Serve these easy Honey Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs with your favorite healthy side dishes for a perfect weeknight dinner. Tender, zesty, with just the right amount of sweetness, this Asian-inspired sticky chicken recipe is worthy of keeping on constant rotation.
You’ve probably gathered it’s a chicken thigh life for me over here.
Between my Asian Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs, Baked Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, and 5-Ingredient Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken, the boneless thigh is always the maker of a marvelous meal, plus they are perfect to whip up for busy weeknights because they require so little effort.
One of my favorite parts about this recipe is there is no need to marinate the chicken. It takes roughly 5 minutes to prepare this quick meal, as everything gets tossed into a casserole dish.
BOOM! Livin’s easy!
Let’s discuss the simple fresh ingredients needed for this easy dinner recipe.
Ingredients Honey Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs: The headliner of this show! Boneless chicken thighs are a great cut of meat because they are basically goof-proof. Not only do they contain some intermuscular fat so that they stay nice and tender throughout the baking process, but they cook quickly and don’t require any guesswork (unlike bone-in pieces).
While my recommendation is to stick with thighs, you can make a honey garlic chicken breast recipe by using boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless chicken tenders. Thin cutlets work best here for the best results.
Honey: Bringing sweetness and stickiness to this sticky chicken, honey brings much to the table in this recipe. I typically go with a raw organic local honey, but you can pick your favorite brand.
Lemon Juice: In order to offset some of the sweetness so that we have a balanced palatable experience, fresh lemon juice brings amazing tang and acidity.
Garlic: Fresh garlic makes everything amazing. Enough said. Add more minced garlic to the delicious sauce if you’re a garlic lover.
Avocado Oil: A little avocado oil helps lube up the chicken thighs so that they stay moist and bake evenly. You can use olive oil if you prefer but avocado oil is my preference because it has a high smoke point and a neutral flavor.
Liquid Aminos (or Soy Sauce): Bringing a blast of umami flavor and some saltiness to the sauce, a splash of liquid aminos or soy sauce adds a subtle but important flair.
Rice Vinegar: Similar to the lemon juice, rice vinegar is here for some added tang. Used a great deal in Asian cooking, adding the rice vinegar brings some of that Asian influence to the dish.
I highly recommend keeping rice vinegar on hand, as I use it in a lot of my savory recipes, but if you don’t make Asian food often, you can replace it with more lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.
Sea Salt & Black Pepper: Mandatory ingredients to all savory dishes! Salt enhances all of the flavors and makes the chicken taste rich and black pepper gives that tiny kick.
Ways to Customize
- Spicy kick – Add 1 to 3 tablespoons of sriracha (or hot sauce of choice) or ¼ to ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes for some heat.
- Umami twist– Make it taste richer by adding 2 teaspoons of fish sauce if you have it on hand, and/or up to 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
If you want to thicken the sauce, you can add a couple teaspoons cornstarch or tapioca starch.
Now that we have the simple ingredients in the bag for this restaurant quality meal, let’s make these gorgeous thighs!
How to Make Honey Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs:
Preheat the oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit and move an oven rack to the shelf that’s third from the top.
Transfer the raw boneless chicken thighs to a large (13” x 9”) casserole dish, and sprinkle with sea salt
Add the avocado oil, honey, lemon juice, liquid aminos (or soy sauce), rice vinegar, garlic, and black pepper (the marinade ingredients) to a small bowl or measuring cup.
Mix together until everything is well combined. If your honey isn’t mixing easily, microwave the marinade for 30 seconds, or until everything stirs together easily without any effort.
Pour the marinade over the chicken thighs and use a spoon to spoon the marinade over the chicken so that everything is well coated. Bake chicken for 20 minutes, or until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
Remove the chicken from the oven and baste it by spooning the marinade over the top of the chicken thighs.
Place the oven on the High Broil setting and broil the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it is golden-brown and crispy. Insert a digital thermometer into the thickest part of one of the thighs. They are ready once they reach an internal temperature of 180 degrees F or higher.
Serve honey lemon garlic baked chicken thighs with your choice of side dishes and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top!
I like serving the chicken with steamed cauliflower rice, white rice, jasmine rice, or brown rice so that you can spoon the honey sauce over the rice for added yumminess. Steamed or sautéed green beans or broccoli are also a great side for this meal.
Store any leftover honey lemon garlic baked chicken thighs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Be sure to keep any remaining liquid, too! This liquid is pure gold for adding flavor to your meals.
If you enjoy meal prepping or making recipes ahead of time for an easy weeknight dinner, you can easily marinade the chicken thighs to make them even more saturated with flavor.
How to Marinate the Chicken:
Want to marinate the chicken for extra flavor? I love that! Here’s how you do it.
Transfer the chicken with the marinade to a plastic bag or bowl. Seal the bag (or cover the bowl with plastic wrap) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to bake the chicken, preheat the oven to 420 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes, baste with the juices, then broil on High for 8 to 10.
That’s it! Everything you need for a winning main dish that will most certainly please the whole family and also keep you coming back for more. The sweet and savory sauce just makes this such an enticing tender chicken recipe.
If you’re looking for more healthy main dishes, also try out these gems!
More Healthy Chicken Recipes:
- 30-Minute Paleo Orange Chicken
- Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Cacciatore
- Crock Pot Creamy Mushroom Chicken and Potatoes
- 30-Minute Mango Cashew Chicken
Honey Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken for a healthy dinner for busy nights!
Honey Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs 8 thighs
- ½ tsp sea salt.
- 1 1/2 Tbsp avocado oil
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit and move an oven rack to the shelf that’s third from the top.
- Transfer the raw boneless chicken thighs to a large (13” x 9”) casserole dish, and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Add the avocado oil, honey, lemon juice, liquid aminos (or soy sauce), rice vinegar, garlic, and black pepper (the marinade ingredients) to a small bowl or measuring cup. Mix together until everything is well combined. If your honey isn’t mixing easily, microwave the marinade for 30 seconds, or until everything stirs together easily without any effort.
- Pour the marinade over the chicken thighs and use a spoon to spoon the marinade over the chicken so that everything is well coated. Bake chicken for 20 minutes, or until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and baste it by spooning the marinade over the top of the chicken thighs.
- Place the oven on the High Broil setting and broil the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it is golden-brown and crispy.
- Serve honey lemon garlic baked chicken thighs with your choice of side dishes and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top!
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes! When preparing chicken breasts, bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Be careful not to over-bake breasts, as they turn out dry when overcooked.
If you prefer your chicken on the more savory side, reduce the honey to 3 tablespoons, and use an additional 2 tablespoons of liquid aminos.
My top recommendations are my Cilantro Lime Rice, Orange Balsamic Maple Roasted Vegetables, and my Asian Cucumber Salad.
Yes! To do so, marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour in half of the amount of sauce. Then, air fry at 375 degrees F for 14 minutes on one side, flip, and air fry for another 3-6 minutes, until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 180 degrees F.
Good morning Julia, or just just wondering do you think that this would work in the slow cooker? I’m thinking four hours on the low setting approximately. I am highly disabled in my hands and don’t have the ability to use my oven due to the weight of the baking tray and its contents. Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to making this soon.
Hi Nancy! Thank you for reaching out! I have actually made this recipe in the crock pot before and it turned out great. Just as you suspected, I’d recommend 4 hours on low heat or 2-2.5 hours on high heat. Just check the internal temp to be sure they read 180 degrees F or higher before eating 🙂 Enjoy!
Quick question, do you think chicken breasts would turn out to dry in this recipe? We don’t care for thigh meat so much.
Hi Kathleen! You can use chicken breasts. I’d recommend baking them at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the breasts. Aim for 165 degrees F for the internal temperature so that the breasts stay nice and tender 😉 Hope you enjoy! xo
All the Recipes look Delicious
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for the sweet note 🙂