One of the easiest ways to eat healthy at home is to always have something already cooked and delicious in your refrigerator. Whether I am prepping whole meals or just a few components, I like to keep something on hand to grab on my way out the door on a busy day.
On most Sunday afternoons, I roast up some chicken to use for the following week. This honey hoisin chicken is seasoned deliciously, seared in a skillet and simmered in a sweet, tangy, sticky sauce. It is perfect over rice, some greens or dipped into some homemade ranch dressing. It’s also great cold, straight out of the refrigerator.
Sounds like something we should all have on hand, right? Let’s get started…
Begin by patting your chicken dry with paper towels. Today, I am using bone-in thighs, but any cut of bone-in or boneless chicken with or without skin will work great.
Generously season the chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, and some salt…
Place a large skillet over medium to medium high heat, add a few tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil (I use olive oil on this one) and let the skillet get warm for a few minutes.
Place the chicken skin side down into the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crisp. Flip the chicken, cover the skillet and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 15 minutes and then add a mixture of 1/4 cup of hoisin sauce, 1/3 cup of honey or agave, 2 finely minced cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of chicken stock and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Bring the sauce up to a simmer and let it cook until it begins to reduce and become nice and sticky. Start spooning or brushing the sauce over the chicken for another 5-8 minutes or until the chicken thighs are cooked through with an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
The more the sauce simmers and the more you brush it over the chicken, the more shiny and sticky and luscious it becomes. It is perfectly sweet, rich and tangy and luckily, there is enough sauce left in the skillet to spoon over some rice on your plate or any leftovers you may have.
Would you take a look at that chicken? Even though I brushed that wonderfully sticky sauce over the crispy chicken skin, it still maintained a fabulous texture. If you end up using skinless chicken, it is sometimes even better!
The spices are warm, subtly sweet and spicy and the hoisin is a rich, smokey asian inspired barbecue sauce that it perfectly balanced by the honey…
This honey hoisin chicken is absolutely delicious and it works well in everything from a rice bowl with some slaw to a big bowl of greens or in an asian inspired taco.
There is something extra special about a sweet, sticky, Asian inspired saucy chicken that I can’t seem to get enough of. I am quite confident that you will feel the same way about this honey hoisin chicken.
Honey Hoisin Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of chicken, bone-in or boneless, skin-on or skinless
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
- 1/3 cup of honey
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons of chicken stock
- a pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a small dish, combine 1/4 cup of hoisin sauce with 1/3 cup of honey or agave, 2 finely minced cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of chicken stock and a pinch of red pepper flakes and set aside for now
- Pat your chicken dry with paper towels and season generously with the spices
- Place a skillet over medium to medium high heat with a few tablespoons of a neutral cooking oil and let it warm up for a few minutes
- Place the chicken skin side down (if using chicken with skin) and cook for about 5 minutes or until the underside is golden brown and crisp
- Flip the chicken, cover the skillet and reduce the heat to medium
- Cook for about 15 minutes
- Add the honey hoisin sauce and bring to a simmer and brush the sauce over the chicken
- Simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly
- Once the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through with an internal temperature of 165 degrees, transfer onto a platter with the additional sauce spooned over each piece
