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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I just made this for dinner it was awesome
Awesome recipe. I have made it 2xs and then I made it with thick bone in pork chops adjusting the cook time. Family love love loves it. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
I just finished making this for dinner tonight. So simple, yet crispy, moist, and incredibly delicious! Love the combination of flavours! Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes! 🙂 Many thanks!
That looks like some dang tasty chicken! The brown sugar sounds like an interesting touch (:
170 degrees internal seems a bit high. 162 degrees internal works great then cover for 5 min after removing from oven so it will rise to 165 degrees. the 170 degrees will also rise in temp and getting dry chicken now comes into play. At least that has been my experience. I made this recipe and it was marvelous.
This was even more delicious than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be super yummy. I followed the recipe exactly except that I only had 3 bone-in skin-on thighs, but I made the same amount of sauce since everyone said it was so good. Oh my word!! This is the best chicken I have ever tasted. I will definitely be making it again.
I cannot stress enough the importance of a meat thermometer. I was worried about the sauce sticking like some mentioned, but, even though the chicken wasn’t quite as brown as I thought it should be, I used the thermometer and it was 178 degrees, so I knew it was done. The sauce was perfect, but if I had left it in until the skin on the chicken was the color I thought it should be, the sauce would have been pretty much burnt. Meat thermometers are very inexpensive, so make sure you have one for this dish.
This recipe lives up to being Damn delicious! We used four bone-in, skin-on thighs (trimmed of excess skin). Started with 1.5 tablespoons of butter; didn’t need to add more to saute the garlic; there were plenty of juices in the cast iron. Kept all of the other ingredients as listed. Yes, there was a bit more sauce than needed, but it was fabulous! Make sure to thoroughly brown both sides of the chicken – brown equals flavor. Parsley is pretty at the end, but not necessary.
I think this recipe would work well with any pork or poultry cuts (skinless/boneless, too). Thanks for the recipe; we’ll certainly repeat it, and in our home, that’s our gauge of deliciousness!
I love that you are in love with chicken thighs as much as I am!!!
GREAT recipe… I’ve made it several times and it is marvelous!!
Started Weight Watchers and I’m wondering if you’ve tried it with boneless, skinless thighs… the points difference is pretty significant. I really love the skin though in this recipe… it just doesn’t like my butt and gut!!
I want to make this tonight but I am worried it will be too sweet.. I’m not a fan of sweet chicken 🙁
I made this tonight and it came out perfectly and was DELICIOUS!! I used a cast iron skillet and added some leftover mushrooms and bacon in the sauce toward the end of the cooking time. I also substituted avocado oil for the butter tonsear the chicken but put a pat in for the sauce. We are at high altitude so I cooked about an extra 10 minutes and left in the hot oven a few minutes more to keep warm while I finished the sides. The chicken was perfectly done and skins carmelized nicely. This will be my new go to sauce – it’s just so good! Thank you!
Looks delicious!
Hi Chungah,
Have you ever used chicken legs & if so how long would you cook it?
I actually haven’t – sorry!
I tried this brown sugar and garlic chicken it was easy and tasted great. The whole family loved it. I would recommend this to anyone.
Tonight I cooked up the recipe in a large stainless skillet pan and not in the oven as directed following the searing. My oven was dirty from our family Christmas party so I decided to use a skillet only. Results, excellent moist chicken. Beware NO sauce as per the recipe. If a oven is used I am sure there would of been sauce.
First, I would like to say I am happy to find a recipe that is NOT overpowered with the one herb, Thyme. If not used correctly it can destroy a recipe. Thank you for only using a small amount because if the recipe would of called for more then that I would have passed up the recipe.
Second, candy mess yes! I would of preferred the sauce that I kept reading about which only had during the cooking process. I almost made extra sauce on the side because I figured since I did not place the chicken in the oven as per the recipe I knew I would not have sauce to serve with dinner. I was right. I made jasmine rice and steamed garlic fried green beans with olive oil. My husband, son and I felt we were eating Chinese because I used orange honey. The flavor with the herbs and brown sugar were amazing.
I removed the chicken as soon as it was done and transferred it to a glass dish as there was too much grease from the butter and fat from the chicken. Next time (1) tablespoon of butter is plenty. It’s a good thing I removed the skin off of 4 thighs and 4 I left the skin on. I cut all the fat off and left only enough to keep the top of the thigh meat moist. The chicken was moist and delicious.
I do not cook with teflon, but with Stainless as mentioned. I had to soak the pan after pouring the grease in the trash due to the candy affect I had and no sauce.
Last, I am sure the recipe would of left me with sauce if I had been able to us my oven. If anyone questions can I use a skillet only, yes you can. The chicken stays moist, but make extra sauce on the side to go with the chicken. I will be making this recipe again, but making changes as mentioned.
Thank you!
How different do you think it will be without the tablespoon of honey?
It will taste less sweet.
I made this tonight followed the recipe exactly, this was fantastic!! Thank you for sharing.
I wanted to like this recipe. But I ended up with a candied chicken mess in a pan. I followed your instructions exactly but it was a disaster. Also, I know you’re all about taking beautiful pics to showcase your food but it’s pretty misleading to show the recipe only with the chicken just after browning and adding to the pan but not after it has continued to cook for the remaining time in the oven.
The moment the chicken began to cool a hard candy crust formed and stuck to our teeth. It was inedible. Again, I followed the recipe to the letter, used a high quality stainless steel oven safe skillet and my oven is accurate in temperature. I’m racking my brain to figure out where it went awry when it seems hundreds of others have had success. Strange.
Megan, I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.
Additionally, these images were taken as the recipe was written so there is nothing misleading here.
I worry that perhaps your skillet was not the best to use in a recipe like this? I recommend using a nonstick pan instead. Hope that helps!
Love this! I’ve made this countless times and keep coming back for more! My only problem is, I’ve been trying to make the sauce thicker. Mine is always pretty runny. I’m still trying to tweak it to perfection.
I always make it with rice a roni chicken or pilaf flavor. The rice mixes with the sauce and it’s just heavenly!
Forgot to add in that I usually get the “picnic mix” of thighs and drumsticks. I’ve also made it with breasts with the skin. Pretty much any part of the chicken works great with this!
Can you sub the thighs for chicken breast and sub brown sugar for regular white sugar
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Not a blogger, nor do I comment on blogs. But oh my goodness, this was DELICIOUS and EASY! I used 4 large thighs but kept the mixture the same. Grilled white corn on my stove top grill, and sauteed brown mushrooms using some of the marinade for both. Served it with brown rice – YUM!
I tried again with boneless skinless which is typically what we use. For this recipe, hands down skin and bone! In my opinion, the flavor is not even close.
Thank you so much for the recipe!