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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“This sauce is to die for, my son and I love it. I usually make at least double the sauce recipe because it is that good! I’ve made this as a show-off recipe for my parents. I’m finally commenting because I have used this recipe for almost 2 years, I have it written down but looked it up again today too lazy to look for my notebook. Thank you for our treasured “family” recipe.”
Em
The easiest Sticky Ginger Chicken
The magic of this soy glazed chicken happens when the chicken hits the skillet. The marinade, which is a simple teriyaki sauce-style mix, cooks down into a glossy glaze that clings to every piece. Because I really lean into the fresh ginger here, you get a warm, gingery kick, and as the sugars caramelize, the sauce gets irresistibly sticky and savory-sweet. It’s so, SO good, and really simple to put together.
Recipe Tips & Suggestions
- 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.
- Love saucy chicken dishes? Go ahead and double (or even triple) the amount of marinade. You won’t regret having extra to drizzle over your rice. Promise.
- Once marinated, you can cook this soy ginger chicken in a skillet or on a grill. Grilled chicken probably gives you better browned edges and caramelized sugars, but a skillet is just SO easy. And I like easy.
- Feel free to add in some veggies! Sauté broccoli, green beans, sliced bell pepper, snow peas, or whatever you like before cooking the chicken. Add the veggies back to the pan at the end to heat back through.
- Cook the chicken over medium heat. Don’t be tempted to turn the heat up higher, as this can burn the sugars in the marinade before the chicken is fully cooked through.
- Be sure to cook your chicken thighs to an internal temperature of 165°F minimum!
Sticky Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken
Ingredients
MARINADE
- ¼ cup brown sugar ($0.16)
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.26)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced, $0.16)
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger (grated, $0.05)
- black pepper (freshly cracked, $0.05)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
CHICKEN
- 8 chicken thighs (boneless, skinless, (about 1.75 lbs total) $7.10)
- ½ Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
GARNISHES (optional)
- 2 green onions (sliced, $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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Equipment
- Grater
- Small Bowl
- Shallow Dish
- Large Skillet
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
Make the marinade: 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).
Marinate the chicken: Place eight boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a shallow container or gallon-size ziplock 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.
Cook the chicken: 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 food safety 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 saucepan until it thickens to a glaze.
Serve: Return the cooked soy sauce chicken to the skillet and dredge it on both sides in the sticky glaze. Top the chicken with 2 sliced green onions and 1 tsp sesame seeds, if desired.
How to Serve Ginger Chicken
I paired my sticky ginger soy glazed chicken with coconut jasmine rice and my cucumber mango salad. The cold and tangy salad was the PERFECT side to this dish (plus I was lucky enough to get mangoes on sale 3/$1 this week!!). I also think a bed of garlic noodles would be amazing, as would a side of sesame roasted green beans. Oh, and I can’t forget a drizzle of sriracha on top before serving.😉
Storage & Reheating
Keep any leftover sticky chicken (once cooled) stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat it in the microwave or gently in a skillet on the stove until heated through. You can also store the cooked chicken in the freezer for up to 3 months. Wrap it well in plastic wrap or foil and place in a freezer-safe bag or container. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge for even reheating.
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
I don’t think I would do this one in the slow cooker as is! I think some adjusting would need to be done to the recipe first as the glaze would likely burn in a slow cooker.
This is one of my favorites. I do triple/quadruple the sauce because we LOVE the sauce over rice. I do add broccoli or other veggies sometimes because they are even better covered in this sauce.
Amazing recipe!!!! We love it so so much. Flavorful, tender chicken. Easy and just so good. I have tweaked it a bit… I add chili flakes for heat and I sauté broccolini, snow peas and those little sweet peppers before (and in the same pan) I cook the chicken. We also make sticky rice ‘cause… sticky rice!! Yum. Before serving I add the veggies to the chicken and sauce in the pan so everything is coated with that lovely sauce. And yes, I bring the marinade to a boil and reduce a bit. I also use low sodium soy sauce because when the marinade is reduced it can get a bit salty. But oh baby! This is my new favorite thing to eat! Thank you!!! Cheers all!!!!
P.S. I have been know to triple the marinade… double at the very least!
I made only a couple of changes. I doubled the sauce recipe, but I didn’t want to risk a strong soy sauce flavor so I used 2/3 of the soy sauce called for and then 1/3 oyster sauce (4 TB soy and 2 TB oyster). I didn’t have fresh ginger so I just minced some freeze-dried ginger and that worked fine. I followed all the instructions, marinated for 30 minutes after pounding the chicken breasts thinner. The chicken had wonderful color and texture and the sauce was fantastic, I was glad I doubled it. Topped with the recommended sesame seeds and green onion, not one morsel of this chicken was left, nor one drop of the sauce. This was restaurant quality and I will definitely be making it again. Thank you for the great recipe.
How would you suggest preparing this and then freezing?
I wouldn’t do anything special! Chicken thighs typically reheat well without getting too dry, so I think you’re fine you just cook as normal and freeze in an airtight container or bag! If you’ll want to pull out one at a time, I would freeze them flat on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate until solid and then store in a freezer bag.
This is my husband’s favorite right now. :D It’s super easy to adapt to his restricted diet. You can even meal prep it ahead of time with your freezer. Prep marinade, toss in with chicken in a freezer bag, and when you’re ready thaw. It’ll marinate as it’s thawing. We also like to toss in an extra tbsp or two of chicken broth for umami. Thanks for creating this!
This is one of my husband’s top 5 favorite meals. He asks for it at least a couple times a month.
This is a simply but very delicious recipe! I’ve used this once before to meal prep and was very happy with how the chicken held up for four days out of the week. This will be added to my chicken recipe rotation. Thank you for sharing it!
A little on the sweet side but was very good!
Thank you for sharing! My dinner turned out perfectly ❣️ Pretty as the picture.
Thank you for the hints and suggestions.
My husband said this was the best ever recipe! He is a chicken thigh expert too 🥰 It was so easy! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
After following the recipe, and it not looking how I expected I made this with chicken for my husband, and quorn for myself. All I can say is WOW! I will definitely be making this again, it was delicious. I followed the instructions given for the chicken. But for the quorn I put it into a small heat proof dish, covered it with foil and cooked it in the oven at 220°C for around 30 minutes. I served it with rice and green beans. Both myself and my husband are extremely happy and satisfied.satisfied
I followed this recipe, but it looks nothing like the one in the picture. Also, there isn’t enough marinade to put back into the skillet and being to the boil. Is this normal? I made some to go with quorn pieces, too, as I’m vegetarian. I’m hoping it works, as quorn can leave some recipes a little sharp tasting. I’ll ket you know, later.
You shouldn’t have very much marinade left after you cook your chicken so it sounds like yours was done correctly! There should be just enough to make a tbsp or so of glaze. Even if you don’t have enough to do the final reduction of the marinade, the recipe will still be just as good. As for it not looking the same, it could be because of differences in color of your soy sauce or perhaps just variations in our pans or temperature and browning. Let us know how it goes with the Quorn!
Thank you very much for replying, you’re right, there was around a tbsp of glaze left. The recipe is quick, easy and extremely tasty, we thoroughly enjoyed it xx
This will be a weekly feature!!!
Delicious and very quick and easy.
I modified the soy sauce to half.
I will investigate more recipes from Budget Bytes!! 10*
OMG!!! This was sooooo good!!! I was meal prepping it for lunch with the sesame green beans and had to stop myself from eating it all. I did decide to double the marinade cause I love extra sauce. Love all your recipes, they never let me down!