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!)
I made this in the airfryer and it turned out crispy and juicy. The sauce was easy and delicious! I’ll be making this again, thank you!
Just made this! The beauty and simplicity of this recipe is where it’s at and it doesn’t compromise with flavor.
So so so delicious
Everything I’ve tried gets a big thumbs up!!!
I don’t have an air-fryer so used the oven. It was SOOOO DELISHHHH! The honey sriracha sauce was perfection. My husband loved it, too! Will definitely be making again.
That’s awesome! Thank you for sharing!
I am obsessed with this recipe! Since finding out I was gluten-intolerant five years ago, I have gravely missed Asian cuisine. It’s impossible to find paleo or gluten-friendly Asian takeout where I live so the only way I can get it is if I make it myself. Your wonderful recipes have made that a possibility for me. They are absolutely delicious, healthy. Your cooking techniques are brilliant and practical for my family.
Thank you so much, Mandy!
My husband will not eat chicken thighs but he will eat this dish!! It’s so simple and delicious.
Another winner!! I made some changes but kept it very similar overall. I used skinless chicken breast sliced thin, dipped in tapioca, egg, then Panko breadcrumbs and lightly fried in avocado oil on the cast iron. Delicious, easy, and can’t wait to make again!
I made this tonight and it was PERFECT. The chicken thighs were crispy, the sauce was delicious but most importantly it was so easy!! My husband said this dish should be in our regular rotation. Try it, you won’t regret it.
Thank you!
I’ve made ChihYu’s Crispy Honey Sriracha Chicken several times now and it’s one of my family’s favorites! I cook the chicken on our grill, as I don’t have an air fryer, and it turns out perfect every time. The heat level is easy to adjust depending on how much sriracha and honey you use and I personally enjoy the sauce warmed for serving. I highly recommend you try this dish!
You did it again, every recipe I try from you instantly becomes the new family favorite. But this one, hits it out of a ballpark. SOOOOO GOOD. And SUPER easy! Omg yum. The sauce is super easy to adjust in terms of sweetness and spice level.
Before your recipes I was a hopeless cook and every dinner gave me anxiety. These days my husband says I should open up a restaurant with what I’ve been cooking (which are mainly your recipes!)
Oh wow, Jenn! Thank you so much. I’m so touched!
How awesome that you’ve included air fry, oven and grilling options! I’m definitely going with the air fryer. Just need some chicken thighs first!
I didn’t know xylitol honey was a thing! This sounds so delicious. I need to try it soon!
This dish is incredible! The whole family loves it!
The flavor was great, but I had to make several changes based on my thighs. I used jumbo chicken thighs and had to oven cook them closer to 40 minutes to reach temperature. I also broiled them on high for 12 minutes for the skin to crisp up, but ended up with the thighs still not crisping the whole way. Next time, I’ll either flatten the thighs or will try another store to find regular chicken thighs. I quadrupled the sauce as well using regular honey and it was runny, but very tasty and left a nice sauce to mop up with the chicken.
Thanks for sharing. If you didn’t flatten the thighs the cook time will be much longer. As I suggested, please debone the chicken thighs so that the chicken will be most tasty and the cook time will be more even, too.
Yum!! The sriracha and honey are so delicious with the chicken! And I love that it’s s easy to make!
The skin is just so perfect and crispy! Love the flavors as well.
I made the lemon chicken bites again tonight in my airfryer.
The over night marinade makes it super tender and flavorful.
Keep the great recipes coming and thank you !
Thank you, Lisa! That’s a great one and it’s similar to this Honey sriracha chicken because they both use deboned and skin-on chicken thighs! 😀 YUM!
Can you do wirh bone in?
Hey Renea, I do not recommend it as it won’t taste as Amazing and I want the best for my readers. Be that as it may, if you insist, I tested in an air fryer at 380F for 15 mins (skin-side down) then 10-12 mins (flip skin-side up). If you use oven, the temperature and cook time will be different. Might be higher temperature and longer bake time. Thanks.
This recipe is easy and sooooo delicious!! I didn’t change a thing. All 3 of my kids loved it (they are teenagers.)
Awesome! So happy to hear! Yay!
We made it last night and my husband and kiddos went crazy about this dish! It’s got the tang, little spicy, but not overly spice and sweet. This weekend, we are going it make it outdoor grill for friends and family. It’s gonna be a hit! Thank you!
Fantastic! Outdoor grill will be perfect!