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!!).
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 didn’t make it “hot”. My only comment was that the marinade was so thick it was hard to get it to coat all the chicken. 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. Since thighs I would think have more surface area than my tenders, I would think it would be needed even more. Love the recipe, easy, flavorful, & really flexible to suit what you have, or to your taste.
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!