These tender and juicy Honey Garlic Chicken thighs have the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors. On top of being out of this world delicious, they're also sugar-free and Keto friendly!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Keto Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
• What’s in Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
• How to Make Keto Honey Garlic Chicken
• Can I Freeze Garlic Honey Thighs?
• Is Honey Chicken High in Carbs?
• What Compliments Honey Garlic?
• What is Chinese Honey Chicken Made From?
• What Can You Substitute for Honey on Keto?
• Can I Bake Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs?
• More Keto Chicken Recipes

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Keto Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe

• Quick and easy to prepare in under 30 minutes
• Honey garlic sauce has the perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors
• Great to serve for special occasions, but easy enough for a busy weeknight meal
• Sugar-free and Keto friendly

If you're tired of the same chicken recipes in your weekly meal planning, you're going to love this recipe! A weeknight dinner doesn’t get much easier than this honey garlic chicken! It’s even faster than everyone's favorite Chinese takeout, General Tso Chicken, but with a healthy, sugar-free makeover and only a fraction of the carbs.

Tender chicken thighs are pan seared until the skin gets nice and crispy golden brown. They're then coated in a scrumptious, sticky and sweet (but sugar-free) honey garlic glaze, creating an explosion of flavor that really livens up the chicken. Even your pickiest eaters are going to love this recipe!

Serve this honey chicken with any of your favorite low carb or Keto side dishes and you'll have a delicious and healthy meal the whole family will love.

What’s in Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

• Chicken thighs
• Sugar-free Keto honey
• Chicken broth
• Garlic
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Liquid aminos
• Rice vinegar
• Toasted sesame oil
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• Optional: sesame seeds

*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

How to Make Keto Honey Garlic Chicken

Add the salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken thighs.

Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add in the butter and olive oil.  Once the pan is hot, add in the chicken, skin side down.  

Cook for a 5-6 minutes or until there is a good sear on the skin, then flip them over and cook another 5-6 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the garlic. 

Sauté for about 20 seconds, but don’t allow it to brown.  Add in the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits of flavor.

In a small mixing bowl, add the honey, liquid aminos, sesame oil and rice vinegar, then whisk until well combined. 

Add the chicken back into the pan, and pour the mixture over the chicken.  Continue cooking the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, when checked with a meat thermometer. 

Be sure to baste the chicken a few times as it’s cooking. Serve with a garnish of (optional) sesame seeds.

Can I Freeze Garlic Honey Thighs?

Freezing these thighs will cause them to lose the crispy texture you're looking for. They will still taste amazing, but the texture will change.

But, if you have leftovers and want to freeze them, place them airtight container in the freezer for up to a couple of months.

Is Honey Chicken High in Carbs?

Regular honey garlic chicken is very high in carbs. For one single serving, most honey garlic chicken recipes have at least 30 grams of carbs! Most of those carbs come from the sugar in the honey.

This recipe uses a sugar-free honey substitute that takes all those high carb worries away. For the same size serving, this low carb chicken recipe only has 1 net carb per serving!

What Compliments Honey Garlic?

When it comes to side dishes that complement the flavors in this recipe, you just about can't go wrong.

If you're wanting an Asian flair, this Grilled Broccolini is great choice. This Coconut Lime Cauliflower Rice is fantastic with some of the extra sauce poured over it.

You can also serve just about any side dish that you'd typically serve with BBQ Chicken. Cauliflower "Potato" Salad, Broccoli Salad with Bacon and this Creamy Cucumber Salad are wonderful low carb recipes that work well to compliment honey garlic chicken.

What is Chinese Honey Chicken Made From?

Traditional honey sauces use a variety of different things to give the sauce sweetness. Pineapple juice, orange juice with honey and corn syrup are the most common.

The sauce in this Honey Chicken is just as delicious but uses sugar free honey in combination with liquid aminos and rice wine vinegar to give it that classic sweet and tangy flavor you can enjoy guilt-free.

What Can You Substitute for Honey on Keto?

The problem with finding a good substitute to honey is the texture. Honey is sticky and that makes it super hard to duplicate. There are sugar-free simple syrups on the market, but most of them are really runny and heating them to a boil does nothing to thicken them up.

If you want a product that will deliver both on sweetness and stickiness, then give this Keto Honey substitute by Wholesome Yum a try! You'll find a ton of different ways to use it. I made a glorious Honey Mustard Sauce with it, and it has been a huge hit!

Can I Bake Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs?

Part of what makes this dish so incredible is the crispy skin. In order to get them super crispy, the skin has to cook on a fairly high temp. Pan frying them will give you the best results, but you can certainly bake them in you prefer.

For baking, the thighs will need to cook at 400°F for 40 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 165°F. Be sure and baste them with the sauce about every 10 minutes.

More Keto Chicken Recipes

• Thai Red Curry Coconut Grilled Chicken
• Grilled Chicken with Rosemary Citrus Glaze
• Spinach Artichoke Chicken Casserole
• Creamy Chicken Tuscan Skillet
• Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole
• Chicken Florentine Skillet
• Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
• Creamy Chicken Poblano Chicken