Enjoy this Easy Spicy Honey Lime Chicken Thigh Recipe made with boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The chicken cooks quickly and is finished in a delicious garlic infused sauce that’s sticky, sweet and spicy, with a tart citrus tang from the lime juice. We’ve got so much flavor going on here … nothing boring about this chicken dinner!
We were so thrilled with our Spicy Honey Lime Shrimp recipe, I knew it would be terrific adapted for juicy chicken thighs. To add a little more depth to the flavor, we brought soy sauce to the party which turned out to be the perfect compliment for the sweet honey and fresh lime juice. The spicy base comes from the dry Sriracha Seasoning but if you can’t find it in your store, feel free to use your favorite spice blend. If you’re on Amazon you can find the seasoning there too. Check out the link at the bottom of this post.
These chicken thighs are best cooked in a non-stick skillet to avoid burning the sauce as it caramelizes.
If you can wait to get the chicken to the table, it’s terrific served over rice or pasta, basically anything that will help you sop up every drop of the zesty sauce. Crusty bread works great too! Served with a side of steamed broccoli or oven roasted green beans, this chicken thigh recipe is super satisfying and very delicious!
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or cilantro leaves and sliced lime wedges.
Do you know you can freeze chopped fresh herbs? I really hate to waste food and if I buy a bundle of fresh parsley or cilantro at the store, I want to use it all before it goes bad. If you have some in your vegetable drawer too, chop up the leaves and dump them directly into a airtight freezer safe container. The herbs don’t even stick together once frozen and even retain a good bit of their beautiful color. Whenever you need a garnish or a few tablespoons of fresh herbs, check the freezer for your stash!
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- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- juice of 1 lime, about 1 1/2 tablespoons
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha dry seasoning, more or less to taste (or substitute your favorite seasoning blend)
- 1 3/4 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs) (chicken breasts work well too but need to cook longer)
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed chili pepper flakes (optional)
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- sliced lime wedges for serving
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Combine the garlic, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Stir to combine, set aside.
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Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with the dry Sriracha seasoning blend.
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In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and heat until shimmering. Once the skillet is hot add the chicken thighs in a single layer. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides, 4-5 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic lime sauce and cook the chicken, turning and stirring occasionally, until done all the through, 7-10 minutes. The sauce will thicken and caramelize and reduce slightly.
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Sprinkle the chicken with crushed chili pepper flakes and parsley, if desired. Serve over your favorite cooked pasta or rice. Garnish with fresh lime slices if desired.
Use a large non-stick skillet so the sauce doesn’t burn as it caramelizes
Kitchen essentials – we love a big non-stick skillet for this recipe – click on the photo for more information:
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I just finished making this recipe. It smells lovely, but my sauce didn’t thicken or caramelize. I wonder if I did something wrong. I tried following the recipe as closely as possible. The only difference is the lime juice. I just used lime juice, I didn’t squeeze it from a lime.
Hi Megan – I’m not sure what happened but maybe it was the bottled lime juice. I know honey varies greatly in thickness so maybe it just needed to boil down a little longer. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Please try again – and cook until it thickened. Thanks for trying the recipe!
I made this with skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into fourths, because it’s what I had. I didn’t have sriracha powder, but used some sauce. It seemed bland to me so I also added minced onion, lots of fresh minced garlic and grated about an inch of fresh ginger in the sauce. At the end it still seemed a little bland so I added some chili pepper flakes and more honey and lime. If I make this again I will probably use thighs instead of breasts, add some sweet pepper strips and more onion, maybe broccoli, even more fresh garlic and hot peppers. It was tasty, but I’ve made better and this can be improved. I don’t mean to sound critical, but I’ve cooked for over 40 years.
Thanks for the comment K. I think you would have found it to be much more flavorful if you had used the chicken thighs and the powered Sriracha seasoning. It is pretty intense and so good with the lime juice and honey. Your “new” recipe sounds great too – I may just have to give your version a try. Thanks for sharing and for reading the blog.
Made this last night and Mr. Fussy deemed it a keeper! A nonstick pan is a must; the sauce is sticky and cleanup would be tough otherwise! I didn’t have the dry Sriracha so used a different rub mixed with regular Sriracha and marinated the chicken for about an hour. (I tried to make the dry Sriracha in the oven but must have used too much/spread too thick, because much of it doesn’t crumble well, even after longer baking…it’s pretty sticky.)
Wooohooo! Thank you so much Marlene Sounds like you adapted it well. Sorry the Sriracha powder didn’t turn out – try making it really thin like in the photos. Marinating sounds wonderful too – great adaptation! Thanks for the feedback, so happy you and Mr. Fussy liked it.
Hi there, what are the calories for 2 porttions of chicken thighs? I want to try this however I just started a fairly strict diet following my calorie intake. Thank you!
Hi Julia – I haven’t added that feature to my site yet – but I’m working on it! Good luck on your diet, it’s a life long battle for me 🙂
I made this recipe tonight. What a great combination of flavors – it was a hit!! Next time I may garnish with sliced green onions.
Fab recipe – thank you!!
Yeah! Thanks for the feedback Sandy and for trying one of our recipes. We love this delicious chicken and serve it often. Thanks again … so glad you liked it!
Recipe looks great, thanks! But … a question … you suggest using a non-stick pan … but your pictures look like stainless steel …? Or maybe you found non-stick that looks like stainless? I use only stainless but will give this recipe a whirl because it looks so dang good!
Haha – I made this chicken in a large non-stick skillet but moved it to the stainless steel for photos because the sauce shows up better in a lighter color pan. That’s the only reason they were not photographed in the nonstick pan – mine is very dark. I like that you’re paying attention and hope you’ll give this recipe a try! This chicken is so good 🙂
Hi Tricia,
Do you have the nutritional information for this dish (including carbs)? It sounds great!
Hi Sarah – I do not have it calculated for this recipe. I am trying to get that added to my recipes. This recipe is a keeper and I hope you’ll give it a try.
The chicken thighs were tasty and we loved the spicy flavor. The sauce thickens as described and was served over a rice blend. Even with the extra lime wedges the sauce seemed a bit too sweet. Not sure how to fix that. Any ideas?
Hi Els. Thanks for the feedback. I guess you could decrease the amount of honey, but of course that will affect the sauce and how thick it becomes. If you add more lime juice that will also thin the sauce. We didn’t think it was very sweet, so maybe you had better honey?
Just made this tonight for dinner! Yummy & got good reviews to save
the recipe!!
Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you Rachel! We love this chicken and it’s so easy to make too. A real winner all the way around. Thanks again for trying our recipe 🙂
This looks delicious! Do you have the nutritional info for this recipe?
Hi Val – no I don’t sorry.
I made something very similar last night for dinner, although I used lemon juice and some brown sugar too. I absolutely love this type of chicken! Your photos are making my mouth water, Tricia 😉
Hi Susan – I bet the lemon was really good, and brown sugar …yum! We love this chicken too. So easy and delicious 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
Another wonderful recipe, Tricia, it looks quite delicious.
Amalia
xo
Thanks so much Amalia. Hope you are doing great!
I tried the Spicy Honey Lime Chicken Thigh recipe and it was delicious.
It wasn’t as pretty as yours, but tasted very good. Thanks for the recipes on your blog.
Thank you so much for letting us know Karen! Our readers like to know how it goes. I really, really love this recipe and think about making it all the time – haha. Glad you liked it too and thanks for giving it a try!
We love thighs to and everything Asianish! Will look for the spice..although my sauce seems to last forever..you?:)
Hi Monique! If you have the sauce you can make this. Squirt some onto a baking pan lined with parchment or a silpat mat. Bake it in the oven at about 200F for an hour or so until it’s dried out. Crush it up and you have Sriracha seasoning!
Great flavors here, Tricia and love that spiciness! I have been looking at the grocer’s for the Sriracha Seasoning, with no luck. Guess I will go to Amazon and look now. Thanks for this recipe, it sounds like a keeper! Take care
Thanks Pam – I wish everybody had Sriracha seasoning, there are lots of different brands out there. Must be a southern thing? Hope you get some and give this a try – so good!
Gosh, these look so full of flavor! Who could resist? Such a pretty dish, too. Great recipe — thanks so much. 🙂
Thanks John – we’re really loving spicy foods lately!
What a mouthwatering recipe Tricia! I love these flavors and can’t wait to try this delicious chicken!
Thank you Marcie – I know you’re going to love it as much as we do 🙂
I always have chicken in the freezer and many nights I repeat the same dishes over and over! SO glad to have this delicious recipe to try—-and an excuse to pick up some sriracha seasoning!!!
Thanks Liz – I bet you’re going to love this one 🙂
I am a huge fan of chicken thighs and are always looking for new recipes. This one looks delicious, I have to try it.
Thanks Gerlinde – if you like a full flavored chicken dish, this is the one – so easy too!
I love spicy food and I haven’t seen that Sriracha seasoning, I’m going to look for it today!
Me too – this is a winner for sure!
Yes; I freeze herbs as well. This is perfect to use four seasons; also, pinned this lovely idea for week dinner. Thank you so much !
Thank you!
Looks awesome Tricia
Thanks Larry 🙂
Love that you brought this great sauce to chicken, too! Looks perfect 🙂 Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks Jennifer – this is sooo good!
Chick thighs taste so tender and yummy even simply poached in ginger/onion water, let alone with a spicy, sweet and tangy sauce like yours…heavenly!
Thanks Angie! My husband wants to know how often we can eat these delicious chicken thighs – so we will have it often!
Happy Monday Tricia! This is not only a gorgeous looking dinner, the flavors sound fabulous. Yes, I would want to enjoy every little drop of that wonderful sauce!
Thanks Chris! Hope you get to make it soon, it has so much delicious flavor. Thank you!