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    Home » Chicken

    Honey Butter Chicken

    Published: May 23, 2023 by Genevieve

    Jump to Recipe

    This super easy and flavourful honey butter chicken with a Chinese flare will knock your socks off! The chicken is tender and the glossy honey butter sauce is garlicky and umami-rich that'll have your taste buds dancing!

    This recipe takes just under 30 minutes to make so it's a great weeknight dinner option. Take a browse of my easy dinner recipe collection for dinners like baked honey glazed salmon, butter garlic pork chops and creamy chicken with mushrooms!

    I recommend serving this honey butter chicken with rice and simply sauteed vegetables such as a 10-minute spinach stir fry.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients and substitutes
    • Cooking instructions
    • Useful tips & tricks
    • FAQs
    • Storage
    • 📖 Recipe

    Ingredients and substitutes

    • Plain flour - a light flour coating on the chicken helps the honey butter sauce to cling onto the chicken, making it even tastier!
    • Lemon juice - adds a citrusy tang which works perfectly with the richness of the sauce. Substitute: apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar.
    • Honey - can substitute with sugar instead with a small splash of water. I recommend brown sugar for the added molasses.

    Cooking instructions

    With just 25 minutes from start to finish, this honey butter chicken recipe is as easy as it gets!

    Coat and brown chicken

    To start, cut chicken breasts into large, bite-sized cubes and season with salt and pepper.

    Then, coat the chicken with plain flour, working in 2 to 3 batches. Make sure that each piece of the chicken is thoroughly coated.

    3 step how to collage of coating chicken with captions

    Coating the chicken with a little flour gives the sauce something to cling onto and thus making every piece of the chicken extra tasty! It also helps seal the juices in the chicken, keeping it tender and juicy!

    This is the same technique used to coat crispy panko chicken cutlets and my crispy honey sesame chicken (that stays crispy for hours!).

    Preheat a large frying pan with a little olive oil (or unsalted butter) over high heat. Then, individually place half of the coated chicken pieces into the pan, allowing room in between each piece.

    Let the chicken sizzle undisturbed for 2 minutes then flip and pan-sear the other side for a further 2 minutes. The chicken pieces should have 2 golden sides, like so in the pictures below.

    2 step how to collage of pan searing chicken until golden with captions

    Remove and set the chicken aside. Repeat for the remaining half of the chicken.

    The chicken does not have to be fully cooked at this stage as it'll be cooked again later.

    A plate of golden browned chicken pieces surrounded by glaze ingredients

    Simmer in honey butter sauce

    To make the honey butter sauce, add unsalted butter, honey, soy sauce, minced garlic, lemon juice and black pepper in a large, clean frying pan.

    Be sure to clean the frying pan after searing the chicken before making the honey butter sauce. This will prevent any burnt bits of flour from being mixed into the sauce which can taste bitter.

    2 step collage of making honey butter glaze in a frying pan with captions

    Melt the butter over medium heat and allow the sauce to gently bubble.

    At this stage, your kitchen should be smelling really good!

    Add browned chicken and simmer in a single layer, flipping every 30 seconds or until the chicken is just cooked. About 3 minutes.

    2 step collage of coating pan seared chicken breasts in glaze with captions

    Useful tips & tricks

    • Wipe the frying pan clean in between batches. Once you finish pan-searing the first batch of chicken, use scrunched-up paper towels to clean the pan. Make sure to remove any burnt floury bits that might be stuck to the pan. This step is important because those bits can make the second batch of chicken taste bitter. Once the pan is clean, you can proceed to sear the second batch of chicken.
    • Test chicken's doneness sooner than later to prevent overcooking. After 2 minutes (or even after 1 minute - trust your instinct) of simmering in the sauce, take a larger piece of chicken and cut it in half to see if it's cooked. If it is, then immediately turn the heat off to prevent overcooking.
    • Space out the chicken when browning till golden - overcrowding the pan will lower the temperature of the pan. This in turn will take longer for the chicken to turn golden thus risking the chicken becoming overcooked. Overcooked chicken breast = less juicy and tough!
    Close up of glossy glazed chicken bite sized pieces

    FAQs

    What to serve with honey butter chicken?

    This recipe works great with rice and a side of simply sauteed vegetables such as a spinach stir fry or steamed broccoli.

    What is honey garlic butter sauce made of?

    A blend of honey, unsalted butter, garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice and black pepper.

    A piece of butter honey glazed chicken on a fork

    Storage

    Store in air-tight containers for up to 4 days in the fridge.

    Made this recipe? Let me know your thoughts or questions by dropping a note in the comments section below!

    I'd love to hear from you. 🙂

    📖 Recipe

    Close up plate of glossy glazed chicken bite-sized pieces

    Honey Butter Chicken

    Quick and easy honey butter chicken with a Chinese flare that takes just 25 minutes! Tender juicy chicken bites covered in flavourful and umami-rich honey garlic butter sauce.
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4 people
    Calories: 442kcal

    Ingredients

    • 500 g (1 lb) chicken breast cut into large bite-sized cubes
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    • ½ cup plain flour
    • 2 tablespoon olive oil or unsalted butter

    Honey butter sauce

    • 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
    • 2 tablespoon honey
    • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
    • ½ tablespoon lemon juice ~juice of half a lemon
    • ½ tablespoon black pepper
    • 3 cloves garlic minced
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Coat and brown chicken

    • Season chicken with salt and pepper and mix well. Place plain flour onto a large plate then thoroughly coat chicken pieces with flour in two batches. Set chicken aside and discard the remaining excess plain flour.
    • Preheat a large frying pan over high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place half of the coated chicken individually into the frying pan, leaving space between each pieces. (note 1) Pan sear until golden then flip and sear the other side. About 2 minutes per side then remove and set aside (the chicken does not have to be thoroughly cooked at this stage). Repeat for the remaining half of the chicken (note 2).

    Coat with honey butter sauce

    • To make the honey butter sauce, add all of the honey butter ingredients into a clean, large frying pan. Melt the butter over medium-low heat until the sauce is bubbly and smell delicious.
    • Add chicken into the pan and simmer in a single layer, turning every 30 seconds or so, until chicken is just cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes. (note 3)

    Notes

    1. Space out the chicken when browning till golden - overcrowding the pan will lower the temperature of the pan. This in turn will take longer for the chicken to turn golden thus risking the chicken becoming overcooked. Overcooked chicken breast = less juicy and more tough!
    2. Wipe the frying pan clean in between batches. Once you finish pan-searing the first batch of chicken, use scrunched-up paper towels to clean the pan. Make sure to remove any burnt floury bits that might be stuck to the pan. This step is important because those bits can make the second batch of chicken taste bitter. Once the pan is clean, you can proceed to sear the second batch of chicken.
    3. Test the chicken's doneness sooner than later to prevent overcooking. After 2 minutes (or even after 1 minute - trust your instinct) of simmering in the sauce, take a larger piece of chicken and cut it in half to see if it's cooked. If it is, then immediately turn the heat off to prevent overcooking.
    Also take a browse of my easy dinner recipe collection for dinners like baked honey glazed salmon, butter garlic pork chops and creamy chicken with mushrooms!
    Nutritional values below are estimates, assuming all of the butter is consumed which is less likely.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @Casuallypeckish or tag #casuallypeckish!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 442kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 636mg | Sugar: 12g | Iron: 2mg

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