Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs
These Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs are a fast, easy, and delicious way to serve chicken thighs! The thick sweet and salty glaze will soon become a household favorite!
I don’t know about you, but we eat a lot of chicken in our house. We bake it, we herb it, we spice it, we grill it, we taco it, we burrito bowl it, we crock pot it, we make it into stock, and we even Phở it. You get the idea. Since it’s such a main part of our diets, we’re always looking for new, but easy ways to cook it on busy weeknights. This makes these Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs one of our new favorite recipes!
Ingredients Needed
Not only is this recipe easy to make, but I bet you already have everything you need for the sauce in your pantry, already.
- Boneless Chicken Thighs – Definitely boneless. Adding a bone changes it completely. You could also use chicken tenders, too. We prefer the dark meat of the thighs.
- Maple Syrup – The real stuff! This is the NH maple syrup we always have in our pantry!
- Soy Sauce – Regular is what we prefer for this recipe, but you could also use a low sodium if you’re watching the salt in your diet.
- Hoisin – We love the depth and sweetness that this adds. Have you made your own, yet?
- Apple Cider Vinegar – White or even red would work fine for this too, although we love the milder flavor of apple cider vinegar. You could also use an unseasoned rice vinegar, too.
- Salt – To season the chicken before cooking.
- Olive Oil – To cook the chicken to start.
- Fresh Parsley – To finish with!
Easy to Make
Truly, you don’t get much easier than this, 1, 2, 3.
- Generously season the chicken.
- Prep the sauce.
- Cook!
This is one of those recipes when we need dinner on the table fast because from start to finish, this glazed chicken can be done in 20 minutes.
Cooking Tips
Now let me tell you, that glaze, that’s truly where it’s at. But you have to make sure you keep a few things in mind when cooking to get it just right.
Heat the oil in the pan. Make sure that you coat your pan with the full tablespoon of oil and heat it on medium-high heat. To ensure it’s coated, just lift the pan and give that oil and lil’ swirl.
Use a non-stick pan. This will help with the initial sear of the chicken and with making sure the glaze sticks more to the chicken than the pan.
Let the sauce cook down. When you first add the sauce to the pan, it will feel like a lot of liquid. But don’t worry, keep it at medium-high heat and it will cook down and glaze your chicken!
Don’t flip the chicken too much. To get that gorgeous glaze, we recommend starting adding the chicken first to the pan with the smooth (what would be skin side) up. After a few minutes give it a turn, then once more smooth side down while the glaze does its final cook down. That will ensure that your smooth side will get this beautiful glaze.
Let the glaze cook! Keep that heat up to medium-high so that the sauce boils. This is what will cook it down, evaporating the liquid until it’s a thick glaze. That’s what will cook your chicken as the sugars caramelize, start to stick to the bottom of the pan, and onto the chicken.
Enjoy!! These Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs have that sweet soy glaze that is packed full of flavor!
Serve it With
- 10 Minute Garlic Kale
- Balsamic Spinach and Mushrooms
- 15 Minute Garlic Fried Noodles
- Crispy Rosemary Garlic Potatoes
- Butter Garlic Mushrooms
- 10 Minute Peanut Noodles
- Asian Sesame Ginger Slaw
- Miso Spinach and Mushroom Soba Noodles
Other Favorite Chicken Recipes
- 15 Minute Garlic Butter Chicken
- Cornell Chicken
- Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken
- Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Breasts
- Garlic Chicken Piccata
- Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Asian Grilled Chicken
This is one of our all-time favorites and a reader favorite! As always, please let me know if you make it and what you think! I love to hear from you on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!
Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- large non stick skillet
Ingredients
Instructions
- Generously season chicken thighs with salt.
- Combine maple syrup, soy, hoisin, and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl or pyrek with pour spout and whisk with fork. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Turn skillet so it's well oiled. Add chicken, smooth (or what would be skin) side up, to sear.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes before adding sauce and then flip chicken, smooth side down.
- Keep heat at medium-high and let sauce boil, cooking down. Cook for another 2-3 minutes before flipping to smooth side down.
- Keep cooking the glaze and chicken until most of the liquid has cooked off. Keep the chicken smooth side down so that the sauce carmalizes to the chicken.
- After another about 10 more minutres of cooking, or until the glaze has mostly cooked off and chicken has reached 165 degrees, remove from heat and serve immediately.
The chicken was awesome! Everyone loved it and my friends asked for the recipe. It was so quick and easy to make.
So glad you and your friends enjoyed it Kathy!!
I made this tonight, thanks for the great recipe!
SO glad you enjoyed it, Jan!!
That glaze looks amazing and those flavours are classic, love it!
My family will love these chicken thighs! I am a chicken breast love but everyone else in my family prefers thighs. The simple mashed potatoes and caramelized onions look like the perfect sides for this.
You can totally make this with breast tenders, too!
Looks so delicious and perfect for hosting! YUM!
The maple and soy together sound so good! I’m definitely going to need to try this
That marinade sounds fantastic! This dish sounds like a great weeknight meal.
Hello, you never mentioned when to add the chicken to the pan in your directions. Would just like some clarification. Thanks!
Oh my goodness, you’re right!! Thank you for catching that! I just adjusted it – you add it right in the beginning before the sauce. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy it!!
This was delicious with rice and broccoli! I loved how simple the ingredients were and how easily everything came together. I cooked the chicken for 6 minutes on each side, added the sauce, and cooked 5 more minutes. Perfect!
That’s so great to hear, Crissy! Thanks so much for sharing!
Well, we are just like you and your family. We eats LOTS of chicken. And we’ve made it every way possible. We have had it with a maple glaze and it is very good. It’s one of our favorite ways to serve it. Love the salty-sweet.
Ooh what a great way to dress up chicken thighs! I’ve probably told you this before, but I’ve been known to get into a major chicken recipe rut, and am always looking for ways to breathe new life into my chicken dinners. This glaze looks so flavorful and glossy, and just gorgeous on those chicken thighs. What an easy way to get a well-flavored dinner on the table on a weeknight!