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Spicy Honey Lime Chicken Thigh Recipe

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Skillet with chicken thighs coated in a garlic, lime, honey sauce garnished with lime wedges

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, I knew it would be terrific adapted for this juicy chicken thigh recipe. 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.

 

A skillet with chicken thighs coated in a garlic, lime, honey sauce garnished with lime wedges

This chicken thigh recipe is best cooked in a non-stick skillet to avoid burning the sauce as it caramelizes.

If you can wait to get the chicken thigh recipe to the table, it’s terrific served over rice or pasta, basically anything that will help you sop up every drop of 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!

 

A skillet with chicken thighs coated in a garlic, lime, honey sauce garnished with lime wedges and parsley

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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A skillet with spicy honey lime chicken thighs served with lime wedges and garnished with parsley

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5 from 8 votes

Spicy Honey Lime Chicken Thigh Recipe

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Yield: 4
Course: Main Course
Author: Tricia
PRINT RECIPE
Boneless skinless chicken thighs cook up quickly and are finished in a delicious garlic infused sauce that's sticky, sweet and spicy, with a tart citrus tang from the lime juice.

Ingredients

  • 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

Instructions

  • Combine the garlic, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Stir to combine, set aside.
  • Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with the dry Sriracha seasoning blend.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Recipe Notes

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:

If you purchase something from Amazon after following my affiliate link, I receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog. Thanks for supporting SRFD!

We have several recipes featuring Sriracha seasoning so I guess it’s pretty obvious we love the stuff. One of our all-time favorites are these Grilled Chicken Skewers with a Sweet Sriracha Glaze, and if you’re looking for a great way to elevate the flavor of a mild fish fillet, try these Sriracha Grilled Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos. So much deliciousness in every bite! Finally, check out our recipe for Spicy Shrimp & Fried Corn and you’ll be amazed at the fantastic flavor combination in our nod to classic Shrimp & Grits.
We’d love to try these Spicy Chicken Breasts from Center Cut Cook and these gorgeous Baked Sweet & Spicy Chicken Breasts from Creme De La Crumb. And I’ve been drooling over this recipe for Spicy Chicken from Giada De Laurentiis posted on Food Network.
Have a wonderful week my friends! Thanks so much for stopping by.
Tricia

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81 Comments

  5. Lorraine says

    5 stars
    OMG heavenly. I did do my own version. I did Maryland’s and scored the meat to the bone then marinated the meat for 1 hour before cooking. Thank you for the inspiration just loved

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Norma – I would sear the thighs with the skin on, then remove the skin once browned. This will build a little extra flavor into the sauce. Brown the thighs for about 10 minutes on each side. You don’t have much time to finish cooking the thighs in the small amount of sauce, so they need to be mostly done before adding the honey mixture. Continue cooking for 15-20 minutes in the sauce. You may consider doubling the sauce to make sure it doesn’t dry up while cooking the chicken. Hope this helps – good luck!

      reply to this comment >

  8. Candace says

    5 stars
    Spicy and sweet is my favorite flavor combination and this recipe definitely hit the spot! I didn’t have any of the sriracha rub so I used a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne instead and it turned out amazingly delicious.

    reply to this comment >

  9. Cloe says

    5 stars
    I make this recipe once a week! It’s amazing! You have to try it! You can always substitute the Sriracha seasoning if you don’t have it. I mix cayenne, paprika, cumin, garlic and chilli powder, it does the trick 🙂

    reply to this comment >

  11. Tiffany says

    Thank you so much for this recipe! As a young adult that just moved out of my parents house this recipe was easy to follow and turned out amazing! I marinated the chicken in the honey garlic sauce for about 2 hours before cooking and it really added to the flavor.

    reply to this comment >

  12. Marylyn says

    I made this for lunch,doubled the recipe so we can have it for dinner too. I didn’t have the sriracha powder so I used the crushed red pepper flakes , added onion powder and sweet paprika, cut up the chicken into bite size pieces before cooking added the sauce per recipe and set it aside. I stir fried shredded cabbage, carrots and sweet peppers and seasoned it with oyster sauce and served the chicken over the cooked vegetables. For dinner I served the chicken over cooked Asian vermicelli. Both were super delicious.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Heather! I have not tried cooking this in the oven. But I would think they need 20 to 25 minutes at about 350F. Not sure how this would work if you’re not stirring the sauce around. Also, I like to make this in a non-stick skillet so the sauce does not burn. I don’t think this will work as well in the oven, but perhaps it’s worth a try. Good luck and thanks!

      reply to this comment >

  14. Michele says

    I made these to day. Yummy! I did not have the dry sriracha. I used Tajín Classico salsa en polvo with lime. I added fresh grated ginger root to the garlic honey mixture. Served the chicken and sauce over rice noodles garnished with cilantro and lime wedges. Served with cole slaw made with grated ginger root, red onion and lime olive oil dressing. Delish!

    reply to this comment >

  15. Alberta says

    I made this tonight for dinner. I didn’t have any sriracha powder so I made my own chicken rub. I doubled the sauce part of the dish and made steamed vegetables and poured the sauce over the vegetable mix and cut the chicken for on top. My family loved it. Thank you.

    reply to this comment >

  16. George says

    Thanks for the recipe, it was a quick and delicious meal! I couldn’t locate the dried sriraccha seasoning so I just used the sauce from a bottle and it was tasty. For the sauce, I added a small amount of corn starch to improve the thickening and sautéed onions and mushrooms for flavor.

    reply to this comment >

  17. Meegan says

    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.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      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!

      reply to this comment >

  18. K. Hobson says

    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.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      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.

      reply to this comment >

  19. Marlene says

    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.)

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      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.

      reply to this comment >

  20. Julia Bita says

    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!

    reply to this comment >

  22. Lizzie says

    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!

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      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 🙂

      reply to this comment >

  24. Els says

    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?

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      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?

      reply to this comment >

  27. Susan says

    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 😉

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      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!

      reply to this comment >

  31. Pam says

    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

    reply to this comment >

  34. Liz says

    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!!!

    reply to this comment >
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