Sticky Chicken

2.50 from 2 votes

This quick and easy honey sticky chicken is a flavorful, family-friendly dinner in less than 30 minutes!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, Asian

Keyword easy sticky chicken recipe, honey sticky chicken, sticky chicken, sticky chicken recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings people

Calories 359kcal

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

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, cold water, cornstarch, honey, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.

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.

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.

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.

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.