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 didn’t have oregano or parsley handy, so i used dried thyme, fresh cilantro and fresh Basil. I tossed the thighs in s&p seasoned flour rather than just s&p before browning. I like my chicken crisp on the outside, but moist and flavourful inside, and was worried it would dry out in the oven, so i added a bottle of IPA before putting in the oven. It’s fall here, which screams maple, so instead of adding honey with brown sugar, I poured maple syrup over the chicken after the IPA
.when done I removed the chicken, and boiled the IPA maple syrup sauce down to a syrupy consistency and drizzled over the chicken. I served it with Parmesan garlic mashed potatoes and rapini tossed with evoo, garlic and chili flakes to contrast the syrup and brown sugar of the chicken
Served with J Lohr chardonnay
Everyone raved. Said it was better than a restaurant!
Just made this for my family for dinner and it was outstanding. I used chicken breast instead, and it was outstanding. I had defrosted frozen chicken and my wife thought I had used fresh from the store because of the juicieness and flavor. Kids loved it too, so this will be made again.
We just had this for lunch, and, I must thank you for such an easy and delicious recipie. I usually do take the skin off and use boneless, however, I followed your recipie exactly, and, it was very moist and wonderful.
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Just baked this…it is so good! I used 4 bone-in skin-on large thighs ( it’s just hubby and myself), but kept the same amounts of sauce so I would have plenty. I also used a cast iron skillet…that’s what I always use as the taste can’t be beat!
To those who have ended up with a burnt mess…I suggest cooling your pan a little before adding the brown sugar as it hardens as it is cooked, plus using an oven thermometer and watching your time. Deliciousness!
I made this a few months ago and it was a big hit. Tonight, I made it for my whole family by doubling the recipe. They were blown away by this dish, and I was told that it tasted like something you could get at a great restaurant. Thanks so much–this will be a recurring favorite!
This is soo good. Thank you.
My husband and I loved it! Used boneless, skinless thighs and served with fresh green beans from my garden with a cheesy pasta side dish! There were no leftovers, thank you for another Damn Delicious recipe!!!
If I use tenderloins do I need to still cook in the skillet before baking? I’m going to make this tonight 🙂
It’s really up to you – I always like a nice sear since it brings in so much flavor but it all depends on you and your personal preferences.
i can’t praise this sauce recipe enough!! I had a whole chicken I needed to cook for a meal with another couple, but I really wanted something new to do with it. This recipe looked so yummy, so I decided to use your idea about making extra sauce and using it on other things. I cooked the whole chicken in my electric pressure cooker, then doubled the rest of your ingredients and used the sauce to oven-roast vegetables (3 colored bell peppers, 2 onions, a bag of frozen broccoli florets, 5 carrots, all sliced fajita-style) at the same temp and length of time as your recipe. Chunked up the chicken, added it to the roasted vegetables and sauce and tossed it all together, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, then served it over a bed of quinoa cooked in the stock from the chicken. My house smelled heavenly, everyone raved over the meal, my husband ate three helpings, and the other male ate two!! The only bad part was I had no leftovers!! This sauce is sooo good, light and fresh, and such a yummy blend of sweet and savory. My husband asked me to make this chicken on a regular basis, so it’s going into the dinner rotation. I’m looking at your website for more of your easy and delicious recipes, and I have now subscribed to your blog!! My heartfelt thanks!!
found this on Pinterest and I’m going to try it out tonight :). Random question – in this step, what exactly are we removing from the heat or pan? Thanks.
Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
This is referring to the entire pan and its contents.
so you’re supposed to remove it from heat (turn heat down or off), add the spices, and then put into the oven?
Yes, that’s exactly right.
I forgot that step and had a charred mess, lol. Redid the recipe but the sauce was kind of watery … boyfriend thinks that I didn’t sear the chicken long enough. The sauce should be almost solid near the end, I believe?
Liz, it’s not actually going to be completely solid but it should definitely have more of a glaze texture.
I made this tonight- it was fabulous!! I made it with boneless and skinless chicken thighs- just had to decrease the cooking time a bit. Still tasted wonderful!
Hi im wondering if this will taste just as good with out the honey?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer this with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
I am allergic to honey so i used molasses as an alternative came out good to me
Made this tonight and the sugar turned into a paste did I do something wrong?
I’m not entirely sure – that certainly shouldn’t be happening though!
excellent! delish!
This sounds delicious and I always buy chicken thighs as they are so moist whereas breast is tasteless and often dry. I think eight thighs for eight people is not enough, I always cook two thighs per person with any recipe.
I can’t believe some of the silly q
Made this tonight – it was delicious!! There are just two of us, I made six thighs and we decided no need to cook tomorrow because we’re stoked to have leftovers. Thanks for a great recipe.
Finally! A great chicken recipe! I found you today on Pintrest & boy am I grateful. I read & re-read this recipe today & could not believe I had every single ingredient! Then I read every comment & of course decided, “That’s what’s for dinner!” It was only my son & I, so I was excited that I wouldn’t be like some of the commenters & that we’d have no leftovers. Well, a friend of his came over surprisingly. we ALL LOVED IT SO MUCH! And the sauce on the mashed potatos…awesome. When do you love mashed potatos without gravy? Well with sauce from this chicken, it’s just as good as gravy if not BETTER! Thank you so much for this posting! Making again soon for my daughter because….we had no leftovers.
i have this in the oven now. Hope it is as good as everyone says. One question. Are you supposed to leave all the fat in the sauce that is left after you brown the chicken? I took most of it out. Looked like a lot of fat.
That really depends on personal preference, but if your chicken thighs rendered a ton of fat, I recommend draining as needed.
Awesome. Making this a third time as I compose this email.
So easy.
Thank You