This Honey Butter Chicken Breast recipe is super simple and requires only a handful of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
It's a sweet, savory, tender, melt-in-your-mouth chicken recipe that's bursting with flavor. It's a perfect meal for busy weeknights, lazy weekends, or when you're having friends over for dinner.
As well as being so straightforward and mouthwateringly delicious, this Honey Butter Chicken Breast recipe is incredibly versatile. You can serve it with a side of veggies, mashed potatoes, rice, or a green salad.
Ingredient Notes
These notes are here to help make this recipe a success; they cover some but not all ingredients. For a complete ingredient list, check out the recipe card below.
Chicken breasts: The recipe takes 2 large chicken breasts and cuts them into cutlets. This helps them cook more quickly and, therefore, stay more juicy. You can buy fillets at the grocery store and skip the cutting stage.
Honey: This adds a deep sweetness to the sauce. Use any honey that you enjoy. If you lightly coat your ⅓ cup measure with oil, the honey will pour out easily ( I use around ¼ teaspoon of oil to coat the cup).
Garlic: Feel free to add more garlic to the sauce; like I always say, we measure garlic with your heart!
Rice Wine Vinegar: This helps to balance the sweetness of the honey and the richness of the butter. You can use a white wine vinegar instead.
Fresh thyme: This is added towards the end of the cooking and imparts a delightful flavor to the chicken. If you only have dried thyme, add half the amount.
Recipe Tips
We've tested this recipe at least 3 times to ensure it works well for you. Have a look at our tips for getting the best dish you can!
- When cutting the chicken into fillets, pat them dry with kitchen paper first; this stops them from sliding around the chopping board.
- Use a sharp knife and cut the chicken horizontally as though opening it up like a book (see photo above).
- If the chicken breast fillet isn't very even, you can cover it with parchment paper and flatten it slightly with the base of a heavy skillet or smooth meat mallet.
- The chicken breast fillets will only need 3-4 minutes a side as they are thinner than a whole chicken breast.
- Tent the chicken with foil when you remove it from the pan; this keeps it warm and helps tenderize it.
- Lightly coat the one-third cup with oil before measuring the honey; it will slide out easily.
- When making the sauce, don't have the heat too high; you can quickly burn the honey and leave the chicken tasting bitter. Medium-low heat is best.
- Taste and adjust your seasonings once you have finished cooking. Butter varies in salt content, so season to your family's tastes.
Why You'll Love These Honey Butter Chicken Breasts
- They are ready in under 30 minutes.
- There is less washing up as the chicken and sauce cook in the same skillet.
- It goes with so many different sides.
- It is economical as you can feed a family of four with just two chicken breasts, keeping your dinner budget-friendly.
- It's easy to make, and you likely have all the ingredients in your pantry/refrigerator.
Recipe Adaptions
These are all just suggestions and things that have worked in our test kitchen, but it is your dinner, so adapt it to suit your family. That is the beauty of cooking; we can all create our own delicious meals.
- For those who prefer chicken thighs, you can easily swap them for the chicken breasts in this recipe. Keep in mind that they will need to cook for 20-25 minutes over medium heat.
- You can substitute pork chops or salmon fillets for the chicken breasts. They will cook in a similar time to the chicken breasts.
- Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup.
- Swap the thyme for rosemary.
- A friend gave me some truffle honey the other day It was perfect for this recipe! The sauce had a wonderful truffle taste which worked so well with the butter.
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Serving Suggestions For Honey Butter Chicken
Sides: The sweet and tang sauce is excellent for serving with crispy potatoes and veg. Try something simple like buttered carrots and corn or a rice dish like this Garlic Bacon Rice or Turkish Pilaf.
Or serve a green salad and some crusty bread.
Wine: A dry Reisling or an unoaked Chardonnay would be perfect for balancing the sweet richness of the sauce. A Grenache would be the ideal fruity wine if you fancy red wine.
Enjoy x
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Get the Recipe
Honey Butter Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the sauce
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
Prepare the chicken
- Lay the chicken breasts flat on the board and use kitchen paper to pat them dry.2 chicken breasts
- Keeping the blade flat and parallel to the chopping board, use a large sharp knife to cut sideways through the breast.
- Carefully cut through until you have two plump cutlets.
- Repeat with the second chicken breast.
- If the chicken breast cutlets isn't very even, you can cover it with parchment paper and flatten it slightly with the base of a heavy skillet or smooth meat mallet.
- Add the flour to a shallow dish.¼ cup all-purpose flour
- Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper on both sides, then coat them lightly in the flour.½ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon black pepper
To cook the dish
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Cook chicken cutlets for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Remove the cutlets to a plate, tent with foil, and set aside.
- Place the skillet back over medium-low heat without wiping it out, and add the butter and sliced garlic. Allow the butter to melt.5 tablespoons butter2 cloves garlic
- While the butter is melting, pour a small amount of olive oil into your ⅓ cup measure; swirl the oil around the cup and then measure out the honey. Pour the honey into the melted butter.¼ teaspoon olive oil⅓ cup honey
- Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and fresh thyme to the sauce.1 tablespoon soy sauce1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- Bubble gently for 2 minutes, then return the chicken to the pan and spoon the sauce over. Cook for 1 minute more.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition is per serving
Sam says
Due to a food allergy that half my family has, we eat a LOT of chicken. This delicious honey butter chicken was an easy and delightful twist on our usual baked chicken breast.
Bonnie Sears says
This was quick and delicious
Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts says
I am so happy you enjoyed it Bonnie 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment.
Cx
Francesca says
I absolutely loved how easy yet delicious these Honey Butter Chicken Breasts turned out. It was like I got restaurant quality flavor.
Amy says
Very good! I made extra sauce because we're saucy people. We truly enjoyed this recipe. Thank you!
Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts says
So happy you enjoyed it Amy.
Extra sauce sounds like a great plan!
Cx
Leoni says
I made this honey butter chicken recipe on my Blackstone Griddle. It was so good and it turned out perfect! Thank you for a great chicken recipe.
Lynn says
This chicken was so delicious and so easy to make! My family loved it!
Mona says
I loved this honey butter and now want to ladle it on everything! Do you think I could make this recipe with boneless chicken thighs?
Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts says
Hi Mona,
So happy you loved it!! It is one of my kids absolute favorite chicken recipes (after chicken fried chicken)
You can definitely use chicken thighs.
Follow the recipe in the same way, except cook the chicken for 15-20 minutes so the thighs are fully cooked.
Cx