Garlicky Honey Sriracha Chicken – sticky, spicy chicken balanced out with a sweet pineapple avocado salsa | Gluten Free + Paleo Option
If you like spicy food with sticky sauces then this Honey Sriracha Chicken is for you, my friend.
Juicy chicken thighs slathered in a garlicky honey Sriracha glaze served with a simple, sweet & spicy pineapple avocado salsa.
Eat up!
The inspiration for this recipe came from the Whole 30 Jerk Chicken recipe I shared a while back. While the flavours are quite different the idea of sticky, spicy deliciousness paired with a fruity avocado salsa just had to be done. Again. But different.
Our star ingredients here?
✔️Garlic
✔️Honey
✔️Sriracha
✔️Rice Vinegar
✔️Lime Juice
✔️Salt
Mix it all together in a bowl and you’ve got your marinade. Let your chicken marinate for at least 20 minutes, or if time allows you can marinate for up to 2 hours. Let’s be real though; if you’re like me and make last minute dinner decisions because you lack basic planning skills are a free spirit then you may not have the time to marinate. I getcha. I’ve been there (basically every day). This sauce is so flavourful, even if your chicken hasn’t done its thing soak up all the spicy goodness it’s still good!
TLDR: marinating is nice but not absolutely necessary here.
If you do have time to marinate said chicken you can use that time to make your pineapple avocado salsa – though you won’t need much time for that because it’s super simple!
Just toss together an avocado with some diced pineapple in a little lime juice and add red pepper flakes. If you really love spice then go ahead and throw a little jalapeño in the mix. If not – no worries! Either way the result is a bright & fresh ‘salsa’ to plate alongside your spicy chicken pieces. It’s all about balance.
To serve we went with white rice to mix in with the sauce, but you can also do cauliflower rice here if you want to keep this recipe paleo.
Finally, top it off with sliced green onions (because they make everything better) and maybe even a squeeze of lime juice for extra brightness.
BOOM. Dinner is served.
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Honey Sriracha Chicken
Garlicky Honey Sriracha Chicken - sticky, spicy chicken balanced out with a sweet pineapple avocado salsa | Gluten Free + Paleo
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 cloves garlic, mined or crushed
- 3 tablespoon Sriracha
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 6 pieces boneless chicken thighs (skin on or off)
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- sliced green onions for topping
Pineapple Avocado Salsa
- 1 avocado diced
- 1 cup pineapple, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 jalapeno (optional for extra spice)
- 1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
Chicken
- Mix together the garlic, Sriracha, honey, vinegar, lime juice and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken breast to the bowl, cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- When you're ready, take the chicken out of the fridge. Heat the oil in a large skillet on a medium heat. When the oil is hot add the chicken to the pan and sear on both sides (about 6-7 minutes per side). Stir every so often to keep the honey from burning. The chicken will caramelise and the sauce will thicken as you cook.
- Once the chicken is cooked through (has an internal temperature of at least 160°F/75°C) remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a cutting board or plate. Let rest at least 5 minutes before cutting.
- Serve over a bed of rice (or cauliflower rice for a paleo version) along with the avocado salsa and sliced green onions.
Salsa
- While the chicken is resting add all of the salsa ingredients to a small mixing bowl and toss together to combine.
Notes
Serving size for 1 chicken thigh: Calories: 148 Fat: 5 g Saturated fat: 0 g Carbohydrates: 9 g Sugar: 8 g Fiber: 0 g Protein: 44 g
Serving size for salsa: Calories:64 Fat: 4 g Saturated fat: 1 g Carbohydrates: 2 g Sugar: 2 g Fiber: 3 g Protein: 1 g
To keep the chicken strictly paleo you'll need to either buy a paleo friendly sriracha sauce or make it from scratch at home. You can also use sambal oelek in it's place which can often times be found in the Asian aisle of many major supermarkets or on Amazon.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
chicken thighAmount Per Serving: Calories: 148 Cholesterol: 71mg Sodium: 630mg Carbohydrates: 9g Sugar: 8g Protein: 14g
Made this tonight for the first time, and although I didn’t have much sauce like pictured here, it was delicious. I switched out and used boneless skinless chicken breasts, since I’m not a big dark meat fan. I will be making again in hopes of getting that sticky sauce in the photos. Any suggestions for a thick sauce?
Hi Gabrielle! SO glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to share what you thought! As for the sauce you could try a couple of things: sometimes it’s just a matter of bringing the sauce to a boil and letting it reduce down until it’s nice and thick. That takes about 5ish minutes and you really need to be there to stir the whole time so that it doesn’t burn. You could also try mixing together a teaspoon of corn starch (or arrowroot starch for a grain free option) with 3 tablespoons water. Bring the sauce to a boil and stir in the starchy water and then that should thicken up within the minute. Hope that helps!
Do you buy a special sriracha that doesn’t have sugar so this recipe is paleo?
Sorry Denise! I meant to specify that in the recipe & completely forgot. To keep this strictly paleo you’ll either need to buy a paleo friendly hot sauce or make your own. You might also have luck in buying sambal oelek at the grocery store if you want sriracha substitute – you can sometimes find it in the Asian aisle of larger grocery stores or buy it from Amazon