The reign of sriracha is not over yet. The price for a bottle of this magic sauce remains stable at my local grocery store, so panic is averted for now.
I fell in love with chicken thighs a while back when I made the Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs. They’re super easy to cook, usually quite inexpensive, and always juicy and tender. For boneless, skinless chicken thighs all you have to do is add some sauce and pop them in the oven. A little while later you have an easy to eat and very delicious meat. That’s all I want—easy, delicious, inexpensive.
For this honey sriracha version, I’ve mixed up a marinade/sauce of the basic goodies: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and brown sugar. I used half brown sugar and half honey to cut costs, but if cost is not your concern, use all honey and no brown sugar. The end product is sweet, spicy, and full of flavor. Plus the thighs are tender and juicy as always. I’ve been eating this all week over a bed of jasmine rice with a few florets of broccoli. When I’m leaving for work in the morning I add all three to a container (the broccoli is frozen, from a bag in the freezer) and then they all reheat together in the microwave at lunch time. It’s the perfect little inexpensive and filling lunch!
Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs
Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs
Servings 6 1 thigh eachIngredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (2 lbs) ($5.98)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.11)
- 2 Tbsp sriracha hot sauce ($0.17)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.15)
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar ($0.11)
- 2 Tbsp honey ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.03)
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 2 Tbsp corn starch ($0.12)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro or green onions ($0.20)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger into a bowl. Add the sriracha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and water. Stir to combine. Add the corn starch and stir until dissolved.
- Add the chicken thighs to a large zip top bag or a shallow dish. Add half of the marinade/sauce mixture to the chicken and toss to coat (be sure to stir the sauce before adding it to the chicken. The garlic, ginger, and corn starch tend to settle to the bottom.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Save the unused portion of the marinade for later.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the chicken and its marinade to a 8×8 inch casserole dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, basting the chicken with the juices half way through.
- While the chicken is baking, add the second reserved marinade (the half that wasn’t used with the chicken) to a small sauce pot. Bring it up to a simmer over medium heat while stirring. As soon as it reaches a simmer it will thicken into a nice glaze. Set the sauce aside.
- When the chicken is finished baking, spread the thickened sauce over each piece of chicken. Add fresh cilantro or sliced green onions and serve.
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Nutrition
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I like to add a few spears of broccoli to this dish to make a complete meal!
Step by Step Photos
Mince two cloves of garlic and grate one inch of fresh ginger on a small holed cheese grater. Add them to a bowl along with 2 Tbsp sriracha, 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, and 1/2 cup water. Stir to combine.
Add 2 Tbsp corn starch and stir until dissolved.
Add half of the marinade mixture to a large zip top bag (or shallow dish) along with 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Toss to coat and then marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Be sure to stir the marinade mixture well before pouring it into the bag because the garlic, ginger, and corn starch tend to settle to the bottom. Save the second half of the marinade for later.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the marinated chicken thighs to a small casserole dish, along with all of the marinade from the bag. Bake for 30 minutes and baste the chicken half way through (either spoon the juices over top of each thigh or use a baster to squirt the liquid over top).
Meanwhile, add the reserved half of the marinade (the half not used on the chicken) to a small sauce pot and bring it up to a simmer over medium heat. As soon as it reaches a simmer, the corn starch will begin to thicken the sauce until it becomes a nice glaze. Set the thickened sauce aside until the chicken is finished baking.
When they’re finished baking they look like this. Kind of naked, huh? That’s why we saved half of the sauce! :D
Sauce them thighs up! (Just use a spoon to spread some of the sauce over each thigh.)
Add a little greenery to freshen it up (cilantro or sliced green onions) and you’re ready to serve! Like I said earlier, I’ve been eating this in a bowl with jasmine rice and a little broccoli. So good—So easy.
Hi Beth,
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes, I am your huge fan.
I made this recipe last night, but doubled the sauce and used half on my husbands chicken and half on my tofu since I am a vegetarian. I thought you might like to know that this recipe works amazingly well with tofu. I sliced tofu in four cutlets, placed them in the baking dish and followed your directions as with the chicken.
We all know how hard is making tofu absorb the flavors, but this was just out of this world.
Thank you very much!
In the oven now…. Mmm Mmm I’m so excited. I’ve been stealing recipes on this blog for years now. The ‘Chipotle Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers’ are my wife’s all-time favorite recipe. Thanks a ton!
I love your site! Found this a few weeks ago and finally found the time and resources to make. As always I changed it a little for my tastes, but my husband says this is an instant classic for our home. Thank you for the wonderful ideas!!!
P.S. I didn’t use any vinegar, lots of sriracha and soy sauce and it made it perfect for rice, but thickened up in the oven for the chicken.
I have been feeding my family of 8 big eaters double portions of your recipes almost exclusively for the past 3 or 4 months, and I am just blown away how simple and easy your food is, and how explosive the flavors and textures can be! Not to mention all the money were saving by not buying already prepared food.
I love the simplicity of it because it allows me to make all sorts of variations and fill-ins.
All the eaters now refer to me as “Master Chef” and I’m proud to tell them your website is teaching me how to make all their favorite dishes!
No longer will my dad be buying frozen entrees and canned meals (while I’m here to make dinner)
Holy crap! This was the most delicious marinade/sauce I have ever tasted. I only had 1 large chicken breast that I butterflied so I had a lot of marinade and I am glad for it! I slathered those babies in the stuff and it was oh so good. I will make this marinade again and again and again! Paired the chicken with your Chana Saag with rice! To die for! So much awesome flavor!
I made this a couple hours ago, and I’m still thinking about it. So good. Went the ground ginger route (1/2 t) and used bone-in thighs. I just cooked it an extra 6 minutes to make sure it was done all the way thru. 18 minutes, baste, 18 more minutes. It was super juicy and so flavorful! That sauce is absolutely amazing. I’ve got some leftovers in the fridge for lunch tomorrow, but now I’m not sure if they’re going to make it that long!
This recipe was good but could have been better if we left the extra sauce a bit thinner, so it coats the rice. I halved the Sriracha thankfully because the sauce was super hot but when it all cooked down it was fine!
This recipe was fantastic. I served this with brown rice and snap peas. It will definitely go into the rotation.
Love this recipe! Hubby really liked it to.
Thank goodness! I found a recipe that will delight my kids! Thanks!
Can’t wait to try these, I have a package of legs defrosting right now….hope it turns out for hubby
Made this tonight. Left out the brown sugar and used the 2T of honey. yum!!
I’m baking this right now! It smells delicious and looks fabulous. I must have unusually meaty chicken thighs. I am cooking them for a total of 45 minutes to reach the proper internal temperature. Just a heads up to anyone else out there with curvy chickens.
Beth, You do a wonderful job! You’re my go to for delicious affordable dinner ideas!
i’m having a hard time pinning this, because pinterest says “we are having a hard time talking to budgetbytes.com, please try again later!” i dont know if its on your end or theirs, but i just wanted to give you a heads up!
Thanks! I’m going to look into it!
I had a frozen half chicken in my freezer and when I saw this recipe, I knew I’d be subbing it for the thighs because it looked so good! Used apple cider vinegar because I was out of rice vinegar, also added coconut milk to the sriracha marinade for baking to increase the liquid. Turned out fantastic. Served with coconut jasmine rice and broccoli. Thanks Beth!