A sweet & savory Korean-inspired Honey Butter Chicken recipe without soy sauce or vinegar, perfect for serving with mashed potatoes and a side of greens. It's creamy, tangy, and comes together in one pan in under half an hour!
If you love one-pot dinners, try my delicata squash pasta or no-thaw air fryer chicken wings.
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About this recipe
Asian Flavors: Before I became ill with histamine intolerance and a host of other issues, I lived in Asia for four years, where flavor like this easy honey butter sauce is a requirement for dinner rather than an addition to it.
Low Histamine Meal Idea: with just 6 ingredients and some of your favorite steamed vegetables, you can pull together enough food for four low histamine dinners or lunches in a row.
Freezer Friendly: whether you cook it now or later, all these ingredients and the delectable sauce are exceptionally freezable, and it all tastes great even after defrosting. Unlike some of my other low histamine chicken dishes, like my favorite stir-fried lemongrass chicken, it also goes great with baked root vegetables.
Ingredients
Chicken Breasts: the white meat of the chicken, and often the most kid-friendly, these are the base of my honey butter chicken and one of my favorite to use in low histamine chicken recipes.
Unsalted Butter: this is both the cooking oil and a binder for the sauce. If it's all you have, you can use salted butter, but I'd omit the salt in that case.
Honey: instrumental to this sauce is the honey, and while you can use any type you'd like, it would be hard to swap with anything else.
Garlic Cloves: thinly-sliced garlic adds flavor and a touch of crunch to the honey butter sauce.
Fresh Lemon Juice: you'll need juice from about half a lemon to add the tangy undertone that brings this sauce together, but if you can't tolerate lemon, lime juice or half the amount of sumac or apple cider vinegar would also work well.
Chives: these are optional, but when chopped up they add a nice pop of color and an extra savory note to the dish.
How to make honey butter chicken: step-by-step instructions
Step 1. Slice the garlic and chives, then cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and squeeze out your fresh lemon juice.
Step 2. Then add half of your butter to the pan over medium heat, and let it melt for one minute before adding the chicken and turning the heat to low.
Step 3. Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the outside is all cooked and there's no more pink showing.
Step 4. Next, turn up the heat to medium for one minute, stirring frequently, to get rid of most of the water released from the chicken during cooking.
Step 5. Turn the heat back to low and add the honey, garlic, and rest of the butter. Keep the lemon juice and salt to the side, and cook everything together for another 4 minutes, stirring occassionally, then remove the chicken from the pot using a slotted spoon.
Step 6. Add the lemon juice and salt, and keep the rest of the sauce simmering for another 4-5 minutes, stirring often.
Step 7. Then turn off the heat, pour the sauce over the chicken, and top with chives (if using). Serve with your favorite sides, and enjoy!
Step 8. Optional: to make a thicker sauce, add a slurry of one teaspoon of tapioca starch in one tablespoon of hot water, and quickly mix it well into the sauce before pouring it onto the chicken.
Recipe notes & tips
Different Cuts of Chicken: if using whole chicken tenders or thighs, you may need to lower the cooking temp and extend the cooking time. I haven't tested this recipe with any other cut of chicken, and keep in mind that overcooking can make the meat tough. So no matter what cut you use, just make sure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (75°C).
Lemon Juice Alternatives: the only ingredient that may be iffy for some of you is the lemon juice added at the end, but it can be replaced by 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, the same amount of lime juice, or even 2 teaspoons of sumac added in the last minute of cooking the sauce (without the meat).
Freezing Instructions: if you want to freeze your leftovers, consider putting them in single-serve glass containers that are easy to reheat in the toaster oven or the microwave, to save on dishwasher space and reduce plastic usage. Reheat at 300°F (150°C) for 7-10 minutes.
What to serve with honey butter chicken
- Garlic Tahini Broccoli Stir-Fry
- Almond Milk Mashed Potatoes
- Crispy Air Fryer Broccolini
- Roasted Garlic Asparagus
- Air Fryer Delicata Squash Fries
- Toaster Oven Brussels Sprouts
- Crispy Baked Cauliflower
- Simple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- A Simple Low Histamine Salad
As always, if you like the recipe, I really appreciate a 5-star review or comment!
📖 Recipe
Easy Honey Butter Chicken Breast (Soy-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 pound of chicken breast cut into ½" bite-sized pieces
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 large cloves garlic thinly sliced (~20g)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice about ½ lemon
- chopped chives optional, for garnish
- 1 Tablespoon hot water optional
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch optional
Instructions
- Slice the garlic and chives, then cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and squeeze out your fresh lemon juice.
- Then add half of your butter to the pan over medium heat, and let it melt for one minute before adding the chicken and turning the heat to low.
- Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the outside is all cooked and there's no more pink showing.
- Next, turn up the heat to medium for one minute, stirring frequently, to get rid of most of the water released from the chicken during cooking.
- Turn the heat back to low and add the honey, garlic, and rest of the butter. Keep the lemon juice and salt to the side, and cook everything together for another 4 minutes, stirring occassionally, then remove the chicken from the pot using a slotted spoon.
- Add the lemon juice and salt, and keep the rest of the sauce simmering for another 4-5 minutes, stirring often.
- Then turn off the heat, pour the sauce over the chicken, and top with chives (if using). Serve with your favorite sides, and enjoy!
- Optional: to make a thicker sauce, add a slurry of one teaspoon of tapioca starch in one tablespoon of hot water, and quickly mix it well into the sauce before pouring it onto the chicken.
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