LUSCIOUS Honey Chilli Chicken

Honey Chilli Chicken

This luscious honey chilli chicken was inspired by one of my favourite condiments: honey chilli! It has the wonderful flavour and aroma of honey plus a delicious spicy quality too. All in one easy to make chicken tray bake! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.

Honey Chilli Chicken

This chicken tray bake is one of the easiest dinners you will make. You mix together a quick honey chilli sauce, then marinate it and roast. I love chicken tray bakes because they're a leave alone meal. You can also roast potatoes or carrots along with the chicken and the vegetables will soak up the delicious honey chilli sauce too! Just sprinkle with salt at the end and you've got a complete meal.

What To Serve With This Honey Chilli Chicken Tray Bake:

If it's hot: I love serving this with salad on hot days. Coleslaw, Cauli slaw or Asian slaw is great for this as are corn on the cob, grilled zucchini salad, Green Goddess Salad or Jalapeno Potato Salad.

If it's cold: carbs such as mashed potato (to soak up all of that delicious sauce), celeriac and potato mash, ginger rice, coconut rice are all fantastic with this honey chilli chicken.

Honey Chilli Chicken

I've said this many times but I love chicken bakes because they're healthy, tasty and great for any time poor people. For the last few months I've been really time poor because nobody told me about this but doing a house renovation is like having a new full time job on top of your regular job. Not only that but it's a job that you're totally unqualified for, not very good at and a complete novice at so you've got to trust other people to guide you through it. House ownership is quite different from apartment ownership as there's no body corporate to sort out things.

Usually when you buy a dress or piece of clothing online, it comes in a few days time and there's nothing too troubling about it. But when you buy bathroom tiles it's a whole new process. Sometimes the tile that you've based your whole bathroom design around and fallen in love with is now out of stock and so popular that every tile on the shipment making its way across the ocean has been bought by other people. A replacement tile is offered but that is 3 times the price of the original tile (which is why it's in stock because nobody wanted to pay that much for tiles). Then the tile delivery is another cost added onto that. And they only deliver to your lawn outside so someone should be home to receive it.

Honey Chilli Chicken

As for the rest of the bathroom supplies most shops don't stock things and they can take a few weeks to arrive which holds up the whole timeline. And the order in which your builder needs things is specific too. They need the shower mixers and bath mixers first and then the shower heads right at the end. I was following my builder Peter around like his assistant taking copious notes on my phone. Before each purchase I'd get him, the plumber or electrician to look at my computer and approve the item before I hit "Buy" and our credit card was melting with the amount of purchases.

Like anyone with a new job, I made many mistakes for example I completely bought the wrong sink! When we were supposed to buy twin sinks for the downstairs bathroom I bought two sinks that were too big. Together they would have taken up the entire sink! And I almost bought the wrong sized vanity as my designer misread the plans she had made. And when I went to pick up the lighting fixtures for the kitchen the shop was closed even though I told them that I was coming and had rushed over there. I was on the main road banging on the door like a maniac peering in like a lunatic. I even muttered to myself. "They don't pay me enough..." before realising that I would be the person paying me and we couldn't even afford me haha!

That day I came home to this honey chilli chicken bake and I almost collapsed into a heap of exhaustion. I actually ate this lukewarm because heating it up would be too much effort for me but it's delicious hot, lukewarm or warm. The spicy sweetness of the marinade makes this so moreish and this was also delicious the day after because of course sometimes it's not just a busy day but a busy week!

So tell me Dear Reader, what are your tips for surviving a renovation? Are you good at picking up new skills?

Honey Chilli Chicken

Honey Chilli Chicken

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An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes plus 2 hours or overnight marinating time

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Serves: 6 people

  • 6 chicken thighs, skin on
  • 75g/2.6ozs honey
  • 30ml/1flozs soy sauce
  • 20g/0.7oz. tomato paste
  • 20g/0.7oz. Sriracha chilli sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1.5 teaspoons ginger, finely grated
  • 1 large red chilli, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • Salt and pepper

Step 1 - Mix the honey, soy sauce, tomato paste, Sriracha, garlic, ginger and chilli together in a bowl. Marinate the chicken in this mixture for 2 hours or overnight. Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook it.

Step 2 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and spray a baking tray with oil (or line with parchment). Place the chicken and marinade in the tray and season generously with salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil. Roast uncovered for 25 minutes.

Step 3 - Baste the chicken with the drippings and then if the chicken has browned, cover with foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes. Serve with salad or rice.

Honey Chilli Chicken

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