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 is a 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 circumstances. 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 Salad or 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
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:
Nutrition Information:
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 chicken breast recipes
Life of Dozer
The fish down at the beach taunt Dozer endlessly, splashing around and leaping out of the water. Sometimes he’ll be in the water swimming non stop chasing fish for an hour! It’s brilliant – no effort required on my part!
I want to make this but only have dark soya sauce and only live in a small town so cant get any, would it work if I just used half the amount?
Hi Debra! Yep, try halving the dark soy sauce and you may need to add a pinch of salt too 🙂 N x
I LOVE this chicken. Normally, I eat dark meat since my husband dislikes dry chicken. However, last night the chicken came out so moist it was fabulous to be treated to such a succulent flavorful chicken breast. BTW, I didn’t cut chicken breasts horizontially…followed your directions other wise exactly. PERFECTION! Thanks
That’s terrific to hear Lyn! PS I hear you re: dark vs white meat 🙂 N xx
OOOOH YUMMMMMM. JUST HAD THIS FOR DINNER. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. EVEN MY CHICKEN HATING HUSBAND LOVED IT! THANKS NAGI.
BA HA HA! That’s just about the highest praise ever!!! 🤣
Very, very easy to make! And although I didn’t eat any (this time) my husband said it was Amazing! And he is a harsh critic lol
Thankyou Nagi, I can’t wait to explore & try more of your recipes 👍😊 They all look so Amazing & really easy to understand plus the videos are just great & very helpful.
I’m so glad you find the videos useful Cathy! It was a big leap to start having them in every post but I really thought they would make a difference 🙂 N xx
Made this for dinner tonight. Served over brown rice with a side of broccoli. It was delicious and we were practically slurping the sauce. I think next time I’ll just use chicken tenderloins. Cutting the chicken was the hardest part of this recipe. 😀
Thanks for sharing!!
Tenderloins! Why didn’t I think of that?? 🙂 N xx
Oh my – honey and garlic. Perfection! Just like that dog!!!
“That dog” is so flawed – and I love him just the way he is! 😂
Absolutely delicious, made with honey but will try with maple syrup to compare next time. Dinner on table in 15 mins and with wow factor too. Love your recipes Nagi!
Thanks Jo! This is beautiful with maple syrup, but then again, I am a massive fan of maple! N xx
Could this be as good as Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken? We are seriously addicted to that one…. I can’t figure out how it’s still legal?!!
Will have to try this one next week.
I put them on par with each other except this one is WAY faster to make! 🙂 (PS You have me thinking now….I wonder if it’s possible to do a super fast version of Coconut Caramel Chicken…..? 🤔) N xx
Made this last night and it was delicious (as expected!). Thanks Nagi, your recipes are amazing 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it Bec! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 Hope you’re having a great weekend! N x
As a woman who works 40 to 50 hours a week, the first words that grab me for a recipe are “fast” and “amazing”. 😉
I hear you Michelle. Long hours = need for FAST FOOD! (I mean, homemade!) N x
SENSATIONAL! Thank you! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes!
So glad you enjoyed it Nicky! N xx
Yep, nailed it again Lady and did what you suggested about having the ingredients on the bench and then just a splash and a splosh when ready, that’s my kind of cooking!
I was concerned when MOTH took a bite of the chicken and continued on eating the veges. I couldn’t take it anymore and asked in a high pitched voice “don’t you like the chicken?”. He was saving the chicken to last as he didn’t want it to finish, cutting little nibbly pieces as he goes along.
This recipe I think is probably the easiest to prepare and cook in your répertoire BUT at the same time it has the Nagi WOW factor.
I totally agree that this is the easiest best honey garlic sauce ever. I had some fresh sliced chicken breast from the butcher that came with some bread crumb coating, so I tried using this and it turned out fantastic, just had to add a little cornstarch and water at the end, I guess without the flour on the chicken it did not thicken the same. No brainer-easy/fast /delicious!!
Rich in Canada
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 N xx
BA HA HA! I LOVE HEARING THAT! (You had ME concerned for a bit there until I finished reading the sentence!!) N x
Perfect! Had everything on hand, made it for dinner…so good that it was requested for tonight’s dinner as well!
Love hearing that Debra!!! 🙂 N xx
I thought it was considered dangerous to your health to have cling wrap touch your food in the microwave???? Have I been following some kind of urban myth?
Hi Laura! I can imagine it’s not wise if it’s something oily like casserole topped with cheese because the cling wrap can melt, I’ve had holes melted into my cling wrap doing this and I was a bit concerned about accidentally eating bits of melted plastic! For steaming vegetables, it doesn’t get hot enough for cling wrap to melt 🙂
OMG .. I was looking for something quick an easy to make tonight, especially since I’m not feeling well, and your latest recipe came up!
How did you know? 🙂
Hope you made a speedy recovery Hedy! N x
This looks mouth-watering good! I dread scraping honey from the cups too! have to remember to spray it with oil next time. I was going to make something with chicken thighs but now I may have to try something similar to your recipe. Thanks for the inspiration!
Tip I picked up from a cooking show 🙂 Works great! N x
15 minute meals are awesome. And you’re right, honey is the worst to measure out. I hate measuring peanut butter too. It’s always a guesstimate! Any time I cook a meat with sauce, I always coat it in flour because, like you said, it really help the sauce cling on. I love the gooey factor of this honey garlic sauce!
I HEAR YOU!! PB is the worst! I’ve started weighing it, makes like so much easier!!
This looks absolutely divine and I love the tip of coating the chicken in flour first so the sauce sticks. I do love my sauce.
Thanks Marie!! 🙂 N x
Loved it! I saw this recipe this morning and had to try. It is delicious, so easy to make! Easy to follow instruction and video . Thank you!
That’s so great to hear Cheryl! So pleased you enjoyed this! N xx
dear nagi, can this recipe be adjusted to use bone in chicken pieces? or will the fact that they’ll take longer to cook put it off….
Hi NS! Just cook the chicken all the way through before adding the sauce ingredients. What I would do to speed up the cooking process is to add a splash of water into the skillet then put the lid on – using this technique, bone in thigh will cook on medium high heat in about 15 minutes 🙂 Once cooked, remove the lid and let the liquid simmer away, then when the pan is practically dry, add the sauce ingredients. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband raved. I liked the slight crunch the flour coating gave to the chicken, but will up the soy sauce next time. I stuck with the recipe as written and the honey was a bit too dominant.
Hi Lara! So glad you both enjoyed it! Yes definitely add more soy sauce if you want a saltier flavour 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. As usual a stellar meal! Quick, easy and delicious.
Hiiiiii Dorothy! It is so nice to see you around here again 🙂 Hugs to you and G! N x