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This simple Sheet Pan Hot Honey Garlic Chicken and Zucchini is about to become your new go-to meal. Easy homemade, crispy chicken, tossed in a spicy-sweet hot honey garlic sauce. Serve with summer zucchini cooked up right alongside the chicken and top with your favorite creamy dressing. The easiest sheet pan dinner. Add a side of rice or homemade french fries and you’ve got all you need! This fun restaurant-style dinner is great any night of the week!
This is the perfect effortless summer dinner. I know we all try to avoid using the oven in the summer, especially in August. But if you ask me, an effortless delicious sheet pan dinner is worth the heat.
Whenever I’m creating recipes, I always try to think of the best way to make the recipe that will be simplest for you all at home. I’ve learned some tips on condensing and simplifying the cooking process that I think we can all appreciate. So here we go!
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts or thighs
- Smoked paprika
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- All-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Zucchini/ yellow squash
- Hot sauce
- Salted butter
- Garlic, chopped
- Chipotle chili powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Honey
- Blue cheese or ranch dressing
- Avocado
- Green onions
This recipe was created in a matter of minutes. Creighton sent me a text message that I should make a garlic buffalo chicken. The simple idea of adding garlic to already delicious buffalo sauce interested me.
Sometimes simple additions can make a big impact on a dish.
I already knew that the family loves my buffalo sauce. So I decided that garlic and honey could be really delicious additions. I wanted to keep the recipe quick and to make sure it required minimal effort. Baking everything all together on a sheet pan helps to achieve that.
The details
Step 1: the chicken
You want to start with the chicken. Cubed raw chicken, breasts, or thighs, or use a mix of the two as I do. Then toss the cubed chicken with a mix of seasonings: smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Next, add flour, then toss again.
The flour allows the chicken to crisp up in the oven. Not a fully breaded chicken, but breaded just enough so that the sauce can nicely stick to the chicken. It’s a small amount, so a very light coating, but just perfect.
Bake the chicken up with a side of fresh garden/market zucchini. It takes maybe 20 minutes to cook.
Step 2: the sauce
Now the sauce, hot sauce, Franks is my favorite. Add some salted butter and then chopped-up garlic, chipotle chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder. Melt this all together on the stove until just combined and the garlic turns golden. Then, turn the heat off, mix in the honey, and season with salt and pepper.
The addition of garlic, sizzled in butter makes such a difference. Adding garlic creates even more flavor. Then mixing in honey makes things even more special. The lightest bit of sweetness to balance the garlic and spice. Pour the sauce over the baked, crispy chicken and cook the chicken in the sauce. What happens is that the coating soaks up all the sauce – wow, so delish.
Step 3: the ranch – if you’d like
The next step is optional, I make a creamy, cooling cilantro ranch dressing, It’s easy to do, just blend everything up until creamy!
I use cilantro and basil, then all the usual ranch dressing ingredients. But my secret? I also mix in some crumbled blue cheese, so delicious.
Step 4: serve
I serve the chicken and zucchini over rice. Then add chunks of avocado and always some herbs – basil, cilantro, and or/green onions are great.
The chicken, zucchini, and sauce are also yummy with a side of homemade fries. Your choice though, rice or fries – both are delish!
Looking for other quick dinner recipes? Here are a few.
One Skillet Saucy Chicken Tortilla Enchilada Rice Bake
Crockpot Crispy Chicken Tinga Tacos with Avocado Jalapeño Crema
Sheet Pan Honey Mustard Salmon with Caesar Roasted Potatoes
One Skillet Cheesy Green Chile Chicken
20 Minute Garlic Oil Schezwan Peanut Noodles
Sheet Pan Chipotle Salmon Tacos with Pineapple Jalapeño Salsa
Parchment Baked Roasted Red Pepper Salmon
Coconut Curry Salmon with Garlic Butter
Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Soft Pretzels
Baked Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls with Cilantro Lime Ranch
Buffalo Cauliflower with Spicy Tahini Ranch
Lastly, if you make this Sheet Pan Hot Honey Garlic Chicken and Zucchini, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Sheet Pan Hot Honey Garlic Chicken and Zucchini
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 492 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour or use gluten-free
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 zucchini/yellow summer squash, sliced
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup honey
- blue cheese or ranch dressing, for serving
- avocado, basil, sliced green onions, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 450° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or rub with oil.2. On the sheet pan, toss together the chicken, paprika, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the flour and toss again. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, tossing to coat. Arrange the chicken to one side of the baking sheet. Add the zucchini to the other side. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a saucepan set over medium heat, melt together the hot sauce, butter, garlic, chipotle chili powder and cayenne. Stir until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and mix in the honey and a season with salt.4. Pour the buffalo sauce over the chicken, toss the chicken up in the sauce. Bake another 5 minutes, until the hot honey sauce is baked onto the chicken.5. Serve the chicken, zucchini, and hot honey with chunks of avocado, basil, green onions and blue cheese or ranch dressing. I love this over rice, but it's also great with french fries too!
Notes
Creamy Cilantro-Basil Ranch: In a blender, blend 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, 1/3 cup mayo, 2 tablespoons buttermilk, 1 cup fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup fresh basil, 1/4 cup fresh chopped chives, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper. Blend until creamy.
This post was originally published on August 8, 2023
Thiegan,
You have out done yourself on this one……my kitchen smells like a fancy restaurant:)
Thank you so much for this EASY weeknight dinner. My family is so spoiled!!
Wow thank you so much Amber! xT
I just made this! Like some other comments, the chicken wasn’t super crispy, more sticky, but I don’t even care – the flavors are amazing, just like the super bold flavors that I expect from HBH! I tossed in some broccoli with the zucchini, and roasted the veggies and chicken on separate baking sheets. Also, thank you for the cilantro ranch recipe, that was the perfect cooling effect. I used all greek yogurt, no mayo nor buttermilk and it was fantastic. Fully putting this into weekly meal prep rotation!
So glad you loved the recipe! Thanks so much for giving it a try! xT
Can you substitute Sriracha for the hot sauce? Love your recipes Teagan!!
I haven’t ever tried that but that should work fine! xT
The flavors are so good but the juices from the chicken make the flour coating pastey not crispy. I have made this twice and it happened both times. Any suggestions on how to crisp it up?
You could try baking it on a rack so the juices will stay below the chicken.
Hmm maybe try broiling the meat at the end for a few minutes??
Made this for dinner last night along with your garlic Parmesan fries…..DELICIOUS!!
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! So happy to hear it was enjoyed! Have an awesome week! xT
I made this tonight and it was sooo yum! Just wondering what the other 1/2 teaspoon of garlic and onion powder was for?
Hi,
Can this recipe be made using another type of meat? Ie beef instead of chicken?
Hi! I haven’t ever tried that before but you could try it out if you’d like! xT
Absolutely delicious! I added some pan fried halloumi on top. It was amazing!
so quick and easy. we doubled the zucchini because it is plentiful here! another great recipe. You are about all we follow now because everything is a winner and it is easy and delicious.! thank you!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! So happy to hear that you enjoyed it! xT
Very delicious and spicy! I would use a separate sheet next time for the zucchini since it created a lot of water in the pan and the chicken didn’t crisp up at all. Excellent flavor.
Hi Kelly! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Have a great day! xT
I made this last night and it was amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and the flavors were phenomenal. I love spicy food, but I loved that the hot sauce wasn’t overpowering here. Definitely a recipe that will be on rotation in this house.
So glad to hear this recipe was a hit in your home! xT
I made this yesterday as written, using small amount of cayenne. It was so good I am making it again tonite. I only had a pound of chicken tenders so halved the sauce and it was just right. Even my husband liked it and he is not much of a meat eater.
So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Have a great day! xT
Hi there,
This sounds delicious, can I make a kid friendly version and substitute the hot sauce for something else? Please advise.
Sam
Hi there! I would just use a little less hot sauce! xT
Could this be cooked in the air fryer?
I don’t have an air fryer, so I’m not familiar with them! Let me know if that works out for you! xT
We made it tonight and it was fabulous! Used only 1/2 tsp cayenne. Served over couscous and kept some of the sauce back after tossing with baked chicken and drizzled sauce and blue cheese dressing over all. Basil was fabulous with it. Will definitely make again!
So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Have a great day! xT
I haven’t made it YET but wanted to better understand when to mix with the oil. Is that in a separate bowl with the seasoned flour chicken or do add oil to the flour mixture to retoss? I am new to cooking and appreciate your guidance (and patience).
Hi Rebecca. You’ll mix the chicken pieces with the spices. Then sprinkle the flour over the chicken mixture and toss until everything is well coated. Then drizzle 2 Tablespoons of oil over the chicken mixture and toss again. You can do all this directly on the sheet pan or do it in a separate bowl and then put it on the sheet pan. The other 2 Tablespoons of oil is mixed with the zucchini.
Hey Rebecca! In step two you add the flour and then drizzle the chicken with olive oil and toss it up to coat it. Then you add the oil to the zucchini as well! xT
This looks amazing. I have everything to make it tonight. Quick question, do you remove the zucchini from the pan when you pour the buffalo sauce on the chicken and cook for 5 more minutes. I’m wondering if the zucchini will be overcooked.
Hi there! Yes, I would remove the zucchini from the pan if you feel like it’s getting overcooked! xT
I made it last night. It was AMAZING!
Thanks so much, Debbie! xT