This air fryer honey garlic chicken recipe is a simple meal that you can cook in your air fryer.
With a piece of foil, you can transform your air fryer into a multipurpose cooking device. As a demonstration, we’ll show you how we cooked our chicken wings — nicely glazed and tender and served with veg over cooked rice.
Is Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Healthy?
Containing chicken wings, salt, and honey, this dish can be high in saturated fats, sodium, or added sugar (or all). However, with our reasonable portion sizes, we’ve reduced the chance that you accidentally exceed the daily recommended limits.
For added variety, we side the meat with some carrots and green beans. They are highly nutritious and provide a good amount of fiber (2.6 g).
Cooked rice in our recipe ensures that you consume an adequate amount of calories. Brown rice, potatoes, and whole wheat pastas all are suitable alternatives that count as complex carbs beneficial to your health.
We suggest that you prep using measuring devices such as a scale or measuring cups, as we take our ingredient measurements seriously. We do not recommend estimating the ingredients by eye.
Ingredients for Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken
Our air fryer honey garlic chicken recipe calls for chicken wings, carrots, green beans, cooked rice, and seasonings.
1. Chicken
We use chicken wings for this recipe and cut off the wing tip because it tends to burn in the oven and doesn’t yield much meat. Keep them aside, however, as they can be used for stock-making.
The dish also welcomes chicken thighs, breasts, or drumsticks.
2. Vegetables for Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken
Chicken pairs well with crunchy vegetables, which is why we’ve chosen carrots and green beans. Broccoli, bok choy, snap peas and the likes are also excellent choices.
When dealing with green beans, it’s best to slice off the pointy ends; they also tend to burn in the oven and don’t have a great texture.
After peeling the carrot, we cut it in half lengthwise, then into slices about the thickness of the green beans, and finally into matchsticks. This enables both to cook at the same rate.
3. Sauce for Chicken
Our sauce begins with honey and garlic, which go nicely with soy sauce. This trio alone provides the perfect sauce foundation for virtually any protein — salmon, pork, beef, tofu, you name it.
To this base, we add some Sriracha, red pepper flakes, and ground black pepper for varying degrees of heat and aromas. We also stir some water and cornstarch into it to make it thick and glossy after cooking.
4. Cooked Rice
Prior to making the chicken, prepare some rice so you can enjoy the meal warm and fresh. Any type of rice will work.
If you’re pressed for time, frozen rice and instant rice are great alternatives. They’re easy to use, take only minutes, and can be conveniently stored.
How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken in the Air Fryer
Once you’ve measured the ingredients:
Season the chicken wings.
Mix the sauce ingredients together.
Line the frying chamber with foil and cook the wings.
Pour the sauce over. Flip and cook.
Cook the veg in the microwave and shock in cold water.
Serve.
To achieve the best results, strictly adhere to the instructions as well as the ingredient list on our printable ‘Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe’ at the bottom.
Tips for Making Honey Garlic Chicken
We’re cooking both the sauce and chicken (in foil) in the same air fryer to save time and washing up. However, cooking the sauce in a separate saucepan negates the need for the foil, allowing you to discard some of the excess chicken fat.
Without the foil, the chicken will cook more evenly due to the increased circulation of hot air.
If using frozen rice, heap it into a bowl and bury an ice cube in the center. Cover it with parchment and microwave on high for 3 minutes. The ice cube adds moisture to the rice, leaving it moist and steaming hot.
Storage and Reheating
Rice and chicken can be refrigerated for 5 days and frozen for up to 3 months. Refrigerate the vegetables only, to maintain their crisp texture.
You may use any container type, including glass containers with lids, Ziploc bags, or biodegradable bags. The bags come in handy if there is little available space in your refrigerator.
To reheat, place all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl or stir them in a pan. If they are frozen, microwave the chicken and rice before adding the vegetables.
What to Serve With Honey Garlic Chicken
We found our cabbage potato soup to be a wholesome, cozy pairing for this meal. And to round it off nicely – a glass of chilled pineapple ginger juice:
Other Air Fryer Chicken Recipes To Love
We also have these five air fryer recipes, dedicated to chicken lovers. The recipes are easy to follow and complied with our healthy eating standards.
- Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Sesame Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Greek Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
This air fryer honey garlic chicken recipe is a simple way to enjoy chicken wings with rice and vegetables. It's a wholesome meal in 37 minutes.
- cook TIME 30 mins
- prep TIME 7 mins
- total TIME 37 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Global
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 507 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 19 ozchicken wings (wing tips removed, wingette and drumette separated)
- 2 tbspgarlic (about 5 cloves, minced)
- 1 tsppaprika
- 2.8 tbspreduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbspwater
- 1 tbsphoney
- 2 tspSriracha
- 1 tspcornstarch
- 0.5 tspground black pepper
- 0.3 tspred pepper flakes
- 6 ozgreen beans (washed and with ends trimmed)
- 4 ozcarrots (sliced into fingers the size of green beans)
- 0.5 tbspwhite sesame (toasted)
- 2 tbspscallion (chopped)
- 3 cupscooked medium-grain rice
INSTRUCTIONS
In a bowl, toss 19 oz chicken wings with 2 tbsp minced garlic and 1 tsp paprika. Set aside.
In another bowl mix together 2 3/4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp honey, 2 tsp Sriracha, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Line the air fryer’s basket with foil and fix the corners to make sure no liquid can escape. Add the wings and air-fry at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Flip the wings and pour the sauce over. Cook for another 5 minutes. Flip again, stir gently, and cook for another 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, place 6 oz green beans and 4 oz carrots in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on medium for 4 minutes, then shock in cold water.
When the chicken’s done, carefully lift the foil up and place all into a bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp scallion and 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds, then serve with 3 cups cooked rice and cooked vegetables.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Natalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer