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 was looking for a quick chicken recipe for dinner and came across this one. I had all the ingredients so I thought I would give it a try. Very quick & easy to make and was so delicious! Will definitely be making this again! Thank you for the great recipe!
Delicious!! This will now become one of my “go to” recipes for chicken breasts. It’s an easy and quick recipe! I didn’t have apple cider vinegar so I substituted with what I had on hand, which was red wine vinegar. I was concerned that this would make it taste too sweet so I added some red pepper flakes as well. My husband couldn’t stop talking about how much he enjoyed the flavor! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!!
Going to cook this as celebration dinner in honor of my father who we just loss to a heart ailment. Nothing like excellent recepies to celebrate the memory of a fellow foodie and lover of good food.
I’m so sorry to hear that you lost your father 🙁 Hugs and condolences from Sydney – N x
Hey Nagi I love your easy to follow recipe! I wanted to ask you if this recipe will work with boneless chicken thighs with skin?
Fabulous ! My husband who is standoffish when it comes to sweet savory wolfed it down. Added 5spice powder to the flour . Plus used rice wine vinegar as I had no apple cider vinegar. It’s a keeper…like ALL your recipes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Cheers, K
EXCELLENT changed nothing.
Like many people, I found this recipe while searching for yet another idea for chicken breasts. It’s a solid recipe! My husband and I like a little heat so I added red pepper and it’s great! I am going to use this to toss wings, tofu, etc. Win!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it Mimi! N x
My family of 5 LOVED this. I was searching for something different to do with our chicken breast and wow!! I prepared it in 2 pans to ensure I didn’t mess up and I’m glad I did. All of the ingredients balanced each other perfectly, nothing over powered the other. This is a family favorite for sure.
This is fantastic! The flavor is so good, sweet and savory is my favorite so this was perfect for my taste! Next time I want to serve over fried rice as it really reminded me of my favorite Chinese takeout chicken.
I have picky eaters and the whole family loved it! The sauce is easy to adjust, too. It tasted a little sweet for our family so I just added some extra soy sauce and vinegar. This is a keeper!
This looks so simple and yummy, I’m going to give it a try tonight– quick note about making the recipe GF: the soy sauce will also need to be subbed, since soy sauce contains wheat! Tamari and coconut aminos are common subs in recipes that call for soy sauce. 🙂
Thanks Courtney! We have quite a few gluten free soy sauces available plus the tamari and coconut aminos options as well for people who are g/f! N x
OMG! Made the Honey Garlic Chicken for supper tonight. Absolutely easy and wonderful. Hubby said he hated the sauce…I questioned him..he said I hate it so much you will be making it all of the time. He’s a picky eater do boy was I happy! Thank you Nagi!
I made exactly as described and while it turned out beautifully and as pictured, the honey flavor is overpowering.
My Husband & I just ate this for dinner and we were impressed. He doesn’t like too much soy sauce but he loves honey. Also, there is plenty of sauce to mix with rice. I used chicken thighs cut into wide strips & it was easy to make.
Just tried this recipe today and it turned out excellent. Simple yet ultra tasty! Thank you.
This was THE best sauce and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. Unbelievably delicious and simple. Must try. Must have. Make extra.
This is the first time I ever commented on a recipe. This is excellent. Restaurant quality & easy!! I wanted to lick the plate.
Perfect!
Absolutely Delicious!
Loved by the whole family. Thank you for a recipe that is packed with loads of flavor and on hand pantry staples.
I have this recipe as a staple in my house. I make it with chicken breast or thigh and serve it with rice and steamed vege. Quick and absolutely delicious, definitely a winner!
We were low on groceries and I found this recipe! We had everything the recipe called for and it is now going to be a regular meal for us! It was delicious!