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.
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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!!).
So easy and delicious!!! I didn’t 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 haven’t really cooked in years because I needed a stove. Got it. We love Asian inspired flavors and this dish didn’t 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!
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! Just be sure to keep the heat at medium while cooking the chicken so you don’t get any burnt pieces that will eventually end up in your sauce at the end! I served mine with steamed rice, steamed broccoli and steamed green beans.. finished with green k ions and toasted sesame seeds!
This was great! So easy to make! Just keep the heat at medium and slowly cook the chicken thighs, don’t 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!
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.