Bite Out of Life – Spice Up Your Life! (with Garlic Chicken)

Kaitlynn lives in Benton, Arkansas. She is an aspiring author, wellness enthusiast, and enjoys sharing her health journey with others. See the archives of her articles at mysaline.com/kaitlynn.

Yes. That title is a reference to the Spice Girls. But I really think it works with today’s recipe. Moving on now. Have you been on “diets” before? You know the kind. You feel like you eat nothing but boring chicken breast and bland vegetables night after endless night. Maybe you haven’t. Maybe that’s just been my experience.

Anyways… whether or not you’ve been in that situation, we can probably all agree that sometimes it’s difficult to shake up your typical meals. I get it. Believe me! Personally, I think that the worst part of this whole “adult” thing is having to decide what you’ll be eating every day for the rest of your life. I don’t remember signing up for that chore, but here we are!

Until recently, I only ever cooked chicken if it was boneless, skinless breast meat. Not that there is anything wrong with that cut, but sometimes I feel like it can dry out more easily. Although chicken breasts are technically on the healthier side when it comes to their protein / fat ratio, lately I’ve been cooking with more chicken thighs. Honestly, if I’m going to have sustainability and truly enjoy protein that doesn’t dry out more and more every time I microwave my meal prep, I’m okay with sacrificing some grams of protein for grams of fat occasionally. That being said, you can totally use chicken breasts (or tofu if that’s your thing) for this recipe. No judgment. You do what works for you.

Okay, now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get into the reason we’re all here! Do you like spicy? Do you like sweet? Perfect! We’re going to be making Honey Garlic Chicken.

Side Note: this recipe usually calls for the use of an oven, but I’m going to be using my air fryer to get it extra crispy. If you want to use the air fryer option, just follow the instructions for your specific device on cooking chicken. Be sure to toss it a couple of times while cooking to make sure it cooks evenly.

Recipe:

Meat

2 lbs of Chicken
2 Large Eggs
1 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
Salt & Pepper enough for your tastes

Sauce

¼ cup Honey
1 tsp. Garlic
1 tsp. Onion Powder
2 Tbsp Soy sauce
¼ cup Sriracha
1 Tbsp Cornstarch (for a thicker sauce)
¼ cup Water (for a thicker sauce)

***The measurements for the sauce can be altered to whatever level of sweet and spicy you prefer. Example: If you’ve never worked with Sriracha, add a little at a time to see how well you like the heat.

Preheat oven to 400˚F
If you don’t feel like scrubbing a sheet pan, line one with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper
Mix the two eggs together in a bowl
Pour Panko into a separate bowl
Dip the chicken into the egg and then the Panko, making sure that all sides are coated.
Place chicken on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 18-20 minutes
While you wait for the chicken, grab a saucepan and combine the honey, garlic, onion powder, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Stir on low heat.
This should be enough sauce to get your chicken coated, but if you’re adding this to a stir fry with vegetables, feel free to gradually add more of each amount until there’s enough to go around.
Optional: If you want your sauce to be thicker, get a small bowl and add cornstarch and water. Stir that. Once it’s combined, use a spoon to get some sauce from the pan and incorporate it into the cornstarch mixture. Repeat a couple of times to get the cornstarch mixture to about the same temperature as the sauce. Add the mix to the sauce and continue to stir (if the cornstarch doesn’t reach the same temperature before mixing, it could cause lumps. No one wants that.)
Once your chicken is cooked all the way through, add it to the saucepan, and mix until all the chicken is covered in that glorious sauce.
For side dishes, you could serve with rice or zucchini noodles. If you want something simple (like I did!), take this amazing salad mix from your local grocery store and serve it with the chicken. This bag is an Asian style mix of greens and comes with toppings and a dressing. You definitely don’t have to add the extras in, but this bag saves me the time of chopping the veggies for a salad, so I think it’s a win!