Sweet Soy and Garlic Chicken Recipe

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This EASY Sweet Soy and Garlic Chicken is slightly sweet, tangy, savory, nutty, with a touch of heat. It’s a quick dinner that you can prepare days ahead & it takes only minutes to cook!

Sometimes I feel like a short order cook in my house.  But this recipe is one of the go-to easy chicken recipes that everyone in my family loves! This EASY Sweet Chili, Soy Sauce and Garlic Chicken is quick to make and mouth wateringly yummy! 

The fantastic marinade and sauce is slightly sweet, tangy, savory, nutty, with a touch of heat.  It will please any ‘chicken-is-boring’ naysayers and kids love it for the sweet and savory sauce.  Win Win in my house! 

This chicken recipe is part of my Collection of 4 Make Ahead Marinated Chicken Recipes in 30 Minutes.  It takes just minutes to prepare, minutes to cook, and everyone will love it!!

Ideas for Serving Sweet Soy and Garlic Chicken

Raise your hand 🖐 if you need more easy recipes that are versatile and flexible for your busy life!  Well, this recipe falls right in that camp, since I have ideas for serving cold or hot. 

Serving this chicken cold makes it a great meal prep option to bring to work the next day or just a lighter dinner.  It would be great with a flavorful creamy and crunchy Sesame Asian Coleslaw Salad or a nutty and hearty Veggie Quinoa Salad.

For serving hot for dinner, you can certainly go real simple with roasted veggies or pairing it with long grain or jasmine rice, brown rice, or even quinoa.  Or, how about a Super Cheesy Cauliflower Rice? 

Ok, let’s get prepping!

Quick note!  This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you purchase from them.  This commission is what helps me keep this blog afloat :).  But, I also share these links because I have used the products, genuinely love them, and want you to know exactly what I used. 

Simple Ingredients and Substitutions

• Soy Sauce – I used regular Soy Sauce, but you can also use dark soy sauce, light or low sodium soy sauce, or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce.
• Sweet Chili Sauce – This is a sweet sauce with flecks of red chile in it, but it’s not hot, it mostly sweet and a little tangy. You can find this in the asian ingredients aisle. You can also create your own using 2 tablespoon honey (or brown sugar), 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 3 teaspoons rice vinegar (or squeeze of lime juice or lemon juice), ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, a teaspoon of sesame oil, and a pinch of salt (a pinch of black pepper is optional).
• Sesame Oil – Sesame Oil adds so much deep flavor and a little goes a long way. If you don’t have it, just eliminate it altogether. Or you can substitute with another deep umami ingredient, such as oyster sauce.
• Fresh Garlic, minced – Fresh garlic cloves are best, but you can buy pre-minced garlic to save time or mince it in bulk and freeze it for use when you need it! If you do not have fresh garlic, you can substitute dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
• Sesame Seeds 1 teaspoon for marinade, 1 teaspoon for garnish
• Boneless skinless Chicken Breast – I always have raw chicken breasts in the freezer as they can last up to 12 months if in an airtight container or packaging. Check out all of my tips on Prepping and Storing Chicken for Easier Dinners. You can substitute in Chicken tenders or skinless boneless chicken thighs.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – The oil is needed for making sure the chicken doesn’t stick to the pan during searing. You can use any vegetable oil for this purpose.
• Fresh Cilantro for garnish (optional) – If you’re not a cilantro fan, you could use finely sliced scallions or green onions or parsley.

See the full recipe card for quantities. 

Prep-Ahead Steps for Soy Garlic Chicken

We are all extremely busy and making dinner during the week can be overwhelming. Here are the steps you prepare in the day(s) in advance and store in the fridge as your meal Kit… (See the recipe below for more details).

For marinating the chicken, you will need an airtight container. It can be a storage bag or glass container with a lid that seals.

For simplicity, I kept the chicken breasts whole and then I slice them and serve with the sauce poured over top. However, you could also cut the breasts into bite size chicken pieces, marinate, then cook it and serve it with the sauce over rice or noodles.

You can marinade the chicken in the sauce for 1 hour up to 8 hours.  You can also freeze the chicken in marinade at this point and use it up to 4 months later!

Cooking Steps

When you’re ready to cook, the best way to remove the marinated chicken breasts from the marinade is using tongs, saving the marinade to cook later. 

Tip: For best results, try to get as much of the marinade off of the chicken as possible before searing, even damping it on paper towel if necessary. Because of the sugar in the sauce, any excess will burn very easily and leave a bitter flavor in your sauce. It’s ok to get a little char on the chicken itself, just not the extra sauce at this point in the recipe.

Add the chicken to a preheated skillet over medium high heat with olive oil.  Sear for 2-3 minutes until the the chicken starts to char.

The chicken is fully cooked when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 F degrees (using an instant-read thermometer). The chicken will feel firm with a little give. Uncover, turn off the heat and move the skillet off the hot burner. Let rest for a few minutes.

Then remove the chicken and slice it on a bias in ¾ inch slices. This should give you about 5-6 slices.

Serve this delicious garlic soy sauce chicken with rice or veggies, spoon some of the sauce on top or serve it on the side. Then garnish with sesame seeds and fresh cilantro leaves

ENJOY!

😍 Carrie

FAQs for Soy Sauce and Garlic Chicken Recipe

Can I Use Chicken Thighs Instead Of Breasts?

Yes, you can use skinless boneless juicy chicken thighs instead of or in addition to the chicken breasts in this recipe. The instructions are the same but the cooking time could be faster as breasts are generally larger than thighs.  

How can I make a spicy version of this recipe?

If your taste buds need more of a kick, you could add red pepper flakes or chopped chili peppers to the marinade and sauce.

What can I do with leftover chicken from this recipe?

If you have any leftovers from this soy sauce garlic chicken recipe, it would be fantastic warm or cold on a salad or in a rice bowl.  You can also make a quick stir fry of veggies and then just add this chicken at the end to extend it into another meal.