Honey Soy Hen | Diethood

This sticky honey soy baked hen is a fast dinner thought exploding with Asian-style taste due to a simple selfmade marinade. Umami-rich soy sauce, candy honey, sesame, and garlic do all types of scrumptious issues to those juicy hen drumsticks!

Every time I’m after a ton of taste on a busy weeknight, I flip to recipes like my honey garlic hen and the honey soy marinade that I’m sharing right here. When you love your hen oven-baked, attempt my baked honey mustard hen, too.

With simply 5 minutes of prep and family-friendly flavors, I like this baked honey soy hen. It’s fast and tremendous versatile. I’ll toss it over white rice with a aspect of tender-crisp veggies and everybody gobbles it up. It’s additionally excellent over noodles or chopped up chilly in salads the following day!

When you love juicy hen smothered with sauce (is that even an “if”?) this honey soy hen has your subsequent weeknight sorted.

Why We Love Honey Soy Hen

Juicy inside, crispy outdoors. The oven does many of the work on this recipe, and the outcomes are scrumptious. These marinated hen drumsticks bake up browned and crispy, trapping the flavour and juices. 

Fast to prep. It takes 5 minutes to get your hen soaking within the marinade. After a brief stint within the fridge, it’s prepared for the oven.

Taste-packed. The marinade is straightforward however tremendous tasty. Candy honey and umami-packed soy sauce are a mouthwatering mixture. In fact, there’s loads of garlic in there, plus somewhat Shaoxing wine and sesame oil. Marinating the hen first locks in all that Asian-inspired taste.

Recipe Substances 

I nearly at all times make this recipe with bone-in, skin-on hen, and the honey soy marinade wants only a few flavor-building components. Listed below are some fast notes on what you’ll want. You’ll discover the complete listing within the printable recipe card after the publish. 

• Asian Cooking Wine – Select a reasonable rice wine for cooking, like Chinese language Shaoxing wine. I often decide up a bottle from my favourite Asian market. When you can’t discover it the place you might be, dry sherry or dry white wine are good substitutes. When you’d choose to skip the wine altogether, use hen inventory as a substitute.
• Honey – Within the fall, I’ll generally substitute honey with actual maple syrup to make maple soy hen (much like these oven-baked hen thighs).
• Soy Sauce – You should use low-sodium or common soy sauce. If you’ll want to, exchange soy sauce with gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos.
• Sesame Oil – Sesame oil provides a singular Asian taste to this marinade, so it’s arduous to switch. I like to recommend toasted sesame oil for extra depth of taste.
• Seasonings – I preserve it easy with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. You may substitute contemporary garlic for garlic powder in case you choose (often about 1 clove per ¼-½ teaspoon of powder).

What Hen Ought to I Use?

Right here, I exploit drumsticks, however you should use bone-in hen thighs if that’s what you favor. Bone-in hen stays tremendous tender within the oven and is tougher to overcook. Boneless, skinless hen breasts or thighs work, too, holding in thoughts that they may bake up quicker and dry out faster.

The right way to Make Honey Soy Hen

Even in case you’re new to the kitchen, it doesn’t get simpler than this oven baked honey soy hen! There are solely three steps concerned, and two-thirds of them are hands-free. That’s some kitchen math I can get behind.

1. Marinate the hen. Begin by whisking collectively the marinade components. Add them to a Ziploc bag with the hen and let that marinate within the fridge.
2. Bake. Subsequent, the marinated hen goes right into a 400ºF oven beneath foil for about 40 minutes.
3. Broil. End the hen uncovered beneath the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp up the pores and skin. Your honey hen is able to serve!

Ceaselessly Requested Questions

Can I Thicken the Honey Soy Marinade?

You probably have further honey soy marinade (not the marinade that touched the uncooked hen– this you’ll wish to discard), add the marinade to a saucepan over medium warmth. Whisk cornstarch and water to make a slurry, stir it into the marinade, and simmer to thicken. I like making further marinade as a result of it’s excellent to drizzle over the hen when serving!

Serving Strategies

For a simple weeknight meal, this honey soy hen goes nice with a pile of jeera rice and a aspect of greens, like steamed broccoli, sesame snap peas, or an Asian cucumber salad. If I’m actually leaning into the Asian theme, I’ll pair this hen with kimchi rice and crispy air fryer veggie spring rolls, or serve it over a mattress of stir fry noodles.

As a tasty consolation meals dinner, juicy honey soy hen can be scrumptious with mashed potatoes or mashed candy potatoes.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Leftovers will final within the fridge for 3-4 days (nice for meal prep!) or for as much as 3 months within the freezer. Thaw within the fridge earlier than reheating.

I prefer to reheat hen in a 350ºF oven beneath foil to forestall drying out. I choose this over the microwave, which works however makes the hen a bit rubbery.

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