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Honey sticky chicken is a sweet and savory stir-fry that’s ready in less than 30 minutes! Serve this easy dish with a side of steamed broccoli and a bowl of fluffy rice for a quick, family-friendly weeknight dinner.
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for even more easy chicken recipes, try this ranch chicken crock pot recipe, these braised chicken thighs with gravy, this dump-and-bake chicken tzatziki with rice, and these dump-and-bake sesame chicken noodles, too!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Easy. Every busy home cook appreciates quick weeknight meals that come together in less than 30 minutes. Even better, the chicken and the sauce cook in the same skillet — which means fewer dishes to wash at the end!
- Simple ingredients. While the sauce boasts plenty of complex flavor, this dish comes together with just a handful of basic ingredients. In fact, you probably have all of them in your kitchen already! This also helps to keep the grocery budget in check, as you’re not forced to purchase any hard-to-find or expensive ingredients.
- Kid-friendly. It’s sweet, savory, and not too spicy, making this easy sticky chicken recipe perfect for everyone at the table (including your pickiest little eaters).
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for this honey sticky chicken recipe. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Soy sauce: we like the less-sodium variety. The base of the sticky sauce, this adds salty, umami flavor to the dish.
- Water: to thin the sauce as needed.
- Cornstarch: coating diced chicken in cornstarch before stir-frying creates a thin, crispy layer that helps lock in moisture and adds a pleasant crunch to the exterior of the chicken, enhancing its texture and flavor. The cornstarch also thickens the sauce to give it that hallmark “sticky” texture.
- Honey: to sweeten the sauce.
- Garlic and ginger: for great flavor. Store fresh ginger root in the freezer so that it’s always available when you need to grate off a little bit for a recipe! You can also substitute with dried ground ginger here.
- Chicken: we prefer boneless skinless chicken breast in this recipe, but you can sub with dark meat chicken thighs.
- Vegetable oil: for stir-frying the chicken.
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper: to enhance the flavors of the other ingredients.
Directions
This recipe includes a lot of the same ingredients that you’ll find in a Southern sticky chicken recipe (like soy sauce, honey, garlic, and chicken); however, the tender bite-size pieces of chicken cook in a skillet on the stovetop instead of in the oven. That means that your dinner is ready much faster than the larger baked bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, but you still get all of that great flavor!
You’ll find detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the overview:
- Whisk together the sauce.
- Season the chicken and toss with cornstarch.
- Sear the chicken in a large skillet. Make sure that your skillet is really hot when you add the chicken. You want the chicken to cook quickly so that it stays juicy and tender, rather than cooking longer and becoming dry and tough.
- Do not overcrowd the pan, or you’ll end up steaming the chicken rather than getting a nice sear on the outside. If your skillet isn’t big enough to comfortably cook the chicken in a single layer, you may need to work in batches and just cook half of it at a time.
- Pour the sauce into the skillet and cook for about 1 minute over medium heat, or until it thickens. The sauce thickens quickly when it hits the hot pan. Whisk constantly, and remove it from the heat as soon as it’s thick and “sticky.” If the sauce gets too thick, no problem — just whisk in extra water to thin to the desired consistency.
- Add the chicken to the sauce and toss to coat.
- Garnish the dish with extra toppings for even more flavor. We love toasted sesame seeds, sliced green onion, chopped peanuts, cashews, chow mein noodles, or crushed red pepper flakes.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the chicken over rice, couscous, cauliflower rice, brown rice, or ramen noodles. Garnish each serving with your favorite toppings like sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, chopped peanuts, or crunchy chow mein noodles.
To round out the meal with additional side dishes, try pairing the sticky chicken with sesame peanut noodles, ramen noodle coleslaw, sesame ginger snap pea salad, garlic roasted broccoli, or baked store-bought egg rolls.
Storage Tips
- Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- You can also freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheat the chicken with the sauce in a skillet over low heat or in the microwave until warmed through, about 30-60 seconds. Be careful not to reheat it for too long or you can dry out the meat. Add extra water to thin the sauce if necessary.
Recipe Variations
- Swap out the boneless skinless chicken breasts and use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead.
- Try shrimp or thinly-sliced flank steak in lieu of the chicken.
- Use brown sugar instead of honey. Keep in mind that brown sugar will add sweetness like honey but lacks the distinct flavor of honey. Adjust the quantity to taste, as brown sugar may be slightly less sweet than honey, and consider adding a bit more water to compensate for the moisture honey would have provided.
- While it shares some similar flavors with General Tso’s chicken, sticky chicken is not spicy (while General Tso’s chicken is mildly spicy). If you prefer your honey sticky chicken to have a little bit of heat, add crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or a splash of sriracha hot sauce.
- For even more flavor in the sauce, try adding a bit of sesame oil, ketchup, rice vinegar, or a dash of paprika.
More Easy Chicken Recipes to Try
Chicken and Bell Pepper Stir Fry
28 minutes mins
Baked General Tso Chicken Recipe
40 minutes mins
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
28 minutes mins
Sticky Chicken
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
This quick and easy honey sticky chicken is a flavorful, family-friendly dinner in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
SAUCE
- ½ cup less-sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup cold water, plus extra as needed to thin the sauce
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 large cloves) (or ¾ teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (or ½ teaspoon ground ginger)
CHICKEN
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into ¾-inch pieces
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or more as needed
OPTIONAL GARNISH
- Sliced green onions
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
MAKE THE SAUCE
- In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, cold water, cornstarch, honey, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.
COOK THE CHICKEN
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the cornstarch and toss to coat.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken in the hot pan until it’s nicely browned, about 5-6 minutes. Do not cook too many chicken pieces at once, since they need plenty of space in the pan to spread out and brown. Add extra oil to the skillet for each batch, as needed. Remove the chicken to a plate or bowl and tent with foil to keep warm while you simmer the sauce.
SIMMER THE SAUCE
- Reduce the heat to medium. Whisk the sauce again to make sure that all the ingredients are completely combined. Pour the sauce into the skillet and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. If the sauce gets too thick, just add extra water about ¼ cup at a time, to thin to desired consistency.
COMBINE CHICKEN AND SAUCE
- Stir the chicken into the sauce. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Garnish with green onions, red pepper flakes, and toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
- Store fresh ginger root in the freezer so that it’s always available when you need to grate off a little bit for a recipe! You can also substitute with dried ground ginger here.
- Make sure that your skillet is really hot when you add the chicken. You want the chicken to cook quickly so that it stays juicy and tender, rather than cooking longer and becoming dry and tough.
- Do not overcrowd the pan, or you’ll end up steaming the chicken rather than getting a nice sear on the outside. If your skillet isn’t big enough to comfortably cook the chicken in a single layer, you may need to work in batches and just cook half of it at a time.
- The sauce thickens quickly when it hits the hot pan. Whisk constantly, and remove it from the heat as soon as it’s thick and “sticky.” If the sauce gets too thick, no problem — just whisk in extra water to thin to the desired consistency.
- Garnish the dish with extra toppings for even more flavor. We love toasted sesame seeds, sliced green onion, chopped peanuts, cashews, chow mein noodles, or crushed red pepper flakes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4 of the recipeCalories: 359kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 39gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 1348mgPotassium: 759mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 51IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 1mg
Can you substitute flour for the cornstarch?
Hi, Debbie! I haven’t tested it with the flour, but I think it should work. In general, you need more flour than cornstarch to achieve the same thickening effect. I would add it gradually until the sauce reaches the desired consistency (you might need as much as two times the flour as cornstarch called for). Hope you enjoy it!