Funny story – I was going to make this honey balsamic chicken with chicken thighs, but they were $3.49/lb. and the boneless, skinless chicken breasts were on sale (again) for $1.99/lb… so… yeah. Chicken tenders it was!
Obviously not everyone will catch this $1.99/lb. chicken sale as often as I do, so go with whatever cut is the best deal. To make this recipe with something like chicken thighs, just brown the thighs in the skillet (just like I did with the breasts) and finish cooking them in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees. Prepare the sauce in the skillet in the same manner as listed below. The sauce should be enough for four medium sized chicken thighs.
This chicken is bursting with flavor from the tangy balsamic vinegar, sweet honey, and rich butter. I seasoned mine simply with salt and pepper, but if you want a more herbal flavor you could always add a pinch of dried basil or thyme.
Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders
Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 medium 1.5 lbs. chicken breasts ($2.99)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($0.80)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided ($0.24)
- to taste salt & pepper ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.10)
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.40)
- 3 Tbsp honey ($0.33)
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts on a diagonal into six strips each. Place the strips in a quart sized zip top bag along with 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, one clove of garlic (minced), 1 Tbsp of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients in the bag and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- When you’re ready to cook, heat the second tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the strips until browned on both sides (about 2-3 minutes each side). You may have to do two batches. Place the cooked chicken on a clean plate.
- Turn the heat down on the skillet to medium-low and add the butter and last 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to the skillet. Use a spoon to stir the mixture and dissolve the sticky bits off of the bottom of the skillet. Once the mixture has dissolved together, add the honey, increase the heat, and allow the sauce to simmer until thickened (about five minutes).
- Once the sauce has thickened, season to taste with salt and pepper (I just used a pinch of each). Add the chicken back to the skillet and toss to coat in the warm balsamic sauce. Serve immediately.
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Nutrition
Step By Step Photos
First slice the chicken into strips approximately 1 inch wide. Cut the strips on a diagonal across the chicken breast so they are a fairly uniform length and width.
Place the sliced chicken in a zip top bag along with 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, a clove of minced garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at elast 30 minutes.
When you’re ready to cook, heat the second tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil is nice and hot, add the chicken strips. Cook until golden brown on both sides. You may have to cook in two or three batches.
The more browned your chicken is at this step, the better the color will be at the end. This first batch of strips was kind of blond…
But the next batch got nice and brown. Place the cooked chicken on a clean plate.
Your skillet will likely have a coating of sticky residue in it, which is a good thing. This is flavory goodness and will dissolve into the sauce.
After removing the cooked chicken, reduce the heat to medium-low so that the butter will not burn. Add the butter and balsamic vinegar. Stir the mixture together, allowing the butter to melt and the residue on the bottom of the skillet to dissolve into the liquid.
Once everything has dissolved off of the bottom of the skillet, stir in the honey. Increase the heat (if needed) and allow the mixture to bubble and simmer until thickened. This should happen fairly quickly – about 5 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
Add the cooked chicken back to the skillet and coat it in the honey balsamic sauce.
Serve warm and ENJOY!
Made these tonight with roasted carrots and caprese crostini with a balsamic reduction glaze. Awesome! Chicken came out very tender. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It has gone in our 5 star recipe keepers book. ;)
Mine is very dark! Not from being burnt but because my balsamic is very very dark. The picture of your chicken in the bag is so so pale…I hope mine will come out ok. Going to cook it now. Got my fingers crossed!!
Saw this photo on Pinterest and came to check out the recipe. Looks delicious! Like the photo of the chicken with the greens on it :)
Delicious – made this for dinner tonight and my family loved it. Served it over some brown rice and baby bell peppers. Was awesome.
This recipe was delicious!!! We loved it in my family. Such an easy recipe, not to mention I already had most of these ingredients in my kitchen cupboards! Will for sure make again! Thanks!
Okay, I made this again and enjoyed it even more. After cooking the chicken and incorporating back into the sauce with the honey I also added my steamed broccoli and coated that with the sauce as well. I have never seen broccoli disappear that fast. Just thought I would share.
My son said, “Mom, that was great! You have to make that again!”
Absolutely awesome! A family of adults and all of them loved the chicken. I had doubled the recipe and could have used more. Thanks so much for a new recipe.
Thanks for the delicious recipe. I used tangerine-fig balsamic vinegar and it was awesome. The kids even loved it! This will be a regular in our house! Thanks again.
to all the newbie cooks out there — be careful when you get to the honey part. I was simmering and then as quick as can be — it was burnt! we still ate it and the nice flavors came through but there was definitely a burnt taste. cant wait to try it again soon.
just watch the honey! : )
We tried these last week after visiting the blog, and they were great. I love that they didn’t have to marinade forever to get the wonderful flavor. Trying the honey chicken thighs next and the slow cooker chicken.
Thank you!
Just made these and had to comment on how awesome they are (and easy!). love the step by step photos which helped me make it idiot proof! and its almost… paleo :) it’s so good i almost ate it all, but i refrained and now how luch for tomorrow!
Thanks!
The only think missing is bacon! I think I will wrap in bacon
These were pretty delicious, and not nearly as sinful as breaded chicken tenders. A nice compromise between comfort and health.
I made these for dinner tonight and oh man, were they good! I used lemon honey because it was all I had and I think it made them even better. I also scaled it down to one chicken breast b/c we are broker than broke over here right now, and there were no problems. I kept cutting them into smaller and smaller pieces while I ate so there could be just one more bite… :D
I made this today and it was delicious! I Ate the left over sauce with a spoon, and then I licked the spoon.