Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
This quick and easy Honey Garlic Chicken is filled with seasonal veggies in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce that is finger-licking good!
This quick and easy Honey Garlic Chicken is filled with seasonal veggies in a sweet and slightly spicy sauce that is finger-licking good!
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 white onion chopped
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-s
- 2 tbsp land o lakes spreadable butter with olive oil and divided
- 1 medium zucchini sliced into half moons
- 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/4 tsp sesame seeds
- Carbohydrate 87.03409188227 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 6.92043820026321 g
- Fiber 11.5325109989147 g
- Protein 17.9122529971137 g
- Saturated Fat 1.01340494267216 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1354g)
- Sodium 220.940942681195 mg
- Sugar 75.5015808833553 g
- Trans Fat 0.879651667551252 g
- Calories 426 calories
Step-by-step
- In a small bowl combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In another medium bowl, season the chicken with the salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Add the corn starch and toss to coat evenly. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat and add 1 tbsp Land O Lakes® Spreadable Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt. Stir fry the zucchini, bell pepper and onion in the skillet until the veggies are lightly charred and tender. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tbsp of butter with olive oil and sea salt to the skillet along with the sesame oil over medium high heat. Cook the chicken in the hot skillet until golden brown on all sides and cooked through. Add the garlic and ginger to the chicken and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens. Return the veggies to the skillet and toss to coat and heat through. Garnish with sesame seeds and enjoy over hot rice or noodles if desired.
The Cornstarch Coating Method
Crowding the skillet remains the single most common error when making a stir fry. Overloading the pan traps steam, dropping surface temperatures below the threshold needed for the Maillard reaction. Chicken thighs require high, dry heat to brown properly. Tossing the poultry pieces in cornstarch before cooking serves a dual purpose. The starch absorbs excess surface moisture from the meat and hydrates upon contact with the pan oil. This reaction forms a crisp exterior crust while protecting the interior from drying out. Furthermore, residual starch left on the meat acts as a thickening agent when the liquid ingredients enter the pan. As the honey and soy mixture reaches a boil, the suspended starch molecules swell and gelatinize, transforming a thin pan liquid into a glossy coating that adheres tightly to each piece of protein.
Managing Heat and Yields
Maintaining high heat throughout the cooking process prevents vegetables from turning mushy. Zucchini and bell peppers should develop light char marks within three to four minutes of pan contact, retaining a crisp interior crunch. When scaling this recipe for larger portions, cook the chicken and vegetables in separate, sequential batches rather than doubling the pan volume at once. Overloading drops the pan temperature permanently, stewing the ingredients instead of searing them. Keep cooked batches warm on a rimmed baking sheet in a low oven set to 200 degrees Fahrenheit while finishing the remaining portions.
