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!
Made this last night using chunks of chicken breasts. The family loved it and one comment was “it’s amazing”. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you.
This was absolutely tasty and delicious! Will definitely make again. The only change I made, instead of parsley I did rosemary infused in the butter… My son devoured his meal in seconds.. Thank you for sharing..
As advertised. Mm.
Wow! This recipe was so delicious! My family raved about how good it was! I loved the fact that I had everything and it all came together so fast and easy! Thank you, Nagi!
One of the best chicken dishes ever!!! Absolutely delicious!!! Recipe is super easy. Followed it exactly and couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. Huge hit in my house!!! This dish is going to be a regular on the menu.
Yes! Thanks…N x
OMG You are my new hero!!! This is amazing just like you said, the chicken was so tender, not dry, the sauce was soooo delicious, I will be making your recipe’s from now on. Quick, Easy, I had everything on hand, So Delicious, Thank you sooo much for sharing this with us.
I wanted to change things up and this was it. This was a huge hit with my family. We all loved it. I’m looking forward to your E cook book!
This recipe was to die for and so easy to make did not change it up at all. My husband loved ir
I’ve made this before and didn’t leave a comment. I followed the recipe for the most part. I didn’t cut the breasts in half, but put them in the oven instead. Salted and peppered to taste. Made the sauce in a separate pot and I added some cornstarch to thicken it up. Also doubled the sauce because we LOVE sauce. Overall this is a huge hit in the house. The sauce always smells so delicious. Who doesn’t love the smell of garlic and butter in a pan?
Made the Honey Garlic Chicken, absolutely delicious! Easy, tasty, with wonderful flavors! Definitely a keeper!
Can I throw chicken in crockpot after browning in the pan? Thanks
Super delicious! All of Nagi’s recipes are soooo good – follow the directions which are always very detailed , and you absolutely cannot go wrong
I know we will make this again and again – Thankyou Nagi!!!!
Made this two nights ago and it was outstanding!
It was a little thick and a bit to sweet. But definitely amazing and yummy. Definitely making again.
How can I make this Honey Garlic chicken with chicken thighs instead of breast.? I tried the recipe with the breast and. The results weren’t great. .
Hi Ricky, what exactly went wrong? N x
I was looking for something new to do with chicken breast when I came upon your recipe. This is definitely a winner. So simple and quick and it tastes like I really knocked myself out.
I plan to make many more of your dishes.
Incredible sauce and method. Both day of (with potato mash and sauted/steamed chard) were delicious, and tonight’s leftovers made dinner sweet and easy. We’ll try this sauce and method again with salmon steaks, but sub maple syrup for the honey. Yum, thank you, as always!
This was a delicious meal with corn on the cob and quinoa.
Im so glad you enjoyed it Susan! N x
Would this work with chicken wings? How would you need to adjust the cooking?
Delish! I cut the honey down a bit and doubled the garlic. My entire family really liked it!
Hi Jacqualine, yes it would – use the cook method from this recipe: https://discountspot.info/sticky-chinese-chicken-wings/%3C/a%3E N x
Hi Nagi, I’m so glad I can look at your recipes during lockdown. They provide much inspiration and much flavour when cooked, without using a lot of grey matter! Chicken is such a versatile meat, and I’m happy that you can provide different recipes for me to try! Cooking honey garlic chicken breasts tonight! ❤️❤️❤️❤️