Southern Sticky Chicken
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This sweet yet savory sticky chicken recipe is delectable and the perfect easy weeknight dinner the whole family will enjoy.
This sweet and sticky chicken is an old-fashioned Southern recipe that has been around for about as long as folks have been cooking. The recipe has evolved and been tweaked over the years but the flavorful sticky marinade that clings to the chicken is still every bit as good as folks remember from the days when Granny used to make it for Sunday dinner.
Some of the things I love about this sticky chicken recipe is that it’s:
- Easy to make, which means it makes a great weeknight dinner.
- Versatile. Serve your meal with rice, vegetables, or a slew of Southern sides.
- Easy to double the recipe and make leftovers for weekday lunches.
Fortunately, this recipe for sticky chicken is pretty simple. All you have to do is mix up the sticky chicken marinade, which has equal parts sweet and savory ingredients to make a sauce that’s irresistible. Plus, they’re all pantry staples you probably have sitting in your cupboard right now. Then you bring the sauce ingredients to a boil, pour them over the chicken pieces, and bake. The end result is tender and juicy chicken soaked in a deliciously caramelized and sweet Asian-style sauce. It’s a home run with kids as well as adults.
Other Asian-inspired meals I recommend include crockpot cashew chicken, Asian-inspired pot roast, chicken fried rice, and Chinese chicken salad.
Recipe Ingredients
- Brown sugar (dark or light brown sugar, whatever you have)
- Garlic powder
- Ketchup
- Honey
- Soy sauce
- You’re also going to need about 3-5 pounds of bone-in chicken with the skin still on it. For my boneless sticky chicken recipe click here.
Traditionally, folks use legs or chicken thighs for this but my Kroger had bone-in split chicken breasts for buy one get one free – so I have two HUGE chicken breast halves that cost me a few dollars and that is what we’re using!
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Sticky Chicken
Put everything (except the chicken) in a saucepot and stir it up really well. Place over medium-high heat.
You can do medium heat but I like to get things rolling.
See how that’s boiling? Bring the sticky chicken sauce to a boil like this. Then remove from heat.
Place your chicken pieces in a 9×13 baking dish and pour all of the sticky sauce over.
Place this in a 350-degree oven and bake, uncovered, for 90 minutes total.
After 45 minutes, flip all of the chicken over in the dish.
An hour and 15 minutes into cooking, flip pieces again and baste with some of the glaze in the pan. Bake for another 15 minutes.
NOTE: cooking time is the same if you use legs and thighs.
Booyah! Easy sticky chicken!
Storage
This recipe will last up to five days in an airtight container in the fridge. It will also keep in the freezer for up to four months. When it’s time to reheat your leftovers, simply warm them up in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- If you want your marinade to have a bit of a spicy kick, add in a couple of tablespoons of chili garlic sauce, a tablespoon of sriracha hot sauce, or a sprinkle of paprika, , or cayenne pepper. Basically, whatever heat you have on hand!
- If you have a soy allergy, use tamari instead.
- Substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar, maple syrup, or an extra two tablespoons of honey.
Recipe FAQs
What chicken do I use for sticky chicken?
You can use any bone-in chicken, whether that’s chicken legs, chicken wings, drumsticks, chicken thighs, or chicken breasts.
What can I serve the sticky chicken with?
Whatever you like! You can go for an Asian takeout-style meal and serve it with rice, sliced green onion, broccoli, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Otherwise, here are some Southern side suggestions:
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Rice Casserole
Broccoli with Homemade Cheese Sauce
Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Salad
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Ingredients
- 3 -5 pounds bone-in chicken with skin folks usually use legs and/or thighs
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a saucepot, combine ketchup, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic powder over medium to medium-high heat.1 cup ketchup, 1 cup honey, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Bring it just to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat.
- Arrange chicken pieces in a 9x13 baking dish. Pour the entire amount of sauce over the chicken, turning pieces with tongs to coat.3 -5 pounds bone-in chicken with skin
- Place in oven, uncovered, for 90 minutes, turning after 45 minutes.
- 15 minutes before cooking time is up, flip pieces once more and baste with sauce.
Video
Nutrition
You may also like these chicken recipes:
Best Barbecue Sauce and Boneless Sticky Chicken
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap,
but by the seeds you plant.
~Robert Louis Stevenson
Submitted by Diane. Submit your quote by clicking here.
This sounds so much like something my grandmother used to make… I’m going to have to make a batch! As far as music goes… I was adopted by older parents so I was lucky because they introduced me to swing music, big bands… and then I was lucky enough to be around for what followed! There was always some kind of music in our house! Thank you for making me smile :0)
Oh before I forget to ask you AGAIN… do you know of a cake that is made in a sheet pan that has a cinnamon topping. When I was a very young girl, our next door neighbor used to make this amazing cake and I’m still searching for the recipe!
as to the diabetic question – there is a “fake” honey that my husband can eat, as long as you watch the labels on the ketchup, etc to keep the grams low. Someone told me about the “fake” honey, but the ONLY ONLY place to buy it is at Wal-Mart, you have to stand and stare at the shelf for awhile before you’ll see it. He uses it on biscuits and I use it in recipes – it’s exactly like honey …. good luck!
Made this for my sweetie over the weekend. He RAVED about it! I served it with potato salad and we both stuffed ourselves! Thanks for another great recipe!
I am so glad that you liked it Lee!!!!
I made this last night, and what a hit it was!!! So easy too. I served it with brown rice, and the sauce was perfect on it. Thanks so much.
After looking through your list of recipes, I think Chocolate Cobbler is next.
I am so glad to hear that you liked the chicken Kathie!!! I hope you like the cobbler, it is one of our favorites!!
I loved seeing a plate filled with yellow rice. When people complain about the cost of food shipped in from far away locations, I tell them it makes me happy. I still try to buy local, but if it weren;t for the globalization of our food sources how many of us would have had a chance for fresh pineapple and mangos.
I remember as a kid when my mother drove me down to my grandmother’s home in Alabama, she would pick up a case of Mahatma Saffron/yellow rice along with other items (stone-ground grits, seeds for her garden) that couldn’t be found where my dad was stationed (army). Then she would ration out that case of yellow rice for special meals about twice a month. If it weren’t for globalization, so many people, who don’t have the priviledge of being Southern, would have missed out on some wonderful foods.
Made this tonight and it was a *huge* hit! If it can get something past my 10 yr old son, it’s definitely a keeper. I have kids 5,10,13 and 16. When I asked if this was a recipe to save my 10 yr old was the first one to exclaim YES! I always buy huge packs of boneless skinless breasts when they go on sale and I love dump recipes. I’m thinking this would be a prefect dump recipe for the crock-pot!
Yay!! I am so glad it was kid approved. I have a picky eater too and know just how hard it can be to find things they like!!
I will be trying this soon 4-sure. I listened to Bobbie Sherman, The Monkees and Donny Osmond.
I hope you like them Carie!!