Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs – the combination of Sriracha sauce, honey and garlic is the perfect marinate for these boneless skinless chicken thighs. Served with rice and a side of broccolini for a healthy and delicious dinner.
Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
In the game of weeknight cooking, this recipe is about as simple as you can get. You can even prepare this marinade the night before and let your chicken marinate in the fridge overnight and until you get home from work the next day. I for one love chicken thighs, but I prefer the boneless and skinless kind over the one with all the skin.
Don’t let the length of the recipe scare you. I merely included instructions for you how to cook your rice and steam your broccolini. There really isn’t much to this recipe in terms of labor involved, but there’s lots to say when it comes to flavor. One could say that I love honey garlic anything and that would be correct. Throw in some good Sriracha sauce in there and I’ll be your best friend.
Ingredients In Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Chicken
- Protein – Chicken thighs boneless and skinless.
- Broccolini – Trim the ends so that they look presentable and cook evenly across the board.
- Rice – Be sure to use uncooked rice, I chose Basmati to use today.
- Parsley – Fresh and chopped up fine, use as much or as little as you’d like!
Marinade
- Garlic – Fresh is always best but if jarred is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 1/2 teaspoons equals 1 fresh clove.
- Onion – 1 small onion chopped up fine.
- Sauces – I used both soy sauce and sriracha today, but hot sauce is totally optional and up to your preference.
- Honey – We want a nice element of sweet stickiness with our thighs today and honey is the ticket!
- Broth – Chicken broth, low sodium to control our salt content.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper.
What’s Broccolini?
Broccolini is a vegetable similar to broccoli with smaller florets and longer, thin stalks. It is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan which is a Chinese kale. You can substitute broccoli for broccolini in this recipe.
Do I Have To Use Chicken Thighs?
You can use any type of chicken cut that you like! Chicken breast, bone-in thighs, even drumsticks. Just keep in mind that switching up your cut of chicken may affect your cook time, so keep any eye on that chicken.
How To Make Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
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Marinate the chicken: In a casserole dish whisk all the marinade ingredients together then add the chicken thighs to it and toss well. Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to up to 24 hours.
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Preheat your oven: To 425 F degrees.
Rice and veggies
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Cook the rice: To cook the rice, rinse it first in a few changes of cold water. Rinsing the rice makes the grains less brittle and also removes loose starch making the rice less sticky. In a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid, combine 2 cups of water with the rice over high heat. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Let the rice cook for about 12 to 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit with the lid on for 5 minutes and for as long as 30 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff it with a fork.
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Cook the broccolini: To steam the broccolini fill a pot with a few inches of water then insert a steamer basket over the top. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini and cover. steam for 5 minutes or until tender.
Chicken
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Finish the chicken: Remove the plastic wrap from the casserole dish and place in the oven. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Chicken thighs are quick to cook, but if after 20 minutes they are not crispy on the outside and you prefer them crispier, turn the broiler on and broil for about 2 to 3 minutes, keeping an eye on them to not burn.
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Finish the dish: Serve the chicken thighs over the cooked rice and with broccolini on the side. There will be drippings left over from cooking the thighs, so just spoon that over the chicken and rice. Garnish with parsley.
What’s The Deal With Drippings?
And let’s not even talk about those drippings. Well if you must, the drippings are insane. Just drizzle some over your chicken and rice and your dish will be divine. So save them, because those drippings are liquid gold!
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Rice
If you haven’t been rinsing your rice up until this moment, well now is the time to start. Rinsing your rice gets rid of all that pesky starch that clings to the surface of every little grain. This will ensure that your rice will fluff up properly and prevent it from becoming a goopy sticky mess.
What Tools Do I Need To Make Chicken Thighs
You can always make this right on the stove top and with your oven, keep it basic and and easy. But if you have a rice cooker, I highly recommend you use that to make both your rice and to steam your veggies. Use the vegetable steaming basket that most rice cookers come with to accomplish this.
How To Store Leftover Chicken Thighs
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Can You Freeze Cooked Chicken Thighs?
Absolutely! Freeze this stored in airtight containers for up to 3 months!
More Must Try Chicken Recipes:
- Garlic and Paprika Chicken
- Grilled Harissa Sesame Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Schnitzel
- Parmesan Chicken Strips
- Chicken in a Hurry
- Coq au Vin
- Orange Chicken
- Mongolian Chicken
- Crispy Fried Chicken
- Baked Chicken Thighs
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Harissa Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
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Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- 1 lb broccolini ends trimmed *
- 1 cup rice uncooked (I used Basmati rice)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
For Marinade
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion chopped finely
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sriracha sauce**
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- In a casserole dish whisk all the marinade ingredients together then add the chicken thighs to it and toss well. Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to up to 24 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 425 F degrees.
- To cook the rice, rinse it first in a few changes of cold water. Rinsing the rice makes the grains less brittle and also removes loose starch making the rice less sticky. In a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid, combine 2 cups of water with the rice over high heat. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Let the rice cook for about 12 to 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit with the lid on for 5 minutes and for as long as 30 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff it with a fork.
- To steam the broccolini fill a pot with a few inches of water then insert a steamer basket over the top. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini and cover. steam for 5 minutes or until tender.
- Remove the plastic wrap from the casserole dish and place in the oven. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Chicken thighs are quick to cook, but if after 20 minutes they are not crispy on the outside and you prefer them crispier, turn the broiler on and broil for about 2 to 3 minutes, keeping an eye on them to not burn.
- Serve the chicken thighs over the cooked rice and with broccolini on the side. There will be drippings left over from cooking the thighs, so just spoon that over the chicken and rice. Garnish with parsley.
Recipe Notes
- * Broccolini is a vegetable similar to broccoli with smaller florets and longer, thin stalks. It is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan which is a Chinese kale. You can substitute broccoli for broccolini in this recipe.
- ** Sriracha sauce is a a type of hot sauce made with chili peppers, garlic, sugar, vinegar and salt. Substitute with your favorite hot sauce.
- You can use any type of chicken that you like. Chicken breast, bone-in thighs, even drumsticks.
- If you have a rice cooker, use that to cook the rice. Most rice cookers come with a vegetable steaming basket, so use that to steam the broccolini.
- Prep time includes 45 minutes to marinate the chicken.
- Cook time assumes cooking the chicken, rice and broccolini at the same.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Pat says
Made this for supper tonight. It was delicious!!
Jale says
Could you take this out of marinade and make in grill or just bake in the marinade? Thanks
Nicole Beaulieu says
You can definitely grill these if you want!
Karen Roepke says
This was very tasty! I made a cauliflower mash instead of rice. Chicken marinade is a keeper!
Emilyixtlahuac says
Hey I’m excited to try this! What kind of onion are you supposed to use?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Any type of onion you like! I would suggest a milder white or yellow onion.
Bre says
Made this tonight, was absolutely delicious. Only had about an hour to marinate the chicken but still turned out having tons of flavor and was oh so tender! Kudos!
Joanna Cismaru says
Glad you liked it, Bre!
Audrey says
It looks delicious and will definitely try it. I agree, if the skin is kept on it should be crispy but in this recipe there is no skin so why would you try to make the flesh crispy – wouldn’t this dry it out under the grill?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Using the broiler function is great. It only takes a minute or two to crisp up the exterior, which is not enough time to make the meat dry.
Jolene says
This was so good I made extra sauce for the rice and chicken I will definitely be making this again
Nathan says
I left hot sauce out until serving it, since we were feeding it to a 1 & 3 year old. Fantastic easy recipe! Thanks!
Nilda says
I will try it tomorrow
Maralee says
Hi Jo! Made this for dinner tonight and another hit from your kitchen! Not too spicy and very moist. Served the chicken with rice and a salad, mmmm mmmm good? Thanks!
LaTrice says
I LOVE chicken thighs. I’m looking forward to making this dish soon. 🙂
Joanna Cismaru says
Would love to hear how you liked it!
Adina says
I feel the same about chicken skin, if it’s not crispy than it’s not necessary. Lovely recipe, I am saving it, we can never have enough recipes for chicken thighs, anytime I ask my daughter what she would like to eat, the answer is always “chicken legs”. So I have to vary a lot with the thighs, I couldn’t eat the same thing every two weeks or so.