Hot honey is one of those condiments that I’ll put on almost anything. It’s sweet, it’s spicy and it adds amazing flavour to savoury dishes!
These juicy hot honey chicken thighs start with the marinade. For the marinade, mix a neutral cooking oil, apple cider vinegar, sriracha, honey and garlic. You can marinate your chicken for as little as 30 minutes or as long as overnight!
The marinated chicken thighs then get seasoned and seared on the stove. I prefer a cast iron pan for this step but any oven-proof skillet will do! Once this skin starts to get a little crispy, you’ll add the marinade back in with a chicken and bake everything for about 45 minutes.
While the chicken is in the oven, the homemade hot honey gets thrown together. This step is super simple! Just simmer your honey with some thinly sliced chili peppers on low heat for about 5 minutes. You may want to add more or less peppers depending on your heat preference!
Once the chicken is out of the oven, they’ll get brushed with the hot honey and topped with green onions and sesame seeds.
The end result is unbelievably juicy, flavourful chicken!
Equipment and Tools I Use for this Recipe
Hot Honey Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons of neutral oil (such as avocado oil), divided
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon liquid honey
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 4-6 chicken thighs bone-in with skin
- Salt & pepper to taste
For the hot honey and optional toppings:
- 1/3 cup liquid honey
- 1-2 red chili peppers or more depending on spice preference
- Optional: sliced green onions and sesame seeds for serving
Instructions
- Prepare marinade by combining 1/3 cup oil, apple cider vinegar, sriracha, honey and garlic in a large bowl or Ziploc bag.
- Trim excess fat from the chicken thighs and add it to the marinade, tossing to coat the chicken. Cover the chicken and marinate refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Chicken can be marinated for up to 12 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Remove chicken thighs from marinade and gently shake off any excess. Reserve the marinade for cooking.
- Add a liberal amount of salt and pepper to both sides of the chicken thighs.
- Heat the remaining oil over medium-high in a cast iron pan or oven-proof skillet. Add chicken thighs skin side facing down and sear for 2-3 minutes (until the skin starts to brown).
- Remove the pan from heat and flip chicken thighs skin side facing up. Pour the reserved marinade over the chicken.
- Place chicken in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes. Baste 2-3 times using the marinade in the pan throughout the cooking process for crispier skin.
- Prepare the hot honey: Combine honey and chili pepper(s) in a saucepan on low heat. Simmer for at least 5 minutes. Test the spice level of the honey and add more peppers if you like it more spicy.
- Once the chicken has been removed from the oven, brush the tops with the hot honey.
- Serve with green onions and sesame seeds.
