I priced brisket for my Seder last week, and I must admit I was a bit floored by the prices. When you host a big family Seder like I do, you need a lot of brisket. I’ve been known to cook up to 7 large briskets to feed the crowd. We’re talking hundreds of dollars for one Seder! This year, with the economy sluggish and so many out of work, I wanted to come up with a more economical alternative for the Seder meal. I developed this Honey Garlic Chicken recipe as a less expensive entree option for the Seder. This golden, crispy-skinned chicken with sweet, rich honey sauce will add a delicious flavor and aroma to the Passover table.
While brisket is the “norm” for most Jewish holiday celebrations, chicken can be a great alternative. It’s easy to cook, economical, and pretty much everybody likes it (except for vegetarians!). Since most of us serve matzo ball soup at the Seder, I wanted to give this chicken a different flavor… something to set it apart from the savory chicken broth. I went in the direction of sweet, choosing a honey-based marinade with a little Meyer lemon juice and lots of fresh garlic mixed in. The combination of garlic and honey is absolutely mouthwatering. For this recipe, I like using whole leg and thigh pieces. Dark meat has more flavor, and it cooks up so juicy with this marinade. If you’ve got breast meat fans in the crowd, bone-in breasts will work great too. Don’t use boneless skinless here, the bone-in meat cooks up much more flavorful. I like to put the chicken pieces on a pretty platter in the center of the table, then guests can choose which cut of meat they like best. You can garnish the plate with some fresh parsley or greens for a prettier presentation. I had planned to do that here, but in all honesty I’m fighting a raging cold at the moment… I’m lucky I had the energy to take a picture at all!
Serve the chicken with a drizzle of thick, rich honey sauce (recipe below). Even if you don’t make it for the Seder, this Honey Garlic Chicken is easy enough to make any night during the week of Passover. It would also be a great option for Rosh Hashanah, when sweet foods signify a sweet new year. Enjoy!
Here’s another money-saving idea– host a vegetarian Seder! Check out two new categories on my website, full of vegetarian Passover options:
Vegetarian Passover Recipes – Ashkenazi
Vegetarian Passover Recipes – Sephardic
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Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 - 4 lbs. chicken pieces, bone in, skin on
- 1/3 cup honey, divided
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 heaping tbsp crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh Meyer lemon or lime juice
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth
- 2 tsp potato starch
- Salt and pepper
You will also need
- 9x13 baking dish (ceramic or glass), plastic wrap, aluminum foil, saucepan, wire mesh strainer
- In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, 1/4 cup honey, brown sugar, garlic, lemon or lime juice, and cayenne to form a marinade.
Spray the bottom of a glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking oil, or brush lightly with olive oil. Place the chicken pieces into the dish, skin side up. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper (if using kosher chicken, salt lightly).
Pour the marinade evenly over the top of the chicken pieces, brushing them to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Let the chicken marinate for 2 hours up to overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking dish. Spoon marinade over the top of the chicken, then cover the baking dish with foil. Pierce the edges of the foil a few times to vent.- Roast the chicken for 1 hour, covered in foil, basting the chicken with marinade and drippings 2 or 3 times while it cooks. Remove foil and continue to roast for 20-30 more minutes till the skin becomes dark brown and crispy. It may blacken a bit in places due to the sugar content of the marinade.
- Transfer cooked chicken pieces to a platter. Carefully tip the baking dish so that the pan drippings and juices gather in one corner. Use a spoon to skim off the clear liquid fat from the top, separating it from the solid drippings. Discard the fat.
Strain the remaining drippings through a mesh strainer into a small saucepan. Heat the sauce slowly over medium.
While sauce is heating, in a small bowl stir together 2 tsp potato starch and ¼ cup cold water till dissolved. Add the starch mixture to the pan drippings, along with 1 tbsp honey and ¼ cup white wine or chicken broth. Stir the sauce over medium heat till it thickens and bubbles around the edges. If sauce is too thick, add more water or chicken broth. If the sauce is too thin, let it simmer till it thickens to desired consistency. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. 
Serve the chicken pieces drizzled with warm honey sauce. 
Other Great Recipe Ideas
(Not necessarily Passover-friendly, but good eating nonetheless!)
Cookin’ Canuck – Grilled Chicken Thighs with Tamarind and Orange Glaze
Simply Recipes – Cardamom Honey Chicken
The Beeroness – Stout Jerk Chicken
In Erika’s Kitchen – Fruity Braised Chicken Thighs
That looks good. Always looking for a new spin on chicken.
would mashed potato flakes be a good substitute for potato starch?
Hi Rick, the best substitute for potato starch would be corn starch. Potato starch is used here because it’s kosher for Passover, but corn starch will work just as well (and it’s also gluten free).
i love honey on chicken and can’t wait to try this!
i hope you feel better soon.
Thanks Charissa!
I love chicken and will make this next. Thank you, Rosemary
Hi, This Honey Garlic Chicken looks yummy, will try it. The latest method of baking drumsticks by the Taiwan chef is to pan fried ( dry frying ) them !! Faster but have to take care, may be some ladies don’t this way !! What we used to do is add in 1/2 cup of water and 1 Tablespoon of corn flour, 1 tablespoon soya sauce and with the marinate of yours and stand over night. Why so much water ? To let the meat more tender and juicy after cooked.
If you add in some soya sauce to marinate the chicken pieces, the color will be prettier !!
Heat 1-2 spoons of oil and when it hot, place the skin side down the cover it and cook over medium fire. Turn when 1 side is golden. Before dish up add in the honey to let it cook with the drumsticks so it will shine. Dish up when both sides are golden. Cook the sauce in the same pot as all the aroma is in the pot !!
This sounds delicious! I’m pretty sure we will be enjoying this at our house on Saturday.
Feel better
Way to be economical, I always say that well cooked chicken is as good as any meat.
I plan to triple the recipe for my seder. Should I triple all the ingredients? Also, is there any reason I couldn’t use a tin roasting pan for this recipe? Does it need to be made in a ceramic or glass dish?
Can I make this chicken early in the day and reheat it at seder time? Would you leave it at room tempeature during the “resting time”?
Hi Helene– yes, you can, but the skin will soften and it won’t be quite as juicy if you reheat it. Also you’ll need to thin the sauce when you reheat, it thickens as it stands.
Can this be made ahead and frozen? Trying to get some of my Pesach cooking done ahead of time. Thanks!
Made it last night. Added some mushrooms to the pan sauce. Awesome.
I made this for dinner last and we loved it so much we each ate two whole leg & thighs; the sauce was perfect!
can i make the dish without making the warm honey sauce cause i was just figuring the chicken will end up being cold unless i leave it in oven or start making the sauce a few minutes before .
Hi Cheryl, yes– the chicken is great without the sauce, too.
Great well seasoned chicken without the sauce. My husband wants me to make more soon
Was inspired by all your recipes, and just poured the marinade over my chicken which I will serve tomorrow at my Seder. But I can’t seem to see when the brown sugar is added? In the marinade with the honey garlic and lemon? Or at the end with the drippings? I hope I get a reply soon, chicken is sitting on the kitchen counter!
Thanks!
Hi Nadine– so sorry, it’s part of the marinade. I drafted this when I had a terrible head cold. I’m surprised nobody noticed the omission before now! If it’s too late for you to add it to the marinade, don’t worry, it will taste great without it too. It just adds a little more sweetness to the mix.
your last comment what is part of marinade that adds more sweetness ..i still have time i am confused now i did the marinade last nite in fridge tell me what is missing ..or were you referring to the honey …
I was referring to the 1 tbsp brown sugar. If you didn’t include it in the marinade, you don’t need to. It will still taste great.
All of us who make this chicken for tonight’s seder should plan to share the comments and results on Thursday or so. I am using whole cut up chickens rather than just leg quarters because my son is a health nut and only eats the breasts.I, too, left out the brown sugar assuming that it went into the sauce and I certainly will not have any time to make sauce. By the time they eat all the other stuff, who will even know that the sauce is missing? I may add a bit of potato starch to some chicken soup and add it to the pan the last 15 minutes, but no guarantees. Good luck to all!
It will be great without the sauce and the brown sugar, Helene, not to worry. Happy holiday!
My Dearest Shiksa
Seriously are you kidding me This was the bomb Thank you so much Sadly so everyone ate to much and i had so much food for the little gang i had but with that being said the smell the look ..will take us to tomorrow evening Now tell me how should i reheat it ..these pieces of chicken so they don’t dry out i would imagine covered and add some liquid cause i threw the pan in the sink and didn’t take off marinade absolutely a fabulous dish and thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of it..
Success! So happy you enjoyed the recipe Cheryl. xo
This was a complete hit with my family! Many loud groans of pleasure and cries of “keeper!” I tweaked it & changed the final stage, so that there is no cooking the de-fatted juices, as follows, & the results were fabulous. I doubled the recipe, doubling the marinade ingredients, & used a mix of bone-in chicken pieces with skin, as well as 4 whole legs, skinned, and split. I added 1 tsp. sea salt to the marinade (1/2 tsp if you aren’t doubling). I coarsely-chopped an onion & spread it on the bottom of the pan before placing chicken in pan; after placing chicken in pan, sprinkled chicken well with kosher salt & paprika, added marinade, and baked as directed. When chicken was done, I poured off juices into a glass, put glass in freezer to separate fat from liquid, then combined with the cooked onions & 1 tbsp brown sugar to blend this mixture into a fabulous onion sauce!! I did this ahead of time and just warmed the chicken & sauce in the microwave–served the sauce on the side. Yum!! This will now be a tradition, and a regular on many occasions!
Enid i did the recipe also it was the bomb i was so impressed it is a great recipe and for me who freaks out about cooking cause i hate to disappoint there was none of that going on i opt to not do the sauce in the end but i did twik it also added orange juice to the dish .but i am going to try yours next time once again thanks to the Tori who bought this great recipe into our homes forever ..
Cheryl I am so happy your family enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for reporting back!
I forgot to say that I blended the onions and the defatted juices in an immersion blender–took 3 seconds! One could also do this in a blender or processor. The chicken also stands on it’s own without the sauce.
Hi Tori
I just stumbled across your website this morning whilst looking for Passover pancake recipes. My kids loved the bubbelehs – thanks ! Great site and love your sense of humour. Have now printed off a few of your Passover recipes to try……. Re this chicken recipe, I have passover potato flour – is that the same as potato starch ?
Shelley-Anne
No, potato starch is a better thickener than flour. It’s more similar to corn starch. It is widely available at this time of year in the Passover aisle at your grocery market, or at your local kosher grocery. Happy you’re enjoying the recipes!
Its me again do you think this will work with a Cornish hen cause i am trying it today ..im sure it will..Lets hope..
Should work just fine Cheryl! Cooking time may vary though based on the size of the hens.
I made this tonight and it was FANTASTIC. My boyfriend and I both loved it. Followed the recipe to a T, the chicken came out perfectly moist (sorry, I hate that word but is there a better one for perfect chicken?), not too sweet as I feared but perfectly seasoned. It will definitely go on the rotation for dinner parties and special occasions, thanks so much for the clear instructions.
You’re welcome Desiree, so happy you liked it!
I just tried this tonight and it was EXCELLENT! It’s the perfect blend of savory and sweet! I found that the honey sauce went well drizzled on literally everything on my plate. I’ll definitely be making this again
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Made this for Shabbat dinner and everyone said it is a keeper. Hubby did ask if it could be spicier next time, but that is pretty normal. With half of the 8 kids still being little, I never add extra “hot stuff”. We followed the seasonings to the letter and it was perfect for all ages. The only place I veered from your cautions was that I did choose to use boneless-skinless chicken, sacrificing depth of flavor for fewer calories. It was still wonderful! We will make it again. Thank you!