My favorite thing to do with a recipe is to pare it down as far as possible while maintaining big flavor. I’ve made a lot of Asian inspired marinades and glazes over the years, but this time I took my marinade down to the bare bones, and guess what? I think it’s my favorite one by far. You just can’t beat simple. So, if you’re new to cooking, this Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken is probably a good recipe to start with because it’s so damn simple and I promise you’ll impress yourself with the flavor. ;)
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Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken pictured here with jasmine rice and a drizzle of sriracha!
Can I Use Chicken Breast?
This super simple marinade can be used on chicken breast or thighs, but I prefer thighs because they’re usually already in small, manageable, and quick-cooking pieces that stay juicy and tender. If you’re using chicken breasts, I suggest cutting them into smaller pieces or pounding them thin to both increase chicken to marinade contact and to make sure they cook quickly.
Cook OR Grill Your Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken
Once marinated you can cook the Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken in a skillet or on a grill (I almost used my George Foreman, but decided a skillet made for better pictures #foodbloggerlife). A grill probably gives you better browned edges and caramelized sugars, but a skillet is just SO easy.
And I like easy.
Pictured with jasmine rice and Cucumber Mango Salad.
Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken
Servings 8 piecesIngredients
MARINADE
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.16)
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.26)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
CHICKEN
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1.75 lbs total) ($7.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
GARNISHES (optional)
- 2 green onions ($0.17)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds ($0.07)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger using a fine holed cheese grater or box grater. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, some freshly cracked pepper (about 15 cranks of a pepper mill), and cooking oil. Place the chicken thighs in a shallow dish or a gallon size zip lock bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken and turn to coat. Cover the chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to a day (refrigerated).
- When ready to cook the chicken, heat a large skillet over medium flame. Once hot, add 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add half of the chicken pieces and let cook until well browned on each side and cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate, then repeat with the second batch.
- Once all the chicken has been removed from the skillet, pour the leftover marinade into the skillet and allow it to come up to a boil. Whisk the marinade as it boils to dissolve any browned bits from the skillet. Let it continue to boil until it reduces to a thick glaze*. Turn the heat off, add the cooked chicken back to the skillet, and dredge it in the thick glaze. Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
How to Make Soy Glazed Chicken – Step by Step Photos
To prepare the awesomely easy ginger soy marinade, mince two cloves of garlic and grate about 1 Tbsp fresh ginger (more information on how to buy and use ginger can be found here). Combine the garlic and ginger with 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp cooking oil, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 15 cranks of a pepper mill).
Place eight boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a shallow container or gallon size zip lock bag and pour the marinade over top. Turn the thighs to coat in the marinade, then cover and marinate (refrigerated) the chicken for at least 30 minutes or up to one day.
When ready to cook, heat a large skillet over a medium flame. Once hot, add 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil and tilt the skillet to swirl the oil over the surface. Add half of the chicken thighs and cook on each side until well browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet onto a clean plate, then repeat with the second batch of chicken.
The reason the marinade is not poured in WITH the chicken and the chicken is cooked in two separate batches is because too much moisture in the skillet will prevent those nice browned edges and caramelized sugars. So, work in two batches and cook the marinade separately.
Once the second batch of chicken has been cooked and removed from the skillet, pour in the leftover marinade and let it come to a boil. Whisk the marinade as it boils to dissolve the browned bits from the skillet. Let it continue to boil until it reduces to a thick glaze (this only takes a few minutes because there isn’t much marinade). This cooks the marinade, just like you cooked the chicken, to kill bacteria (it’s no less safe than the actual chicken or the marinade that is on the surface of the chicken when it cooks). FDA foodsafety guidelines for marinades. If this still makes you uncomfortable, you can skip this extra glaze (the chicken will still be nice and sticky), or double the amount of marinade in the beginning and only use half on the chicken. You can cook the second “clean” half in a sauce pan until it thickens to a glaze.
Return the cooked chicken to the skillet and dredge it on both sides in the sticky glaze. Top the chicken with sliced green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
I paired my Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken with jasmine rice and Cucumber Mango Salad. The cold and tangy Cucumber Mango Salad was the PERFECT side to this dish (plus I was lucky enough to get mangoes on sale 3/$1 this week!!).
This is a simply but very delicious recipe! I’ve used this once before to meal prep and was very happy with how the chicken held up for four days out of the week. This will be added to my chicken recipe rotation. Thank you for sharing it!
A little on the sweet side but was very good!
Thank you for sharing! My dinner turned out perfectly โฃ๏ธ Pretty as the picture.
Thank you for the hints and suggestions.
My husband said this was the best ever recipe! He is a chicken thigh expert too ๐ฅฐ It was so easy! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
After following the recipe, and it not looking how I expected I made this with chicken for my husband, and quorn for myself. All I can say is WOW! I will definitely be making this again, it was delicious. I followed the instructions given for the chicken. But for the quorn I put it into a small heat proof dish, covered it with foil and cooked it in the oven at 220ยฐC for around 30 minutes. I served it with rice and green beans. Both myself and my husband are extremely happy and satisfied.satisfied
I followed this recipe, but it looks nothing like the one in the picture. Also, there isn’t enough marinade to put back into the skillet and being to the boil. Is this normal? I made some to go with quorn pieces, too, as I’m vegetarian. I’m hoping it works, as quorn can leave some recipes a little sharp tasting. I’ll ket you know, later.
You shouldn’t have very much marinade left after you cook your chicken so it sounds like yours was done correctly! There should be just enough to make a tbsp or so of glaze. Even if you don’t have enough to do the final reduction of the marinade, the recipe will still be just as good. As for it not looking the same, it could be because of differences in color of your soy sauce or perhaps just variations in our pans or temperature and browning. Let us know how it goes with the Quorn!
Thank you very much for replying, you’re right, there was around a tbsp of glaze left. The recipe is quick, easy and extremely tasty, we thoroughly enjoyed it xx
This will be a weekly feature!!!
Delicious and very quick and easy.
I modified the soy sauce to half.
I will investigate more recipes from Budget Bytes!! 10*
OMG!!! This was sooooo good!!! I was meal prepping it for lunch with the sesame green beans and had to stop myself from eating it all. I did decide to double the marinade cause I love extra sauce. Love all your recipes, they never let me down!
Little work, a whole lot of flavor. Yum ๐
Mmmmmm! So Good! I used sesame oil because I needed to use it up before it reached it’s expiration date. The next time I make this I am going to double the marinade recipe so I can drown my meat in sauce.
Tried this tonight for my family, it turned out great!! I used the marinade just as the recipe called for. I will keep this recipe for future use!
I’m blown away by how good this is. A restaurant near me makes this but with Buffalo wings, and this recipe surpasses the taste of them. Definitely use the sesame seeds. I used cut up chicken breasts so my family could easily eat over rice. Delicious!
As always: amazing recipe with amazing results!! I did it with breast, so I followed the suggestion and cut it in small pieces, left marinating for 40ish minutes. The pieces got super a niiiiceeee brownish color, damn, loved. Recipe went straight to recipe book. Thanks a lot!! โค๏ธ
Made this tonight with garlic jasmine rice and steamed broccoli & carrots. My spouse was sucking on her fingers. :D
Just made this for my kids and they absolutely loved it!
Such an easy recipe for chicken! I had to cut the skin off and the meat off the bones, but I threw it all in a pot, boiled it, strained it, and used the broth to cook my rice while the chicken meat was marinating. I loved it! Thanks again!
Iโve made this dozens of times – so easy and delicious. Lately Iโve been using chicken breasts cut up into bite-size pieces for added simplicity.
This is one of my favorite dishes! If I wanted to make the sauce ahead of time, roughly how long would the sauce last in the fridge?
That’s a great idea! You could make the marinade well ahead — the oil will likely separate, but giving it a good shake/stir will re-emulsify it! I’d say it would keep for a few weeks for sure (maybe up to a month). There’s nothing in it that really “goes bad” except the fresh garlic and ginger, but the high sugar content of the mixture will actually help preserve them longer. ~ Marion :)
This is a favorite dinner at our house. Even the pickiest eater loves it.
Would sesame oil be okay to use for the cooking oil or should I mix canola and sesame together? I’m just wondering if by just using the sesame oil, if it would overpower the flavor.
Hi, Wendy! I would only use sesame oil as a finishing oil at the end of the cooking process. It’s not great to use as a cooking oil because it burns at high temperatures. I would use neutral cooking oil for the recipe and then finish the dish with sesame oil. That will be such a delicious addition! ~ Marion :)
No taste at all, very bland def need to double the marinade
OMG so good! My husband and I just had it for dinner. Will be on our regular rotation for sure. Delish!
This is so so good! I made this earlier in the week and my husband requested it again!
So yummy!
My family LOVED this recipe. My picky 2-year-old came back for seconds and so did my 9-month-old. If you want marinade to drizzle over the chicken, you’ll want to double up on the marinade recipe.
Can you send my the cucumber mango salad recipeย
You can find the Cucumber Mango Salad recipe here.
Is it possible to make this with honey instead of brown sugar?
Yes :)
I haven’t worked with ginger much and have always peeled the outer skin off before using it. Your photos show you grating the whole piece as is which I had to laugh at because 40 years ago while working in my relatives french market I was chosen to replace the retiring cook and make the store specialties. Having just graduated from scrambling eggs I simply cut up whole yellow onions, bell peppers and celery just the way they were and promptly ground them thru a chili plate! Needless to say when someone with cooking knowledge walked it and saw what I was doing they were horrified then busted out laughing and showed me the right way to prep produce. Looking forward to trying your recipe.
Haha! Yes, I used to peel it too, but then I was watching a chef from India on TV and she said that she never peels it. She just makes sure it’s nice and clean. I’ve never peeled it since and have not regretted it! :D
Excellent, will definitely be making again!
This was delicious My family loved it thank you
You weren’t kidding on the flavor! This was incredible, but so simple! I paired it with white rice and steamed broccoli, and the plain sides were perfect with this super flavorful main. I’ll definitely be making this again and again.
The recipe is yummy but you need to double that marinade if you want to use it to drizzle over your chicken and rice. I also added red pepper flakes to give it some needed heat.ย
So easy and delicious!!! ย I didnโt even marinade it. Just brushed it on when the chicken was in the pan. Paired it with the Garlic Noodles, green beans and broccoli. It was a huge hit!
Well I havenโt really cooked in years because I needed a stove. Got it. We love Asian inspired flavors and this dish didnโt disappoint! Like others suggested I took heed and doubled the sauce. Delicious! I wish I could post a pic of my dish!
Tasted good but I didn’t have alot of sauce at all. I finished it in the oven but after browning, the sauce was gone.
The longer you cook it the more the sauce will reduce and disappear, so finishing it off in the oven is probably why you had no sauce left.
Do you think this would work well for freezer leftovers?
I bet it would taste pretty good! I’m not sure if the sticky texture of the glaze will hold up, though.
I’ll give it a try next time I make this then :)
Hi Katherine,
I am curious to know if you had tried freezing this recipe? If so, how did it turnout?!
This sauce is to die for, my son and I love it. I usually make at least double the sauce recipe because it is that good! I’ve made this as a show-off recipe for my parents. I’m finally commenting because I have used this recipe for almost 2 years, I have it written down but looked it up again today too lazy to look for my notebook. Thank you for our treasured “family” recipe.
This marinade is everything! Always make sure to double it, you won’t regret it.
Double the marinade and replace half the soy sauce with water.
Delicious recipe. I would have appreciated a little more guidance on how long to cook the thighs. I am a Huge fan of your recipes and often send them to friends and family.
I made this and used crystallized ginger amd a ton of cayenne pepper to the chicken and brown rice. It was AMAZING! I cried a little. Just kidding!
Ive made this again and again. It is sooo delicious and a firm family favourite!
Delicious. Doubled sauce/marinade. Cut chicken breast into strips and marinated 2 hours. Grilled on Foreman grill.
What about using bone-in chicken thighs? Will much change in terms of the cooking? Or just the time difference to cook?
I’m not sure you could make it work with bone-in thighs because they take so much longer to cook and if you cook it longer then the sauce will burn.
Happy to report I tried it, actually with leg and thigh chicken quarters, had to make some modifications to the cooking time and how, did it in the oven and then glazed near to the end. I can imagine the difference in cooking, but it still tasted great! – The only thing it was a bit sweet, but that wasn’t bad at all!ย
I made this with steamed veggies and ate over jasmine rice. I would definetly double the sauce! I like the sauce on my rice! :-)
This was awesome, I will definitely make it again! ย Just be sure to keep the heat at medium while cooking the chicken so you donโt get any burnt pieces that will eventually end up in your sauce at the end! ย I served mine with steamed rice, steamed broccoli and steamed green beans.. finished with green k ions and toasted sesame seeds!ย
This was great! ย So easy to make! ย Just keep the heat at medium and slowly cook the chicken thighs, donโt rush it, the last thing you want are burnt bites from cooking the chicken when you are reducing the sauce! Served it with rice, steamed green beans and steamed broccoli.. garnished with green onion and toasted sesame seeds! ย
Soooo good! Made it for dinner with rice and a side of broccoli. I definitely need to double the marinade because I like the extra sauce over my rice.ย
Delicious. Instead of the sesame seeds, I used the Everything but the bagel sesame. ย I did a cauliflower mash instead of the rice. ย Oh so good.
What kind of soy sauce do you use for this recipe?
Shoyu :)
I would love to add noodles to this chicken but i donโt know if the marinade would be enough to cover them. Any tip for making a little more?
I don’t think there will be enough to cover noodles, but you could make two batches of marinade, one for the chicken and one to add to the noodles later (I do not suggest using the marinade for the noodles after it has been used for the chicken).
Really enjoyed this recipe and will try it again. Thank you. Probably will make extra marinade, too, as others have indicated. Thank you. Good stuff.
Really delicious recipe although I preferred it without adding the extra marinade afterwards.
This is very easy to make and has tons of flavor. I usually double the marinade recipe because I, personally, do not like using marinade that chicken has been soaking in. Other than that I have made this several times and it is ALWAYS a hit!
So good. Couldnโt count how many times Iโve made this recipe since I found it awhile ago. Definitely a good idea to make extra marinade for later. Chicken thigh are so inexpensive too. Love this recipe!
This was pretty yummy, I think letting it sit to marinade longer is important. I used chicken breast instead of thighs since I enjoy it more. And I think next time I will make the pieces thinner so that they can cook better. I never made a glaze before so this was a bit new to me, but It was really tasty.
Love this – the ginger has some real zip to it! I had some over a bed of garlic noodles, and the flavor combination was AWESOME! We had to make ours without garlic, as my fiancรฉ is allergic to it, but I can safely say that it’s still got plenty of flavor.
This is a Hawaiian dish called Shoyu chickenย
Can the chicken be cooked in oven instead of on the stove top? ย I am using wings instead of thighs.
No, unfortunately the result wonโt be the same in the oven. It will turn out much more watery.
Tasty and quick to put together!
Doubled the marinade (set a portion aside to make the glaze) and cut the chicken into nugget sized chunks, otherwise followed the recipe exactly. My family loved it so much that my daughter helped the next time so that she could learn how to cook it for herself.
(the rating stars are not “taking”, but it’s definitely 5-stars!)
Love this recipe. I always make a lot of the marinade so I can have a bit more sauce over the starch ๐ฅฐ
have you tried freezing this pre-cooked? I’m looking for some marinades to prep and freeze. :)
We haven’t tried that yet, but I think it would be just fine!
I liked this better than teriyaki recipes Iโve tried in the past. My mango wasnโt ripe , so Iโll have to ace this again later this week. I really appreciate your blog. Iโm pinching pennies right now, and having ย cheap recipes that are also fun and healthy is a big helpย
Thought this was fantastic! I cut my thighs into bite size pieces and used dry instead of fresh ginger but otherwise followed the recipe. Served with rice. Will be added to our dinner rotation for sure!
WOW! Stumbled onto this recipe via Google. Had all the ingredients except chicken. So marinated scallops. Per comments, I seared on low-med heat which worked out great. Removed from pan and cooked large cut mushrooms in same pan with some more of the marinade to keep things from burning. Removed shrooms, and added rest of marinade to pan as directed. Drizzled the sauce over everything on each plate. Hubby went nuts & said this is a keeper!
Using a meat thermometer helped lot getting this done just right. ย The chicken was delicious. ย Cooke it slow which I believe help to prevent the sugar from burning. ย I didnโt think there would be enough liquid for the glaze but it was just right. ย We didnโt have fresh ginger but used frozen cubes of ginger prepackaged, and you couldnโt tell from the fragrance of the finer that it was not fresh.
We ย also made garlic ginger rice and stir fry veggies for the side, ย it was perfect . ย So glad my daughter found this recipe.
Made this for dinner tonight and it burned while browning the chicken over medium heat, and then burned the marinade when I dumped it in to try to salvage it. There’s no way this could have boiled for long enough to be safe for consumption. I’m also confused as to how little liquid there is as there was barely enough marinade to cover 4 thighs. The flavor was there (after I added some chicken broth to try to salvage the burnt sauce), but idk where I went wrong.
Your heat may have been higher than medium. I have made this recipe many times. My biggest variation is I cut up the chicken into small pieces then marinate and cook them. They cook quicker and in my opinion more evenly that way.
Velvet small chicken pieces and deep fry. Add the marinade and toss on high heat to cook and coat chicken. Thatโs how Iโm planning on doing this recipe. The brown sugar is easy to burn especially if cooked with chicken thighs that take longer to cook. Or you could grill or pan fry the thighs with a little pepper and soy sauce and pour the marinade over to cook through in the last 5 minutes.
Couldnโt you just cook the sauce with the chicken why do you have to cook it separately after the chicken has cooked?
Cooking the sauce separately lets the sauce thicken up and really be perfect!
This was delicious and easy to make. Loved it!! It turned out exactly like the picture:)
Do you think this could work with tofu?
Yes it would be delicious or you can try this recipe https://www.budgetbytes.com/soy-marinated-tofu-bowls-spicy-peanut-sauce/
I’ve made it with tofu and it was really good but I would say since tofu not fatty/savory like chicken thighs you may want to use like a teaspoon or two less sugar.
Made this tonight. So good! So easy. My SO said “yep, this’ll work.” High praise from him.
Thank you!
We’ll take it! Thanks for sharing Lory!
hat is the best kind of cooking oil to use for this recipie?
Sesame or olive would work best.
I always double this sauce and pour it over noodles. This is one of my kids favorite dinner. :)
Yay for kid win!
Made this tonight on my grill and they were awesome. I did add a little rice wine vinegar to the marinade for a little acidity. Made jasmine rice in my rice cooker and seared some asparagus for my sides. Will definitely make again!!
Oh yum! Never thought to try it on the grill!
Made this twice, delicious and yes..sticky. I like to double up on the marinade to pour over rice (and because I’m a saucey girl).
Can’t go wrong there!
3 tablespoons of soy sauce? What??
Incredible. Doubled the sauce recipe and turned out DELICIOUS.ย
Never a bad idea to double the sauce!
Delicious and great for meal prepping! I doubled the sauce and it was a big improvement.
Both my husband and I loved this chicken recipe. I added a pinch of chili flakes while thickening the sauce.
I did chicken tenders because I had some that needed using, added a spoon of sambal to the marinade because we like it, gave it a little zip, but didnโt make it โhotโ. ย My only comment was that the marinade was so thick it was hard to get it to coat all the chicken. ย I added a tablespoon or so of water to the bag to loosen it a little & make sure it was all covered, might have added a minute or two to the time to get it reduced, but having the chicken well coated was worth it. ย Since thighs I would think have more surface area than my tenders, I would think it would be needed even more. ย Love the recipe, easy, flavorful, & really flexible to suit what you have, or to your taste. ย
I used honey (added near and at the end of cooking) instead of brown sugar and it was still “wow” good.
I plan on making this . It sounds amazing ! How many calories is it ? I couldn’t find it on the recipe.
Wow! This was super easy and absolutely delicious. I added some snow peas to the mix and it made a fantastic meal. Thanks for the recipe. I will make it part of my repertoire.
My family loved this recipe! My husband said it was the best chicken he has ever eaten, even better than his favorite restaurant Mo’Bettah’s
Is there a reason to use plain cooking oil in the marinade instead of toasted sesame oil?
I was just trying to make this one as simple as possible. If you have toasted sesame oil on hand you can certainly use that for more flavor! :)
I mixed a little sesame oil and olive oil; and used honey instead of brown sugar…..it tasted wonderful!
I live this recipe!! Do you think this would work in a crockpot?
This will definitely not turn out the same in a crock pot because crock pots hold in all the moisture, which won’t allow this to form a glaze. It will end up more soupy. That being said, it may still be enjoyable in that form. :)
Great recipe. Delicious!
This is a super delicious recipe. Thank you!! That glaze is epic. Great idea to cook the chicken in batches too. Thanks again.
This is so incredible. I doubled it and added a squeezed orange. I froze extra, but I don’t think it’s as good. I liked it best fresh. I deboned thighs but left skins on thighs. Cooked it in the sauce and did it slow enough to cook the meat and not burn the sauce. Eventually it cooked down and got sticky. The flavor is patent worthy!!
recipe was recommended to me by a friend and I adore it!
it’s so easy, the first time I made this I put too much soy sauce and it was still good!! even with small mistakes like that it’s still delicious!
although I make mine without ginger due to an allergy, this would be good in a wrap with salad !
I’m going to be cooking for a crowd and was wondering if this recipe would work if the chicken were baked and basted with the leftover marinade.
No, I wouldn’t suggest that. You really need the high heat of the skillet to get the marinade to reduce correctly into a glaze.
Actually, I did it and it worked great. I just poured it all into the baking pan and cooked super low like 275 until it got sticky. Hard to overlook thighs. However…I did double the sauce recipe. I also juiced an orange ..cause I had one and added it. Sooo incredible
How long did it take to bake?
This was delicious and so easy! I think in the future I’ll cut the thighs into chunks before marinating to make them easier to cook in the skillet. My electric stove is terribly inconsistent with heat levels, so the outside of my thighs got a little burnt by the time they were fully cooked through. Still tasted fine, but cutting the chicken into chunks will take away the guesswork. It was also really good with the cucumber and mango salad!
I have made this dish several times. It is so very good. It is our Christmas Eve dinner tonight. Happy Christmas!!
I have to gush about this, I made this tonight and it was fantastic. Super delicious and easy to make. Absolutely amazing recipe.
This was SO GOOD. It had all the flavors I’m used to from an asian restaurant that I just wouldn’t know how to put together myself, and yet was simple. I doubled the marinade just for extra flavor. Whole family loved it!
Tried this with beef last night. Yum! Delicious simple sauce!
Hi Beth,
My name is Stephanie and I love this website you have great recipes . My questions is can I use chicken with bones instead the family is not a boneless chicken fan unless in a stir fry dish. The recipe looks great and filling. Thanks Again
Stephanie A,
Unfortunately this one only works with boneless because bone-in chicken takes much longer to cook and the glaze would burn by that point. :(
Awesome dish with the cucumber and mango salad. Just wondering whether I can cook the chicken in an oven. Will the result be the same ?
No, unfortunately the result won’t be the same in the oven. It will turn out much more watery.
Beth. This recipe is awesome. My husband and I loved it. I didn’t have chicken thighs, so I used chicken tenders cut into chunks. I know our grandkids will love this, too.
THANK YOU SO MUCH BETH. I MADE THIS DISH FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY. I LOVE IT SO MUCH I ATE SOME FOR BREAKFAST. I KNOW CRAZY BUT I CAN DO THIS. LOL… AND SO EASY ALSO. GETTING READY TO TRY THE SESAME CHICKEN NEXT…. YOU ARE A GEM!!!!!
Thereis no salt at all in the recipe. ฤฐs it ok? Or if ฤฐ want add at which step should ฤฐ add it?
The soy sauce provides all the salt the recipe needs, so you don’t need to add any extra. :)
Absolutely love this dish! Would there be a way to do this in the oven and achieve the same result?ย
It might be possible, but I’d have to do some testing to get the process right. It definitely works better with the quick high heat of a skillet, rather than the slow heating process of an oven.
Hi i would like to know the calorie count of this recipe. I’m really watching my calorie intake but this recipe looks so good and I wanted to try it so yeah. ๐ย
There is a website where you can enter in the ingredients for any recipe and get all the nutritional info broken down by servings. Itโs
http://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Turned out so yummy! I made it with breasts because I’m not a fan of thighs, and even my picky-eater boyfriend liked it! He said it looked good and that he wanted to try some, which he never does. We always cook our own food and don’t share because he’s so picky. He liked it so much that he didn’t put ketchup on it. This comes from the man who puts ketchup on his teriyaki chicken! This recipe is going to be a staple in my household! Finally, a meal that I can make for both of us.
Hahaha, I love that so much!
This is phenomenal! Do you think it would work in a crock pot?
It definitely won’t work the same in a slow cooker, since this recipe relies heavily on evaporation to create the “sticky” texture of the sauce. You can certainly cook chicken in a slow cooker using these same sauce ingredients, but it will turn out a very different texture.
I am usually a vegetarian but after feeling especially tired lately Iโve decided to eat a little meat here and there. This is the first chicken dish Iโve cooked in a long time and itโs so good! I made rice with carrots and edamame to go with it and itโs delicious. Highly recommend ๐
This has become my go-to dish when I don’t have anything planned. I just have to stop at the grocery to get the chicken thighs bc we usually have everything else in the fridge! Thanks so much for creating one of our favorite meals – we love it every time!!
I didn’t have ginger of any kind, so I added my frozen Chinese veggies, which included ginger. This was so good….thank you!!!
How do I download these recipes into my app?
This recipe is included in the 500 recipes that come pre-loaded into the app. Just tap the magnifying glass icon on your main screen, type in “sticky” and it should come up. :)
Great meal… even on the Weight Watchers program (only 4 points). I used chicken breast instead and folded in cooked broccoli at the end! Thanks!
Awesome flavor! My family truly enjoyed this recipe. We love ginger so doubled the amount, same for garlic. My Grandson asked if we could “flavor it with orange juice”, an interesting thought, so I’ll play with this a bit & let you know how it works out. In the meantime, thanks for a lovely dinner, it made a wonderful change to baked chicken. A real keeper, for sure.
Yummo!!!!ย
This is now a family favourite. ย Cooked it for my in laws last night and they raved for a solid hour about how good it was. I served it with rice and broccoli. I also always add fresh chilli or chilli flakes after cooking as we love it spicy :-)ย
Just made this right now and OMG its so good makes me feel like a profession chef!! amazing sauce flavors. Best of all its REALLY EASY TO MAKE!! thank you!!
I’m glad it was such a success, Anna. :)
I’ve made this a few times for myself and my family and we all LOVE it. If you’re cooking for more than 2 I suggest doubling the sauce recipe, that way you can get a little extra flavor on to your chicken and on your rice. I’ve also found that using ground ginger (powder) is also great if you can’t get fresh ginger. Try using it with spam too if you want something new :) it’s amazing!
WOW!!! made this for the first time, turned out perfect, I love chicken thighs anyway, this just made them better, I served it with wild rice and thin Chinese noodles, great combination..THANKS :)
Do u have a recipe for the cucumber mango salad?
Yes, here is the recipe. :)
Do you refrigerate the chicken overnight when marinading it for 30 mins?
I’m not sure I understand your question, but to be safe you can marinate it in the refrigerator whether you are marinating for 30 minutes or overnight.
I just made this recipe and my boyfriend and I fell in love with the dish! Thank you so much for sharing.
I just started a cooking blog myself, take a look at it if you feel like it :)
Again, thanks for this delicious idea! We will repeat!
I love this meal idea, any idea on what the calorie count is?
My fitness pal estimates about 188 per serving.
This recipe is great!!! A family favorite now. :) I used coconut aminos instead of soy and lessened the sugar bc the aminos are sweeter than soy sauce. Its a pretty easy recipe especially if you plan ahead and prepare the chicken in the morning and cook it later or the next day. :)
Does anyone know if this could be modified to be cooked in the crock pot????
Tasty, but made a mess of my well seasoned cast iron pan. Will use stainless or enamelware next time.
Yummy!
Thanks – I made this with bone in thighs, searing a bit longer on each side and then finishing them off in the oven. I dredged them in the remainder of the cooked sauce after taking them out of the oven. I’m only cooking for 2 so it was great to find out that the’re just as good if not better as leftovers.
Sooooo delicious! I could eat this every day. ย Thank you!!ย
I stumbled across your website when trying to get back into cooking for myself. This recipe was amazing! I cut the chicken thighs into 1 inch pieces before marinating in order to maximize the surface area for the marinade to soak into. It cooked up quick and easy, and it was delicious paired with your sesame kale recipe and some rice cooked in chicken broth. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
A great, simple recipe!
I just made this tonight……..!!
SUPER YUMMYUMMY”๐
I made this for dinner this evening and it’s absolutely delicious. Thanks, Beth!
Just finished having this for dinner. My picky SO said it was just OK, but did clean his plate. I thought it was incredible. So flavorful and super easy to make with so few ingredients. I marinated for about six hours and served with steamed broccoli and rice. Recipe is perfect as is, but next time I may throw in some cashews or peanuts for crunch.
I just made this for my family dinner and it turned out soo good itโs the best recipe for ginger chicken I have across. ย Thank so much for sharing your recipe this is definately gonna go down in my cook book for future dinners. Yum yum yum and the sauce turned out beautiful. ย I doubled my sauce and used chicken breast and itโs amazingly delicious
Holy smokes Batman!! Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken was absolutely delicious!! Unfortunately, I had seven pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and had to make do utilizing the ingredients in my kitchen. Since I didn’t want to waste the tasty marinade, I finished it off after cooking the chicken thighs. I served it with steamed broccoli and Garlic Noodles. I’m looking forward to left overs for a few days. Thank you, Beth!!! :-)
Hi! I’ve made this dish twice now and can’t get the sauce to glaze like your pictures do! Do you by chance know what I am doing wrong! GREAT RECIPE!
Sorry, I had this recipe confused with another recipe. I would suggest turning up the heat so the sauce boils more rapidly and you get more evaporation. Once the small amount of liquid in the sauce evaporates you’ll be left with a sticky glaze.
I’m a little confused–I don’t see cornstarch in the recipe?
My mistake! You actually don’t need cornstarch for this one (got it confused with another recipe). If it’s not boiling down to a glaze consistency, you need to turn up the heat to increase the evaporation. Once the liquid reduces/evaporates, it will thicken to a glaze.
Has anyone tried this recipe with wings instead of thighs/breasts?
I found this recipes a few months ago, I was looking for something different to take to the women & children’s homeless shelter that I prepare a meal for once a month. They love this, it’s so different than anything they get, so I am about to fix this for the third time in four months. Since I have to cook so much at a time and to also save some money, I get bone in skin on chicken thighs. Remove the skin and cook it in my crockpot. the bones come out very easily then and I shred it with a fork. the sauce is great too!! Thanks for helping me share some love with people that desperately need it.
So delicious! The sauce drizzled over some rice makes the dish even better!
i just got a 10lb bag of chicken quarters for suuuuper cheap, and i’m looking for things to do with them, could i try making this? would it be possible to just debone and skin the thighs myself? it was literally $5 for the bag so i couldn’t pass it up but i’m struggling to find recipes for chicken quarters outside of the grill/slow roasting and this looks so good ย
Yes you can definitely debone and skin the thighs yourself and then they’d be perfect for this. :) I’m sure there are step by step tutorials for the deboning out there on the web somewhere too, if you need it.
Can this be cooked in the oven? ย
Yes, but you might not get as much reduction in the sauce and browning as you do on the stove top. Make sure the chicken isn’t packed too tightly into whatever dish you use because that will trap the juices from the chicken and make it a bit soupy.
Loved this- super easy to make on a week night too! ย I used chicken breast instead of thighs because that’s what I had in the freezer. ย I cut them in half through the middle so they were thinner but they were still too thick and took a long time to cook all the way and the sauce burned a bit. ย Next time I would cut the chicken into small pieces that would cook quickly to avoid the sauce issue.
After the sauce boiled and thickened I added frozen broccoli that I had cooked in the microwave. ย Great one pot meal! ย I’ll definitely make again. ย
also forgot to mention- one of the commenters mentioned that marinating is a waste of time which I had never heard. ย I looked it up ย (https://www.splendidtable.org/story/food-myths-busted-by-americas-test-kitchen-marinating-basting-and-boiling) and believed it so I didn’t marinate at all just dunked the chicken in the sauce. ย Saved me a ton of time! ย tasted the same as when I marinate.ย
Very good receipe. Delicious !
Love love love this dish! ย So simple and easy, not to mention affordable! ย You absolutely want to marinate the chicken for 24 hrs for the best flavors. ย
I made this tonight along with the garlic noodles. I added a couple of drops of sesame oil to the marinade and seasoned the chicken with seasoning salt and a little chili powder for some kick. It turned out AMAZING!!!
I always burn the chicken? Any tips for how to not do this?
Definitely lower the heat. Unfortunately range tops can vary a lot in their heat settings and the type of cookware can drastically change how the heat comes through to the food, so you may need to play with it to find the right heat setting for your equipment.
I made this last night with the garlic noodles and it was amazing. I would definitely double the marinade next time, the second I put it in the pan, it boiled to nothing, so next time I will make a little more (because it was SO good) and keep it on low heat. But the flavor was incredible, my husband was so impressed!!
This is without a doubt the most delicious thing I have ever cooked. As some one with almost no cooking skills it was very easy to follow your recipe. Your site is a life saver.
I give this recipe ๐๐
Omg so yummy! I reworked the recipe to fit my son’s food sensitivities and we all mowed through this chicken! Thank you for posting this.
And by reworked I mean simple substitutions, like coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, nothing crazy. Still very much the posted recipe!
Thank you for this – just what I was looking for someone to chime in on :)
This chicken is SO GOOD! And it smells like HEAVEN! Pair the smell of this chicken and the smell of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies, and you’ve got a happy family! I am a picky eater, and don’t like 95% of foods, but this is one of my (And my family’s) favorite dishes! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Love this! My kids who don’t normally like chicken ate this up. I used chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces since they can’t stand chicken with even the smallest amount of gristle or fat. Cooked it in a nonstick skillet and it was a winner!
Your website has changed my life, I cook from it every week. Thank you!
I made this for my boyfriend and I but I paired it with noodles that were coated in the leftover sauce. It was incredible, I will definitely be making more recipes from your blog. Thanks for all of the great recipes!
Love Love this recipe! Thank you for the inspiration to try new recipes!
Hi,
My family lives this recipe. I’ve always made this recipe with no substitutions. But now I find myself wondering what to do since my brown sugar has crystallized. Can I use honey instead? If so, how much?
Honey does make a really wonderful glaze with soy sauce, just like brown sugar. I’m not sure about the amount, though. I’d need to test it. I think honey is generally a little sweeter than brown sugar, so you might just try using slightly less.
Tee, put a slice of white bread in with your brown sugar, wait a couple days and break up the sugar with a fork.
This was so tasty and so easy! I doubled the soy sauce and oil in the marinade, so I could have more sauce. I also added a little Siracha to the cooking marinade to give it a little zip.
Love this recipe. Done it twice already. The only thing I changed was substituting the cooking oil for sesame oil it five the chicken that wonderful nuttiness flavor. Thanks for sharing
Just made this last night. Absolutely the best/easiest recipe I’ve tried in a very long time. This is so flavorful and basic to make. I e got it memorized already. Can’t wait to play around with side dishes to enhance this meal next time.
This was rSuch good flavors!!eally delicious and easy.
My boyfriend and I made this tonight it was amazing!!
is there an area where i can find the nutritional info for these recipes?
Looks great I cant wait to try it. One question though, how do you prepaid the cucumbers and mango salad?
Here is the recipe for the Cucumber and Mango Salad.
I cooked mine in a cast iron skillet. Almost Browned the chicken before I added the glaze. Didn’t bake at all. You can control the thickening of the glaze this way…
This is soooo good!! When my husband was walking up to our house he could smell it and thought “I hope that is coming from my house!”
Thanks for another winner!
Thank you, can’t wait to prepair this dish. It’s 4:35am and Im looking up recipes. #lovernewrecipes
Very good. I don’t usually like chicken thighs but these were cooked so well that I could get past my bias! Easy to put together, I served with brown rice, steamed broccoli and shishito peppers. It tastes like it costs way more than it did.
This looks delicious! I am thinking of trying it with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and slicing them into chunks or strips before marinating. Do you think that will work?
Yes, I think that would work. :)
Thank you for sharing. Looks delicious. Will try this out now. :)
Can you bake the chicken instead of sauteeing? I have been totally loving the flavors of this chicken, but I hate dealing with hot oil. If I wanted to bake it, how would you suggest? How long, at what heat, in/on what kind of cookware? Would laying the pieces out on a foil-covered metal roasting tray work? Thanks for the great recipes!
I’d have to experiment with it to find the right time and temperature. You might not get the same amount of evaporation and thickening of the sauce in the oven as you do in a hot skillet, though.
The first time I made this I tried the stovetop method,and found that the sauce started burning before the chicken had cooked through. I finished it off that time by baking in the oven, which turned out pretty good. This time I just went straight to the oven –put the chicken and all the marinade directly into a 9×11 glass baking dish and baked at 400 F for about an hour, turning the pieces a couple of times in the middle of cooking so that they would get more of a caramelized glaze. The sauce cooked down some, but was still pretty runny. You could always finish it off on the stove — I just spooned a bit over the rice and it was tasty that way, too.
The chicken was nice and tender (I used skinless thighs, bone-in). My family wants me to make this again!
Delish! I bet this would be fantastic swapping the brown sugar for orange marmalade too.
I made this for dinner as the recipe stated, only changing it by adding some sriracha to the marinade. I let the thighs (4) marinate for 6 hours or so. It was so good! The chicken looked beautiful and tasted fabulous. Marinating it really let it absorb all the ginger and soy sauce flavor. I will make this again for sure.
Hey Beth – thanks for the recipe. It was great.
I wanted to mention here that, except for the salt in the soy sauce, the marinade’s other flavors will penetrate very little into the chicken. I think a couple of food bloggers, Americaโs Test Kitchen, and a few other sources have shown this to be true.
I made the marinade, dredged the chicken in it, and let the excess for each piece drip back into the bowl. Then I cooked the chicken directly in the hot pan.
For the marinade, I cooked it at a very low flame to extract the garlic & ginger flavors for 2-3 minutes. Took it off heat, then boiled in the last minute before the chicken was finished. I combined the results after everything was done. It significantly shortens the prep time for the recipe.
Thanks again!
Great tip! Thank you!
Any other ideas for sides besides the cucumber mango salad? Mangoes are super pricey right now!
How about the regular Thai Cucumber Salad? That one is really simple and would also be great with this. :) Or you could just do some steamed broccoli, like they do at take out places.
I used cold pickled carrots cut into matchsticks.
Enjoyed it, thanks!
The recipe states “8 pieces “. Did you mean to type Servings -“8” ?
How many servings does this make? I’m guessing 1.75 lbs chicken serves around 4-5 people?
It made eight pieces of chicken, so the number of servings just depends on if you like to have one or two pieces of chicken. I personally ate one per serving, but they were a little on the small side, so I can see how some people might want two.
This is delicious!!! I used about half the amount of chicken with the same amount of marinade, and it was amazing like that! Also cut the thighs into bite sized pieces first, marinated for a couple hours, then cooked on medium heat for about 10 mins. Such a yummy and easy dish!
I’m contemplating using this for wings. I usually do my wings in the oven, but with the smaller size (I get the frozen ones in the bag. Pretty small pieces), do you feel it would do well in a skillet? I worry about cooking them all the way through with them being bone in.
Hmm, yeah, I’m not sure about doing wings in a skillet. You can do this sauce in the oven with your wings, though. Just use some sort of deep dish, like a casserole dish, to hold in the sauce and make sure the wings aren’t too crowded so that evaporation can happen and the sauce can thicken. It may take a while to get the sauce to reduce in the oven, but I’ve done it before. Stir it occasionally, too.
This dish is fantastic! Had it with the mango & cucumber. Very easy to make with outstanding flavours
Made this tonight and it was awesome! Just like takeout but better!
I’m not sure what happened but my marinade/glaze at the end of this recipe was not so much a glaze. It was the consistency of a mole sauce… I’m not sure what I did wrong?
Hmmm, I’m not quite sure either. I can’t imagine what would make it like a mole sauce.
I just made this recipe and it turned out like that also….Not sure why?
yummy yummy, my stomach starts screaming
This is amazing. Made the entire meal (jasmine rice and cucumber mango salad) as written (except for sesame seeds…just one of those ingredients I feel like I can always skate without so I never buy). Thanks for dispelling the myth that lower income people can’t afford to eat healthy or feed their kids nutritious food :)
Wow, delicious! I made for the husband , he was happy :) Thank you :)
The cucumber mango salad was so perfect with this! Yum! My only complaint is that I could not stop eating it!
The Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken was awesome! I used chicken tenderloin breasts instead of the thighs. The recipe was super easy and fast. We all loved it and will make this again and again. Thanks!!!!
Making this tonight with some steam spinach and jasmine rice. The smell of the marinade alone is heaven!
I’m gonna make this just now. Already got print of this page. Thanks Beth…
This is excellent! We have to stick to a tight grocery budget, and your website has made all the difference for us. We are able to consistently eat well every day. Thank you so much!
I like to serve this over yakisoba noodle with pickled daikon and carrots
This was excellent….my husband loved it. I was wondering if I baked it in the oven instead of frying it in a pan if it would work? He has cholesterol issues so I never fry anything. I served it with grated zucchini and garlic.
I think it would, yes. All the sauce really needs to thicken is to boil/evaporate, which can happen in the oven. Just make sure that the chicken isn’t packed too tightly in whatever you’re baking it in, and I think it will reduce to the nice thick sauce. :)
I grilled the marinated thighs, and a sliced up breast for the picky one. So good.
Do I have to alter the recipe if I am using drumsticks instead of thighs?
They probably won’t cook as quickly as boneless thighs, but that’s the only change.
I totally agree are paring down recipes but not sacrificing the flavors. It can be difficult in some instances but I know from all your delicious recipes that you’ve become a pro at it!
http://www.sprinklesandsaturdays.com
This recipe was a major hit! I had this with the frozen baked broccoli from here as well and I could not be happier.
It looks like something my husband would love to cook in his new stainless steel pan. If only he would eat rice…
I’m technically challenged! How do I pin this!??? It looks so good and I want to make it but we’re in the middle of moving overseas so I won’t get to it now and it will get lost in my emails. If I put it on my food board I know I’ll get to it once we get settled. Thank you!
You can click the Pinterest button right under the recipe title at the very top of the page and it should bring up all the pin options for the entire post. :)
I made this today. Super simple and super tasty. This does end up slightly on the sweet side. Would definitely make again and again and use the sauce for everything else, like steamed vegetables or something.
Can this be adapted to the slow cooker?
This probably won’t work in a slow cooker because you need evaporation for the sauce to reduce and thicken. Slow cookers hold in moisture, so it will stay soupy and never form a nice thick glaze.
I was going to ask the same thing! I’m going to try it tomorrow with a half recipe. I’ll probably have to cook down the sauce at the end to form a glaze but that’s doable. I’ll report back.
I’m reporting back! It was definitely not sticky when cooked in the slow cooker, but flavor was fantastic. The chicken fell apart so I ate it over rice.
This looks delicious, Beth! Will you be our personal chef? Well – maybe it’s easy enough for even me…
Just made this! My husband I I loved it. Seriously better than going out!!
Replace the brown sugar with white and you have the teriyaki marinade my mom got in an electric company’s recipe book in Hawaii circa 1950’s! It’s always been our family’s favorite!
I accidentally destroyed the nonstick coating on my skillet, so I’m off to go buy a new one today. Do you recommend stainless steel or non-stick in general? I already own a cast iron. And for cooking oil, is that a certain kind or can you use vegetable oil?
I know the skillet question was directed at Beth the Frugal Culinary Diva, but my favorite is ceramic coated cookware. I found a little 8″ ceramic frying pan at a thrift store, and despite being somewhat scratched, it did so much better than my much newer teflon pans that I have been snatching up all of the secondhand or clearance stuff I can get.
Again, this question was not directed at me, and while I have one of the ceramic skillets we see on tv these days, my faves are stainless steel and cast iron. For cooking with stainless, you need to heat it before adding fat to prevent sticking–its advantage is the ability to clean with steel pads, although I try to avoid them because these pans do perform best when not scoured to within an inch of their lives. Stainless steel is great for cooking with sauces that have a high acid content, ie. tomatoes. Cast iron seasons–I clean by scouring with a little salt on a sponge and then rinsing with warm water, and it’s good to go with non-acid ingredients–grilling, frying, etc.
PS, loved the chicken
There’s no real easy answer to that question. :) I like them each for their own purpose. I had a set of nonstick that I used for about 15 years and recently bought a stainless steel set to replace them. I do keep one or two nonstick skillets for specific uses (I really like them for frying eggs). I talk a little about that decision in my post about buying cookware, if you want to check that out.
Yummy!! :-)
This look amazing! I bet it smells great too.