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
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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.
One of my favorite! Can’t stop eating… So full!
Hi Beth, I stumbled upon this recipe this week, and I recently got a bunch of bone-in chicken thighs with skin that were on an awesome sale. How can I alter the recipe to use bone-in skin-on thighs? I can’t wait to try these!
Tried this the other night and I was very pleased! I whimped out and didn’t put as much Sriracha in as the recipe called for but I totally wish I had kept it all in. Don’t shy away from the stove sauce either.
I’ve had it in my head to try honey-sriracha chik’n (vegetarian friendly) tacos with some kind of slaw. I saw the Cumin Lime Coleslaw recipe – do you think they would work well together?
Ooh, yes, that would be good!
Yum! I saw the recipe for this and new I had to adapt it for my vegetarian diet.
I made the sauce the same but substituted maple syrup for the honey and apple cider vinegar for rice wine vinegar because the Asian market is 1 hour away (ugh!). With the substitutes, this was actually a vegan meal! I made the full amount of sauce and then cooked it and poured it over jasmine rice with a bag of frozen “stir-fry veggies.”
Quick, delicious, and healthy! It reminded me of sweet and sour sauce, and my boyfriend said it had a really good flavor. I totally recommend it!
To save even more use ‘regular’ thighs, skin and bones. Reserve the skin and debone the thighs and use that to make chicken stock when you have enough parts and pieces. Nothing is wasted.
I used this recipe (twice now) with cubes of turkey brest and instead of baking them I used the wok to stir fry and added the marinade in the end. Everybody loves it!
Wonderful! I have only cooked a few times with sriracha (I think this was the second) and it amazes me how much heat it contributes! This was great with chicken flavored rice and broccoli. Will definitely make it again!
I tried this out recently. It came out delicious. I was tired of my usual chicken cooking techniques and wanted to try something different. Usually the first try at something new does not always turn out too well for me. But this was simple and easy to follow. The details with pictures of every step really help to get it done correctly.
The only part was that corn thickened sauce does not freeze well. I will try substituting it with half corn and half wheat flour next time.
Thank you for this excellent recipe. I did not see it in the contents of your existing book. Hopefully it will be in the new one you are working on.
A total winner.
I made this last week and loved it so much I doubled it and made it again for Sunday dinner with my family. Tastes fantastic, and is so easy to prepare! I only used half the sriracha because we’re a bit wimpy, and served it with green beans and the coconut rice from your site. Thanks for the delicious dinner(s)!
So ridiculously good… These are going into dinner rotation. I absolutely love these.
Late hubby was stationed 3 yrs in Japan, love their spicy dishes, thighs are their favorite. Plan to make this delish chicken with jasmine rice & vegs.
Arigato
Carmen
Made this recipe today and it was fantastic. I did add some toasted sesame seeds & scallions to the final sauce. Perfect blend of heat & spice, definitely a keeper. I would suggest to those who like “heat” to add an extra shot of sriracha.
Fantastic! I made the recipe as is and the marinade/glaze was phenomenal! Not overly sweet, but a nice amount of heat coming through from the sriracha. Everyone I made it for agreed it was delicious and instant favorite. I paired the chicken with white rice cooked in chicken stock (and topped with scallions) & garlic brussels sprouts. Thank you!