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Honey Lime Chicken

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Honey Lime Chicken - crazy delicious chicken with honey lime. The BEST chicken that you can make for your family, takes only 20 mins!

Honey Lime Chicken – crazy delicious chicken with honey lime. The BEST chicken that you can make for your family, takes only 20 mins | rasamalaysia.com

Sliced Honey Lime Chicken on a wooden chopping board.

Honey Lime Chicken

Chicken is our favorite protein; I make chicken many times a week so I am constantly developing new recipes. Two ingredients that I love most are honey and lime.

Easy and quick chicken recipe with honey lime marinade.

This honey lime chicken is inspired by a recipe on Eating Well, but I simplified the recipe to make it easier for you. The recipe takes only 20 minutes to make!

Oven roasted delicious Honey Lime Chicken.

Moist, Juicy and Tender Chicken

This honey lime chicken recipe turned out to be a perfect 10. It’s absolutely moist, juicy, tender and utterly delicious. The honey, lime, soy sauce and garlic marinade do wonders to the chicken.

The end result is sticky sweet, savory and citrusy chicken that you will be begging for more.

Easy homemade honey and lime chicken with homemade honey lime glaze.

Bone-in Chicken vs. Boneless Chicken

As usual, my favorite is boneless chicken thigh (check out how to debone chicken thighs video).

You have the glossy, lacquered, perfectly charred and baked chicken skin, with the meat bursting with the chicken juice. You can also make the chicken 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 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.

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Honey Lime Chicken

Honey Lime Chicken - crazy delicious chicken with honey lime. The BEST chicken that you can make for your family, takes only 20 mins | rasamalaysia.com

Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword Honey Lime Chicken
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Servings 3
Calories 308 kcal
Author

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken thighs deboned, skin-on
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 heaping tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Pinch of salt
  • Chopped parsley
  • Lime wedges

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

  2. To debone the chicken thighs but keep the skin on, please refer to this video and post for the step-by-step. The skin makes this recipe extremely delicious.

  3. How to debone chicken thighs.
  4. Combine the chicken thighs with garlic, honey, soy sauce, lime juice, cayenne pepper and salt. (You may double the marinade if you want it to be more "saucy"). 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.
  5. 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 and serve immediately with some lime wedges.

Recipe Notes

If you use boneless and skinless thighs or chicken breasts, please take note that your chicken will look white as there is no skin and the broil function won't char the meat and make it dark. Double the quantity of the marinade (honey, lime, cayenne pepper and salt) for stronger flavor if you like. You may also make this recipe on a skillet or cast-iron pan on medium heat. Please make sure that you keep turning the chicken if you cook on the skillet or pan as it might get dark very quickly because the honey. You may also grill the chicken on an outdoor grill.

Nutrition Facts
Honey Lime Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 308 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 15%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 130mg 43%
Sodium 477mg 20%
Total Carbohydrates 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0.3g 1%
Sugars 6.1g
Protein 42.8g 86%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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110 COMMENTS... read them below or add one

  1. Hi there, can I substitute the lime for lemon? Kinda lazy to go out and get the lime as I have every other ingredients already :D

    Reply

  4. I made this tonight and after 20 minutes the sauce just burned and the chi ken was under cooked. Still waiting to see how it tastes but not sure I’ll use this recipe again….

    Reply

    • I am sorry to hear that Stephanie. The picture is exactly the chicken I made with the recipe you are using. Other readers have tried with success. Did you measure the honey? Did you put the chicken on the top rack? In any case, I updated the recipe a bit to prevent this situation, by covering the chicken with the aluminum foil.

      Reply

      • When roasting or BBQ using honey or sugar, it’s best to add some acidic juices to the honey or sugar to prevent it from burning, as sugar is a compound of carbon.

        Reply

      • I followed the recipe as well and mine did not come out like this at all. In fact mine became more watery. What did I do wrong? I have not eaten it yet, hopefully it tastes great?.

        Reply

        • Hi V, hmm, did you pat dry the chicken? Which part of the chicken did you use? If it’s watery, you probably need to bake it a little longer so the juice and marinades dry up a bit.

          Reply

          • Some chicken pieces sold in big stores are injected with water to make the pieces look bigger. For example, I used to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts from Walmart (they were so affordable!) but found they let off so much water in the pan and the pieces themselves were much smaller when cooked. Now I pay a little more but get them from a butcher. Maybe that’s the source of the wateriness?

            Reply

    • Same. The sauce just slid off the chicken and onto the foil and burned there. I’m positive the proportions were correct. Why would this have happened?

      Reply

    • I followed your recipe but it did not work. I believe your picture is a breast, not a thigh, right? Your cooking method is not right. Mine did not become sticky. Also, you state in your recipe to line the pan with either foil or parchment paper. I used parchment paper. Wrong thing to suggest. As a caution to your readers..DO NOT broil using parchment paper. It caught on fire! All in all, the flavors was good but the cooking method Needs some changes. I would suggest grilling, not baking to get that stickiness you say should happen.

      Reply

      • Hi Theresa, sorry to heat about your problem. I used chicken thighs with the skin on, I deboned the chicken thighs. Sorry about the parchment paper incident. I didn’t have that issue as I have a smaller countertop broiler. I have updated the recipe. In regards to the cooking method, please check the Cook’s Note as I also recommend skillet cooking and grilling.

        Reply

  6. I made this last weekend. I had enough marinade for 8 boneless/skinless thighs and two breasts (each cut in half). This was, without a doubt, THE BEST chicken I have ever eaten. My 11-year-old son doesn’t like chicken, but even he liked it, AND he was excited about leftovers the next day because he thought the chicken was so delicious. As I plan this week’s meals, this honey lime chicken is DEFINITELY added to the menu!

    Reply

  9. This was delicious! I see what other people commented about when they said it came out burned. I put aluminum foil down and it totally burned the juice and I chose to turn the chicken twice to make sure it cooked fully and evenly without burning. My chicken was BEAUTIFUL and juicy but the oven was super smokey. I’d suggest putting foil down for sure to make sure your pan isn’t ruined and to turn the chicken to make both sides golden. Super tasty and will make it again! Thanks!

    Reply

  13. Could I marinade the chicken overnight and then grill it on skewers with the peanut sauce or teriyaki sauce? Which is better for the lime chicken

    Reply

  16. Love the few ingredients recipe. Followed the recipe, the covered chicken thighs took 55 min at 400 degrees F and the dish came out a little bland, what did I do wrong?

    Reply

  19. I had similar issues as others. I lined the baking pan with foil and covered it before baking but all marinade just completely burned on the foil. I used boneless skin on chic breast same weight but followed recipe exactly after. Don’t get what I did wrong.

    Reply

  21. For those who ended up with Honey-Lime burnt aluminum
    foil try adding a chicken or vegetable broth to your marinade. This will slow down the burning of your sauce,,,
    Also I suggest adding a cup of broth to your chicken letting it cook30-40 min and basting your Honey-Lime mixturetrus last 20 minutes at a higher temp or even broil for that BBQ Asian glazed look
    Remember use those knobs with the Numbers

    Reply

  24. Am I able to let it marinate for a couple of hours? Or would it be better to cook it right after I put the marinade on?

    Reply

  27. This was an amazing chicken dish! We grilled the chicken down and loved the flavor! The only change we made wasn’t cilantro instead of parsley. We will definitely makes this again! Thanks!!!

    Reply

  28. I’m so annoyed it seems like every time I make chicken with honey & soy sauce my chicken never looks like the picture. The sauce never works & my chicken comes out plain white with no sauce. I followed all the instructions & still it comes out ugly. What am I doing wrong???!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Jessica, sorry to hear that. Did you transfer the honey mixture with the chicken before baking? Here is the instruction: Transfer the chicken and the honey mixture to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

      Reply

  31. I had the same issue as Jessica. All the sauce just ran off and puddled on the foil (not burned) while my chicken is completely white. It browned up a little with broiling however we’d thrown some extra honey/soy sauce/lime juice on before broiling, also the puddle started burning during broiling. Still doesn’t look like the pictures though.

    Reply

  32. I made this recipe with chicken breast and the flavor was good, but the sauce came out really, really thin. I double-checked my quantities, and they were definitely right. Any tips?

    Reply

  33. Mine too came out white :( I broiled it for longer thinking that would help it darken up but then it just dried it out. Maybe next time I’ll try it without the foil on top, or grill it.

    Reply

  34. For anyone having issues making this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts- rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry with a paper towel before adding to the sauce mixture. Also, most of the time store bought chicken breasts are two servings per breast, so i fillet them in half lengthwise prior to rinsing and patting dry. I also turned them once during the 20 minute bake to make sure juices were being absorbed on both sides. And i broiled with the foil off for 1 minute per side. Remember, everyones oven cooks a little different! Ive had to increase broiling time by a few minutes using a different oven, but always check every minute or so! Thisnis an awesome dish to serve with rice, blackbeans and plantains! Loved it and will definitely keep making it!

    Reply

      • Hey Laura, I tried boneless chicken breasts last night & it didnt turn out right. I laid the chicken over aluminum foil (over the pan), put the marinade on, & then covered the chicken with another piece of aluminum foil. After 20 mins, I set my oven on broil. Once that was set, I put my chicken back in for 1 min (I still had my chicken covered though). My chicken was tasteless, & pure white in color. Where did I go wrong?

        Reply

        • Hi Sarah, the pictures are skin on but boneless chicken thighs. If you use skinless chicken breasts, there is no skin and the broil function is not going to make it char because there is no skin. You have to broil longer to make it darker. Did you spoon the marinade over to the chicken breast? If you do, using the broil function, the marinade will turn brown. Also, if you use chicken breasts, you need to double the marinade ad chicken breast doesn’t absorb the marinade as well as chicken thighs.

          Reply

  36. I used bone in thighs. set the marinade aside, and seared the thighs in an oven proof pan on both sides until brown. Cooked in the oven as directed, about 25 minutes. Covered for the first 20 minutes, uncovered for the last few. Brought remaining marinade to a boil and served over the chicken once it was done. Turned out perfectly! Thanks for a great recipe.

    Reply

  43. This was delicious and it’s going to be one of my go to recipes! It was quick and simple. Mine didn’t look exactly like yours, the sauce was watery as well and pooled at the bottom of the foil but I just poured it back over then grilled it on the top to char it a bit and it was still amazing so thank you!!

    Reply

  44. I just tried this and it was yummy! The only thing that I will do different next time is be more careful when I take it out of the oven. I accidentally spilled some of the sauce inside. oops

    Reply

  45. These recipe is going in rotation. I used the chicken thighs. I increased the amount of honey and soy sauce. Not by much. I followed the rest of the directions. This was extremely tender and the ingredients signatured the flavor.

    Reply

  46. This is the best marinade! It’s our new favorite. We use it for grilling chicken or pork and then make street tacos with a citrus slaw.

    Reply

  47. This was amazing! I doubled the sauce and grilled the chicken. I always love chicken thighs but these were wonderful! I did add a tiny squeeze of chili paste because we love spicy food. I served it over some leftover rice. This was so easy and delicious, it will absolutely be a repeat in our house!

    Reply

  49. Is there any substitution for soy sauce? This sounds so good, but I’m supposed to be avoiding soy.

    Reply

  52. I made this tonight with 2 skinless chicken breasts. They were large so I baked them 5 minutes longer. Then I broiled them until charred- they are delicious! My husband agrees! I didn’t add the cayanne pepper- not our style- but followed the recipe otherwise. This was fast and easy (which I was looking for) and delightfully moist and delicious. Thank you!

    Reply

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