Crispy Honey Sriracha Chicken (air fry, grill, oven)
by A crazy delicious Honey Sriracha Chicken with a little sticky-sweet-savory-spicy-tangy Keto Honey Sriracha Sauce is a flavor explosion that’s guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser! This sriracha chicken is super easy to make with 7 ingredients and no marinade required! And that means no wait time so you can jump to the good part (i.e. eat) FAST!
Crispy Honey Sriracha Chicken (Keto, Paleo, OMG YUM!)
Honey Sriracha Chicken is another new favorite in my household! When my husband said: “omg this is so good”, I knew I was on the right track. Who knew a dish tastes this amazing actually is super easy to make. The chicken is perfectly crispy and that honey sriracha sauce has a nice kick of spiciness to it but not overly spicy.
The first bite you get a shattering crisp chicken skin then you taste the perfectly juicy chicken thighs, dripped in a sticky-sweet-savory-spicy-tangy hot honey sauce. Best of all, you can make it paleo or keto …it’s totally up to you!
What you need to make the Best Honey Sriracha Chicken
- Honey or Keto honey (product link in the recipe card below)
- Sriracha sauce (product link in the recipe card below)
- Fresh lime
- Coconut aminos or tamari
- Chicken thighs (skin-on)
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder
- Scallions
I highly recommend using chicken thighs with skin-on for that ultimate shattering crisp chicken skin! I took a little time to debone the chicken thighs so that they are seasoned and crisped up evenly on all sides. My lemon chicken thighs with thyme, air fryer lemon chicken bites, and chicken thigh steak all use deboned chicken thighs with skin-on. Watch this story on how to debone chicken thighs.
The first bite you get a shattering crisp chicken skin then you taste the perfectly juicy chicken thighs, dripped in a sticky-sweet-savory-spicy-tangy hot honey sauce.
Honey Sriracha Sauce (Keto or Paleo)
My hot honey sauce has the perfect tang and with a nice spick kick to it but not “blow your head off” spicy. You can drizzle it on everything – from air fryer chicken wings to Thai beef salad.
Keto sriracha honey or Paleo with real honey
- Honey or Keto honey (product link in my recipe card)
- Lime juice
- Sriracha Sauce (product link in the recipe card)
- Coconut aminos or tamari
The only difference between the two (besides the products) is the quantity as keto honey is less sweet than the real honey. The keto honey also has a thicker consistency than the real honey so in a way, it makes the sauce more sticky.
How to make it in air fryer, stovetop, oven, or grill
No need to marinate so that means you get to eat faster, too!
- Use chicken thighs with skin-on and debone the chicken. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Air fryer at 400F for 10 minutes per side | Grill over medium-heat at 375F for 5-7 minutes per side | Pan fry for about 10 minutes total | Oven bake at 425F for 20 minutes then high broil for 3 minutes.
- Combine the sauce in a bowl.
- When the chicken is cooked through (the thermometer should read 175F), drizzle the honey sriracha sauce over and garnish with scallions.
What to serve with keto hot honey chicken
My honey sriracha chicken goes perfectly with salads, sandwiches, wraps, or tacos. Pair it with a big bowl of Asian Chopped Salad with crispy chow mein noodles, Asian Greens Tatsoi Salad, Broccoli pesto pasta salad, Japanese potato salad, Grilled peach salad with avocado, Asian cucumber salad, or watermelon fruit salad for a refreshing taste! And if you are looking for a dessert, check out my lavender honey ice cream!
Honey Sriracha Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken thighs, skin-on with or without bones
- Coarse sea salt, sprinkle (I use about ¼ tsp per thigh)
- Ground black pepper, sprinkle
- Garlic powder, sprinkle
- 3-4 bulbs scallions, chopped for serving
Sriracha Honey Sauce:
- 2.5 tbsp keto honey, or 2 tbsp regular honey
- 2-3 tsp sriracha sauce, I use yellow bird’s
- 2-3 tbsp lime juice, about 1 to 1.5 whole lime plus more for serving
- 2 tsp coconut aminos, or tamari
Instructions
- Debone the chicken thighs, using a small paring knife. Do a few shallow cuts on the meat to break the tendons so that the chicken stays flat in heat. If you aren’t sure how to do this, check out this web story.
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides.
- Air fry: Skin side down at 400F for 10 minutes. Flip (skin side up) for 10 minutes.
- Grill: Grease and preheat the grill to medium heat, 375F. Grill the chicken for 5-7 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through (An inserted thermometer should read 175F.)
- Stovetop: In a well-heated cast iron, pan fry the chicken skin side down for 5-6 minutes. Cook the flip side for 4 minutes. Use a splatter guard.
- Oven: Brush the wire rack with little oil. Bake at 425F, skin side up with a wire rack under, for 20 minutes. Then, set the oven to high broil for 3 minutes to give a nice golden color.
- In the meantime, make the sauce by combining the ingredients from honey to coconut aminos in a bowl. Taste and adjust. The keto honey has thicker consistency than the regular honey.
- Transfer the chicken to a large serving plate. Reserve some sauce on the side for serving and pour the rest all over the chicken. Sprinkle over scallion. Serve hot and immediately with extra lime wedges on the side.
Notes
- The keto honey has thicker consistency than the regular honey. If you use the regular honey and prefer a thicker texture, slightly warm the sauce in a sauce pan and stir-in 0.5 tsp arrowroot or tapioca starch.
- I highly recommend using chicken thighs with skin-on for that ultimate shattering crisp chicken skin! I took a little time to debone the chicken thighs so that they are seasoned and crisped up evenly on all sides.
- The nutritional label is estimated based on using Keto honey.
Nutrition
More Delicious Chicken Recipes for you!
- Air fryer whole chicken
- Chicken and broccoli stir-fry
- Moo shu chicken with low carb pancakes
- Taiwanese fried chicken cutlets (paleo or keto)
- The Best Black Pepper Chicken
- Chicken Egg Drop Soup
- Chicken Yakitori
- Lemon pepper wings air fryer
- Chinese Sesame Chicken (a stir-fry dish)
- Baked or Air Fried Sesame Chicken (1 dish 3 ways!)
This was a big hit in our home last night . Everyone loved this crispy chicken with lots of flavour . It was so simple and easy to make (it helped that the butcher had cut out the bones for me ) . The recipe is printed out and added to our favourites . ChihYu, you opened the world of GF Asian cooking to me . So so good . Thank you from the bottom of of my heart .
Thank you, Mimi! I appreciate it very much!
Loved this recipe! The video on how to debone the chicken thighs was informative and I’m now confident in doing this. Very easy dish and so flavourful. Great balance of sweet and spicy. One of my new favourites!
This recipe is amazing. I found this recipe last year and this is the ONLY way I will eat chicken thighs now. The sauce is delicious and I always make extra because a drizzle on my chicken is never enough. I do have to tweak the recipe and cook for about 10 minutes longer and broil for about 5-6 minutes because I get jumbo chicken thighs. Little extra time, but tastes delicious!
A new favorite! So delicious.