Grilled Chicken Thighs with Honey, Garlic, and Ginger (Soy-Free Recipe)

Make a honey, garlic, and ginger sauce for your grilled chicken thighs. This soy-free option packs so much flavor and you don't need to marinade before firing up the grill.

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• I Wanted a Soy Free Sauce
• Ingredients
• Tips
• Grilled Chicken Thighs with Honey, Garlic, and Ginger - No Soy

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make the sauce for this grilled chicken.

• Garlic - You will need a few cloves for this recipe. Try to pick a bulb that has large cloves as I am going to have you grate the garlic.
• Ginger - You don't need a lot for this recipe. The good news is that ginger lasts a long time in the fridge.
• Honey - Does the type of honey matter at all? No, you can use whatever honey you have on hand or want to buy from the store. I do have to say that I prefer darker honeys like buckwheat for savory dishes.
• Vinegar - The vinegar is there to add a little tang, not really using it for flavor. So in that case a mild vinegar is welcomed here like apple cider, rice, or just cheap white vinegar.
• Worcestershire sauce - This will give the sauce a nice flavor boost without overwhelming the flavor of the sauce. If you truly want this to be a soy free recipe, you need to make sure there is no soy in the ingredient list of the Worcestershire you pick out. Lea & Perrins doesn't have soy on it's ingredient list.
• Salt - I want you to finish making the sauce and then add salt and keep tasting until it's right for you.
• Optional ingredients - You could add some citrus zest, like orange or lime to the sauce. Chili flakes are good if you like some heat.

If you are out of these ingredients, I have another grilled chicken recipe made with a dry rub that you can check out as well.

Tips

Here are some of my best tips for this recipe for you to read before you fire up the grill.

• It's important to incorporate the ginger and garlic into the sauce in a way that keeps pieces from falling off and burning on the grill. What I do is grate both the garlic and the ginger. Be careful with your fingers. It's easy to nick them while grating. I use a cut-resistant glove for protection. If you don't have one, it's totally fine to stop grating before you get to the very end. No need to risk your fingertips trying to get every last bit.

• Brush the sauce onto the chicken while it's on the grill, right before flipping it on each side. If you'd like to serve extra sauce at the table, be sure to set some aside in a separate bowl before brushing it onto the raw chicken. You don't want to serve any sauce that's been in contact with raw poultry.
• The chicken thighs need to be cooked until they reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees. But if you get up to 190 degrees you will still be fine. Chicken thigh meat is very forgiving. It's harder to overcook than the white meat.
• If you find that the chicken is getting too dark and it's still not done, then move your chicken to a cooler part of your grill. I use a infrared thermometer to know where my hot and cool spots are on my grill.
• Don't cut into the chicken right after you pull it from the grill. Give it at least 5 minutes to rest so the juices are all re-distributed and don't just run out of the meat.

If you have any other questions about grilling chicken, leave me a comment below and I will be happy to answer it.