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
remove
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.
Hi , I am making this tonight for dinner. I did start late this evening but oh my goodness, the kitchen smells wonderful. I can’t wait to dig into it. My side dish is rice along with slice of lettuce/tomato.
Will post any comments my husband makes…he is my tester for all my recipes.
From Tucson, Az… loving your website…keep up the good work Christy. You are AMAZING!…
mary
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! We had our chicken with wild rice and fried okra, so yummy.
I also want to thank you for your fried pickle recipe. You turned this fried pickle hatin’ girl into a fried pickle LOVIN’ girl! I just about burned my mouth off because I couldn’t wait on them to cool before I ate them.
I have that same problem with the pickles Kristi!! It is so hard to wait! Glad to hear you liked the Sticky Chicken as well!!
I am going to try this recipe with chicken legs on Sunday it sounds wonderful. I have both your cookbooks and they are great I love them. I was raised in Georgia so nothing I like better than good southern cooking. Love your blog also.
I’ve seen pictures of similar chicken and always wondered how it got to be so pretty! I can’t wait to try it!
Hope you enjoy it Kristina!
I have a big pack of drumsticks that need to be cooked up, so this will be perfect!
Re: music . . . I grew up listening to lots of music! My fondest music memories come from watching American Bandstand and Soul Train on Saturday mornings. My mom and I always had it on while we did Saturday chores. My parents had a lot of albums too, so all of that music from the 70’s and 80’s was truly a soundtrack to my childhood. Some of my favorites are The Carpenters, John Denver, Dolly Parton, Don Williams, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Van Morrison (especially Brown Eyed Girl, Into the Mystic, and Tupelo Honey), and so many more! I love Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sam Cooke. Did I mention that I love music!? Lol, then there’s Christian music: Kari Jobe, Ellie Holcomb, Christa Wells, Christy Nockels, JJ Heller, Natalie Grant, and I could go on and on, but I think I’m rambling now.
I hope you enjoy the Sticky Chicken!!
Hi Christy! I am praying for you and all your neighbors down south to be safe from the bad weather. I have to tell you that your Sticky Chicken continues to be a hit in my house and now beyond. I made it for a special dinner my husband’s family held for his nephew TJ, who left for basic training in the Air National Guard in early April. It was a hit, and after trying it at TJ’s dinner, a church friend asked for the recipe and made it for a party at her 55+ community clubhouse. She told me that it went over big and she got requests for the recipe. I tell ya, that dang recipe is changing hands pretty fast around here. My extremely picky 12 year old daughter actually agreed to try it (FINALLY!), last night and before I knew it, here she was scooping extra sauce on her piece and she ‘fessed up to just how much she liked it. My friend was the recipient of a copy of your book as a birthday gift from me, and she made Sticky Chicken and sent me a very succinct text that said “Winner, winner, chicken diinner!” Her family loves it too! Stay safe!
Oh my goodness, that just made my day Sharon!!! I am so glad to hear that it is such a hit!! We are safe and appreciate you keeping us in your prayers, they are much appreciated!
Is there anything you can think of to substitue for the soy sauce? I’m trying my best to go soy free and trying to find new recipes that both me and my fiance will eat!
Sodium-free Soy Sauce
2 tbsp. Sodium-Free Beef Bouillon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. molasses
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
dash of black pepper
dash of garlic powder
3/4 cup water
In a small saucepan, combine and boil gently, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup.
Store in refrigerator. Stir before serving.
Makes 1/2 cup.
Recipe comes from a Better Homes and Garden low sodium cookbook.
Wow! A homemade sodium-free soy sauce! Who knew? Can’t wait to make this myself. 🙂