Hot Honey Chicken Thighs

Hot honey chicken thighs are juicy, crispy chicken thighs coated in an irresistible sweet and spicy hot honey sauce. These flavorful, tender chicken thighs are the perfect weeknight dinner recipe!

If you are a fan of Nashville Hot Chicken, then you will love these saucy, sweet, and spicy chicken thighs! These chicken thighs get a good pan sear to lock in the juices and crisp the skin before being slathered in hot honey sauce and finished in the oven.

For more tasty dinner recipes, check out our Easy Cajun Salmon and BBQ Chicken Pasta recipes next!

Ingredients You Need to Make This Recipe

Hot Honey Sauce

• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• ¼ cup of honey
• 2 tablespoons of sriracha sauce
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon of salt

Chicken Thighs

• 4 bone-in chicken thighs. You need about 2.5 pounds of chicken thighs with the skin on and bone in.
• Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. These spices are used to season the chicken thighs.
• Extra virgin olive oil. The chicken is seared on the stovetop in one tablespoon of oil. You can also use vegetable or canola oil.

How to Make This Recipe

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 °C).

• Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Place chicken thighs in a large mixing bowl and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Make sure the chicken is evenly coated with the spices and set aside.

• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the honey, sriracha, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the sauce for about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.

• Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. I used a 10.25 inch Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet. Add the chicken thighs to the skillet, skin side down, and cook for 7-10 minutes until the skin is browned and crispy. Flip the chicken and cook for 7-10 minutes on the other side.

• Pour the hot honey butter sauce over the chicken thighs and transfer the skillet to the preheated oven. Cook the chicken in the oven for 10-12 minutes until cooked through.

• Using a spoon, carefully drizzle sauce from the skillet over top of the chicken, then turn on the oven broiler and broil the chicken for an additional 2-3 minutes until the exterior is browned and caramelized. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired and enjoy!

Variations and Substitutions

• You can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe if you prefer. Just be sure to adjust your cooking time accordingly.
• You can use this sauce for baked or fried chicken wings, fried chicken tenders, fried or pan-seared shrimp, or baked fish. Try substituting this sauce on our guava BBQ chicken skewers.
• If you would like to make your sauce a little spicier, feel free to add cayenne pepper or a hot sauce such as Frank's RedHot.

What Is Hot Honey Sauce?

Hot honey sauce is a condiment made with honey infused with spicy ingredients such as hot sauce, chiles, cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes.

Hot honey can be used to add bold sweet and spicy flavor to meats, vegetables, sandwiches, and more.

How To Get Crispy Chicken Skin

• Be sure to remove excess moisture from the chicken with paper towels before you begin. This helps the skin get really crispy.
• Sear the chicken, undisturbed, in the hot skillet for 7-10 minutes per side. Ideally, you want to flip the chicken only once so that the skin has time to crisp up.
• Do not skip broiling the chicken. Once you pour the sauce over the chicken it will cause the skin to lose some of its crispiness, but broiling it for 2-3 minutes with the sauce gives you a crispy, caramelized exterior that tastes amazing!

Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions

You can make the hot honey butter sauce a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate it in an airtight container until ready to cook your chicken. Just heat the sauce in the microwave before pouring it over the chicken.

Leftover chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

What To Serve With Hot Honey Chicken

• Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins
• Southern Spoon Bread
• Southern Green Beans
• Southern Collard Greens
• Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Southern Candied Yams
• Southern Fried Green Tomatoes
• Honey Lemon Butter Asparagus
• Southern Squash Casserole
• Cajun Potato Salad
• Southern Fried Apples
• Southern Baked Beans
• Moist Lemon Bundt Cake
• Skillet Peach Cobbler
• Pecan Upside Down Cake
• Sock It To Me Cake
• Old Fashioned Banana Pudding
• Fresh Peach Lemonade
• Strawberry Sweet Iced Tea
• Peach Sweet Tea

Recommended Tools for This Recipe

• Mixing bowls
• Small saucepan
• Cast-iron skillet
• Tongs
• Wooden spoon

More Flavorful Dinner Recipes You Will Love!

• One Pan Sage Butter Chicken and Orzo
• Creamy Cajun Shrimp and Gnocchi Skillet
• One Pan Apple Cider Chicken
• New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
• Southern Fried Catfish
• Southern Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
• Easy Southern Baked Spaghetti
• Easy Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel
• Creamy Garlic Tuscan Salmon
• Blackened Catfish and Smoked Gouda Grits

📖 Recipe

Hot Honey Chicken Thighs

Ashley Boyd

Hot honey chicken thighs are juicy, crispy chicken thighs coated in an irresistible sweet and spicy hot honey sauce. These flavorful, tender chicken thighs are the perfect weeknight dinner recipe!

4.72 from 21 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Servings 4 servings

Calories 290 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  10-inch cast iron skillet
• ▢
  Measuring cups and spoons
• ▢
  Medium saucepan
• ▢
  Silicone tongs

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Hot Honey Butter

• ▢ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ ¼ cup honey
• ▢ 2 tablespooons sriracha sauce
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic - minced
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Chicken Thighs

• ▢ 4 bone-in chicken thighs - about 2.5 pounds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil - extra virgin

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 °C).
• Wash and pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Place chicken thighs in a large mixing bowl and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Make sure the chicken is evenly coated with the spices and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the honey, sriracha, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the sauce for about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs to the skillet, skin side down, and cook for 7-10 minutes until the skin is browned and crispy. Flip the chicken and cook for 7-10 minutes on the other side.
• Pour the hot honey butter sauce over the chicken thighs and transfer the skillet to the preheated oven. Cook the chicken in the oven for 10-12 minutes until cooked through.
• During the last few minutes of oven cooking time, carefully drizzle some of the sauce from the skillet over the chicken with a large spoon, then turn on the oven broiler and broil the chicken for 2-3 minutes until the exterior is browned and caramelized. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired and enjoy!

Video

Notes

• Leftover hot honey chicken thighs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1chicken thigh | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 21.1g | Protein: 16.1g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 688mg | Potassium: 189mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 17.9g | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

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