Anna Louise Sticky chicken is the chicken recipe that converts people who claim to be bored of chicken. The glaze — soy, honey, garlic, ginger, and a little chilli — caramelises in the oven to a deeply golden, slightly charred, intensely flavoured coating that clings to every surface of the chicken and makes each piece genuinely extraordinary.
Mary Berry’s sticky chicken recipe is the version that works without effort. The marinade takes five minutes to mix. The chicken marinates for as long as you have — even thirty minutes makes a significant difference. And forty-five minutes in a hot oven produces chicken that is sticky, glossy, and slightly charred at the edges in exactly the right way.
This is the weeknight dinner that disappears completely and leaves nothing for leftovers. The one that gets requested again the following week. The one that makes the kitchen smell so good that everyone comes to ask when it will be ready.
What Makes This Sticky Chicken So Good
Soy sauce provides saltiness and umami. The deep, savoury backbone of the glaze.
Honey provides sweetness and stickiness. The sugar in the honey caramelises in the hot oven and gives the chicken its characteristic glossy, slightly charred exterior.
Fresh ginger and garlic provide fragrance and depth. They are not optional — they are the aromatics that lift the glaze from flat to complex.
Sesame oil provides nuttiness. A small amount of toasted sesame oil added at the end of the marinade gives a roasted nuttiness that makes the glaze more interesting.
Basting halfway through is essential. The pan juices — enriched with the rendered chicken fat and the caramelising glaze — poured back over the chicken halfway through baking doubles the stickiness and gives a second layer of caramelised coating.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Sticky Chicken
For the Marinade and Glaze
- 4 tbsp soy sauce (reduced-salt if preferred)
- 3 tbsp good quality runny honey
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves, finely grated or crushed
- 2cm fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- ½ tsp chilli flakes (adjust to taste)
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
For the Chicken
- 8 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in (or drumsticks — or a mixture)
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced, to finish
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, to finish
- Fresh coriander, to finish (optional)
To Serve
- Steamed jasmine rice
- Cucumber ribbons dressed with rice wine vinegar
- Extra chilli sauce alongside
How to Make Mary Berry Sticky Chicken — Step by Step
Step 1 — Make the Marinade
Combine the soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, grated garlic, grated ginger, sesame oil, five spice, chilli flakes, and sunflower oil in a large bowl. Whisk together until well combined.
Step 2 — Marinate the Chicken
Add the chicken thighs to the marinade bowl. Toss thoroughly to coat every surface — get the marinade under the skin as well as over it. Cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Two hours is better. Overnight is best.
Step 3 — Arrange and Roast
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Line a large roasting tin with baking parchment or foil — this makes cleaning significantly easier given how sticky the glaze becomes.
Arrange the marinated chicken thighs skin-side up in a single layer in the tin. Pour any remaining marinade from the bowl over the chicken.
Roast for 20 minutes.
Step 4 — Baste and Continue
After 20 minutes, remove the tin from the oven. The pan juices will have caramelised slightly around the edges. Spoon them generously back over each piece of chicken.
Return to the oven for a further 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, the glaze is deeply golden and sticky, and the skin is caramelised and slightly charred at the very edges. The juices should run completely clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer.
Step 5 — Rest and Finish
Leave to rest for five minutes — the glaze sets slightly and the juices redistribute. Scatter with sliced spring onions, toasted sesame seeds, and fresh coriander if using.
Serve over jasmine rice with the pan juices spooned generously over everything.
My Top Tips For Best Mary Berry Sticky Chicken
Marinate overnight for the best result. Even thirty minutes makes a difference. Overnight marinating gives chicken that is flavoured all the way to the bone and a glaze that has penetrated deeply into the surface of the meat.
Baste halfway through — always. The pan juices after the first twenty minutes are golden, slightly caramelised, and intensely flavoured. Spooning them back over the chicken before the second stage of roasting gives a second layer of sticky, caramelised coating. Do not skip this.
Use bone-in, skin-on chicken. The skin is what caramelises and becomes sticky. The bone keeps the meat moist through the full forty-five minutes. Boneless skinless chicken becomes dry before the glaze has had time to develop properly.
Line the tin with foil or parchment. The honey in the glaze caramelises to a very sticky, very hard-to-clean coating on the tin. Lining the tin takes thirty seconds and saves twenty minutes of soaking and scrubbing.
Do not crowd the tin. Crowded chicken steams rather than roasting and the glaze cannot caramelise properly. Single layer, space between each piece.
Scrape and serve every bit of the pan juices. The caramelised glaze left in the tin after roasting is extraordinarily good. Scrape every bit of it over the chicken or into the rice.
Serving Suggestions
Over jasmine rice with cucumber ribbons and extra chilli sauce — the most natural and most satisfying combination. With stir-fried vegetables alongside. As part of a larger Asian-inspired spread. Cold the next day — sticky chicken is genuinely excellent cold and makes extraordinary sandwiches.
How to Store Mary Berry Sticky Chicken
In the fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 180°C oven for fifteen minutes until the glaze re-caramelises and the chicken is piping hot.
In the freezer: Freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
Mary Berry Sticky Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Add chicken — toss to coat thoroughly, including under the skin. Cover and marinate minimum 30 minutes, overnight in fridge for best flavour.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Line a large roasting tin with foil or parchment.
- Arrange chicken skin-side up in a single layer. Pour remaining marinade over. Roast 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Baste each piece generously with pan juices. Return to oven 20–25 more minutes until cooked through, deeply golden, and sticky. Juices must run clear.
- Rest 5 minutes. Scatter spring onions, sesame seeds, and coriander. Serve over jasmine rice with pan juices.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken breast?
You can but the skin and bone are what make this recipe work. Boneless skinless breast dries out before the glaze has had time to caramelise properly. If using breast, reduce the total cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes and baste at fifteen minutes.
Can I make this less sweet?
Reduce the honey to two tablespoons and add an extra tablespoon of soy sauce. The glaze will be less sweet and more savoury — still sticky but with a deeper, more robust character.
Can I use this glaze on chicken wings?
Yes — sticky chicken wings made with this marinade are exceptional. Use the same method and bake at the same temperature for 35 to 40 minutes, turning once and basting halfway.
Can I cook this on the hob instead of the oven?
You can fry the chicken in the glaze over a medium heat in a non-stick pan — about eight to ten minutes per side over a medium heat, watching carefully that the honey does not burn. The result is good but the oven gives a more even caramelisation.
Why is my glaze burning before the chicken is cooked?
The oven temperature is too high or the chicken is too close to the top element. Reduce to 190°C and move the tin to the middle shelf. Cover loosely with foil if the glaze darkens too quickly in the first twenty minutes, then remove for the basting and final stage.
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