Perfect as a meal prep or as dinner, this Lemon Honey Basil Chicken recipe is so juicy and delicious. Quickly marinated and then oven baked, these chicken thighs are full of flavour and perfect for the whole family!

Lemon Basil Honey Chicken

This is one of my favourite marinades whenever I’m craving a summery meal. The lemon with basil just screams summer to me and some days, you just want to be remind of that!

You’re going to love this freezer friendly chicken recipe, it only takes a couple minutes to put the marinade together and if you haven’t had the time to marinade the chicken overnight, 20 minutes or so before cooking works just as well.

While I bake my chicken thighs for this recipe, this recipe can easily be made on the grill or stovetop.

What You’ll Need To Make This

olive oil — or the oil of your choice.
honey
basil paste
salt
lemon zest — remember, it’s easier to zest a lemon before juicing it.
lemon — fresh lemon juice only! Skip the bottled lemon juice as it doesn’t taste as brght and fresh.
chicken thighs – boneless skinless thighs

I bake these in the oven so you’ll also need a sheet pan as well as parchment or thin foil for easy cleanup. Alternatively, you can just grease your sheet pan.

What is Basil Paste?

It’s exactly what it sounds like! It’s a paste that’s been made with fresh basil. I’ve been having difficulty finding basil at the store lately as it seems to be sold out everywhere (and my poor basil plants had some bugs so it had to go!)

If you prefer to use fresh basil, the conversion is 1 tablespoon of paste to replace 1 tablespoon of fresh basil which replaces 1 teaspoon of dried herbs. It’s up to you what you’d like to use!

How To Make Lemon Basil Honey Chicken

The night before or 20 minutes before you’re ready to cook, combine the olive oil, honey, basil, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice and marinade the chicken thighs in half the marinade. Save the other half of the marinade.

Heat oven to 425F.
On a tinfoil lined sheet pan, lightly greased it and place the chicken thighs on it before baking for 20-25 minutes.
Half way through, baste the chicken in a little bit of the marinade that you set aside by drizzling it on top of the chicken.
Serve when ready with the leftover marinade that you had set aside.

Tips and Notes

Chicken thighs are done when they’ve reached an internal temperature of 165F/73C. I use an instant read meat thermometer to check.
I like tinfoil for this to make clean up easier. Feel free to just use your sheet pan greased or with parchment paper if you prefer.
This lemon basil honey chicken thighs cooks so well on the grill as well!

Make Ahead Tips

Meal prep: store the cooked meal in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
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.

What To Serve with Chicken Thighs

For this, I served with steamed broccoli but you can also roast broccoli at the same time you bake the broccoli.
Lemon Parmesan Brussels Sprouts
Air Fryer Mushrooms
Oven Roasted Asparagus
Coconut Rice
Korean Purple Rice
Wild Rice
On top of the glass meal prep containers, I have these stackable ones as well so I like to pack snacks alongside this! For the photo down below, I packed some popcorn with pumpkin and sunflower seeds and sliced almonds.

Lemon Honey Basil Chicken

5 from 1 vote

Print Rate

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 25

Marinading Time: 20

Servings: servings

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil
⅓ cup honey
4 tbsp basil paste
1 tsp salt
½ lemon, zested
½ lemon, juiced
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Equipment

sheet pan

Instructions

The night before or 20 minutes before you’re ready to cook, combine the olive oil, honey, basil, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice and marinade the chicken thighs in half the marinade. Save the other half of the marinade.
Heat oven to 425F.
On a tinfoil lined sheet pan, lightly greased it and place the chicken thighs on it before baking for 20-25 minutes.
Half way through, baste the chicken in a little bit of the marinade that you set aside by drizzling it on top of the chicken.
Serve when ready with the leftover marinade that you had set aside.

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 Per Serving

Author: Carmy

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Canadian

Nutrition Disclaimer

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