My simple and delicious Honey Soy Chicken is a failproof recipe that works every time. This savory and sweet dish requires minimal prep and just a few pantry ingredients for an easy weeknight dinner. Make extra and pack the leftovers in tomorrow‘s bento lunch!
On the busiest nights, we all need some reliable chicken recipes to save the day. This is my fail-proof, super easy Honey Soy Chicken that works every time.
Savory and sticky sweet, my family never seem to have enough of these chicken whenever I cook up a batch. I hope the recipe will come in handy on your busy days too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- So delicious!
- Requires minimal, pantry-friendly ingredients.
- Simple prep work.
- Highly flexible – I used drumettes for its tender dark meat and quick cooking time, but you can use any other cuts of chicken like breasts, thighs, drumsticks, or wings. If you like to fire up the grill or smoker, this recipe works great too.
3 Ingredients Marinade for Honey Soy Chicken
The tasty marinade requires only 3 ingredients:
- Soy sauce
- Sake
- Honey
The savoriness from the soy sauce and the slight sweetness from the honey not only imparts a wonderful flavor to the chicken but also a shiny golden glaze on the surface. The sake or Japanese rice wine tenderizes the meat and helps remove any odor. If you couldn’t find sake, you can substitute it with dry sherry.
All you need is to combine the mixture in a large ziplock bag. Add in the chicken, make sure each piece is well coated, and let it marinade. When ready to cook, pop them into the oven and bake for 30 minutes until golden. The results are tender, juicy drumettes that everyone will love.
Pack Your Chicken Leftovers in the Bento!
If you cook up a big batch for leftover, you can remove the meat from the wings and shred it into pieces and pack it into a bento lunch box with tamagoyaki (Japanese Rolled Omelette), cherry tomatoes, sauteed cabbage, fruits, and onigiri (rice balls).
What to Serve with Honey Soy Chicken
When the chicken is baking in the oven, I would prepare steamed rice, a simple salad, and miso soup. In no time, a delicious, healthy dinner is ready for the family!
This Honey Soy Chicken makes an ideal candidate for a weeknight dinner. Because they are so fun to eat, my family also enjoys them on movie nights.
More Delicious Japanese Chicken Recipes
- Teba Shio (Salted Chicken Wings)
- Spicy Miso Chicken
- Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
- Chicken Teriyaki
- Baked Chicken Katsu
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Honey Soy Chicken
Ingredients
- 1½ lb chicken drumettes (12 pieces; or other chicken parts; if you use drumsticks, marinate overnight for more flavor)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Pat dry 1½ lb chicken drumettes with a paper towel to remove the moisture.
- Combine 4 Tbsp honey, 4 Tbsp soy sauce, and 2 Tbsp sake in a Ziploc bag.
- Prick the drumettes all over with a fork. Season with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add the drumettes to the Ziploc bag, squeeze the air out, and seal the bag. Rub the drumettes through the bag to coat them with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30–60 minutes or up to overnight. If you use large chicken parts, increase the marinating time.
To Bake
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Place the drumettes in a baking pan skin side up in a single layer. Make sure the drumettes do not overlap each other. Pour the marinade liquid on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Baste the drumettes a couple of times during baking. If the chicken is browning too fast, cover with a sheet of aluminum foil to keep it from burning. On the other hand, if the drumettes are cooked but the top is not browned, you can switch to the broil setting for a few minutes until the top is nicely browned. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on April 9, 2013. It’s been edited and republished in May 2020.
Hello Nami-san
May i ask what kind of sake to buy?
Thank you
Hi Angeline! I use one of three brands I mentioned here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/. I use real (but cheap) drinking sake instead of cooking sake. 🙂
Hi Miss Nami..
I would like to ask few questions..
Can I deep fried them instead of using oven?
Could I substitute the sake/sherry with something else, it’s not easy to find one in my country?
Thank you for your advice.
Hi Andi! You can fry them if you like. Sear the chicken on medium high to high heat and then lower the heat and cover to cook until chicken is cooked through.
You can substitute sake with chinese rice wine. Can you get it?
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I just did it ! Very yummy, except a bit too sweet for my family (I always try to cut down the sugar intake, so my kids are used to less sweet taste). I used chicken wings instead n only marinated for 2 hours n still very good. Thanks for the simple yet yummy recipe !
Hi Wendy! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. Glad to hear your family enjoyed it. 🙂
Any brand or type of Honey would you recommend ?
I recommend local organic honey. 🙂
This is really a winning recipe. So simple yet so flavourful. Just need to keep an eye on the temperature as the honey burns really easily. Now I know what works for my oven, WOW, its a success every time. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
I add in garlic ginger paste during marination (I always have “ice cubes” of garlic ginger paste in freezer to speed up cooking preparation). Cheers.
Hi Dawn! Thank you for your kind words and I’m happy that you enjoy this recipe. Yes, honey gets burn easily. 🙂 Those frozen garlic cubes are very convenient. 🙂
Hello Nami,
This recipe looks delicious! Do you think this marinade would also work on tofu? I love tofu and wonder if I could try cooking it this way.
Thank you,
Erin
Hi Erin! Sure, firm tofu should work. I haven’t tried it with tofu, but flavor-wise sure! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Have just marinated my drumettes ready for tomorrow night,yum
Hi Max! Hope you enjoy the chicken tomorrow night! 🙂
If you use cooking spray in your measuring cup and spoons, honey will pour out very easily!
Hi Margie! Thank you for your tip!!! 😀
We don’t typically like drummets and find they are expensive. Can thigh meat or other meats/fish be used instead?
You can use chicken thighs, but reduce the cooking time if your thigh is not bone-in. 🙂
I love this recipe! It’s already a favorite in my house. I’ve made two batches in as many days. It’s super easy and quick, which is key for a chronic illness sufferer like me, and it lends itself well to bentos for my lunches at work.
Hi Corinne! I’m so happy to hear that! It’s great that we can make ahead and even pack into lunches! You have a great lunch menu! 🙂
These look absolutely AWESOME. I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY THESE! :p
Thank you Krys! Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Can I replace sake with mirin? Btw, awesome recipe, thanks for sharing!
Hi Naomi! Then make sure to reduce the amount of honey a little bit since Mirin is sweet. 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if i could use mirin instead of sake/dry sherry?
Hi Brenda! Mirin is basically a combination of sake + sugar. So if you add mirin, instead of sake, you have to reduce the amount of sweetness, in this case honey. But honey is important factor in this seasoning, so I highly recommend using Chinese rice wine (if not sake) or dry sherry for the best result. 🙂
I made this today! It was delicious! I used chicken breast and had mirin instead of sake, but it was still good, I want to use lemons instead next time, with the honey n soy sauce too!
Hi Wendy! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
I saw a post on tumbler with a picture of this recipe and I came looking. I am so glad I did, I am a new mom too with little time and little sleep, this is amazing! I will def follow you! Not only did we love the chicken but the easy prep was so great for me! Thank you and know you have a new mom fan!
Hi Gabriela! Tumbler! I actually never used it (nor how to use it…) but I’m so happy someone was posting my post there! Thank you very much for taking your time to stop by. 🙂 Some things will get easier (like you will get a little more sleep. :)), so hang in there! I’ll try to share more easy recipes… but meanwhile, you might enjoy looking through these lists.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/15-easy-japanese-recipes/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/categories/by-type/30-minutes-or-less/
Thank you again, and welcome to my blog!