This Honey Butter Chicken is EPIC!!! Crazy quick and easy to make in less than 30 minutes, I like making this with bite-size pieces to maximize the surface area that is caramelized in the stunning sauce!
Honey Butter Chicken is our favorite weeknight dinner! This easy chicken can be on the table in 15 minutes! Need more easy chicken recipes to keep on hand for busy nights? I love this baked chicken recipe and or this amazing sheet pan chicken! These chicken dinners are some of my go-to comfort food!
I am completely and utterly addicted to this chicken. Actually, I’m addicted to this insanely delicious honey butter sauce. I make this with salmon, pork, other cuts of chicken like chicken breast. But hands down, my favorite is using bite sizes pieces of chicken thighs. It’s juicier than breast, you get a much better caramelization and by cutting the chicken into bite size pieces, you get maximum surface area caramelization.
HONEY BUTTER CHICKEN
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The sauce is crazy simple to make. Just butter, honey, garlic, and vinegar – you really need the vinegar to cut through the sweetness of the sauce.
This recipe doesn’t make much sauce, because you don’t need it. The idea behind this recipe is that the chicken is cooked in the sauce so it caramelizes on the chicken, so you just need a little drizzle of residual sauce in the skillet over the chicken when you serve it.
I really can’t think of a better way to serve this than over mashed potatoes. It is the perfect pairing – juicy sticky, savory chicken piled over clouds of soft mashed potato.
Heaven on a plate, right there. My family loved it the first time I made it and they ask for it all the time now!
You’re just 10 minutes away from this. Start to finish. All you need to do is chop the chicken, then while the chicken is browning in the skillet, measure out the rest of the ingredients then add them in.
And in all honesty, if the chicken is in the skillet for more than 7 minutes, you’ve overcooked the chicken. So you see, it MUST be quick to make in order to ensure the chicken is gorgeously juicy, just like a stir fry!!
Hope you enjoy!
Want more chicken recipes?
- Cheesy Chicken Meatballs
- Chicken Piccata
- Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken
- Southern Oven Fried Chicken
- Slow Cooker Thai Sweet Chili Chicken
- More dinner recipes…
Tools used to make this Honey Butter Chicken recipe
Large Skillet: This skillet is my go-to kitchen tool. It’s large circumference and high sides make it perfect for cooking anything from one pan meals to soups and sauces.
Tongs: A good pair of tongs is a kitchen essential. I like having a couple sizes – a longer set for grilling and a shorter set for stovetop cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-size pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 2 ½ tablespoons honey
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Fresh parsley finely chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large non-stick skillet over high heat.
- When the butter is melted, add the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cook until it changes from pink to white and starts to brown.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, honey, garlic, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer. Turn the chicken to coat in the sauce until it is golden and caramelized.
- Once the chicken is browned all over, remove it from the heat. Pile chicken onto mashed potatoes, and drizzle with the sauce in the pan. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Rachelle Vandeventer says
My whole family loved it. AWESOME
Aubrey says
That is fantastic! I’m so glad they loved it!
Karen R. Marshall says
Delicious and easy! I am making this again! Great for beginners like ME!!!
Aubrey Cota says
That’s one of the reasons I love this recipe so much, it’s easy yet so flavorful and dynamic you can be a beginner or advanced and it comes out delicious every time!
Dj says
The best thing I’ve ever cooked. And I’m not exaggerating.
Aubrey Cota says
Thank you so much, Dj!! I’m so glad you liked it, it’s a pretty major hit around our household.
Nataly says
That recipe looks so yummy! I’ll have to try that one. Thanks for sharing.
Aubrey Cota says
You’ll love it!
Angie says
We love this recipe so much!! Delicious!
Aubrey Cota says
Thank you, Angie!
Kate says
This is so tasty! You do such a great job on your website–great directions and presentations. Thank you for sharing your excellent recipes!
Aubrey Cota says
Thanks so much, Kate! I love this recipe so much and I’m so glad you do as well!
Vic says
So simple quick and easy to make, my kids loved it as did I.
Thank you so much for posting this wonderful recipe, I served mine with a side of fresh carrots and white rice.
Came out great!
Aubrey Cota says
I’m so glad to see that everyone loved it! Nice touch with the carrots I bet it added that extra crunchy texture that we all love.
Cynthia says
Family loved it. Easy and was delicious
Aubrey Cota says
Thank you, Cynthia!
E-world Cooking says
Especially thanks for this dish, I made it in my home today dinner & enjoy with my family they also love it
Des says
My husband is super picky and hard to please with new foods! He liked this! He didn’t like the riced cauliflower I served it on but he did enjoy the chicken and I served it with asparagus. Such a great choice as a side! I’d like to serve it on mashed potatoes next time!! I think it’ll be taken to better on some tasty taters! Lol 🙂
Aubrey Cota says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you, Des.
Cindy says
Going to try this tonight!
Aubrey Cota says
You should! It’s so yummy.
rose says
Seriously love this recipe. Will gonna try this tonight. Sounds awesome. Will give the feedback after try it.
Aubrey Cota says
Please do!! However, I can predict that you will love it! 🙂
Karen says
LOVE this recipe! I’ve made a big batch at the beginning of each week and added it on top of my salads! Super quick and easy. I usually use chicken breast and instead of the cider vinegar, I use white vinegar.
Aubrey Cota says
Thank you!
Nick says
Omg this was soooo go. I served it over some rice because my uncle can’t eat potatos because of the potassium. This was turn to your words “heaven on a plate.”
Aubrey Cota says
Thank you so much, Nick!! I’m so glad to hear you loved it.
Marla Berkheim says
Does this nutrition info include the potatoes? That is a very high amount of calories, WW points, fat, sugars for a chicken dinner! Yeesh!
Aubrey Cota says
It does not include the potatoes. Keep in mind this recipe does not claim to be low calorie, it does deal with dark meat, butter, and honey. So while I can appreciate the fact that you would like to keep this meal diet friendly it was created to be a quick and delicious meal. Please feel free to use white meat to help with some of the calorie and fat.
Paula Sisco says
Easy and delicious. And I am not a cook! Agree with others that a few dashes of soy sauce adds good flavor. I made the recipe x4 to take to a potluck. I divided it into two skillets: one cast iron, one stainless. The cast iron chicken browned right up. Had to take it up, then transfer the chicken from the stainless skillet to the cast iron to get it brown. Best to use cast iron. Also, the chicken does cook quite a bit more during the simmering, so don’t worry about getting it cooked through first (like I did!).
Aubrey Cota says
Thanks so much, Paula! I’m glad it worked out so well for you. Great idea for using a cast iron skillet.
Janelle says
My cousin says this is a must recipe. However, i have a child with type 1 Diabetes and need clarification on the nutrition facts in order to draw up the right amount of insulin. First, I love that you included a nutrition label, but the label doesn’t specify the serving size. Do you know how much it would be approximately? If not, I can use another website to calculate after entering the whole recipe and dividing it up evenly. Just curious if you know.
Aubrey Cota says
This is just nutrition facts divided up by 4. So please be sure to check the calculations with your child’s nutritionist to be sure this is in line with their dietary needs.
Laura says
This recipe was a complete fail. I followed the instructions exactly, and I only ended up with chicken soup. I overcooked the chicken, waiting for carmelization to occur, but it never did. How on Earth did anyone else succeed with this recipe if they followed these instructions? I’m a good cook, too, and this might be the only recipe that didn’t turn out that I’ve ever made… So weird. Doesn’t carmelization require sugar?
Aubrey Cota says
I’m sorry to hear that this one didn’t work out for you. I think what I have noticed from this recipe is that a few people expect this to be a thick syrup style sauce when in fact there shouldn’t be a large amount of sauce to chicken ratio and should be more on the “watery” side. Caramelization is a type of non-enzymatic browning reaction using the natural sugars in the ingredients, so yes it does require sugar but not always the addition of that actual ingredient.
Tracy Sokol says
I made this last night and everyone loved it!
However, I didn’t see that the recipe called for boneless chicken thighs and used cut chicken strips. Midway through eating husband asked me what type of meat I used and said it would be better with boneless chicken thighs (which is what the recipe called for right?!).
Loved the flavor and super easy to make. Served it with chicken rice and caramelized squash.
Aubrey Cota says
Tha caught me funny that he was able to identify what type of chicken he would prefer and it was the ingredient best used. Thank you, Tracy.
Renee says
Has anyone frozen leftovers? (not that we had any lol, but wondering for the future )..
Aubrey Cota says
I’ve never had leftovers that have made it to the freezer stage! Even if I put anything I might have left in the fridge, it is most certainly gone the next day. I would say that it should freeze fine though since this recipe is not overloaded with sauce, maybe not for an extended period of time but if you use the proper container you could get possibly up to a month out of it.
Kj says
So, I loved the quick concept of this recipe. I already had mashed potatoes on hand to use. First I sauteed a container of pre-sliced mushrooms. I pulled them out and set them aside. I proceeded to follow the recipe as written. Stirred the mushrooms back in at the end. I concur with the people who said that there just wasn’t enough sauce. I added a little bit of chicken broth to make the sauce stretch a little. I would up the honey & maybe the AC vinegar a little bit next time to increase the flavor . I served it over mashed potatoes with some fresh cooked broccoli chopped & then the chicken .Topping that with fresh parsley. I will make again with some minor adjustments to increase the Sauce. Thanks. I too am a veteran home cook . My grandpa came from Italy & owned a bakery then a diner. Both were highly successful. Blessings. ?