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Spicy, sweet, and sticky chicken is an easy and quick one skillet meal that includes sticky, tender, and delicious chicken thighs rubbed with a homemade spice rub and brushed with an amazingly sweet honey sauce.
For more delicious weeknight chicken recipes, you should also try my piri piri chicken and this excellent crock pot honey garlic chicken. Both recipes are packed with flavor and are always a hit with family and friends.
The glory that is this amazing sticky chicken… If I were this dish, I’d kiss myself. It’s SO delicious AND pretty.
Hi Hi! Happy DAY! Sundays are the best! I slept in, took a shower, and ate… oh wait, that was back in 2006. Sundays with two kids under 7 don’t look like that anymore, but hey, who’s complaining?! 😉 Back in 2006, I didn’t cook my own sticky chicken. Instead, I’d hop over to my favorite Asian restaurant and devour all the chicken, trying to cure a Saturday night hangover… Fun days! Now, I’ve made it a hobby to recreate my favorite take-out dishes, from black pepper chicken stir fry and chicken fried rice to sesame chicken, and these homemade sticky chicken thighs.
Regardless of my 20-something shenanigans, if you want to be extra deliciously awesome today, I urge you to get this sweet and sticky chicken going ASAP. It might not be YOUR world’s best thighs, but it’s exactly what my mouth wants to eat every day, all day. Plus, one more thing that you and I both love—this all happens in just one skillet. Or, even better, one cast iron skillet. Just add a side of steamed broccoli and white rice and dinner is served!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Judging by how closely our food tastes align most of the time, I’m going to guess that you’ll love this sticky chicken just as much as me, and it will be added to your rotation just as it has been a part of mine for a long time.
Spice Rub
- Chili powder: Adds heat and a rich, smoky flavor.
- Paprika: Contributes a mild sweetness and vibrant color.
- Ground cumin: Provides an earthy, warm taste.
- Garlic powder: Adds a savory depth of flavor.
- Salt: Enhances all the other flavors in the rub.
- Ground black pepper: Adds a subtle heat and depth.
Sauce
- Honey: Brings sweetness and helps create a sticky glaze.
- Apple cider vinegar: Adds tanginess to balance the sweetness of the honey.
For the Chicken
- Unrefined, cold-pressed coconut oil: Used for frying, it adds a subtle coconut flavor.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: They are juicy and flavorful, but you can also use boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Green onions: Used for garnish, they add a fresh, mild onion flavor.
How To Make Sticky Chicken
Let’s get right down to it. I adore this meal for many reasons, one of them being that you actually make your own spicy spice rub, and you get to control the heat. Secondly, the honey sauce. It’s just a combination of honey and apple cider vinegar. I’ve also been dying to try a version of this recipe with the marinade from my honey soy chicken. That’s next!
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375°F and melt coconut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken. Mix together the spice rub ingredients. Rub the chicken thighs with the spice rub.
- Brown the chicken thighs. Cook the chicken in the skillet for 5 minutes on each side until browned. See my stovetop chicken thighs for tips!
- Make the sticky sauce. Combine honey and apple cider vinegar to make the honey sauce. Pour the honey sauce over the chicken and coat well.
- Bake. Put the skillet in the oven and cook the chicken for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for a few minutes.
- Serve. Garnish with green onions and serve.
What to Serve with Sticky Chicken Thighs
Sticky chicken goes great with a side of white rice or cumin rice and a starter of steamed shrimp shumai dumplings. If you’re not going the Asian-inspired route, try a creamy avocado salad or leafy salad with orzo and feta on the side, or crispy seasoned Cajun fries.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
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Sticky Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
FOR THE SPICE RUB
- 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon paprika, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE CHICKEN
- 1 tablespoon unrefined, cold pressed coconut oil
- 6 to 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- sliced green onions, for garnish
FOR THE SAUCE
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Combine the spice rub ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Rub the chicken with the prepared spice rub and toss to coat.
- Melt coconut oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
- Add chicken to skillet and cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until browned.
- Prepare the honey sauce by combining honey and apple cider vinegar in a mixing bowl; stir until well incorporated.
- Remove chicken from heat and pour honey sauce over the chicken thighs, turning to coat.
- Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from oven and let stand couple minutes.
- Plate and garnish with green onions.
- Serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Terrific. Made it and it’s wonderful. My tip is to combine the spices and shake it on both sides with a fine strainer, Spice went further and covered evenly. Delicious
You may want to double check your nutrition calculator. It is off. There is no way that a recipe for 4, that requires 1/2 tsp of salt has only 12% sodium in a serving. There is naturally occurring sodium in many of the other ingredients, and those calculations ONLY seem to count the added salt. The calculator I used -inputting the recipe with NO added salt as we are on a low sodium diet- still came up as 11% sodium per serving. I used skinless/boneless breasts as well, but nothing else was changed.
We will still be trying it (without added salt) in the very near future, but I always check the nutrition info out, since I’d like to keep my husband alive (he is where the ‘low sodium’ comes in) and thought you may want your information to be more accurate. I know you use a calculator (obviously!) but something is off in it’s calculations.
This was soo yummy! Iโm really glad I tried it out. I used chicken thighs skin on/bone-in and butter for frying instead of coconut oil. I adjusted the spices a bit for four thighs and would recommend using a bit of garlic salt as well. I had them in the oven at 350 degrees (lower heat because a commenter suggested this to not burn the honey sauce) for around 40 minutes (because of the bone-in). Delicious! Thank you!
This was good but it is DEFINITELY not Asian flavored. The chili powder made it taste Tex-Mex. My kids agree. Maybe the chili powder was supposed to be something else?
I am plant-based (Vegan). I am thinking about using Firm Tofu instead of Chicken and Agave instead of honey.
This recipe looks great and I am excited about trying the conversions.
How well does this recipe work on the BBQ?
Is it possible to make using bone in skin on thighs?
Sure! But, they’ll need a bit longer to cook.. maybe about 8 to 10 minutes longer in the oven.
thank you!!
Can the entire dish be made in a pan on the stove?
Omgosh!!! Sooooo tasty! So easy! Thank you
This was delicious! I plan to add a little more spice next time, but even just the spice blend alone would be delicious!