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Like a little sweet with your heat? This honey sriracha chicken delivers with bold spicy flavors and a touch of honey sweetness. You can cook this dish in the air fryer (similar to my air fryer whole chicken) or in your oven — all using easy pantry staples!
Why You’ll Love This Honey Sriracha Chicken Recipe
- Sweet flavor with spice
- Tender, juicy meat with crispy skin
- Basic grocery store ingredients
- 10 minutes prep time
- Makes delicious meat all on its own or for sandwiches, tacos, wraps, and more
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for baked honey sriracha chicken, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
Chicken:
- Whole Chicken – This recipe calls for a whole, bone-in chicken. I used a 4-pound chicken, which fits just right in the air fryer, but any size will work if cooking in the oven.
- Honey – I used Wholesome Yum Keto Honey to keep this recipe sugar free, but you can use regular honey if it fits your lifestyle.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper – For easy seasoning.
VARIATION: Make it with chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
Keep in mind that cook time will vary and you may end up with leftover sauce. (You can use the sauce from this recipe, and follow my recipes for baked chicken breast, air fryer chicken breast, baked chicken thighs, or air fryer chicken thighs for cook times. Since these smaller cuts don’t cook for as long, you can mix the honey with the other sauce ingredients, instead of brushing separately halfway through as you would with a whole chicken.
Honey Sriracha Sauce:
The sauce for honey sriracha chicken is sweet and spicy — you’ll mix together the ingredients below, and the honey gets added separately to prevent burning.
- Sriracha – You can find this sauce at most grocery stores, particularly in the Asian foods sections or with other condiments.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic tastes best, but you can also use jarred minced garlic. You can also substitute 1 teaspoon garlic powder in place of the 4 cloves fresh garlic.
- Coconut Aminos – This is a gluten-free soy sauce substitute. If you’re not sensitive to soy, you can simply use regular soy sauce.
- Lemon Juice – Use fresh squeezed juice, or bottled lemon juice for convenience. Lime juice also works.
- Olive Oil – I usually choose extra-virgin olive oil, but any neutral cooking oil, such as avocado oil, will work.
- Dried Herbs – Including dried thyme and dried basil.
How To Make Honey Sriracha Chicken
This section shows how to make honey and sriracha chicken, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Season. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the entire chicken, including the inner cavity.
TIP: Bring chicken to room temp to help it cook more evenly.
If you have time, remove your chicken from the refrigerator up to 30 minutes before starting this recipe to take the chill off.
- Make sauce. In a small bowl, mix together the sriracha, garlic, coconut aminos, lemon juice, olive oil, and dried herbs.
- Brush. Brush chicken with sauce, including underneath the skin and inside the cavity.
- Cook. If using an air fryer, place chicken back-side up in the basket and air fry for 30 minutes. Flip once and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes. (See oven instructions below if you prefer that method.)
- Baste. Brush chicken with honey, then return to the air fryer and roast until an internal temp reaches 160 degrees F on a meat thermometer (the internal temperature will rise an additional 5-10 degrees while resting).
- Rest. Allow the honey sriracha chicken to rest before carving, to let the juices settle. Serve with pan juices.
TIP: Using an oven instead of an air fryer?
Place chicken back-side up in a roasting pan and bake for 45 minutes. Flip and roast for an additional 30 minutes. Remove chicken, brush with honey, and continue roasting for 15-20 minutes until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
- Meal prep: Make sauce ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Reheat: Reheat in a microwave or warm oven at 350 degrees F.
- Freeze: Cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-safe container for storage. (You can freeze whole or carved.) Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before reheating.
What To Serve With Honey Sriracha Chicken
A zesty dish like this needs a cool or creamy side to balance the heat! Try these simple dishes, or simply serve with white rice or cauliflower rice:
More Healthy Spicy Recipes
Ready for more heat? Try these spicy recipes next!
Recommended Tools
- Air Fryer – My favorite air fryer for everything from appetizers to chicken dinners!
- Roasting Pan – My pan of choice for all large roasts. (Use this for the oven version.)
- Meat Thermometer – Super fast for easy temp readings.
Honey Sriracha Chicken
Honey Sriracha Chicken
This easy honey sriracha chicken is sweet and spicy, with a juicy inside and crispy skin. Make it with simple ingredients and 10-minute prep!
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Chicken:
Garlic Sriracha Sauce:
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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If you have time, remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking, which will help it cook more evenly.
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Preheat the air fryer or oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C).
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Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper, including inside the cavity.
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In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, sriracha, coconut aminos, lemon juice, oil, thyme, and basil. Brush the chicken with the sauce, including underneath the skin and inside the cavity.
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Air fryer cooking instructions: Place the chicken, back side up, into the air fryer basket. Air fry for 30 minutes. Flip the chicken so it’s breast side up. Air fry for 20 more minutes. Remove the basket and brush the whole chicken with honey. Return to the air fryer and roast for 10-15 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reaches at least 160 degrees F (71 degrees C).
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Oven cooking instructions: Place the chicken, back side up, into a roasting pan. Roast chicken in the oven for 45 minutes. Flip the chicken so it’s breast side up. Roast for 30 more minutes. Remove the roasting pan and brush the whole chicken with honey. Return to the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reaches at least 160 degrees F (71 degrees C).
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Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Internal temperature will rise about 5-10 degrees.
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Serve honey sriracha chicken with the pan juice from the roasting pan or air fryer basket.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/6 of the chicken
Nutrition info was calculated using sugar-free honey substitute. Sugar content will be higher using regular honey.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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8 Comments
Camellia
0Can I marinade the chicken first instead of just brushing the sauce on? If yes, for how long?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Camellia, That should work, but I have never tried that for this recipe.
Suzanne Renfrow
0I made this today in my Ninja Foodi and it turned out great. I didn’t have keto honey, and didn’t want to use regular honey due to carbs, but I remembered I had a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey so used that instead 🙂 . It may not have tasted the same as keto honey, but it was still great and did impart a honey flavor!
Leah
0Sauce was yummy. I was worried it was going to be too spicy but brushing with the honey balances the siracha out perfectly. Something we tried which was helpful – I spatchcocked my roaster to get all that yummy goodness all over the underside of the chicken, then turned it over to slather the other side. We also grilled instead of oven or air fryer. Followed normal grilling protocol for a spatchcocked chicken.
Josie
0I made this last night in the oven, it was so good! The chicken was perfectly juicy and moist, and that honey sriracha sauce is to die for 🤤
Erin
0This is just the recipe I’ve been looking for! So flavorful and easy to make!
Jessica
0I could not wait to make this for my family because I knew they were going to love it. One bite in, and they’re already saying we have to have it again next week. Haha!
Julia
0Yall This chicken is so dang good!!! Very easy to make and will have you hollering! I made it with rice, it was a great combo!