By:Nagi
1,323 Comments
Honey Garlic Chicken is an epic 12 minute chicken breast recipe with a magic 5 ingredient Honey Garlic Sauce! This is a terrific back pocket quick dinner idea for busy nights that’s made with pantry staples. It’s quite amazing how so few ingredients can transform into such a tasty sauce for chicken!
BONUS: This can be made with any protein – beef, pork, lamb, shrimp/prawns, even tofu!
Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
This sauce for chicken breast isa variation of my Honey Garlic Salmon which has been popular with readers for many years.
If I were ever to do a summary of my top 5 Most Used Sauces, Honey Garlic Sauce would probably be right at the top of the list. I love it because it requires so few ingredients that are pantry staples, and when simmered with a seared protein in a skillet so it becomes all bubbly and syrupy…. oh WOW.
It’s just DA BOMB!!! ( <– Who talks like that at my age???! I do. Only in extenuating circ*mstances. Excitement over crazy delicious secret-weapon sauce falls under this category. 😎)
Terrific quick chicken breast recipe
Though I personally have a preference for chicken thighs over chicken breast (better flavour, juicier!), I find myself putting chicken breast in my shopping trolley week after week.
Thus over the years, I’ve built up a wide variety of quick and easy chicken breast recipes – and this Honey Garlic Chicken is one of my favourite quick dinners that I find myself making over and over again.
What you need
See? I told you that you’d have everything! 😉
How to make Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
Split chicken breast in half – so 2 breasts makes 4 pieces;
Dust chicken with flour (gives the chicken a slight crust so the sauce clings to it better!)
Sear chicken, add butter, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, honey.
Simmer until the sauce thickens. Turn chicken to coat in the amazing honey garlic sauce.
And THAT’S IT!
Want to BBQ it?Use this Grilled Honey Soy Chicken recipe instead.
Notice how the sauce is clinging to the surface? That’s because we dusted the chicken with flour so when it’s pan fried, it creates a crust.
What to serve with Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
There’s enough sauce to drizzle over veggies and soak into rice or whatever you serve it with. The flavour is strong enough such that you don’t need loads – a bit goes a long way!
It’s pictured above with Cauliflower Rice(tossed with a squeeze of lemon, parsley, salt and pepper) with Cucumber Salad on the side.
Even though it’s got soy sauce in the Honey Garlic Sauce, this doesn’t taste specifically Asian-y. But it’s versatile enough that it will go just as well with Fried Rice as it will with a Macaroni Salador even Mac and Cheese. Yes really! Try it once and you’ll understand (it only takes 12 minutes, you’ve got the time!!)– Nagi x
Honey Garlic Chicken breast recipe
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
Author: Nagi
Prep: 4 minutes mins
Cook: 8 minutes mins
Total: 12 minutes mins
Mains
Western
4.97 from 593 votes
Servings4
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. An incredible quick and easy way to serve up chicken breast – seared then simmered in the most amazing honey garlic sauce. Don't be deceived by the short ingredient list! It's absolutely worth the extra step of dusting the chicken with flour because it creates a crust for the sauce to cling to.BONUS: See notes for how to make this with any protein – beef, pork, lamb, prawns/shrimp, tofu!
Ingredients
- 500g / 1 lb chicken breast , boneless and skinless (2 pieces)
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup flour (Note 1)
- 3 1/2 tbsp (50g) unsalted butter (or 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white or other clear vinegar)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce , light or all purpose (Note 2)
- 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)
Instructions
Cut the breasts in half horizontally to create 4 steaks in total. Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.
Place flour in a shallow dish. Coat chicken in flour and shake off excess.
Melt most of the butter in a large skillet over high heat – hold back about 1 tsp for later.
Place chicken in skillet and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until golden. Turn and cook the other side for 1 minute.
Turn heat down slightly to medium high.
Make a bit of room in the pan and add garlic and top with remaining dab of butter. Stir garlic briefly once butter melts.
Add vinegar, soy sauce and honey. Stir / shake pan to combine. Bring sauce to simmer, then simmer for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
Turn chicken to coat in sauce. If the sauce gets too thick, add a touch of water and stir.
Remove from stove immediately. Place chicken on plates and drizzle over remaining sauce.
Recipe Notes:
1. Gluten free– use cornflour / cornstarch instead. It won’t brown quite as evenly but once covered in sauce, you won’t know the difference.
2. Soy Sauce – Light or all purpose soy sauce is suitable for this recipe. I don’t recommend using Dark Soy Sauce (flavour will dominate, bottle label will say if it is Dark Soy Sauce).
3. Other proteins:This sauce is ideal to use for any protein that is suitable for searing in a pan. Use chops, steaks, cutlets! Follow the recipe as written, including dusting the protein with flour. Just adjust the cook time – the trick is to add the garlic and other sauce ingredients before it is fully cooked through, so the meat finishes cooking as the sauce reduces down into a syrupy consistency.
Tofu –Use FIRM tofu. Cut “steaks” about 0.75cm / 1/4″ thick. Pat dry, spray or rub with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, THEN lightly coat with flour. Coat base of skillet with oil over medium high heat, then cook tofu 1 min each side until crispy, then remove onto paper towels. Then make the sauce in a small saucepan or skillet using just 2 tbsp (30g) butter (instead of 3.5 tbsp), following recipe from Step 5. Serve with crispy tofu!
Prawns/shrimp – use large prawns (thaw, drain well and pat dry if using frozen). Lightly coat prawns with flour per recipe and sear for 1 minute on the first side, then just 30 seconds on the other side before proceeding with Step 5.
Fish – cook per recipe for chicken breast. This sauce is very, very good with fish! This is a good sauce for economical fish because it’s a strong flavoured sauce. For expensive fish, I think it’s better to let the flavour of the fish come through and serve with an elegant sauce like this Lemon Butter Sauce.
4. Nutrition per serving, assuming you scrape every drop of Sauce from the pan, and why wouldn’t you? 🙂
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 166gCalories: 323cal (16%)Carbohydrates: 23g (8%)Protein: 28g (56%)Fat: 13g (20%)Saturated Fat: 7g (44%)Cholesterol: 107mg (36%)Sodium: 400mg (17%)Potassium: 486mg (14%)Sugar: 21g (23%)Vitamin A: 350IU (7%)Vitamin C: 2mg (2%)Calcium: 12mg (1%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Keywords: Baked Chicken Breast, chicken breast recipe, honey chicken, Honey Garlic Chicken, sauce for chicken
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.
Honey Garlic Chicken breast recipe originally published February 2018, it has since been improved with new photos and video but no change to recipe (I wouldn’t dare, readers love it as it is!).
More quick and easy chickenbreast recipes
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1,323 Comments
Grace says
2nd time serving this to my partner and it’s truly chef-approved! Paired this with your fried rice recipe, Nagi. So so good! The honey garlic sauce was spot on. Huge thanks for this! xReply
- Courtney says
I made this tonight in no time and it was so delicious! I want it to be known, this is where I go for all of my meals 90% of the time and I always makes something new and it is always so good! Nagi is the best! I also want to say, I hope Dozer is healing well. He has been in my thoughts and prayers 🙏 ❤️
Reply
- Jess says
Best chicken recipe ever! Can’t believe I haven’t found this earlierReply
- Nancy says
Amazing! I made this with pork and my husband ate every bit of it. He just kept saying “this is amazing” and the best part is that it’s so easy to make. Thank you!
Reply
- Maxine M says
O. M. G absolutely delicious! I’ve just finished making and devouring this, but I made it with pork chops instead, served with boiled rice and carrots and broccoli and it went down a treat! So much so I want to eat the other half I saved. Yum yum thank you, Nagi. I’ll definitely be making it again soon. Oh and my teen daughter liked the sauce so I’m sure she will enjoy it aswell.Reply
- Mikki lynn says
This was really good and easy to make, I swapped out the chicken for boneless Porkchops and the sauce works really well with them. Paired with some white rice this was a quick and delicious mealReply
- Ace says
Made this last night and my family loved it. My son, who is an aspiring chef said it tasted like it had come from a restaurant. Thank you for the easy and delicious recipe!Reply
- E R says
Thank you for this recipe! I have a ton of chicken breast and a picky husband and daughter. They both ate this up. I did add more spices to my husband’s and my portions because we like spice, but now I know how to prepare chicken breast without a ton of work. You’re the best. ❤️Reply
- Tina says
I chose this recipe because I needed a chicken recipe without some overnight marinade. I made wild rice to eat with it. It was amazing! I did end up eating it until 11:30 pm because I started late but it was a great meal and my dad and sister loved it too.Reply
- Joan Swiftman says
I swapped out chicken breasts for chicken nibbles and gave them a double coating of 00 flour. The result? A wonderfully crispy exterior on the chicken, and the flavor was absolutely delicious—finger-licking good!Reply
- Dionysia Knight says
I’ve cooked your dish tonight and I found it very tasty!!
I followed your instructions and the results were exactly as expected!! It will definitely become a staple!! Thank you for this simple recipe. NoniReply
- Amanda Jett says
I don’t usually comment on recipes (good or bad), but I HAD to leave a note about this one.I’m always nervous about chicken recipes because they either all taste the same, or come out dry, but this one was absolutely delicious!
Thank you for this new quick and easy dinner option!
Reply
- Rob B. says
Used this recipe tonight for diner and it was excellent.Reply
- Nancy says
This was quick and easy and my husband loves it. I’m happy.Reply
- Krista says
I made the Honey Garlic Chicken Breast as the recipe directed and it was delicious. My sauce took a wee bit to thicken up, but it totally did. Thank you for a great dish! Next time I make it, I’m thinking of adding some toasted sesame seeds at the end.Reply
- Ace says
Great idea! I’m going to add toasted sesame seeds next time. Thank you for sharing that.Reply
- Debbie B says
Made this last night. It was delicious. Will definitely make it again! Thanks for sharing.Reply
- Haley says
I was blown away by this recipe. You’re right, such a simple ingredients list but such incredible flavor. I know you said this isn’t specifically Asian-y, but I feel this definitely replaces Chinese takeout for me – at least the chicken dishes I get with the sweeter sauces, like sesame chicken. This is way better! With jasmine rice, mmm… Now I need to make it battered and deep fried for something extra special with the sauce on occasion.Reply
- Haley says
Came back to add an update: I’ve made this recipe a few times since my first comment, and the first time I made it the chicken breast was very thick and didn’t cook through in the pan, so I removed it and cut it into pieces. Since then I’ve diced the chicken in advance and coated with flour, used a sieve to shake off the excess. It makes the dish so similar to a take out meal but so much better, with little crispy bits on the chicken pieces. Combined with jasmine rice and some steamed veggies, holy heck – amazing! Think I’m a bit addicted and also bought her cookbook which I love! I’ve also made this recipe with pork chops and loved it.Reply
- Elizabeth Hatfield says
I made this for the 2nd time tonight and my husband and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. Thank you for sharing such an easy delicious recipe.Reply
- Christina says
Quick and amazing. My six year old devours this and he is soooo picky. Will make this every week probably!Reply
- Anna Phaire says
This was divine. I’ll make it again.Reply
- Nikki Arney says
This chicken is amazing! My whole family eats this when I cook it. I serve it with Jasmin rice and use the sauce with that too. I always double up the sauce.Reply
- pat says
loved the honey garlic chicken. sauce was amazingReply
