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This 20-minute honey lime chicken is baked in a mixture of honey, soy sauce, and fresh lime juice. It's the BEST chicken dish you can make for the entire family!
Honey Lime Chicken
Honey and lime chicken thighs are a staple in our home. We probably have it at least once a week, along with other chicken recipes. We can’t get enough of that sweet, tangy, savory marinade and how it caramelizes in the oven to coat every bite.
This honey lime chicken is inspired by a recipe on Eating Well, but I simplified my recipe to make it easier for you. It only takes 20 minutes to make and most of it is hands-off!
While the honey lime chicken marinade is LOADED with flavor, it still goes well with a lot of side dishes. It’s amazing on top of Cilantro Lime Rice or just plain rice if you prefer. For a lighter meal, serve it with Roasted Spring Vegetables or in a fresh salad tossed with your favorite vinaigrette.
Save some of that honey and try my Honey Balsamic Chicken or Honey Sriracha Chicken next!
Do Lime And Honey Go Together
This honey lime chicken recipe turned out to be a perfect 10! It’s moist, juicy, tender, and utterly delicious—something you’d expect from a restaurant.
The honey and lime combo has a bright, citrusy flavor that tastes amazing with the chicken. If you’ve never tried it before, it works surprisingly well together. Try this recipe now!
Bone-In Vs. Boneless Chicken
As usual, my favorite is boneless chicken thighs (check out my video on how to debone chicken thighs).
You have the glossy, perfectly charred, and baked chicken skin, with the meat bursting with the chicken juices. You can also make the dish with bone-in chicken thighs.
Whichever part of chicken you use, you can make this dish all year long: bake in the oven, outdoor on the grill, or just cook on a skillet or cast-iron pan.
Skillet Or Oven-Baked
This recipe is absolutely versatile; you can choose to bake the chicken in the oven, or you can just cook it on the stove top. I personally love oven-baked because I love crispy and charred skin, like the pictures here.
However, skillet is an easy way to cook and you don’t want to wait that long to savor this delicious chicken!
Ingredients
- Chicken thighs – I use boneless thigh fillets because we’re skipping the traditional marinating and baking the chicken in the marinade instead. You can turn this into honey lime chicken breasts if you prefer white meat.
- Lime juice – always use freshly squeezed lime juice! It cuts through the sweetness of the honey and also helps tenderize the chicken.
- Honey – rounds out the tangy, savory marinade with a subtle sweetness. The natural sugars also caramelize during baking, creating a sticky, flavorful glaze that clings to the chicken.
- Soy sauce – gives the marinade a boost of umami.
- Garlic – no such thing as too much garlic! You can rub it into the fillets and infuse the marinade with even more flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe
This honey lime chicken recipe comes together so fast as the baking also doubles as the marinating time. The sauce gets reduced during baking and turns into an intensely flavorful glaze. I usually double the marinade because it’s so delicious when drizzled over rice or vegetables!
Broiling the chicken is an optional step, but I highly recommend it. It makes the chicken skin irresistibly crispy! I also love a bit of heat in my honey lime chicken, and you can add more chili flakes if you want it spicy or leave it out altogether.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400°F (207°C). Rub the minced garlic on the chicken thighs with your hands. Add honey, soy sauce, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and salt to the chicken. Stir to combine well. Transfer the chicken and the honey mixture to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil to prevent burning.
Pro tip: Double the marinade if you want it to be more “saucy.”
Step 2: Bake the chicken for 20 minutes, or until cooked. If the sauce pools at the bottom of the foil, spoon and brush the sauce over the chicken. Broil the chicken for 1 minute or until the chicken skin is charred. Remove from heat, garnish with parsley. Squeeze the lime wedges over the chicken before serving.
Helpful Tips For Home Cooks
- If time allows, marinate the chicken in the sauce for around 30 minutes for deeper flavor.
- If using boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, keep in mind that they won’t brown as deeply as skin-on thighs. Skip the broiling step, as it won’t add any char and may dry out the meat.
- You can also make this recipe in a pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Be sure to turn the chicken frequently to prevent the honey in the marinade from burning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some good substitutes for lime juice are lemon, pineapple-lemon, and orange-lemon mix.
Absolutely! Grilled honey lime chicken is one of my favorite versions of this recipe.
Thirty minutes to 2 hours is ideal. Marinating longer can make the chicken soft and mushy as the acids from the lime break down the proteins in the meat.
Yes, the acidity of lime juice can help tenderize chicken, although chicken is already tender on its own.
Yes, you can use the honey and lime chicken marinade as a sauce. Make sure to bring it to a boil to kill any bacteria that might have transferred from the raw chicken.
This honey and lime chicken recipe has only 360 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Lime Chicken
For a wholesome meal and an easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes:
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Other Recipes You Might Like
Honey Lime Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb (500g) chicken thighs, deboned, skin-on
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 dashes cayenne pepper
- 1 big pinch salt
- parsley, chopped
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (207°C). Rub the minced garlic on the chicken thighs with your hands. Add honey, soy sauce, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and salt to the chicken. Stir to combine well. Transfer the chicken and the honey mixture to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil to prevent burning.Pro tip: Double the marinade if you want it to be more “saucy.”
- Bake the chicken for 20 minutes, or until cooked. If the sauce pools at the bottom of the foil, spoon and brush the sauce over the chicken. Broil the chicken for 1 minute or until the chicken skin is charred. Remove from heat, garnish with parsley. Squeeze the lime wedges over the chicken before serving.
Video
Notes
- If time allows, marinate the chicken in the sauce for around 30 minutes for deeper flavor.
- If using boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, keep in mind that they won’t brown as deeply as skin-on thighs. Skip the broiling step, as it won’t add any char and may dry out the meat.
- You can also make this recipe in a pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Be sure to turn the chicken frequently to prevent the honey in the marinade from burning.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What brand of Lime Juice would you recommend?
Hi Bibi Bong. Freshly squeezed lime juice would be the best.
Delicious recipe my whole family loved it. How do you get your chicken to be so perfect? That is how do you cut the chicken with the skin on without the skin falling off? Your cut chicken looks perfect is there a trick? Thank you or is a trick photography
Johanna sharp knife and knife skills. :)
I was looking for something a little different and had some limes that needed to be used. Today was a grilling day and the last comment that “on the grill works too” sealed the deal”. I marinated the chicken thighs in the mixture (zested the garlic to add to the mix) for 20 minutes or so. Direct heat on each side for 5 minutes then indirect heat until done (you know when its done if you grill a lot) REALLY GOOD!!!!! Full flavor, but not an overkill. Simple to make and I’m thinking the next time guests are here.. this will be my grilled chicken recipe. Thanks!!
Nice!