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!
My HUSBAND (not a chef in the family, moi) cooked this and it was awesome!!!! I am recovering from a length stay at the the hospital with its own lengthy recovery period. It’s an abdominal issue, so I am most certainly not have the energy to do the cooking right now. Although it’s just for the two of us, he works long hours and he should have a homemade breakfast and dinner at the very least. Came up with idea of my over whelming recipe book and sharing it with him (using AnyList Recipes- love that app!!) so I am starting to pick out the easiest recipes and then I am laying in my hospital bed in the living room and walking him through the recipe. It’s amazing how well he follows instructions and it shows!! Thanks so much for posting this!
That’s so wonderful to hear, what a great Hubby! Wishing you well for your recovery ❤️
Wow, Thank You for this great recipe!!! My Husband and I loved it!!!
You’re so welcome Casi!
I made this dish for my guests and everyone complimented me on how tasty and good it was. But Nagi I have to thank you and give you credit for that, because without your recipe I could never have made it. So once again thank you very much.
You’re so welcome Michelle, that’s lovely to hear!
My family loved it! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
You’re so welcome Oyu!
Hi, Nagi, I love your recipes. I need to make this for a party of 40+ people, should I make it the day of or the day before? Also how should I store them if I did?
Hi Motun, I would make the sauce the day before and then cook the chicken the day of the party and coat in the sauce – N x
Thank you !!!!
This was fantastic,great reviews from family.Thank you.
You’re so welcome Gerald!
OMG so yummmmm. Had with cauliflower rice, will definitely be making again.
Wahoo!! Perfect Holly!
I used normal soy sauce to make this (it was all I had), and it turned out so so good. I ate it alongside some fingerling potatoes (boiled then cut them up and got them crispy in a pan with some olive oil) and pan roasted carrots. Next time might add just a touch less of honey. Super easy and delicious, 10/10 would recommend.
Hi Nagi. Could one replace the soy sauce with tamari sauce?
Yes definitely Sasha, enjoy!
Very tasty! Kids loved it! Plates were clean. Super simple and fast to put together. Kids already rating this recipe in top 5!
And that’s the best compliment Brandyce!
WOW! I always love RecipeTin’s recipes, but Nagi outdid herself with this one! Easy, delicious, and quick! It will be hard to top this one 😍
Thanks so much Bethany ❤️
Although the sauce did not thicken, it had good flavor. Followed the exact recipe.
Can salmon be subbed for the chicken?
Sure! Try this one: https://discountspot.info/honey-garlic-salmon-5-ingredients-15-minutes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Great thanks so much!!
We liked this recipe but it took quite a while for the sauce to thicken. Maybe 20 minutes but I had doubled the sauce so maybe that’s why. Will definitely make again.
Hi Sue, yes if you double the quantity the longer it will take to reduce. I’m so glad you liked it though – N x
Do yourself a favor and make this!! The only thing I did differently was use rice vinegar because that’s all I had. I did not change or add anything else and it was so tasty!!! I get intimidated by making chicken on the stove top but the directions are spot on and precise. I didn’t fear that it was undercooked for one minute.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I can now put this delicious chicken paired with jasmine rice in my rotation. Seriously, thank you!!
That’s so nice to hear Katy – thanks so much ❤️
My wife made this last night and it was fantastic. She’s not always the fastest cook but she had this meal ready in no time. The sauce is simple, but fantastic.
Wahoo, that’s great Matt!
I made this tonight and it was amazing- my husband (who hates when I make rice) cleaned his plate.
I cooked the chicken as fillets but cut it up to serve and added sesame seeds and some stir-fried onions, carrot and celery. I though the sauce was good on the chicken but it was even better on the vegetables.
Hi Mia I love your chicken recipe thanks’!!!!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit! It’s definitely going into my dinner rotation. Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Nagi, this recipe looks delicious but i’m thinking of making it with chicken thigh instead as i find chicken breast to be a bit dry- do you think it will still work? Thanks!
Hi Mia, the chicken in this recipe is definitely not dry, if you’re finding chicken breast too dry then it’s most likely that it’s slightly over cooked. In saying that you could definitely use thigh here – you just need to pound it thin so it cooks quicker – N x
Made for my family of four with a husband and daughter who both have strong ideas about what they like. Both came back for seconds! Easy to cook and tasty.
This is SO good!! I will definitely be making this again!