This Spicy Honey Chicken is one of my family’s favorite meals. Both kids and adults gobble it up every time I make it. I love the combo of a savory spice rub combined with a sweet, tangy honey glaze and it doesn’t hurt that it’s pretty quick and easy either! You don’t have to think ahead about marinating because you’re just throwing together a spice rub and, after the spices have grilled into the chicken, you just slather on a honey glaze. Even though it has the word spicy in the title, it’s actually pretty mild and you can always cut the chipotle in half if you’re worried about it.
How to Make Spicy Honey Chicken
- Make a spice rub. This recipe starts with a simple spice mix. Mix them all together in a bowl, then toss chicken with oil and spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there, then pop it on the grill!
- Mix up the glaze. While chicken is cooking, warm the honey in the microwave so it’s not so thick. Add the vinegar and combine well. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the honey glaze for serving. (In fact, the sweet, tangy honey glaze is so good that I usually double it to ensure plenty for drizzling on before serving!)
- Take the rest and brush on the chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling. I recommend a silicone basting brush like one of these that can withstand the high heat of the grill. I’m gonna warn you that this can make a hot mess, literally. It’s sugar, and it’s gonna drip. But the smelly smoke is worth it for a minute or two. Just leave your grill on for a few minutes after the chicken is done to burn off any excess glaze. It’s totally worth it once you taste this stuff.
Make a Spice Rub
This recipe starts with a simple spice mix. Mix them all together in a bowl, then toss chicken with oil and spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there! The chicken gets done quickly, grilling for just 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
If you don’t have a BBQ, try it on an indoor grill pan or use your broiler. Just be sure to open a window in case you burn your glaze!
Serving Suggestions
Serve with a side of rice and your favorite veggie. Try it on a sandwich or in my personal favorite, my Spicy Honey Chicken Salad.
FAQs
- My family is very sensitive to spicy food. Can I just leave the chipotle out completely? There are lots of spices here that will still be delicious if you decide to leave the chipotle out completely. It does bring a nice depth of flavor, though, so I’d recommend at least trying half of what’s called for!
- Can I make this ahead of time? This recipe is quick and easy. It is best made and eaten fresh.
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!
Spicy Honey Chicken
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs about 2 pounds
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- Rub
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- Glaze
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Instructions
- Combine the rub spices in bowl and mix well.
- Use kitchen shears (or a pair of clean scissors) to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces. Pat dry. Drizzle oil over chicken and rub in with your hands to lightly coat all the pieces. Then toss chicken with the spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there! Grill chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
- While chicken is cooking, warm honey in the microwave so it’s not so thick. Add the vinegar and combine well. Reserve 2 tablespoons honey glaze for later. Take the rest and brush on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling.
- Drizzle chicken with reserved glaze before serving.
Questions & Reviews
We love this recipe! I’ve made it both on the grill and on the stovetop and they’re both delicious. Tonight I served it with coconut rice and it was incredible together! Thank you!
This is my go to chicken recipe. My absolute favorite and everytime I make it for friends and family, it gets plenty of compliments
Sara – I was wondering….I’m trying to get a better grip on cooking on my gas grill. How high of heat do you use and do you cook the chicken on the direct heat or indirect heat? Thanks so much!
All gas grills vary, so you kind of have to experiment with your own, but I heat up my grill on a fairly high heat for a few minutes and then turn it down to medium-low when you put on the actual chicken. If you have room, it’s a great idea to have a space with indirect heat in case the outside is cooking a little too fast. Otherwise I just keep them on direct heat until they’re cooked through. Hope that helps!
This is my all time favorite chicken recipe. I’ve cooked it for friends and family multiple times and everyone loves it.
This has become a staple in our house and I’ve shared the rub and the recipe with many friends. I make the rub in larger quantity and put it into a jar so I always have it on-hand for a quick weeknight dinner. It’s a go-to that I know all my kids will love – and that’s saying A LOT!!!
Wow! The chicken looks so amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I can’t wait to try it.
Holy WOW, this was incredible! I just made it in the broiler and is was sooooo good. I’ve followed the blog for years, but missed this one, thanks for bringing it back!
We’ve made this several times and every one of my kids love it which is saying something. It is pretty AMAZING when I can find a meal that all of my kids love! Not all of my kids like spicy and the chipotle chili powder that we have is pretty spicy so I just make half with the chipotle and half without and it works perfect for us. Thanks for having such awesome recipes! Most of my recipes come from your blog and your cookbooks are my go to cookbooks.
We LOVE this chicken! I usually make it with the salad, but any ideas for sides to turn this into a fall meal?
Our family loves this chicken!
tried this once before with the cider vinegar and honey glaze and it was alright for my particular tastes, wasn’t something i was going to try again, but i tried it again last night when i was out of ideas for my chicken thighs with a honey and fresh lime juice glaze and that made all the difference for me…the rub is great, and the glaze idea awesome…i just might not be a big cider vinegar fan
Could I use agave nectar instead of honey?
In the recipe it calls for Cider Vinegar but in the picture the bottle reads Apple Cider vinegar. Can I use either?
Same thing 😉
We are a family who can’t handle spicy, and my daughter really dislikes honey, so I stayed clear of this recipe. It was a huge mistake! My sister made it and I tried a piece of her left overs. When we got back from out of town i made it for our Family, (no changes, it was a bit spicy before i put the extra glaze on top but great after) Everyone loved it! My daughter who dislikes honey had seconds and then thirds! Thanks for another keeper!
Had a pkg. og boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and found this recipe, so I thought I would try it. Followed your recipe exactly, and it was delicious! Hubby & I like spicey, so I added more chipotle and some cayenne as you suggested… great recipe, and will keep this for future grillin’, for sure… thank you for sharing this with us!
Sincerely,
Phyllis Schaffer
sorry for the misspell… Had a pkg. “of”, not “og” .
*happy sigh* This stuff is so good.
I just found this site and this recipe sounds great. I’ve been making something very similar for quite a while with a similar spice blend but instead of honey for the glaze I mix some peach jam with a can of chipotle chiles in adobo (we like it kinda spicy and actually add more heat to it) but we pulse it in the blender for a few seconds or sometimes just warm it up a bit on the stove. I reserve the leftover glaze in the jam container and it will make 2-3 meals. Sometimes my husband likes the warm glaze to dip the chicken into.
I will have to try it with honey and vinegar. It sounds right up our alley!
We stumbled upon your site and think we are going to have to make this recipe as it sounds delicious!!! We are going to try it on chicken wings instead of thighs or breasts as we are in the process of reviewing various recipes on the internet for wings. We will post a full review once we are done http://wingsaucereview.com and provide a link back !!
Keep up the great work..
K
Holy amazing! My husband found this link pulled up on the computer and has been begging me to make it for weeks. Since I don’t usually buy thighs I had to make a special trip to the store. Man was it worth it! We made this for dinner last night and it was so good my husband insisted we have it again tonight. We made a whole new batch with a couple breasts this time. You’re right- the thighs are better (and this is coming from a woman who hates picking my meat off bones!)
We also modified and did it in the oven since our grill is dead. We baked them in a Pyrex covered in foil to keep the moisture in, then took the foil off and broiled for a few minutes on each side to crisp them up. Amazing. Being added to the regular meal rotation.
I just made this chicken last night! Rave reviews all around. The chipotle powder made the skin a little too spicy for my 9-year-old, and we had to broil it because we had some bad weather, so it looked burnt, BUT, thankfully, did not taste that way. All in all, we were all impressed, and I will be making this chicken again.
I am writing about the chicken today on my own blog, and plan on giving you a shout-out. This is a heads-up to let you know that you will, hopefully, be getting a little more chatter coming your direction.
Thanks for a fantastic recipe. I can’t wait to make it on the grill!!
Patty
Hey there, I was just wondering if you had any suggestions on what to serve this with?? I am totally bored with the whole chicken and rice/roasted vegeteables thing so I was just wondreing if you had any creative suggestions????
So i just came across this…don’t know how I missed it and planned on making it this week. One thing though…how important is the chipotle chili powder? I can’t find it anywhere! I could just use more regular chili powder?
when choosing to broil it, do you place the glazed chicken on the rack or would it be acceptable to use foil or something?
(little experience in the kitchen.. can ya tell? lol)
Yep, you could put it on foil, or a rack and just turn it half way through. Enjoy!
Hey Sara saw the recipe and loved it. Just wanted to know if it can be served cold with the salad and if so will it have the same taste?
this is by far the best chicken recipe I have ever made, I trade the chipotle chili pepper and the regular chili pepper (2t chipotle, 1/2t regular) and it is super spicy and amazing. I also make this with a rice dish I either made up or found somewhere and I drizzle the honey glaze over the chicken and the rice. I make this at least once every other week. Also I use chicken breasts, bake it and put the glaze on at the end and it’s super delicious.
Hello….how long do you bake the chicken for?!
it was great but i don’t think 3-5 min. on each side is long enough to cook the chicken thoroughly. i looked it up and at least 25-30 min. was the average time recommended. am i missing something here?……. did you mean 13-15 min on each side?………..i loved it but i did cook it 35 min.
It just depends on the size of your chicken thighs, the best way to be sure is just to cook it to temperature. Cooking times will vary according to a lot of variables.