Honey chilli chicken recipe

Chicken thighs are an inexpensive and versatile meat that can be enjoyed as part of various meals. This easy and delicious honey chilli chicken recipe will add bags of flavour to the chicken and will work equally as well as part of a full roast dinner, or a simpler meal with peas and chips. I always use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe as I find they give the best flavour, moisture and texture.

To make this honey chilli chicken recipe, you will need:

• 4 Chicken Thighs

• 2 Tablespoons of Honey

• 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

• 1 Teaspoon of Chilli Flakes

• 4 teaspoons of Garlic Puree

• Sea Salt

• Black Pepper

• 1 Fresh Chilli or Fresh Rosemary (optional) 
    

• A Small Bowl

• A Small Roasting Tin

• Kitchen Foil

• A Digital Meat Thermometer

Time to prepare and roast: 50-60 mins.

1: Get the oven nice and hot!

Set the oven to gas mark 6 or 200C, if you have an electric fan oven then lower it down to180C. The oven should have plenty of time to pre-heat while you prepare your chicken.

2: Get your roasting tin prepared.

Line your roasting tin with kitchen foil and drizzle a little oil over the bottom. If you have flavoured oil feel free to use that. I used chilli and garlic infused olive oil to add even more flavour, but a regular olive oil or vegetable will work just fine too. Once the roasting tin is ready pop it straight into the oven on the middle shelf. We want the tin and oil to get nice and hot before we put the  chicken in.

3: Next prepare the chicken.

First give the chicken thighs a good pat down with some kitchen paper, this will remove any excess moisture and allow the skin to crisp up fully in the oven. Cover the thighs in a generous amount of salt and pepper. Put a couple of slashes in the top of the skin and push a teaspoon of garlic puree under the skin of each chicken thigh. There's no need to rush this part as we want to give the roasting tin enough time to get hot.

4: Roasting part 1.

Remove the roasting tin from the oven, it should be nice and hot. Place the chicken thighs skin side down in the tin and roast in the centre of the oven. Set your timer for 25 minutes, which gives us plenty of time to get the next part of the recipe prepared.

5: Combine the honey glaze ingredients.

While the thighs are in the oven, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of honey and a teaspoon of chilli flakes to your small bowl. You can add a pinch of salt and pepper too if you like. Give that a little mix around with a spoon. There's no need to worry about it too much or to get the oil and honey fully blended. Set this aside for now, we'll be using it to cover the chicken later.

6: Glaze your chicken thighs.

After the first 25 minutes cooking time, take your chicken out of the oven and using some tongs, flip them over in the roasting tin. Take your glaze and spoon the sticky mixture over the top of the chicken thighs, you can spread it around a little with the back of the spoon but there's no need to be too careful as it will slowly run all over the chicken when you put it back in the oven. I tend to just dump most of it on the top of the thigh and let the heat and gravity take care of it.

7: Roasting Part 2.

Return the your chicken to the middle shelf and roast for a further 20 minutes. They should be crispy, just starting to brown and look slightly barbecued on top. You want the internal temperature of the chicken to reach at least 74 degrees centigrade, if they are under this you should return for another 5 minutes and check again. These skin-on boned thighs are very juicy and tender, so you won't really have to worry about drying them out by over-cooking, so up to 85 degrees is fine in my experience. Better to be over than under.

I always use a meat thermometer when cooking any kind of poultry and I would highly recommend using one. If you don't have one I would recommend buying the best digital one you can afford as some of the cheaper ones don't work well and can lead to frustration trying to get an accurate reading of the meat temperature. You can find decent ones for around £20, which if you cook meat regularly, is well worth the initial cost.

8: Remove from the oven and add finishing touches.

Once cooked remove the chicken from the roasting tin with your tongs and leave to rest for 5 minutes on a few layers of kitchen paper before transferring to plates. I like to sprinkle them with rosemary and serve with some cherry tomatoes but if you'd prefer some more heat then you could use a finely chopped bright red chilli for a nice colourful topping.

Some notes on the ingredients:

As always I recommend our Original Vitamin Raw Honey but you can use any honey you may already have.

I really like the Arbol chili flakes from Tesco, which have a fantastic fiery but sweet taste, which isn't overpowering and they work great with chicken. You can of course use whichever you like or what you have available.

Garlic puree can be found next to the tomato puree in all supermarkets, you can use fresh minced garlic if you prefer but I've become a big fan of garlic puree in these kind of situations, it's so easy, convenient and tastes just as good.

If you prefer boneless thighs then you can use those instead but you will need to reduce the cooking times accordingly. I don't recommend skinless thighs for this recipe as the crispy flavoured skin is a big part of the taste and look.

If you are serving for more people or want bigger portions, simply use 8 thighs and double the amounts of the other ingredients.

Happy cooking!