Description
This Baked Balsamic Chicken recipe features juicy, tender chicken thighs or drumsticks baked in a sticky, flavorful balsamic, honey, and soy sauce glaze. It’s an easy oven-baked dish that requires no marinating and delivers a perfect balance of sweet and savory with a beautiful caramelized finish, making it ideal for a weeknight dinner or casual gathering.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken
- 1 kg / 2 lb chicken thighs (5 pieces, bone-in, skin-on) or drumsticks or wings (any combination)
Sauce
- 1/4 cup (65 ml) balsamic vinegar
- 2 1/2 tbsp / 50 ml soy sauce (all purpose or light soy sauce, not dark)
- 1/4 cup (85 g / 65 ml) honey
- 1/4 cup (45 g) brown sugar (loosely packed)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 1/2 tsp garlic paste from jar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F to ensure it is ready for baking the chicken perfectly.
- Prepare the baking dish. Line a baking dish with foil and a layer of parchment paper to prevent sticking and to make cleanup easier.
- Make the sauce. In a bowl, mix together balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, and minced garlic until well combined.
- Arrange the chicken. Place the chicken pieces in the baking dish with the skin side down. Ensure the pieces are close enough (no more than 4″ / 10 cm between pieces) so the sauce thickens properly but not overcrowded.
- Pour the sauce over chicken. Evenly pour the prepared sauce over the chicken pieces, covering them thoroughly.
- Bake the chicken – first stage. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes in the preheated oven to start cooking and allow the flavors to infuse.
- Turn and baste. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, spoon some of the sauce over the top to baste, and spread sauce around the pieces.
- Bake the chicken – final stage. Return the chicken to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened to a sticky glaze.
- Rest and serve. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to stand for 5 minutes. Spoon the thickened sauce over the chicken pieces before serving for extra flavor.
Notes
- No marinating required; just mix the sauce and bake the chicken to get amazing sticky and flavorful results.
- Ensure chicken pieces are spaced properly—too close the sauce won’t reduce enough, too far apart it may reduce too much.
- If using a recipe scaler to adjust serving sizes, read notes carefully to maintain cooking balance.
- Using bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces helps keep the meat juicy and adds flavor during baking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 255 g
- Calories: 475 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 700 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
