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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.
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!
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.
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.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 360 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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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
- chopped parsley
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (207°C).
- To debone the chicken thighs but keep the skin on, please refer to the step-by-step instructions. The skin makes this recipe extremely delicious.
- Rub the minced garlic on the chicken thighs with your hands. Add honey, soy sauce, lime juice, cayenne pepper and salt to the chicken. (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.
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Wow! Nice looking honey lime chicken! I will be sharing this in a foodie forum. Thanks!
https://www.sgfoodclub.com/
The taste is just perfect! A little bit of lime brings out the entire chicken aroma.
the perfect mixture of honey boosts the shininess of the chicken
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it is so delicious!!
Thanks Laynee.
Great recipe! Thanks! Made this tonight when I was running out of chicken recipes!!
Awesome, so happy that you tried my honey lime chicken recipe.
Great recipe. I actually really appreciate this amazing recipe. I will make it for my family. Thanks!
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.
Hi Lisa, thanks for trying my honey lime chicken. I am so glad you liked it. :)
Flavor was great, chicken was tender but the sauce was super thin. Any thoughts?
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!
Hi Laura, thanks for your great tips and ideas. I am so happy that you like my honey lime chicken recipe. :)
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?
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.
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?
Double up the sauce if you want thicker sauce!
Disolve some corn starch in water and add to sauce. Repeat unail desired thickness has been reached