My favorite thing to do with a recipe is to pare it down as far as possible while maintaining big flavor. I’ve made a lot of Asian inspired marinades and glazes over the years, but this time I took my marinade down to the bare bones, and guess what? I think it’s my favorite one by far. You just can’t beat simple. So, if you’re new to cooking, this Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken is probably a good recipe to start with because it’s so damn simple and I promise you’ll impress yourself with the flavor. ;)
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Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken pictured here with jasmine rice and a drizzle of sriracha!
Can I Use Chicken Breast?
This super simple marinade can be used on chicken breast or thighs, but I prefer thighs because they’re usually already in small, manageable, and quick-cooking pieces that stay juicy and tender. If you’re using chicken breasts, I suggest cutting them into smaller pieces or pounding them thin to both increase chicken to marinade contact and to make sure they cook quickly.
Cook OR Grill Your Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken
Once marinated you can cook the Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken in a skillet or on a grill (I almost used my George Foreman, but decided a skillet made for better pictures #foodbloggerlife). A grill probably gives you better browned edges and caramelized sugars, but a skillet is just SO easy.
And I like easy.
Pictured with jasmine rice and Cucumber Mango Salad.
Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken
Servings 8 piecesIngredients
MARINADE
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.16)
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.26)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
CHICKEN
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1.75 lbs total) ($7.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
GARNISHES (optional)
- 2 green onions ($0.17)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds ($0.07)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger using a fine holed cheese grater or box grater. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, some freshly cracked pepper (about 15 cranks of a pepper mill), and cooking oil. Place the chicken thighs in a shallow dish or a gallon size zip lock bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken and turn to coat. Cover the chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to a day (refrigerated).
- When ready to cook the chicken, heat a large skillet over medium flame. Once hot, add 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add half of the chicken pieces and let cook until well browned on each side and cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate, then repeat with the second batch.
- Once all the chicken has been removed from the skillet, pour the leftover marinade into the skillet and allow it to come up to a boil. Whisk the marinade as it boils to dissolve any browned bits from the skillet. Let it continue to boil until it reduces to a thick glaze*. Turn the heat off, add the cooked chicken back to the skillet, and dredge it in the thick glaze. Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
How to Make Soy Glazed Chicken – Step by Step Photos
To prepare the awesomely easy ginger soy marinade, mince two cloves of garlic and grate about 1 Tbsp fresh ginger (more information on how to buy and use ginger can be found here). Combine the garlic and ginger with 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp cooking oil, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 15 cranks of a pepper mill).
Place eight boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a shallow container or gallon size zip lock bag and pour the marinade over top. Turn the thighs to coat in the marinade, then cover and marinate (refrigerated) the chicken for at least 30 minutes or up to one day.
When ready to cook, heat a large skillet over a medium flame. Once hot, add 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil and tilt the skillet to swirl the oil over the surface. Add half of the chicken thighs and cook on each side until well browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet onto a clean plate, then repeat with the second batch of chicken.
The reason the marinade is not poured in WITH the chicken and the chicken is cooked in two separate batches is because too much moisture in the skillet will prevent those nice browned edges and caramelized sugars. So, work in two batches and cook the marinade separately.
Once the second batch of chicken has been cooked and removed from the skillet, pour in the leftover marinade and let it come to a boil. Whisk the marinade as it boils to dissolve the browned bits from the skillet. Let it continue to boil until it reduces to a thick glaze (this only takes a few minutes because there isn’t much marinade). This cooks the marinade, just like you cooked the chicken, to kill bacteria (it’s no less safe than the actual chicken or the marinade that is on the surface of the chicken when it cooks). FDA foodsafety guidelines for marinades. If this still makes you uncomfortable, you can skip this extra glaze (the chicken will still be nice and sticky), or double the amount of marinade in the beginning and only use half on the chicken. You can cook the second “clean” half in a sauce pan until it thickens to a glaze.
Return the cooked chicken to the skillet and dredge it on both sides in the sticky glaze. Top the chicken with sliced green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
I paired my Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken with jasmine rice and Cucumber Mango Salad. The cold and tangy Cucumber Mango Salad was the PERFECT side to this dish (plus I was lucky enough to get mangoes on sale 3/$1 this week!!).
I have made this dish several times. It is so very good. It is our Christmas Eve dinner tonight. Happy Christmas!!
I have to gush about this, I made this tonight and it was fantastic. Super delicious and easy to make. Absolutely amazing recipe.
This was SO GOOD. It had all the flavors I’m used to from an asian restaurant that I just wouldn’t know how to put together myself, and yet was simple. I doubled the marinade just for extra flavor. Whole family loved it!
Tried this with beef last night. Yum! Delicious simple sauce!
Hi Beth,
My name is Stephanie and I love this website you have great recipes . My questions is can I use chicken with bones instead the family is not a boneless chicken fan unless in a stir fry dish. The recipe looks great and filling. Thanks Again
Stephanie A,
Unfortunately this one only works with boneless because bone-in chicken takes much longer to cook and the glaze would burn by that point. :(
Awesome dish with the cucumber and mango salad. Just wondering whether I can cook the chicken in an oven. Will the result be the same ?
No, unfortunately the result won’t be the same in the oven. It will turn out much more watery.
Beth. This recipe is awesome. My husband and I loved it. I didn’t have chicken thighs, so I used chicken tenders cut into chunks. I know our grandkids will love this, too.
THANK YOU SO MUCH BETH. I MADE THIS DISH FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY. I LOVE IT SO MUCH I ATE SOME FOR BREAKFAST. I KNOW CRAZY BUT I CAN DO THIS. LOL… AND SO EASY ALSO. GETTING READY TO TRY THE SESAME CHICKEN NEXT…. YOU ARE A GEM!!!!!
Thereis no salt at all in the recipe. ฤฐs it ok? Or if ฤฐ want add at which step should ฤฐ add it?
The soy sauce provides all the salt the recipe needs, so you don’t need to add any extra. :)
Absolutely love this dish! Would there be a way to do this in the oven and achieve the same result?ย
It might be possible, but I’d have to do some testing to get the process right. It definitely works better with the quick high heat of a skillet, rather than the slow heating process of an oven.
Hi i would like to know the calorie count of this recipe. I’m really watching my calorie intake but this recipe looks so good and I wanted to try it so yeah. ๐ย
There is a website where you can enter in the ingredients for any recipe and get all the nutritional info broken down by servings. Itโs
http://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Turned out so yummy! I made it with breasts because I’m not a fan of thighs, and even my picky-eater boyfriend liked it! He said it looked good and that he wanted to try some, which he never does. We always cook our own food and don’t share because he’s so picky. He liked it so much that he didn’t put ketchup on it. This comes from the man who puts ketchup on his teriyaki chicken! This recipe is going to be a staple in my household! Finally, a meal that I can make for both of us.
Hahaha, I love that so much!
This is phenomenal! Do you think it would work in a crock pot?
It definitely won’t work the same in a slow cooker, since this recipe relies heavily on evaporation to create the “sticky” texture of the sauce. You can certainly cook chicken in a slow cooker using these same sauce ingredients, but it will turn out a very different texture.
I am usually a vegetarian but after feeling especially tired lately Iโve decided to eat a little meat here and there. This is the first chicken dish Iโve cooked in a long time and itโs so good! I made rice with carrots and edamame to go with it and itโs delicious. Highly recommend ๐
This has become my go-to dish when I don’t have anything planned. I just have to stop at the grocery to get the chicken thighs bc we usually have everything else in the fridge! Thanks so much for creating one of our favorite meals – we love it every time!!