This Honey Garlic Chicken is a popular favorite with my long-time readers. Whole chicken legs are marinated, then roasted, then slathered with a delectable aromatic sauce. The result is a tender, amazing, and flavorful entree. Golden, crispy-skinned chicken with a sweet-and-savory honey sauce – what could be better? This recipe is easy enough for a weeknight, yet special enough for a holiday.
This Honey Garlic Chicken recipe developed as I was imagining economical entrees for a Passover Seder meal. This chicken recipe has become a mainstay main dish in my home for a multitude of special occasions – Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Shabbat, or any family gathering.
Whole chicken legs are the least expensive chicken pieces to purchase. In addition, they also happen to be the most flavorful. Slow roasted dark meat chicken cooks up tender and juicy thanks to a flavorful marinade. A thick, garlicky honey sauce provides a mouthwatering flavor combination.
If you’re not a fan of dark meat chicken, bone-in breasts will work great too. Breasts take less time to cook through, so use a meat thermometer and check for doneness periodically. Don’t use boneless skinless here, the bone-in meat cooks up much more flavorful.
I like to put the chicken pieces on a platter in the center of the table, along with a gravy boat of sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley or greens for a pretty presentation.
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Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chicken pieces, bone in, skin on
- 1/3 cup honey, divided
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Heaping tablespoon crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh Meyer lemon juice (you may substitute lime juice or regular lemon juice)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons potato starch
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, 1/4 cup honey, brown sugar, garlic, lemon or lime juice, and cayenne to form a marinade.
- Spray the bottom of a glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking oil, or brush lightly with olive oil. Place the chicken pieces into the dish, skin side up. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper (if using kosher chicken, salt lightly).
- Pour the marinade evenly over the top of the chicken pieces, brushing them to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Let the chicken marinate for 2 hours up to overnight.When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking dish. Spoon marinade over the top of the chicken, then cover the baking dish with foil. Pierce the edges of the foil a few times to vent.
- Roast the chicken for 1 hour, covered in foil, basting the chicken with marinade and drippings 2 or 3 times while it cooks. Remove foil and continue to roast for 20-30 more minutes until the skin becomes dark brown and crispy. It may blacken a bit in places due to the sugar content of the marinade.Transfer cooked chicken pieces to a platter. Carefully tip the baking dish so that the pan drippings and juices gather in one corner. Use a spoon to skim off the clear liquid fat from the top, separating it from the solid drippings. Discard the fat.
- Strain the remaining drippings through a mesh strainer into a small saucepan. Heat the sauce slowly over medium.
- While sauce is heating, in a small bowl stir together 2 tsp potato starch and ¼ cup cold water until dissolved. Add the starch mixture to the pan drippings, along with 1 tbsp honey and ¼ cup white wine or chicken broth. Stir the sauce over medium heat until it thickens and bubbles around the edges. If sauce is too thick, add more water or chicken broth. If the sauce is too thin, let it simmer till it thickens to desired consistency. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the chicken pieces drizzled with warm honey sauce.
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
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Enid i did the recipe also it was the bomb i was so impressed it is a great recipe and for me who freaks out about cooking cause i hate to disappoint there was none of that going on i opt to not do the sauce in the end but i did twik it also added orange juice to the dish .but i am going to try yours next time once again thanks to the Tori who bought this great recipe into our homes forever ..
Cheryl I am so happy your family enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for reporting back!
This was a complete hit with my family! Many loud groans of pleasure and cries of “keeper!” I tweaked it & changed the final stage, so that there is no cooking the de-fatted juices, as follows, & the results were fabulous. I doubled the recipe, doubling the marinade ingredients, & used a mix of bone-in chicken pieces with skin, as well as 4 whole legs, skinned, and split. I added 1 tsp. sea salt to the marinade (1/2 tsp if you aren’t doubling). I coarsely-chopped an onion & spread it on the bottom of the pan before placing chicken in pan; after placing chicken in pan, sprinkled chicken well with kosher salt & paprika, added marinade, and baked as directed. When chicken was done, I poured off juices into a glass, put glass in freezer to separate fat from liquid, then combined with the cooked onions & 1 tbsp brown sugar to blend this mixture into a fabulous onion sauce!! I did this ahead of time and just warmed the chicken & sauce in the microwave–served the sauce on the side. Yum!! This will now be a tradition, and a regular on many occasions!
Enid so sorry it took me a while to comment back. Glad this recipe was a “hit” for you and the family! 🙂
My Dearest Shiksa
Seriously are you kidding me This was the bomb Thank you so much Sadly so everyone ate to much and i had so much food for the little gang i had but with that being said the smell the look ..will take us to tomorrow evening Now tell me how should i reheat it ..these pieces of chicken so they don’t dry out i would imagine covered and add some liquid cause i threw the pan in the sink and didn’t take off marinade absolutely a fabulous dish and thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of it..
Success! So happy you enjoyed the recipe Cheryl. xo
All of us who make this chicken for tonight’s seder should plan to share the comments and results on Thursday or so. I am using whole cut up chickens rather than just leg quarters because my son is a health nut and only eats the breasts.I, too, left out the brown sugar assuming that it went into the sauce and I certainly will not have any time to make sauce. By the time they eat all the other stuff, who will even know that the sauce is missing? I may add a bit of potato starch to some chicken soup and add it to the pan the last 15 minutes, but no guarantees. Good luck to all!
It will be great without the sauce and the brown sugar, Helene, not to worry. Happy holiday!
your last comment what is part of marinade that adds more sweetness ..i still have time i am confused now i did the marinade last nite in fridge tell me what is missing ..or were you referring to the honey …
I was referring to the 1 tbsp brown sugar. If you didn’t include it in the marinade, you don’t need to. It will still taste great.
Was inspired by all your recipes, and just poured the marinade over my chicken which I will serve tomorrow at my Seder. But I can’t seem to see when the brown sugar is added? In the marinade with the honey garlic and lemon? Or at the end with the drippings? I hope I get a reply soon, chicken is sitting on the kitchen counter!
Thanks!
Hi Nadine– so sorry, it’s part of the marinade. I drafted this when I had a terrible head cold. I’m surprised nobody noticed the omission before now! If it’s too late for you to add it to the marinade, don’t worry, it will taste great without it too. It just adds a little more sweetness to the mix.
Great well seasoned chicken without the sauce. My husband wants me to make more soon 🙂
can i make the dish without making the warm honey sauce cause i was just figuring the chicken will end up being cold unless i leave it in oven or start making the sauce a few minutes before .
Hi Cheryl, yes– the chicken is great without the sauce, too.
I made this for dinner last and we loved it so much we each ate two whole leg & thighs; the sauce was perfect!
Made it last night. Added some mushrooms to the pan sauce. Awesome.
Can this be made ahead and frozen? Trying to get some of my Pesach cooking done ahead of time. Thanks!
Can I make this chicken early in the day and reheat it at seder time? Would you leave it at room tempeature during the “resting time”?
Hi Helene– yes, you can, but the skin will soften and it won’t be quite as juicy if you reheat it. Also you’ll need to thin the sauce when you reheat, it thickens as it stands.
I plan to triple the recipe for my seder. Should I triple all the ingredients? Also, is there any reason I couldn’t use a tin roasting pan for this recipe? Does it need to be made in a ceramic or glass dish?
Way to be economical, I always say that well cooked chicken is as good as any meat.
This sounds delicious! I’m pretty sure we will be enjoying this at our house on Saturday.
Feel better 🙂
Hi, This Honey Garlic Chicken looks yummy, will try it. The latest method of baking drumsticks by the Taiwan chef is to pan fried ( dry frying ) them !! Faster but have to take care, may be some ladies don’t this way !! What we used to do is add in 1/2 cup of water and 1 Tablespoon of corn flour, 1 tablespoon soya sauce and with the marinate of yours and stand over night. Why so much water ? To let the meat more tender and juicy after cooked.
If you add in some soya sauce to marinate the chicken pieces, the color will be prettier !!
Heat 1-2 spoons of oil and when it hot, place the skin side down the cover it and cook over medium fire. Turn when 1 side is golden. Before dish up add in the honey to let it cook with the drumsticks so it will shine. Dish up when both sides are golden. Cook the sauce in the same pot as all the aroma is in the pot !!
I love chicken and will make this next. Thank you, Rosemary
i love honey on chicken and can’t wait to try this!
i hope you feel better soon.
Thanks Charissa!
would mashed potato flakes be a good substitute for potato starch?
Hi Rick, the best substitute for potato starch would be corn starch. Potato starch is used here because it’s kosher for Passover, but corn starch will work just as well (and it’s also gluten free).
That looks good. Always looking for a new spin on chicken.