Description
Soy glazed chicken comes together in your kitchen with just a handful of ingredients and minimal fuss, delivering tender meat coated in a savory-sweet glaze that tastes like you’ve been cooking all day. Your dinner table gets a restaurant-quality meal that’s ready faster than you’d expect, making weeknight cooking feel genuinely manageable.
Ingredients
Scale
Coating:
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Protein:
- 5 boneless, skin-on chicken thighs
Glaze and Aromatics:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Pat your 5 boneless, skin-on chicken thighs completely dry with paper towels to remove all surface moisture.
- In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup cornstarch with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste, then dredge each thigh thoroughly in this mixture and shake off any excess coating.
- Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat until shimmering, then place your chicken skin-side down and cook for 5-7 minutes at 375°F until the skin turns golden and crispy.
- Flip your chicken thighs over and continue cooking for 5 more minutes at 375°F until the meat registers fully cooked, then transfer to a clean plate.
- Reduce your heat to medium and melt 2 tbsp unsalted butter in the same pan, scraping up all the browned bits stuck to the bottom as the butter foams.
- Whisk together 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 3 tbsp honey, 1 tsp five-spice powder, and 2 grated garlic cloves in a small bowl until smooth.
- Pour your glaze mixture into the pan and let it simmer for about 5 minutes at medium heat while stirring occasionally until it thickens noticeably.
- Return your cooked chicken to the pan and turn each piece to coat completely in the glaze for 1-2 minutes at medium heat so the flavors absorb into the meat.
- Arrange your glazed chicken on a serving plate, scatter sesame seeds and 1 chopped scallion across the top, and serve hot alongside steamed rice and vegetables.
Notes
- Patting your chicken thighs completely dry before coating makes a huge difference in getting that crispy skin, so don’t skip this step even though it seems small.
- Keep your heat at medium-high when cooking the chicken skin-side down first, since lower heat won’t give you that golden, crispy exterior you’re after.
- The browned bits stuck to the pan floor are pure flavor, so scrape them up thoroughly when you add the butter to build a richer glaze.
- If your glaze seems too thin after simmering, let it cook a bit longer or mix a pinch of cornstarch with water and stir it in to thicken it up without changing the taste.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 18-19 minutes
- Category: Sautéed Chicken
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 650 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg