Looking for the perfect no-fuss dinner? These honey soy chicken thighs are oven-baked, flavour-packed, and require zero pre-browning! With a sweet and savoury marinade that turns into a sticky glaze, you’ll get tender, juicy chicken and bold flavour, with no extra effort needed. Just marinate, bake, and enjoy!
I love this kind of recipe where the oven does most of the work and we are rewarded with tender chicken in a fabulously flavourful sauce.
The marinade for this chicken does double-duty. After it marinates the chicken, it is cooked on the stovetop until thickened and used as a sauce for the chicken as it cooks.
Be sure to set aside time for the chicken to marinate. A couple of hours will work, or you can set it to marinate in the morning to enjoy it later for dinner.
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – I haven’t tried this one with boneless, skinless chicken thighs. There is no reason it wouldn’t work, but the cooking time would be reduced, so watch carefully.
Honey – A nice neutral-flavoured runny honey is the best option.
Soy Sauce – I love to use low-sodium soy sauce whenever I can and this is a great place to use it.
How to make honey soy chicken thighs
This is a visual summary of the steps to make this recipe. Always refer to the complete instructions in the Recipe Card below when making the recipe.
- Start by stirring all the marinade ingredients in a measuring cup or a small bowl.
- Place the chicken thighs in a plastic zipper bag (or a bowl) and pour the marinade over the chicken.
- Shake or stir the chicken to evenly coat, cover and pop it into the fridge to marinate for 2-3 hours or up to 8 hours.
- Place the marinated chicken onto a foil-lined baking sheet and place into the oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Pour the remaining marinade into a sauce pan and set it to simmer.
- Remove the chicken from the oven after 10-15 minutes and carefully pour off the fat on the baking sheet into the saucepan with the simmering marinade. Return the chicken to the oven.
- Cook the marinade until it is nicely thickened.
- Brush the thickened marinade over the chicken thighs and return them to the oven until cooked through.
- Turn the broiler on at the end of cooking to brown up the chicken.
Recipe tips!
- It can take a bit of time for the marinade to thicken. I like to simmer it fairly aggressively, so it isn’t too slow a process.
- To get the curly green onion garnish, simply slice a length of green onion really thinly. It will curl naturally. Of course, you can always dice it too, if you prefer.
- Since there is no sauce with this chicken, I like to skip the mashed potatoes in favour of baked sweet potatoes. The flavours of the sweet potato and the chicken are lovely together.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email and I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Seasons and Suppers.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Get the Recipe: Honey Soy Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, *see Note 1 below
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, or similar neutral oil
Honey soy marinade and glaze:
- 4 Tablespoons honey
- 4 Tablespoons soy sauce, low-sodium recommended
- 4 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 Tablespoons ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon ginger, peeled and finely grated, or ginger paste
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
For garnish:
- green onions, green part only, very thinly sliced lengthwise
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, score the chicken thighs twice through the skin, season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl or a plastic zipper bag.
- Add all the marinade ingredients to a small bowl and stir together well. Pour the marinade over the chicken, making sure that each piece is well coated, then cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours or up to 8 hours.
- Heat the oven to 400F (non-convection/not fan-assisted). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and put it in the hot oven to heat up for 10 minutes. Gently shake the excess marinade off the chicken thighs, reserving the leftover marinade, then arrange the chicken thighs on the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each piece. Drizzle with the vegetable oil and roast for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring often. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until thick and syrupy.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully pour any juices from the baking sheet into the saucepan with the syrupy sauce. Return the chicken to the oven and continue to cook the marinade mixture for another 5 mins until the sauce is thickened.
- When the sauce is thickened, brush or spoon the sauce over the chicken, then continue cooking the chicken for 10-15 minutes more, or until the thighs are sticky and tender, and the juices run clear when pierced with a knife. *I like to turn on the broiler for a minute or two to brown up the top of the chicken nicely.
- Using only the green part of the green onion, slice lengthwise into very thin slices. They should naturally curl up a bit is sliced thin enough. Scatter the green onion over the chicken to serve.
Notes
It can take a bit of time for the marinade to thicken. I like to simmer it fairly aggressively, so it isn’t too slow a process. To get the curly green onion garnish, simply slice a length of green onion really thinly. It will curl naturally. Of course, you can always dice it too, if you prefer. Since there is no sauce with this chicken, I like to skip the mashed potatoes in favour of baked sweet potatoes. The flavours of the sweet potato and the chicken are lovely together. Be sure to read the notes above this recipe card for substitution suggestions and step-by-step photos that you might find helpful.
Adapted from a BBC Good Food recipe
More chicken thigh recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
These are a great no fuss dinner choice for a weeknight. They can be prepped in the morning and marinated all day. I made a half recipe of the marinade for 2 thighs and basted them with the reduced marinade for most of the roasting time. They were moist, tender and flavourful.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Sadie :) Thanks so much!
Delicious and fast with pantry staples. Thank you, Jennifer, for another winner!
Thanks so much, Dawn! So glad you enjoyed them :)
Made this recipe a couple of nights ago. So good! The chicken was so moist. Will definitely be making it again.
So glad to hear, Cathy :) Thanks so much!