Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken

$8.08 recipe / $1.01 per piece
by Beth - Budget Bytes
4.87 from 130 votes
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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. ;)

Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken in a bowl with jasmine rice and garnished with green onion and sriracha

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.

Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken in a bowl with jasmine rice and cucumber mango salad

Pictured with jasmine rice and Cucumber Mango Salad.

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Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken

4.87 from 130 votes
Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken features and simple marinade that turns into a sticky and delicious glaze.
Dredged chicken in glaze topped with herbs.
Servings 8 pieces
Prep 40 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 1 hour

Ingredients

MARINADE

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

*It is safe to cook used marinades as long as they come to a full boil, according to the FDA food safety guidelines. This thoroughly cooks the marinade, just like the raw chicken that was in it, to kill bacteria. The used marinade should be cooked immediately and should not be stored uncooked for later use. If concerned, double the marinade and use half for the chicken and reduce the other half in a small sauce pan before brushing it onto the chicken.

Nutrition

Serving: 1ServingCalories: 191.48kcalCarbohydrates: 7.78gProtein: 17.59gFat: 10.38gSodium: 596.44mgFiber: 0.23g
Read our full nutrition disclaimer here.
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See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.

Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken overhead in a skillet, title text overlay

How to Make Soy Glazed Chicken – Step by Step Photos

Prepare Simple Ginger Soy Marinade in a small bowl, ginger root and grater on the side

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).

Marinate Chicken thighs in a shallow dish, glass casserole dish

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.

Cook Chicken thighs through in Skillet

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.

Browned Chicken in the skillet close up

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.

Cook Marinade until it forms a glaze

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.

Dredge Chicken in Glaze Top with Garnishes - green onion and sesame seeds

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.

Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken in a bowl with jasmine rice and cucumber mango salad, being eaten with chopsticks
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!!).

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  1. Thank you for sharing! My dinner turned out perfectly โฃ๏ธ Pretty as the picture.
    Thank you for the hints and suggestions.

  2. My husband said this was the best ever recipe! He is a chicken thigh expert too ๐Ÿฅฐ It was so easy! Thank you for sharing this recipe.

  3. 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

  4. 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.

    1. 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!

      1. 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

  5. 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*

  6. 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!

  7. 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.

  8. 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!

  9. 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!

  10. 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!! โค๏ธ

  11. Made this tonight with garlic jasmine rice and steamed broccoli & carrots. My spouse was sucking on her fingers. :D

  12. 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!