Soy glazed chicken is a sweet and savory chicken dish that’s simple, quick, and so incredibly delicious for a weeknight dinner or for meal-prep!

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After a long day of working, all I’d crave is a warm bowl of rice topped with a hefty amount of chicken glazed in that sticky, savory sauce.

As with most Asian cooking, the ingredients to make the sauce are basic staples you can find in an Asian pantry. Ingredients like soy sauce, honey, and five-spice powder are just some of the few components you’ll need to make the most addictive sauce to pour all over your chicken, rice, and even veggies.

For this recipe we’ll be using boneless chicken thighs. You can either debone them yourself or ask your butcher to do it for you.

We then coat the chicken in cornstarch and fry it on both sides until crispy and cooked all the way through.

To make it even more rich, a tablespoon or two of butter in the same pan helps to deglaze some of the fond stuck to the bottom. Pour in your sauce, and let it simmer gently until it’s thickened, bubbly, and sticky. Coat the chicken in that glorious sauce and you’ll have yourself a delicious comforting bowl of soy glazed chicken.

Ingredients

Chicken: For this recipe, we’ll be using chicken thighs. Dark chicken meat is juicy, tender, and will work perfectly in glazing with our 5-spice sauce. You can use either bone-in or boneless thighs, whichever is available to you.

One of the reasons why I love boneless thighs is that they generally cook much faster. Plus, you can use the bones you’ve removed to make a tasty stock for soups!

If using bone-in thighs, I’d recommend cooking the chicken a tad bit longer than instructed in the recipe.

Cornstarch: A little coating of starch on the chicken will help it crisp up slightly, while locking in its juices when glazing with the sauce.

Unsalted butter: Butter will help to initially remove the fond at the bottom of your pan after frying the chicken. Fond refers to those caramelized bits stuck to the pan which holds tons of flavor. Butter will add richness to the sauce and give it a nice sheen.

Soy sauce, dark soy sauce: A classic combination in typical Asian sauces, soy sauce provides the needed umami and savoriness to form the basis for our glaze. Dark soy sauce is slightly thicker, sweeter, and darkens the sauce with a rich, dark color.

Honey: Honey will help balance out the saltiness of the soy sauce, and give a mellow sweetness to complement the chicken.

Five-spice powder: You can purchase five-spice in most Asian grocers. Some larger, generic supermarkets may also carry it in their spices section or Asian aisle. The powder typically contains a mix of clove, cinnamon, fennel seed, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns.

Garlic: For that sharp garlic flavor, we’ll be grating the garlic directly into the sauce. You may also use garlic powder if you prefer.

Instructions for Soy Glazed Chicken

Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel.

Combine the cornstarch, salt, and pepper, and mix well until combined. Coat the chicken pieces evenly with this cornstarch mixture.

Add the 2 tbsps of oil to your pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, fry the coated chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until the skin is crispy and golden brown. Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, set aside.

In the same pan, add in the unsalted butter until melted, being sure to scrape off any fond stuck to the bottom of your pan.

Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce until smooth. Pour the sauce into the pan, and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Add back the cooked chicken, coating completely with the soy glaze. Cut the glazed chicken into slices, and top with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve with rice and steamed vegetables, enjoy!

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Can I use other kinds of chicken (bone-in, breast, legs, wings, etc.)?

Definitely! One of the main reasons I like to use boneless thighs is, apart from dark meat being one of the juiciest and most flavorful cuts, it also cooks significantly faster.

The recipe would remain the same, just be sure to fry the chicken adequately to ensure that the meat cooks all the way through, especially when using bone-in thighs or chicken legs.

Can I make this vegetarian?

Yes! To make this recipe vegetarian, you can simply replace the chicken with anything from tofu, seitan. or other vegetables.

Can I customize the sauce?

The best part about this recipe is that the sauce can easily be customizable depending on your tastes.

Feel free to add ingredients such as chili flakes for spice, possibly grated ginger and onion for added aromatics, or even double the ingredients to make extra sauce for your rice and veggies.

Can I omit the five-spice powder?

You can omit the powder without sacrificing too much of this recipe’s original flavor.

Since five-spice is incredibly specific in its spices, finding a similar substitute may be difficult as it may not exactly replicate the taste. Otherwise, you may use allspice, star anise, or garam masala as close-enough substitutes which would be delicious as well.

Can this be frozen?

For meal prepping purposes, you technically can freeze this after cooking. To re-heat, let the chicken thaw slightly before using a microwave, oven, or air-fryer to gently heat the chicken throughout.

Do note that you may end up with a slight alteration in quality afterwards, as the freezing and thawing process do tend to alter the chicken’s textures usually.

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