Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
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The best and easiest chicken ever, baked to crisp-tender perfection along with the most amazing sweet garlic sauce!
So I’ve been on a major chicken-thigh-kick lately. It’s weird because I never even thought I liked chicken thighs until I used it in this slow cooker honey sesame chicken. From there, I was hooked. But then I used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for the very first time in this pan roasted lemon chicken and I was in heaven.
From the honey mustard chicken to the chicken and mushroom skillet, I’m just loving the whole sear-first-then-roast method since it makes the most crisp-tender chicken thighs ever. It’s unbelievably juicy and yet you still have that amazing crust on top too.
And this sweet brown sugar, garlicky crust is to die for. I seriously wanted to guzzle it down. Or triple the sauce so I can serve it over everything and anything. I’m actually bummed that I didn’t because there was absolutely no sauce leftover here. I licked the plate clean and a single drop wasn’t left at all!
Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Stir in brown sugar, honey, oregano, thyme and basil until well combined. Return chicken to the skillet.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Super easy to make and was sooooo delicious!!
AMAZING
Delicious added maple syrup instead of honey and it was awesome!
Wow! This was so tasty and easy.
I cooked it in the dutch oven with the lid off. Next time I will add more garlic, for my taste. At the same time I made a side of baked potato wedges, so it was great use of my time. This recipe is a keeper!
Absolutely amazing!!! It was so flavorful and my husband loved it, which is saying a lot. Will definitely add this to future meal plans.
We’ve made this countless times with bone-in and boneless thighs. Bone-in is best, but it works with boneless well also. I don’t recommend using breasts-you’ll want the extra fat to make these savory and delicious! And some mashed potatoes or rice to soak it up.
I can’t wait to try this! Such great reviews! I have 2 questions. Can I cook this in my Dutch oven? If so, should I leave the lid off?
This is my family’s favorite recipe! It is AMAZING!
great recipe, I used Perdue perfect portions (5 pack of small skinless boneless chicken breasts, Italian) because they were on sale. I only added basil. I don’t know why the recipe says to cook to 175! I took out at 160 especially b/c I had such thin breasts and I didn’t want to overcook them and have them dry out. I doubled the brown sugar and honey and the sauce was so good over the yellow rice I made to go with it!
Best chicken thigh recipe ever! Have made this quite a few times and my family loves it!
Damn Delicious, this recipe is!
Five stars for sure. One pan, fast, inexpensive, easy, and delicious. Tips: Serve it up with some broccoli, and rice to soak up all that extra delicious sauce, and give it that Asian vibe! This recipe works really well with salmon too – with adjusted cooking times of course. Make a bulk amount of the brown sugar seasoning and keep it in your pantry, because it is so versatile. Try adding red pepper flakes for a spicier variation. If you’re a garlic head try adding a little bit of garlic powder directly to the meat as well. Happy cooking!
I’ve made this many times and it has become a regular dish for me. Turns out so good every time! It’s also really easy to make and clean up.
I’m going to make this tomorrow! What do we think the cook time would be for boneless skinless chicken thighs?
The cooking time would be a little bit less but as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Whatever you do- read recipe thoroughly. I have 2 under 2 and missed reading… remove from heat before adding the brown sugar and honey. I have delicious, savoury caramel. I’ll still eat it though… because I have 2 under 2.
So sorry that happened, Teresa! But luckily caramel isn’t the worst! 🙂
I’m wanting to make this tonight for dinner tonight what are good sides to go with it?
My absolute favorite side dish is the garlic parmesan roasted potatoes. But please feel free to check out all of my side dish recipes here.
I tripled the sauce and had to leave out the oregano (guest sensitivities), but this does cook up well. It sounds super sweet but actually turns out just tasty. The chicken disappeared quickly, will make this again!
i
Great!
Hi. I’m loving this recipe but there were a few misleading things in your directions. You should have said not to drain the pan when setting aside the seared chicken. I made the same mistake as someone else on here & you told them it was dry because they didn’t sear it. Luckily I had reserved the drippings. The next error was not mentioning cook uncovered in the oven or which side to place up when returning the chicken to the pan. I also added an extra clove of garlic because they were small cloves. Otherwise it smells divine & based on the reviews I’m sure I will love the finished product!
Linda, thank you so much for your feedback, and for trying my recipe! This is one of my faves.
I should mention though that recipes typically specify if pan drippings should be drained or if a cover is needed. 🙂
Can you use skinless and boneless chicken thighs?
Yes, of course, but please be mindful of the change in cook time.
I made the honey baked sesame chicken thighs a couple months ago and was revisiting the website so I could make it again… I came across this recipe and decided to try… my little family if 5 ate ALL 13 thighs!! It was fantastic!! The only downside – my husband didn’t have any leftovers to bring to work next day.
Loved it. Delicious, especially the sauce.
Happy to hear it!
We called this a ‘winner winner chicken dinner’! My son could not believe how moist the chicken was and could not believe I didn’t dry it out! I doubled the sauce – we couldn’t stop dipping our potatoes in it. Definitely will make it again!
Thank you, Kim!
Made this last night for dinner. Flavor was amazing. Quick question though, do you do anything to get some of that sauce on the tops of the chicken while its baking? I mixed the sauce ingredients in the pan and added the chicken back in with the skin facing up and popped in the oven. The bottoms got healthy doses of the sauce, but not the tops. Is that what is intended?
Yes, but you can always spoon the sauce on the tops of the chicken once it comes out of the oven. 🙂