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.
Donna Porter says
Love this meal. We prefer it with rice rather than potatoes.
Lynda Karen Kroon says
Awesome
Shelley says
This was so good and easy!! I was planning on making chicken curry tonight, but I decided to browse internet cubed chicken recipes. I found a keeper!! I used cut up chicken tenderloins. I made rice as a side dish. Also, I steamed mixed veggies. A DEFINITE and yummy meal has just been added to my weekly meal plan. The mixture of the honey, vinegar, garlic, and butter were amazing. Thank you for the recipe!!! 🙂
Dani says
Definitely don’t use chicken breast unless you’re very careful to not overcook it. The sauce was great though!
Jennie Caissie Bates says
This is my new staple to use to spice up or down for everything from Asian dishes to curry. I added a tiny bit of sesame oil and it was divine. I definitely would follow these two parts of the recipe exactly: 1. Do not cook chicken very much before beginning to add the extra butter, honey, etc. (because) 2. The sauce takes a long time ON HIGH to caramelize. It just takes time. Don’t rush it. The chicken gives off juices as it cooks and that causes the sauce to take more time than you think it should. But wait and stir frequently and it will thicken. Wait. This isn’t a hard recipe. But you must trust the process. Somehow the apple cider vinegar and honey combine to create a bland teriyaki-ish flavor, even before I added the sesame oil. A few dashes of salt is all you really need. Like I said, this one is my new staple/ go-to. I see a lot of fun spices i could add to play with it.
April Showler says
This turned out wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
Kristi b says
My families new favorite. We double the recipe and still never have leftovers. Even my picky kids like it!
Gail says
Can I use chicken tenderloin if I don’t have thighs?
Real Housemoms JK says
Hello Gail! I would totally use the tenderloin. Keep an eye on them as to not overcook them though.
Sierra says
I can’t figure out why my recipe didn’t caramelize like yours..(new cook here lol). Still came out pretty good but not like that…wonder if its because I washed my chicken. Maybe too much water?
Jennifer Kimmel says
Hello Sierra! Maybe try letting the chicken cook a little longer in the sauce. Hope it works better next time!
Martha Lightfoot says
I just made this. I agree it could use a little more flavor, but the subtle flavor is really good. It took a lot longer than 10 minutes to get the good caramelization.
Chris says
It was awesome and a great find for halloween… I did make a few batches of this cause I was serving lots of people.. I did the chicken on the griddle.. I did season chicken with salt pepper, smoke paprika and cayanne pepper as I went…
It was so good..
A definite keeper.. Thank you!!
Lauren says
I want to call this recipe “restaurant quality” but I think that wouldn’t do it justice since I’m rarely impressed by what I order at restaurants anymore. It’s absolutely delicious exactly as written over mashed potatoes as recommended. Definitely a new staple in my home. Thank you!
Aubrey says
Yay! Thank you so much! I’m so glad you loved it!!!
Nessa says
I added red pepper and hot sauce, doubled the recipe and used this as a stir fry sauce! Served it over rice with lo mein noodles, onions & green peppers mixed in. My husband had requested it for a second week in a row!
Aubrey says
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that! The lo mein noodles sound yummy!
Penni Jestic says
FABULOUS!!! So easy to make. Quick too. Absolutely LOVE this recipe!!!
Netta says
Just made this for dinner! Very yummy 😋 I put over cauliflower rice instead of mashed potatoes and it turned out wonderfully!
Victoria Moscato says
Delicious I used egg noodles because my Italian husband loves pasta but cant wait to try the mashed potatoes. Super easy.
Mobasir Hassan says
My son love this chicken recipe very much . Thank you for the recipe that made my kids happy in dinner.
Laura says
Tried this last night. Everyone loved it! Would like to serve this to 16 people. Have u ever made it a couple hrs ahead and kept it hot in crockpot?
Jennifer Kimmel says
Hey Laura! I would just leave it on the warm setting so it doesn’t get overcooked.
Riss says
Question.. what does butter seperated mean? I can’t just add the called for amount of butter to it while cooking?? Thanks!
Jennifer Kimmel says
Hello Riss! You use 1 TBSP of the butter in step 1 then the remaining butter in step 3. Does this help?
Patty says
I Love it! Thank you.
In my case, I add the honey the butter but since I like spices I seasoned the chicken a bit more with parsley, pepper a bit of oregano and some Italian seasoning , instead of Vinegar I used white wine and It was so good, with the mash potatoes.
Aubrey Cota says
Thank you, Patty!