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Easy, homemade crispy chicken tossed in a spicy-sweet honey garlic sauce. Serve this dish with asparagus, broccoli, or a combination of the two, cooked up right alongside the chicken. It’s the easiest sheet pan dinner. Add a side of rice for a main, or serve it on its own as an appetizer. This fun take-out-style dinner is great any night of the week!

Some of my favorite types of dinners to create and share with my family are fun takeout-inspired dinners made at home. Well, tacos are probably my favorite, but takeout at home is a close second. My younger sister, Asher, adores any dish with a hit of soy sauce (I use tamari) and served over rice. Just like my mom, Asher adores rice.
I often make dishes like today’s recipe for them, but I love sharing new sauces and flavors! I always have fun creating these recipes.
I shared my recipe for chili ginger orange chicken just after the holidays. Since then, I’ve made it multiple times. The chili orange sauce is so delicious!
I felt like it was time to shake things up, so instead of the classic orange sauce, today I’m sharing a honey garlic sauce made with lemon! This sauce is so simple, but wow, the flavors really are delicious.
Honey, garlic, and lemon, all mixed with salty tamari – such an addicting sauce!
Ingredients
Honey Garlic Sauce

Step 1: start with the chicken
I like to use cubed raw chicken—breasts or thighs, or a mix of the two. Toss the cubed chicken with garlic powder, black pepper, and chile flakes. I love to use Korean chile flakes. You can find them online, at Whole Foods, and in most major grocery stores in the Asian aisle.
Now add some flour. The flour allows the chicken to get crispy in the oven. It’s a small amount, so just a very light coating. It’s not a breaded chicken but it has just enough of a coating to ensure the sauce can stick nicely to the chicken.
Bake the chicken with a side of asparagus or broccoli. Depending on the size of your chicken pieces, this should take about 10 to 15 minutes to cook.

Step 2: the honey garlic sauce
This really is the heart of the recipe. The sauce brings all the flavor.
Mix the tamari (or soy sauce), with lemon juice and honey. The honey not only adds flavor but creates a sticky sauce that will adhere nicely to the chicken.
Then, fresh garlic, chili paste, green onions, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. If you don’t have toasted sesame, you can easily just omit it from the sauce. I do love the flavor, but it is not a must.
Like most of my Asian-inspired dishes, I love to use chili paste. More often than not I use gochujang, a Korean chili paste. This really provides that extra flavor. The Mother in Law’s brand is my favorite, I get the original flavor from Whole Foods or order on Amazon.

Step 3: toss the chicken and the sauce
Pour the sauce over the baked crispy chicken and cook the chicken in the sauce over medium-high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon. The coating soaks up all the sauce – yum!
Step 4: serve with rice
You can easily serve this as is, but we love this chicken best served over rice and topped with lots of toasted sesame seeds.

Looking for other busy weeknight-night recipes? Try these!
One Skillet Saucy Chicken Tortilla Enchilada Rice Bake
Crockpot Crispy Chicken Tinga Tacos with Avocado Jalapeño Crema
Sheet Pan Honey Mustard Salmon with Caesar Roasted Potatoes
One Skillet Cheesy Green Chile Chicken
Lastly, if you make this 30 Minute Honey Garlic Chicken, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

This recipe is awesome. I did use sweet chili sauce because I didn’t have chili paste but I still got alittle heat, sweet and sticky. I served with roasted Brussels because I served my asparagus 2 days ago with your one pot Cajun ranch chicken pasta. Also fabulous. Both will be in regular rotation. Thx
Hey Betty,
Wonderful! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed!🍀
Who wants takeout? Not me! This. This meal is so, so good, and the sauce. It’s spicy with a tangy finish, and I could pour a glass – it’s so addictive! Delightful!!
Hey Brenna,
Happy Friday! Thrilled to hear this dish turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it and your comment!
taste is okay. But the baking instructions may be a little off. Sauce didn’t adhere to chicken well and mostly just burnt after 5 minutes baking @ 450.
Hi Paul,
I appreciate you making this chicken and sharing your feedback. Sorry to hear you had some issues with the cook time!
Easy to make and always delicious
I do make extra sauce and top the dish with rice noodles yum
Hey Ingrid,
Thanks for making this recipe so often and for the feedback, I can’t wait to hear what you make next!
Enjoy your Tuesday!
Just made this and it looks nothing like the video and I followed the recipe exactly. The taste is terrible. There’s is no sweetness what so ever. I was doubting the recipe while cooking it and to my suspicion was correct. It’s awful
Hi there,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your comment, very sorry to hear it did not turn out for you.
So delicious and easy to do. Definitely going to put in my rotation.
Hey Michelle,
Amazing! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and your feedback, so glad it was enjoyed!
Mine came out Great!!! After baking then added sauce, made a rim around chicken with the parchment. 5 mins later it thickened right up.. I added additional sesame seeds and red pepper flakes instead of chile paste. Sooooo good. I have high cholesterol, stents and pacemaker and stay clear of sugar and salt. Used low salt soy and No sugar..now this is my favorite snak Thank you
Hey there,
Big thanks for making this recipe and sharing back. So glad it hit the spot!
Enjoy your Wednesday!
I saw the comments about the sauce being watery. So I tweaked the sauce. I added in 2.5 tablespoons of flour to thicken it up. I also saw someone’s comment about it not being “browned like the picture.” So I followed the recipe, but then added an extra 5min in the broiler. 3min on one side, flipped the chicken and 2 min on the other side. I’m not sure what I would’ve thought without the little tweaks, but I loved it! So flavorful!
Hey Ashley,
Awesome! Glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it!
Have a great week!
Something is wrong with this recipe lol. I think after you bake for 10-15 min, you are supposed to put it on the stove? I don’t know how else to get it that brown like the pic.
Hey Anna,
You can turn the broiler on to get a deep coloring on the chicken. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
This sauce is so liquid it is ridiculous. Did not come out anything like the picture. Don’t understand how this “sauce” isn’t supposed to be watery with the only elements sticky being honey and soy sauce but everything else runny liquid. Chicken had okay flavor but pale and not a sticky sauce. Don’t understand at all. Would not take picture for reference.