Baked Honey Garlic Chicken {Dump-and-Bake}

This sweet and savory Baked Honey Garlic Chicken is a healthy, easy dump-and-bake dinner recipe that the entire family will love! Serve it in lettuce wraps, over rice, on a salad, or in tortillas. The versatile, freezer-friendly meat can be prepped in advance and baked in the oven or thrown in the slow cooker for a quick meal any night of the week!

We all need plenty of quick and easy chicken recipes for dinner since they tend to be the healthiest, most affordable options that everyone at the table can enjoy. This baked honey garlic chicken recipe takes advantage of chicken breasts or thighs, so pick your favorite, toss them with a simple marinade, and pop them in the oven (or Crock Pot)! Dinner will be ready with just 10 minutes of prep!

Reasons to Love This Easy Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe

• It’s made with pantry staples. If you cook any Asian-inspired dishes often, you’ll already have all the ingredients on hand. Almost all the ingredients are packed into a tasty sauce that whips up in minutes!
• It’s perfect for meal prep. Easily make a batch of this shredded honey garlic chicken ahead of time for a week’s worth of meals! It’s easily paired with veggies, lettuce, tortillas, or rice for a variety of dishes throughout the week.
• It’s packed with flavor. The delicious honey garlic sauce is sweet and savory; the chicken is tender and succulent. If you want a low-effort meal with restaurant-quality flavor, this is it!

Can I make honey garlic chicken with other cuts of chicken or meat?

This recipe can be used with just about any piece of chicken or meat. If you prefer chicken thighs (which tend to be juicier and more forgiving to overcooking), boneless or bone-in chicken thighs are a great option. You could also use chicken wings or drumsticks. Better yet – the honey garlic sauce can be used with beef, pork, shrimp, salmon, or even tofu.

Prepping the Chicken

Minimal prep time means little has to be done to prepare the chicken and other ingredients for this super-simple recipe. If your chicken breasts are large and thick, you may want to cut them in half (lengthwise) or pound them out with a meat mallet or rolling pin for more even cooking.

For the onions, I used pre-cut frozen onions for convenience. No need to thaw them ahead of time! However, if you’re using frozen chicken, I do recommend completely thawing the chicken before baking to ensure even cooking throughout.

Making the Honey Garlic Sauce

The next step is to prepare the honey garlic chicken marinade! Gather all your ingredients and whisk them together in a separate bowl or measuring cup. Then pour the sauce over the chicken, and you’re ready to bake! If you have extra marinade, set it aside – you can turn it into a deliciously savory-sweet sauce by bringing it to a simmer in a small saucepan. Whisk in a cornstarch slurry, and you’ve made a delicious honey garlic sauce to spoon over the chicken or keep for other recipes.

Baking the Chicken

Should you cover chicken breast while baking in the oven? If you want deliciously moist and juicy chicken breasts, then yes! Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken breast is the best way to determine doneness for safety. The total cooking time will vary depending on the thickness (and cut) of the chicken.

When the chicken is done, shred the meat with two forks and stir it with the sauce. You could easily skip this step and serve whole or sliced chicken as well!

What to Pair with Honey Garlic Chicken

This Chinese honey garlic chicken pairs well with other Asian-inspired sides. Try serving with:

• White rice or cauliflower rice
• Wrapped in tortillas or lettuce leaves
• Over a salad, such as this Chinese Chicken Salad with Cashews (use the honey garlic chicken as the chicken for the salad)
• Cold noodle salads like Ramen Noodle Salad, Peanut Sesame Noodles, or Vegetable Lo Mein
• Alongside egg rolls (just buy some in the freezer aisle!)
• Steamed vegetable stir-fry medley from the grocery store
• Vegetables like this Sesame Ginger Snap Pea Salad or this Oven-Roasted Sesame Broccoli
• Other simple side dishes: Marinated Vegetable Salad, Green Beans and Mushrooms, Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad, Sautéed Zucchini, or Roasted Yellow Squash

Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations for Baked Honey Garlic Chicken

• Make it in the Slow Cooker! Instead of baking the chicken in the oven, let it simmer in the Crock Pot. Place chicken and onion in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour honey garlic sauce over the top. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks and stir to combine with the sauce. TIP: chicken thighs stay more moist and tender in the slow cooker than chicken breasts. Feel free to use 2 lbs. of chicken thighs instead of the chicken breasts called for in the recipe.
• Cooking just for two? Cut all of the ingredients in half. The baking instructions remain the same.
• Use the same honey garlic marinade to create a Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry dish in a skillet. Dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in the pan. Add some vegetables (such as broccoli florets, onion, and red bell pepper) and simmer with the sauce until the sauce thickens and the vegetables are tender.
• If you want your honey garlic sauce to be a bit sweeter, add a tablespoon of brown sugar. If you’d like the sauce to have a little bit of a kick, add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
• For more flavor, season the chicken with black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder before adding the sauce. To reduce the salt in the dish, use low-sodium soy sauce.

More Dump-and-Bake Chicken Recipes to Try

Dump-and-Bake Chicken and Mushrooms

Dump-and-Bake Mediterranean Chicken

Dump-and-Bake Honey Mustard Chicken

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

Dump-and-Bake Chicken Caesar Pasta

Dump-and-Bake Smothered Parmesan Chicken

Dump-and-Bake Chicken Supreme

Dump-and-Bake Maple Balsamic Chicken

Dump-and-Bake Honey Garlic Chicken

5 from 1 vote

Prep: 10 minutes minutes

Cook: 50 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour

Servings 6 people

Calories 266.1 kcal

This sweet and savory baked honey garlic chicken is an easy dump-and-bake recipe everyone will love! The Asian-inspired flavors of soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger pair perfectly with tender shredded chicken over white rice or veggies.

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Ingredients

  

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• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup finely diced onion

Honey Garlic Sauce:

• ½ cup less sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

For Garnish & Serving:

• Optional garnish: crushed red pepper flakes; sliced green onion; chopped peanuts
• For serving: rice, pasta, tortillas, salad, or lettuce wraps

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
• Place chicken breasts and diced onion in the prepared dish.
  2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1 cup finely diced onion
• In a separate bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, sesame oil and ginger. Pour sauce over the chicken.
  ½ cup less sodium soy sauce, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• Cover tightly with foil. Bake (covered) for 45-50 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
• While the chicken is still in the dish (or on a separate cutting board), use two forks to shred the meat. Stir the chicken and sauce together until everything is combined.
• Serve shredded chicken over rice, noodles, in tortillas or lettuce wraps, or on salad. Garnish with crushed red pepper flakes, chopped peanuts, and sliced green onion, if desired.
  Optional garnish: crushed red pepper flakes; sliced green onion; chopped peanuts, For serving: rice, pasta, tortillas, salad, or lettuce wraps

Notes

• Make it in the Slow Cooker! Instead of baking the chicken in the oven, let it simmer in the Crock Pot. Place chicken and onion in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour honey garlic sauce over the top. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks and stir to combine with the sauce. TIP: chicken thighs stay more moist and tender in the slow cooker than chicken breasts. Feel free to use 2 lbs. of chicken thighs instead of the chicken breasts called for in the recipe.
• Cooking just for two? Cut all of the ingredients in half. The baking instructions remain the same.
• Use the same honey garlic marinade to create a Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry dish in a skillet. Dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in the pan. Add some vegetables (such as broccoli florets, onion, and red bell pepper) and simmer with the sauce until the sauce thickens and the vegetables are tender.
• If you want your honey garlic sauce to be a bit sweeter, add a tablespoon of brown sugar. If you’d like the sauce to have a little bit of a kick, add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
• For more flavor, season the chicken with black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder before adding the sauce. To reduce the salt in the dish, use low-sodium soy sauce.

Make-Ahead Prep & Storage:

• Prep Ahead! To get a head start on dinner, I like to whisk together the sauce and prep the chicken and onions in advance. Keep everything covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. Just before baking, pour the sauce over the chicken, cover with foil, and pop it in the oven.
• Storing Leftover Chicken: The cooked meat and sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Stored in an airtight container, the cooked chicken will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Make It a Freezer Meal! Combine raw chicken, onion, and sauce in a large Ziploc freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the chicken and sauce in the refrigerator overnight, then bake according to the recipe instructions.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the recipe (about 1 cup of chicken and sauce)Calories: 266.1kcalCarbohydrates: 20.9gProtein: 36.9gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 88.3mgSodium: 1038.2mgPotassium: 459.3mgFiber: 0.9gSugar: 15.6g

Keyword: Baked Chicken Breast, Chinese Honey Garlic Chicken, Honey Garlic Chicken

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Chinese

Author: Blair Lonergan

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