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.
Can this be made with chicken drumettes and be put into a crockpot??
It won’t work quite the same because slow cookers hold in a lot of moisture, whereas it is allowed to evaporate in the oven. So, it will probably be much more watery in a slow cooker.
I’m not sure why I wanted to try these (besides the fact that they’re on this site, and everything on this site is delicious). I generally don’t do well with spicy food, but these were calling my name. I’m so glad they did, because they are awesome! The honey and other ingredients really mellowed out the sriracha. I can still taste it, but it’s not blowing me out of the water. Also, I have a newfound love for the chicken thigh. My mom always used breasts, which are great, but chicken thighs are way cheaper, and I like that there’s a little more fattiness there for a recipe like this. Another great one!
About to make this for the 100th time!! It’s one of our favorites!
I made this in the slow cooker (didn’t change anything but doubled the sauce and halved the sriracha in case the heat grew in the cooker) and it was DELICIOUS.
I paired it with the coconut rice recipe on the site. When we ate all the chicken, we ate bowls of the rice with the gravy on top. Incredible, easy, and tasty.
That sounds awesome!
OMG! I doubled the sauce. (We’re a saucy family!) And I think I’m in love! So good!
Something I’ve wondered, I’ve seen a couple recipes on this site that boils a marinade down to a glaze but I’ve heard this is really dangerous to do – there’s risk of developing food-borne illness. Have you heard something to the contrary? I heard this on Food Network, so I don’t know if that’s a legit source or not.
It’s only okay as long as it’s cooked (then it’s no different than the marinade that is left coating the meat and cooked with the meat). NEVER use it raw or uncooked. Here is an excerpt from the FDA: “Never reuse marinade used on raw meat or poultry unless you boil it first to destroy any harmful bacteria. If you plan to use some of the marinade as sauce for the cooked food, your best bet is to reserve a portion of the marinade before putting raw meat and poultry in it.” and here’s where that quote is taken from. I hope that helps clear things up! :)
I doubled the marinade because I am making 2 drumsticks, 2 bone-in skin-on thighs, and and 2 split chicken breasts.
Haven’t baked them yet because I want them to marinate all day, but I’m sure the skin will crisp up nicely in the oven. I’m confident that this will be awesome. :-) serving with stir-fried bok choy and red cabbage, jasmine rice on the side.
I would agree with Suzanne about the notion of a longer marinade. I think you would fall even more deeply in love if you were to let these marinate “overnight” in the fridge, i.e. at least 8 hours. I’m not sure where the “less than 8 hour” marinade concept originated (seafoods and extremely powerful marinades not withstanding) but it is a great disservice to a lot of, otherwise, outstanding dishes. Excellent recipe though, and thank you. I will apply my “heavy-handed marinade timing” to this and enjoy it incredibly I’m sure.
I love this recipe. I have made it several times already. It always tastes delicious and it is quick to make. I have been actually “cooking” on a regular basis since I found this site. Thank you so much for sharing all your recipes. I greatly appreciate your generosity.
Would I be able to grill the chicken thighs instead of baking?
Probably, yes, although I haven’t tried it. The glaze may stick to the grill a bit, though.
This could also be good substituting maple syrup for the honey. I once worked at a restaurant and they had maple Sriracha chicken wings and they were my favorite thing to get! I’m gonna try both!
I just made this and forgot to take into account that I bought chicken thighs that had the bone in and skin on. I figured it would cook fine anyways, but the chicken seemed fattier than I expected, I assume because of the skin. The marinade was great, though, and maybe if I make it properly next time I’ll be happier. I served this with coconut rice and it was a nice combo.
Just made this last night for my husband and I, and it was sooo delicious! The only thing about this recipe is that you definitely need some sort of fresh element on the chicken (I totally forgot to add the green onions–oops!). Great recipe…I officially love this blog. :)
We recently discovered that my husband has trouble with soy. Is there something I could substitute in for the soy sauce? If not, I may try what Hannah mentioned above.
Apparently there is a product that you can buy at health food stores called “coconut aminos” that is like a soy free version of soy sauce. That’s the only idea I have. Soy sauce is so unique!
Thank you! I’ll give that a try.
This recipe is amazing! I made the first time a month ago for guests and they loved it! The spicy/sweet combo is just perfect.
Such an easy and delicious recipe! My husband and I loved it so much that we printed it out and put it in the family recipe box. Thank you for finding a way to make boring, cheap chicken into a dinner to look forward too :D