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.
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
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 – Use as much or little as you like.
- 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
- 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.
- Preheat your oven: To 425 F degrees.
Rice and veggies
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
Leftovers
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Freezing
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 pound chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- 1 pound broccolini ends trimmed *
- 1 cup rice uncooked (I used Basmati rice)
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
For Marinade
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion chopped finely
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce**
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon 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.
loved it, threw a squeeze of lemon juice at the end and it really set it on fire.
Great recipe! I love the simplicity of it. Tasted delicious and I only marinated the chicken for
an hour. I’m adding it to my favourites! I had to bake it for 50 minutes.
So glad to hear you liked it!
This was great! don’t hesitate to use hot sauce – it doesn’t make it hot, it adds flavor. My husband can’t eat anything too spicy, but he didn’t even notice the hot sauce!
I’ve made this several times and ALL 3 kids love it!
I cook my rice differently and it comes out perfectly every time. I put 1 cup of basmati rice, 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock, and a generous tablespoon of butter in a pot. I let it come to a rolling boil on high, then I shut off the heat completely and put a lid on the pot. I let it sit, still on the burner, for 20 minutes or so, and then fluff the rice before serving. The liquid is always fully absorbed and the rice is always light, fluffy, and has good mouth-feel.
In this recipe, I’ll also add thinly sliced ginger root to the pot before boiling. The ginger rises to the top as a rule, making it easy to remove before serving and gives the rice a wonderful fragrance.
Making it now. After 15 minutes the chicken is still nowhere near done. Almost raw and I pre-heated the oven to 425. Can’t imagine it will finish cooking in another 5 minutes. We’ll see how it goes.
Each oven is different so some may run hotter than others, also it could depend on the size of your thighs as well. You know your oven best, also the best way to tell when the thighs are done is to use an instant read thermometer. When inserted in the thickest part of the chicken, if it reads 165F then you’re good to go.
What kind of onion did you use
Just a small yellow onion.
How spicy is it with the siracha? I like spicy but I’m afraid it may be too much for my kids.
The sriracha brings quite a bit of heat, so maybe add half of the recommended amount to begin with and taste it as you cook to see if it would be enough for the kids.
This was soo good and super fast!! Nice and juicy, tender. I didnt use the Sriracha because my kids don’t like the spice. Saved this pin for future use!
That’s great Sandra! So glad you all enjoyed it!