Honey Garlic Chicken Bites
These honey garlic chicken bites are loaded with fresh minced garlic, zesty lemon juice, and sweet honey for an easy weeknight chicken dinner that the whole family will love!
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts trimmed and cut into cubes about ¾"
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose seasoning like Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 stick butter
- 2 heads fresh garlic finely diced
- ¼ large lemon juice only
- ⅓ cup honey or substitute hot honey
- 1 tablespoon parsley dried or rough chopped fresh
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional
- optional cooked white rice for serving; optional sliced green onions or lemon wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Add the chicken pieces to a large bowl, and season with all-purpose seasoning, mixing together so that all of the meat is evenly seasoned. Refrigerate for about 5-10 minutes while the griddle is heating up.
- Heat one side of a griddle on low (about 325°F), and heat the other side to medium (about 400°F). *For skillet cooking, heat a large skillet over low heat.
- Add a stick of butter to the griddle to begin melting. Once melted, add the garlic to the butter. *The idea isn’t to brown the garlic quickly, but to let it gently infuse the butter – so a low cooking temperature is best. If needed, cook the garlic and butter in the far corner or edge of the griddle for low temperatures.
- While the garlic is softening, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over the chicken and toss to coat. Then spread the chicken pieces out on the hotter side of the griddle, making sure each piece has good contact with the surface. Cook untouched on the first side for about 3-5 minutes for a good crust and color to form. *Just when the garlic starts to turn color, sprinkle the crushed red pepper in the butter if using.
- Flip the chicken bites to the second side, and continue to cook another 3-4 minutes, or until mostly cooked through. Then add the butter sauce with the softened garlic to the chicken, and toss together. *If needed, adjust the griddle temperature down so the garlic and butter do not burn.
- Move the chicken to the cooler area on the griddle if needed. This helps the sugars from the honey to not burn – there should be plenty of residual heat to thicken the sauce and finish cooking the chicken. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice, then drizzle the chicken with honey. Toss the chicken bites to evenly coat in the honey and lemon juice.
- Cook a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, for the sauce to reduce and thicken. Sprinkle with parsley for garnish.
- When the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer the honey garlic chicken bites to a serving platter, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- For griddle cooking - Be sure that you can manage your griddle temperatures. Set one side of your griddle to low and another to medium or medium-high if needed, depending on how your griddle heats. The hotter side is perfect for browning the chicken; the low side is great to melt the butter and soften the garlic without burning. You can also move the chicken with the honey garlic sauce to the low side if needed to help prevent the sugars from burning on the griddle.
- For skillet cooking - Melt the butter and soften the garlic in a large skillet on low heat first. Then transfer the garlic butter to a separate bowl. You can turn up the heat, then cook the chicken pieces in the same skillet, flipping the chicken halfway through. When chicken is almost cooked through, add the garlic butter back to the skillet, and then add honey and lemon juice. Continue to cook until chicken is done.