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.
Absolutely amazing! I didn’t have soy sauce on hand, but it was still perfect without. I added more sriracha and minced garlic to the glaze, and it was phenomenal. I can’t stop raving about this recipe to anyone who will listen!
Loved loved loved it!!
Just made this and your chili potatoes for dinner. Holy yum!! Thank you for posting such great recipes!!!
Hi there!
Think this would work with drumsticks? They were a little cheaper so I’m goin with those instead.
Thanks a bunch!
It will probably end up being a little different because the drumsticks have skin (I assume) and the thighs I used did not. So, I’m not quite sure what your results will be. Let me know how it turns out if you try it! :)
WOW!! Just finished dinner and it is ALL gone. Loved it!!! My kids loved it as well-was not super spicy at all for us. I also do not really like ginger…so I used very little-like half a teaspoon maybe. It tastes like an amazing sweet and sour with a bit of kick. No more of the crap from store in a bottle for us! Thanks.
I just made this tonight, and so far it’s my favorite of your recipes that I’ve tried! I love the spicy/sweet combo. Also, my grocer was sold out of boneless chicken thighs so I used bone-in and removed the skin. They had to cook for about 10 extra minutes, but still turned out amazing!
Simple to prepare… tender and delicious! Thanks!
I’m happy to report that this recipe scales up really well. I just made 6x the recipe amount for a non-profit open house tonight and people loved them! And I rarely cook. I super appreciate all the images and detailed instruction. =)
I have a question though, could I have skipped on the starch for the marinade? People loved to spoon the juices over their rice but it was a little starchy. Is cornstarch essential to the baking process in the oven? (I’m a noob)
No, it’s not essential, it just makes it thicken. So, if you’re okay with a watery juice, you can leave it out. Or, you can just reduce the amount to have a less thick sauce. :)
Looks fantastic! I can’t wait to make this!
One question, do you use seasoned or “plain” rice vinegar?
Plain. :)
I made this a couple of weeks ago. Very tasty and easy to make. LOVE LOVE LOVE the Sriracha and ginger combination. Served with jasmine rice and broccoli.
This was great, Beth! And so easy. We did a his-and-hers version (chicken for him, seitan for me, such is our household) and it was fantastic. We went with rice and lots wok-cooked broccoli to accompany. Thanks for another easy, healthy, affordable protein-based recipe. Congrats on the cookbook!
Could I do the same thing with chicken tenderloins and pan fry them?
Probably, yes.
I just made this for dinner last night, and by golly Beth, you’ve done it again! This was my first time cooking thighs, because I’m usually a white meat girl, and after getting over my initial fear that I hadn’t cooked them for long enough (chicken always makes me nervous), I found them to be wonderfully moist and tender. So far, I haven’t died from salmonella poisoning, so that’s a good sign. The sauce was so good that I was licking it off my stirring spoon after! I took your advice and served with jasmine rice and broccoli, which I like to drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, and chilli flakes and roast for a few minutes (I like my broccoli really crunchy). I’m excited to eat this for dinner all week!
Another keeper! Made it with your Chili Roasted Broccoli – my husband through some hoisin sauce on the broccoli, but I liked mine as was (it’s gone already). We’ll be doing this chicken again, but I like the tofu idea above, and I think it would work great with some pork too. So good.
How far ahead in advance can this recipe be made? Does it hurt if the chicken marinates in the fridge overnight? Thanks for your help!
I think it would be okay to marinate over night. :)