Hands down the best baked chicken recipe ever. No, like seriously. Alvin is usually more of a fried chicken kind of guy, but this Honey Ginger Soy Baked Chicken recipe is giving fried chicken a run for its money. AND it’s healthier.
3 easy steps : marinade, bake, and make the glaze. That easy.
And the result is the most deliciously juicy and tender, incredibly succulent chicken with the most flavourful and fragrant slightly sweet-tasting skin. Perfect recipe to wow your guests or friends and family on holiday get togethers.
One of the things we love the most about this Honey Ginger Soy Baked Chicken is not only is it packed with wonderful sweet and salty flavours from the soy sauce and the honey, it’s also pretty healthy. We didn’t have to use any butter and only used the tiniest amount of oil, just so that the chicken doesn’t stick to the baking sheet. Now, we’re definitely not saying that it’s a fully lean, fat-free, sodium free meal. But we’re pretty surprised how a delicious meal can be made with only the most basic, simple natural ingredients.
Marinating the chicken is probably the easiest step. If you want maximum flavour, it’s best to let the chicken marinate for at least 2 hours. But we’ve done this recipe by letting it marinate for only 30 minutes, and the flavours were still on point!
We baked our chicken on the middle rack for exactly 52 minutes, turning the chicken at the 30 minute mark. For us, this cooking time yielded the most tender and juicy, perfectly cooked chicken. Obviously, it all depends on the oven you use and the size of your chicken. We used two chicken legs weighing at about 0.3 kg (0.67 lbs) each. We suggest cooking the chicken for about 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the chicken. Oh, and very important! Don’t forget to pour some more of the marinade onto the chicken when you’re turning them at the 30 minute mark. This helps add a lot more color and flavours to the chicken.
Now, if you’re into sauces and all that marinade on the chicken is not enough, you can make a glaze out of the remaining marinade. This step is completely optional, as the chicken already has so much flavours without the glaze! But if you want to make a sauce to dip the chicken in, then all you have to do is to bring the rest of the marinade to a boil and let it boil until it reduces and thickens into a nice, thick sauce.
We’re already imagining ourselves having a nice holiday dinner in our home, eating this amazing Soy Ginger Baked Chicken with some of our Garlic Miso Butter Mashed Potatoes. The feels!! Ahh, how we love the holidays and the yummy, comfort food! Hope you guys enjoy the recipe and happy eating!
Honey Ginger Soy Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 chicken legs about 0.3 kg (0.67 lbs) each
- 4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds for topping
- green onions chopped, for topping
Instructions
- To make the marinade, in a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger, and sesame oil and mix well. Make sure the honey is well mixed into the liquid.
- Wash the chicken legs with water and pat to dry using a kitchen paper towel. Gently lay both chickens flat in the bowl containing the marinade, making sure that the flat side of the chicken is submerged in the marinade (you may use a larger bowl or a bowl with flat bottom to do this). Using a spoon, pour some of the marinade at the bottom of the bowl on top of the chickens. Let marinate for 2 hours, turning them after 1 hour to marinade the other side of the chicken.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay aluminum foil on a baking sheet and grease with oil. Place the chickens on the aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack. After 30 minutes, turn the chickens and pour some more of the marinade on them. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes or until they are cooked thoroughly and the exterior is browned.
- To make the sauce, bring the the rest of the marinade to a boil and let boil for about 3 to 5 minutes until it reduces into a thick sauce. You can add some warm water if the sauce becomes too thick.
- Serve the chicken with some toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
OMGGGG THIS SOUNDS AND LOOKS SO BOMBBBB!!!
And it looks so easy to make too!!! I'll definitely try this out once my wisdom tooth extraction is healed LOL
I can already smell it just looking at the pictures!!! Yuuuuuummmmyyy!
This looks seriously tasty.