Sweet and spicy, you’ll love this easy Honey Chipotle Chicken. This juicy stove-top chicken thigh recipe comes together so quickly. With a few simple ingredients, you can turn this Honey Chipotle Chicken into a chicken salad bowl or a chicken burrito bowl, perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or as a meal prep!
I love Chipotle’s burrito bowls and am 100% upset that there is not one where I live now. When I worked across the street from one, I’d go so often and now, nothing! So I’ve pretty much been making my own DIY Chipotle bowls at home. If you haven’t already seen my easy chipotle chicken thighs, you’re missing out. Today I’m sharing a spin off on that and I hope you enjoy!
Why You’ll Love This Honey Chipotle Chicken Recipe
- It’s so easy! Marinate your chicken in a small dish (the smaller the dish the less marinade is needed) and then add it to your skillet on the stove top. This post will walk you through how to cook chicken thighs in a pan quickly. A couple minutes on each side and you’ve got a quick boneless chicken thigh recipe!
- It’s packed with flavour. This pan seared boneless chicken thighs recipe is packed with flavour thanks to the marinade.
- Makes for the perfect meal prep. Meal prep a batch of this sweet chipotle chicken for the week! It reheats wonderfully. More info on this simple chicken meal prep bowl down below!
What You’ll Need
- chicken thighs — boneless skinless chicken thighs
- chipotle in adobo sauce — pictured above, a key ingredient that cannot be skipped or substituted. You’ll only need the sauce.
- chipotle powder — pictured above, this is also another ingredient that can’t be skipped to get that smoky chipotle flavour.
- lime juice — freshly squeezed is best.
- garlic powder
- onion salt — don’t have onion salt? Use onion powder and add salt to it.
- oregano
- olive oil
- butter — use unsalted butter as you’re already seasoning it with onion salt.
To go with the chicken:
- romaine lettuce — here’s a step by step tutorial on how to cut romaine lettuce.
- red onions
- cherry tomatoes
- avocados
- corn
- sour cream
- optional: rice to make this into a chicken burrito bowl.
How to Make Honey Chipotle Chicken Thighs
- In a small or shallow bowl, combine the chicken thighs with the sauce from the chipotle in adobo sauce, chipotle powder, honey, lime juice, garlic powder, onion salt, and oregano with tablespoon of olive oil.
- Cover and set aside in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes or more.
- On medium heat, heat up your skillet (preferably cast iron) and melt the butter and the rest of the olive oil before adding in the chicken thighs, smooth side down and then cook for 5 minutes. Flip and continue to cook for 6 to 7 minutes, or until cooked through. Do not overcrowd the pan, cook in two batches if necessary. Be sure to add more butter and oil for the second batch.
- Make this into a honey chipotle chicken salad: serve with chopped romaine lettuce, red onions, corn, tomatoes, avocado, and sour cream.
- Make this into a honey chipotle burrito bowl: serve with the same as above overtop a bed of rice to turn this into a chicken burrito bowl.
Tips and Notes
- On your first sear, the colour of your thighs may be lighter. I cooked mine in two batches and by batch two, the excess marinade had made a sauce of sorts on the pan alongside the melted butter, giving the second batch a beautiful glaze. I simply put the first batch back in for a quick minute afterwards to get the same colour on it.
- Chicken thighs are done when they’ve reached an internal temperature of 165F/74C. Use an instant read thermometer to check.
My Recommendation
This is my go-to meat thermometer for making sure that the internal temperature of my meat is good to go. It’s also magnetic so I have it on my fridge door to save drawer space!
Get it Now!
- Avoid moving the chicken when you first place it in. Allow the chicken to sear. The chicken will come off the skillet once it’s ready. If you move it too early, the chicken will stick to the skillet and tear.
- Chicken thighs can be swapped out for chicken breasts but you’ll have to change the cook time to avoid overcooking it.
- Allow the cast iron skillet to heat up before adding the chicken to the pan.
- Other things you can serve this honey chipotle chicken with are: roasted asparagus, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, roasted beets, wild rice, coconut rice, and more.
Make Ahead Tips
- Meal prep: store the cooked chicken in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. If you are serving this as a salad, feel free to pack it all together. If you are serving this as a chipotle chicken bowl, I recommend packing the rice (and the chicken if you’d like) separately. You’d want to heat up the rice before enjoying and the lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, etc will not reheat well alongside the rice. It’s easier to heat the rice up separately and then add it to your bowl afterwards. Add in the avocado the day of serving.
- Freezer: allow the chicken thighs to cool before transferring it into an airtight container before storing them in the freezer.
- How to prep this for the freezer: place the marinade and chicken thighs in a large freezer friendly ziploc bag, to prep this meal ahead of time. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready, thaw overnight in the fridge before cooking.
Honey Chipotle Chicken
Turn this Honey Chipotle Chicken into a salad or a chipotle chicken burrito bowl. This juicy stove top chicken is so easy to make. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or as a meal prep!
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Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 8-10 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3-4 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce
- 3-4 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp chipotle powder
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion salt
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter, more if needed
For the Salad or Bowl
- 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 red onions, diced
- 1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 avocados
- 1 cup corn
- sour cream, as much or as little as you'd like
- rice, white or brown, as much or as little as you'd like
Instructions
- In a small or shallow bowl, combine the chicken thighs with the sauce from the chipotle in adobo sauce, chipotle powder, honey, lime juice, garlic powder, onion salt, and oregano with tablespoon of olive oil.
- Cover and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes or more in the fridge.
- On medium heat, heat up your skillet (preferably cast iron) and melt the butter and the rest of the olive oil before adding in the chicken thighs, smooth side down and then cook for 5 minutes. Flip and continue to cook for 6 to 7 minutes, or until cooked through. Do not overcrowd the pan, cook in two batches if necessary. Be sure to add more butter and oil for the second batch.
- Make this into a salad: serve with chopped romaine lettuce, red onions, corn, tomatoes, avocado, and sour cream.
- Make this into a burrito bowl: serve with the same as above overtop a bed of rice.
Notes
Pack the rice separately if you plan on making a rice bowl as a meal prep. Some ingredients like lettuce are not microwave friendly.
Tried this recipe?Did you make this recipe? I’m always so happy to hear about it! I’d love to see how it turned out. Tag me at @CarmysHungry on Instagram so I can see it! If you enjoyed the recipe, I’d really appreciate a comment with a 5 star rating! ♥
Nutrition Disclaimer
More Salads You’ll Love
- Healthy Chicken Cobb Salad
- Chopped Chicken Salad Meal Prep
- Lentil Salad with Hummus
- Chopped Salad with Shrimp
- 3 Mason Jar Salads with Chicken
- Simple Avocado Bacon Corn Chicken Salad
- Chicken Strawberry Avocado Salad
Other places to connect with me
@carmyshungry on Instagram
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Email: [email protected]
Sandy says
So flavorful and easy, this was such a great meal prep. I’ll be making it again next month!
Tasha Perkins says
This was seriously good. Personally, I would cut back on the chipotle powder a bit, but that’s just personal preference. It definitely added some heat. We will be making this again!
Carmy says
Thank you for your kind words, Tasha! I’m happy to hear you’ll make it again!