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’m generally not a fan of chicken breasts since they can so often be dry but this recipe rocks – everyone in my family loves it.
I love this recipe so much!! cooking it again because its so good!
We tried this tonight and it was delicious! Thanks!
Just cooked chicken for lunch and it was am😍😍😍
I’m a chef and I struggle to find recipes my husband likes this was the quickest easiest thing I have ever made… I use a lot of your recipes thankyou very much
Thanks for making me look like a hero with this quick, easy, and delicious hit! My husband fell in love at first bite, our picky 7 yo ate every drop, and our 8 yo called dibs on the leftovers!
I made this last week exactly as written for the family and it was absolutely delicious! Complete perfection! Kids loved it so much, I decided to make it again this week! This recipe will become a regular in our rotation! Thank you Nagi!
This was a fantastic recipe! My family likes a lot of extra sauce, so after preparing all the chicken I made a triple batch of just the sauce. It’s not often I find a recipe that all 5 of us rave over, but this one is.
This recipe was right on point! So delicious!!
Forgot to make this a 5 + stars recipe.
This was absolutely delicious! Made exactly as directed! Perfection! This will be added to our family rotation. Thank you Nagi! Your recipes are always spot on!
Can you substitute the vinegar for chicken broth or something else?
Oh my goodness, it was all I could do not to lick my plate. So so yummy 😊
This recipe is absolutely amazing, and a total game-changer. I cook a lot, but have never successfully cooked truly delicious chicken breasts with a sauce in a pan (I usually grill them). Thank you!
Loved this!
First time user of this recipe /author..
It was so tasty, I’m so glad I tripled the contents. I used boneless/skinless thighs because I had them…wonderful flavor .. Everyone who is reading this make this recipe! It’s a keeper!
Super quick and easy! I had everything in my pantry. Really tasty. I added a half teaspoon of sesame oil. My wife adored it! This is going into the rotation! Thank you for a great recipe!
Hi Nagi I love this dish one of my favorites. Had a question yours in the video looks way more brown than mine turn out. Mine a little pale. Any recommendations??
So quick and delicious. It did not disappoint, and rave reviews from entire family. Chicken done while rice was cooking. Thanks Nagi!
Looks fabulous for a meal to bring to sick family members. I have a cardamom infused honey I was thinking of using. Thoughts?