Crispy and sticky have got to be the best way to eat chicken. And this honey garlic chicken is exactly that. We pan-fry the chicken cutlets until they form a crispy brown crust and then dip them in honey garlic sauce and serve it up alongside steamed veggies (doused in more sauce obviously) and some white rice. Ugh! Hands down one of my favorite dinners of all time! Speaking of hot and crispy chicken, this Friday we were supposed to check out a new food truck in town – it offers hot fried chicken sandwiches the size of Texas! And the place is so popular that they ran out of burger buns no sammy for me! But I’m on to this place and can’t wait to get my hands on one so that I can come home and basically keep testing out recipes until I crack is for us! So excited!
Chicken in sticky and or crispy situations is probably the best way to eat chicken. Have you made my crispy chicken salad yet? It’s doused in honey bbq dressing that tastes like Chic-Fil-A sauce! And then there are the slow cooker honey chipotle meatballs, which make all the men in my life super happy, and by that I mean my husband. Cheesy baked bbq chicken is also a saucy little thing that’s great for weeknight dinners and keeps things on the lower carb side. And if you happen to be on team ‘dark meat’ you’ll go gaga for my Indonesian honey garlic chicken thighs! All this to say that crispy and saucy chicken are seriously the best way to serve chicken. The other best way: doused in homemade lemon garlic cream sauce!
What do you need to make the chicken for honey garlic chicken?
chicken cutlets all-purpose flour cornstarch seasonings an egg
What are chicken cutlets?
Chicken cutlets are chicken breasts that are divided into two and pounded out to make a thin chicken filet. To make chicken cutlets: lay the chicken flat out on a cutting board. Hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and carefully slice the chicken breasts in half so one breast is now two individual cutlets. Place the chicken filet between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound out with a meat mallet (the smooth side) to 1/4-inch in thickness. You can also check the grocery store for premade cutlets or ask your butcher to do this for you!
What do you need to make the honey garlic sauce?
low sodium soy sauce apple cider vinegar fish sauce honey minced garlic cayenne butter
How to make the best crispy honey garlic chicken:
Why do you add butter in small increments?
Add the butter a little bit at a time on the low heat setting helps thicken the sauce just a tad bit more. We like the consistency of the sauce with just the butter as it’s perfect to drizzle over rice and veggies! However, if you prefer an even thicker sauce (that will coat and stick to the chicken,) you can thicken it further with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch combined with 2 tablespoons of cold water in a bowl. Just add it to the sauce after the butter and stir as you drizzle the slurry in! Allow the sauce to reach a simmer and it should thicken almost instantly!
Can I use chicken thighs to make honey garlic chicken?
Yes, you can! But I suggest pounding the chicken down into a thin cutlet-like thickness so that it cooks up in approximately the same time.
Do I have to crunchy coat the chicken?
No, you don’t have you! If you prefer to make this a little lighter, you can always just season the chicken cutlets/chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and then sear the chicken cutlets in a hot skillet (sprayed or drizzled with a little oil) until the chicken is cooked through. Then, just prepare the sauce as directed and drizzle and serve!
How to turn chicken breasts into cutlets: Lay the chicken flat out on a cutting board. Hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and carefully slice the chicken breasts in half so one breast is now two individual cutlets. Place the chicken filet between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound out with a meat mallet (the smooth side) to 1/4-inch in thickness. You can also check the grocery store for premade cutlets or ask your butcher to do this for you!
