Honey Lime Chicken 🍯🍋🟩 that’s so juicy with a sticky honey and lime glaze that strikes the perfect balance between tart yet sweet! Made with just a handful of common ingredients, this EASY family-favorite chicken recipe will brighten up any weeknight dinner doldrums and get you out of your dinner rut!
Easy Honey Lime Chicken Recipe
- I’ve got plenty of lime cilantro chicken recipes including Baked Lime Cilantro Chicken, Skillet Lime Cilantro Chicken Thighs, and multiple Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken recipes. See the related recipes and photos below!
- But since they focus on the lime-cilantro angle, I wanted to play up the lime-honey aspect and hence this easy honey lime chicken thighs in a skillet recipe came to life! I love these types of chicken thigh recipes because the planned leftovers are music to my ears.
- This one-skillet recipe is so easy but delivers big flavor. There’s a simple marinade made with honey, lime juice and zest, olive oil, soy sauce, and garlic. Use half to marinate the chicken and then reserve the other half to make a pan-glaze which coats the cooked chicken beautifully.
- The next time you’re looking for a way to jazz up your usual weeknight chicken dinner and impress your family, this lime and honey chicken recipe delivers in no time! Cook time is less than 15 minutes – just marinate it beforehand and you’re set.
Simple Ingredients in Chicken with Lime and Honey
Marinade: Honey, lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic clove (or garlic powder), salt, and pepper comprise this basic marinade. I strongly recommend fresh limes rather than trying to get all the lime flavor from bottled lime juice. It will work, but of course the lime zest from fresh limes really boost the limey-ness of the chicken.
Chicken: I use boneless skinless chicken thighs because they stay extra juicy and moist but you can use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders if you prefer.
Garnishes: While optional, garnishing with fresh cilantro and green onions, and perhaps some extra lime wedges, is the way we prefer to enjoy this dish. Salsa verde with Avocado is also great for serving.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
How To Make Lime and Honey Chicken
- Marinade: Whisk together honey, lime zest, olive oil (or avocado oil) lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper.
- Chicken: Pour half the marinade over the chicken or in a ziptop freezer bag and seal it. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours. Reserve the other half of the marinade.
- Cook: Sear the marinated chicken thighs in a large skillet for about 5 minutes per side, or until done, and remove it. Wondering if you could make this on the grill or bake it? Either are mostly fine – just be careful when grilling to really monitor the heat so you don’t burn the chicken given the honey in the marinade. I’d oven bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes, but also keep an eye on it. Add the reserved marinade over the top of the chicken halfway through baking.
- Glaze: Add the reserved marinade to the skillet, reduce it for 1-2 minutes, add the chicken back into the skillet, and toss to coat in the delicious sauce which forms a glaze.
- Garnish: Evenly sprinkle fresh cilantro, green onions, and serve with lime wedges or salsa like tomatillo avocado salsa.
- Serving Suggestions: Try Spanish Rice, Coconut Rice, Cauliflower Rice, Parmesan and Herb Roasted Potatoes, Asparagus, Roasted Vegetables, or your fave sides or salads to round out this meal.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
Honey Lime Chicken
🍯🍋🟩 So juicy with a sticky glaze that strikes the perfect balance between tart yet sweet! Made with just a handful of common ingredients, this EASY family-favorite chicken recipe will brighten up any weeknight dinner doldrums in no time!
Equipment
- zesting tool (or fine grater)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon lime zest, or to taste (from about 2 average/medium limes; I use regular limes but you may sub with key limes)
- 3 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed (from about 2 average/medium limes)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided in half
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, (I use regular but reduced sodium is fine; use coconut aminos or tamari to keep gluten-free)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced; or to taste (1 teaspoon garlic powder may be substituted)
- 1 teaspoon salt, (you may want to add more if you used reduced sodium soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, boneless skinless chicken breasts may be substituted making sure to pound them to uniform thickness
- fresh cilantro, to taste; optional, but recommended for garnishing
- 1 green onion, sliced into thin rounds; optional but recommended for garnishing
- lime wedges, optional for serving
Instructions
- Marinade: To a small bowl, add the honey, lime zest (make sure you zest the limes before you juice them), lime juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, and whisk to combine the marinade.
- To a medium bowl or large ziptop plastic bag, add the chicken and pour HALF the marinade over it, stir to coat or seal and squish it around in the bag. Set the other HALF aside. You can refrigerate it if you plan to marinate longer than an hour or so; otherwise it's not necessary and I just keep it on my countertop.
- Marinating: Place the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours. For me the sweet spot is 1-4 hours.
- When you're ready to cook the chicken, take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes beforehand so you're not working with fridge-cold chicken because the results aren't as good.
- Cooking: To a large skillet, add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, the chicken, discard the marinade that it was marinating in, and cook chicken over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes per side, or as necessary so it's cooked through to 165F as measured with a digital thermometer; don't guess – take the temperature!When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the skillet and set it aside on a plate momentarily.
- Chicken Cooking Tips – Once you place it in the skillet, it's best to just leave it alone for 3-5 minutes so it can get a nice sear. When it's properly seared, it will release easy and without much struggle (even in a stainless steel pan rather than a nonstick pan). Flip, and sear the second side. The second side usually cooks faster than the first. Chicken thighs are generally thinner than most chicken breasts so they cook a bit quicker. If using breasts, make sure they've been pounded to a uniform thickness.
- Sticky Glaze: Using the reserved marinade (the half of the marinade that never touched the raw chicken that you set aside), give it a quick stir, and add it to the skillet. Allow the marinade to simmer over medium-low or low for 1-2 minutes, just until it thickens up a bit; whisk nearly constantly until it's reduced and is sticky looking.Glaze Tips – There's not much quantity so it'll bubble and thicken quickly. And because of the natural sugars in the honey, make sure to not let it burn which it can be prone to, so whisk nearly constantly and control the heat.
- Coat: Add the chicken back into the skillet.
- Toss it around a few times to coat it in the sticky glaze, spooning or brushing the glaze over the chicken as desired.
- Garnishing, optional: Evenly sprinkle with freshly minced cilantro and green onions, as desired.
- Serve with extra lime wedges if desired. We like adding green salsa like tomatillo avocado salsa or your favorite store bought.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve with Spanish Rice, Coconut Rice, Parmesan and Herb Roasted Potatoes, or your favorite sides.
Notes
Nutrition Stats: I personally think the stats skew a bit higher in fat on paper than in reality since 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the marinade are ultimately discarded. And at 14g per tablespoon, it’s significant (28g fat). But it’s calculated by computer and nothing I can tweak.
Storage: Leftover chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the microwave as desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 405cal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 34g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 13g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 162mg, Sodium: 1238mg, Potassium: 491mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 83IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 31mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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