We love chicken dinners around here, and this gluten-free sweet chicken is definitely on my list of favorite meals. The chicken stays moist and the honey-sweetened sauce tastes great over the chicken and rice. While it bakes in the oven you have just enough time to get your table set and a side of veggies or salad ready.
I always serve this over rice – usually my baked brown rice recipe, which is why the rice isn’t white in the photos! I usually serve this with a side of green beans and some freshly made gluten-free biscuits or our favorite gluten-free cornbread.
The original recipe for sweet chicken came from a friend and called for adding some sesame seeds and using this sauce over chicken wings as a party food. I decided to use chicken tenders or chicken breasts to make this an easy main dish for a healthy and hearty dinner served over brown rice or Basmati rice. I’ve been making it this way for 12 years now, so this is definitely a tried and true favorite!
This is such an easy dinner to prepare since there are only 5 ingredients! I’ve got some shortcut tips to make it easy to clean-up too!
- Line the 9×13 pan with aluminum foil prior to adding the chicken and sauce. This way, when you are done with dinner and scoop out the leftovers, clean-up is as easy as throwing away the foil! Otherwise, you’ll be scrubbing this sticky sweet sauce off of your pan for a while!
- Make your sauce in a 4-cup measuring cup if you have one. This way you can measure the ingredients as you add them instead of dirtying a bunch of measuring cups, and also you can just whisk right in this size measuring cup just fine. I have this Pyrex glass 4-cup measuring cup.
Notes on Ingredients: (With only 5 ingredients, there isn’t much to say!)
- Make sure you use a wheat-free soy sauce in this recipe. I always use San-J Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce which is certified gluten-free and readily available at my local supermarkets. You can also buy online at Amazon: regular and organic gluten-free soy sauce. You will not notice any difference in taste! You can see all of San-J’s products and info here. At this time, all but one of their products are gluten-free.
- I personally haven’t found a single ketchup brand in the US that has wheat in it. However, some are manufactured in shared facilities and you may want to inquire regarding their manufacturing process. I found this helpful post about gluten-free ketchup. I personally always use Heinz – here’s the Heinz gluten-free list.
If you need to take a meal to someone that just had a baby – this is a great one! It is mild, not spicy at all, and I haven’t met someone yet that hasn’t liked the flavor! Several times now, I’ve made a pan of this and a pan of my gluten-free cornbread, and threw together a fruit salad to deliver to a new mom.
This is also a fabulous meal to make ahead and freeze (after cooking) into lunch-sized portions to take for work/school lunches. I’ve done this many times for my hubby and he loves just pulling it out of the freezer in the morning and then microwaving at work at lunchtime.
Hopefully this will be a big hit with your family too!
Gluten-free Sweet Chicken Recipe:
Gluten-free Sweet Chicken
A hearty main dish that is easy to prepare and easy to clean up. I serve over baked brown rice, with a side of green beans and fresh baked gluten-free biscuits or cornbread.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken breasts or chicken tenders
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup ketchup*
- 1/2 cup gluten-free soy sauce (recommend San-J Tamari sauce)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Directions
- Line 9x13 baking pan (I use glass) with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
- Lay thawed chicken breasts or chicken tenders in pan.
- In a 4-cup measuring cup or a medium sized bowl, whisk together all other ingredients. Pour over chicken in pan.
- Bake at 375° for 45 minutes (breasts) or 25-30 minutes (tenders). Cooking time will vary depending on size of chicken pieces, so make sure you keep checking on it.
- Serve with rice.
Recipe Notes
Originally posted January 7, 2013 with a really bad photo! 😉 It was one of the first recipes on this blog! Updated Jan 24, 2017 with better photos, though this is admittedly not the most photogenic meal! But hey, oftentimes easy family dinners aren’t spectacular looking – they just taste great!
Rachel says
I think this recipe will be on our dinner table tonight!
Rachel says
It was a hit! Thanks!
Michelle @ My Gluten-free Kitchen.com says
So glad you tried it and it was a hit! Thanks for letting me know Rachel!
Mary says
The cook said she was in search of a gluten free ketchup. Heinz ketchup is naturally gluten free. The company uses vinegar made from a corn base.In case anyone is searching for one.
Rachel says
5 stars!
melody says
It’s in the oven now! 🙂
Katie Eagy says
This has quickly become a family favorite! Plus, it’s simple and I always have the ingredients on hand. Thanks, Michelle!
Michelle @ My Gluten-free Kitchen.com says
Yay! It is so nice to have some easy, go-to meals that use ingredients on hand! Thanks for commenting and rating it, Katie!
Terry Roat says
How do I do it without soy? Any ideas that effects my system worse than gluten
Cara says
A little late, but coconut aminos has been a great substitute for my family.
Alison says
Hi! We’ve tried this recipe loads of times and our whole family loves it. We add a tsp or tbsp of chilli paste to it for an added kick and serve it with rice and oriental veggies. Sort of gives an oriental spin on it. Love your site and lots of your recipes. So thanks!! Wondering if you’ve ever done this particular recipe in a slow cooker? Thanks again!!
Kit says
I had all of the ingredients on hand. Used Sriracha ketchup. This was a hit with my family. They requested that I make this again. Thank you!
Brittany says
This is delicious! I found this while searching for something to take to work during the week… I made a batch of it and half of it is already gone because my family gobbled it up! Love it!
Angela says
I made this, but used half the honey because i don’t like my dishes to be too sweet. We enjoyed it, it was good, but I would like to avoid using Ketchup (I try to avoid all processed foods). What would you suggest I replace ketchup with?
Andrea says
This is a little late, but you can easily make your own ketchup. You can find tons of recipes online.
This is the one I use: https://alittleinsanity.com/homemade-ketchup-recipe-gluten-free/
(I hope it’s okay to post an outside link!)
Nancy says
I made the dish for dinner tonight. I followed the recipe and my sauce what very thin and not sticky. Your thoughts? Thanks