This hot honey glazed grilled chicken recipe uses a sweet and spicy marinade to make juicy, tender chicken. It’s SO flavorful, and as even better when drizzled with a little bit of homemade hot honey afterwards!
It’s no secret that in our household we eat a lot of chicken. Sometimes we go full weeks at a time with every dinner recipe containing chicken. But I rarely ever make plain chicken breasts because they’re honestly boring (oops!). Until I started making THIS marinade. It’s flavorful and makes the chicken super tender.
While this recipe has “hot honey” in the name, don’t let that intimidate you if you aren’t a fan of spicy foods. All of the heat is in the hot honey glaze in the last step. So if you’re looking for a good chicken marinade for your family, the spice is totally optional.
honey glazed grilled chicken ingredients:
Chicken Breasts: First and foremost, you need chicken breasts. For this recipe, you’ll slice them lengthwise and gently tenderize them using a meat mallet. This will ensure they are the same thickness all around and help them cook more quickly on the stove.
Olive Oil: For the base of the marinade.
Lime Juice: The lime juice adds some acidity to the marinade and cuts through to make it super tender and juicy.
Soy Sauce: You’ll use a few teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce to add a little dimension and flavor to the marinade.
Honey: You’ll use honey in both the marinade and the glaze of this recipe. It’s the key ingredient that makes it naturally sweet!
Garlic: You’ll need three minced cloves or a few teaspoons of garlic powder will work as well.
Seasonings: The marinade uses Italian seasoning and cracked black pepper.
Hot Honey Glaze: To make your own hot honey glaze to add after the chicken is cooked, you’ll need a small amount of melted ghee, honey, and red pepper flakes/or cayenne pepper. If you prefer, you can easily use store bought hot honey instead of the homemade!
how to serve:
Grilled chicken sandwiches: Next time I make this, I’m definitely using this chicken recipe to make sandwiches! Hot honey grilled chicken, whole grain bun, lettuce, tomato, pickles! Sound heavenly.
On a salad: Slice it up and add it on top of your favorite salad!
As a main course: The most obvious way, serve this recipe as the star of the show along side some smashed baby potatoes, and a veggie!
Honey Glazed Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1Β½ pound chicken breasts trimmed
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil high grade
- 2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 lime juiced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- cracked black pepper
For the Hot Honey (or use store-bought hot honey):
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 tablespoon ghee
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or cayenne
Instructions
- Prepare your chicken. Slice each large chicken breast lengthwise to create two flat, even pieces. You can also cut off the tenderloins as well if those are attached.
- Once sliced, cover with a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap on the cutting board. Gently pound each piece of chicken with a meat mallet (or I used a wine bottle, whatever you have!) to ensure the chicken is the same thickness all around.
- Next, make your marinade. In a bowl, mix together olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, garlic cloves, italian seasoning, and black pepper. Add that to a sealed bowl/container/ziplock bag along with your chicken.
- For best results, marinate overnight (or a minimum of 2 hours) before cooking the chicken.
- To cook, heat a cast iron grill pan on the stove at medium heat. Once full warmed, add each piece of chicken and cook each side about 5 minutes each (depending on thickness).
- Ensure that your chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F using a meat thermometer.
- If you don't have a grill pan, you can grill it on an outdoor grill or bake it in the oven as you normally would chicken breasts.
- Once cooked, brush or drizzle the hot honey mixture on top and enjoy!