
  2. Garnish with parsley and sesame seeds and serve over rice, vegetables, pasta or with a salad.

Notes

For chicken breasts: use 3 breasts, sliced horizontally in half. Sear breast fillets on each side until golden and cooked through (about 6 minutes per side, depending on thickness of your fillets). Continue directions from the sauce, onwards.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6 servings

Serving Size:

1 chicken thigh

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 345Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 166mgSodium: 424mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 0gSugar: 15gProtein: 31g

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Adriana Keyes

Thursday 14th of January 2021

Hello. My mom likes to call me a mini chef and tonight I was looking for something to fix for them instead of my own recipes which take forever. And I say it was really good. The chicken was spectacular!

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Thursday 14th of January 2021

Hi Adriana! I love mini Chefs that cook for their parents! That's AWESOME! Knowing how to cook is a skill you'll use your entire life and it blesses the lives of others! I'm so glad you loved this recipe and took the time to stop by and leave a comment! I hope you'll keep cooking in the kitchen and that you'll give a few of my other recipes a try! Thanks so much chatting with me and for making my recipe. Come back again soon! Norine

Glenda

Monday 2nd of March 2020

I have a question. The recipe says to cook the boneless skinless chicken thighs until done. How many minutes on each side should I cook them?

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Tuesday 3rd of March 2020

Hi Glenda! Sorry for the delay in responding. I've had a couple of really busy days with a family emergency. There are a lot of different variables for cooking chicken thighs. How high the temp on your stove top, pans all cook at different temps. The best way to tell is when the juices run clear. I usually cook mine about 10-12 minutes per side and check one of the thighs by making small cut in the center of one to see if the juices are in fact clear. Hope this helps. This is one of my favorite recipes and so easy to make. Happy Nesting! Norine

ariana kalantar

Friday 25th of May 2018

How would I make this in the oven

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Friday 25th of May 2018

Hi Ariana! Bake the chicken first, making sure it is brown and crispy on top. For the last 10 minutes of baking baste with the sauce. Hope that helps. It's a really great dish and comes together so quickly on the stove top, but I think you could adjust it for the oven. Happy Nesting! Norine

Julianne Orsa

Saturday 23rd of September 2017

I somehow stumbled across this recipe online last week and have already made it twice. It is rediculously good and has become a new family favorite in our home. I'll be trying out a few other recipes I've now found on your blog...like that gorgeous Dutch apple pie.?

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Monday 25th of September 2017

Hi Julianne! Thank you so very much! I absolutely love this recipe! It's a family favorite here too. I'm so glad you found my site and I hope you can find lots of other recipes to try. I love making new friends. Oh, I highly recommend that pie! ;) lol Have a GREAT day! Happy Nesting~ Norine

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