Honey Ginger Chicken and Carrots
Updated April 10, 2026
Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Ready In
- 35 min
- Rating
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Ingredients
¼ cup soy sauce, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons coconut oil
4 scallions, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths, white and light-green pieces separated from dark greens
1 white onion, halved and thickly sliced
3 medium carrots (about ½ pound), thinly sliced on the bias in coins
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 bird’s-eye or serrano chiles, thinly sliced (reduce for less heat or omit entirely)
2 tablespoons fermented black beans (douchi), optional, chopped
Steamed rice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey and ginger.
- Step 2
Cut each chicken thigh in half crosswise. Next, slice the chicken against the grain: Examine the direction of the muscle fibers, which will be visible as faint parallel lines. Position your knife perpendicular to those lines and slice the thighs into ¼-inch-wide strips. Add the chicken to the soy marinade, toss to combine and set aside for 15 minutes.
- Step 3
In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the oil. Add the chicken — heads up, it will splatter a bit — and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is caramelized in parts.
- Step 4
Add the white and light-green scallion pieces, onion, carrots, garlic, chile and fermented black beans (if using), and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender-crisp and chicken is cooked through.
- Step 5
If the skillet is dry, add ¼ cup water and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Stir in the scallion greens and taste, adjusting seasoning with more soy sauce if needed. Serve over rice.
Private Notes
Comments
@Matt I came to make the same comment. Against my better judgement I followed the recipe and did all the chicken at once. Although my skillet was hot and range was on full blast, 2 lb of chicken just steams instead of browns. Doing in batches then veggies then uniting them all for a final meld is the right call, and probably just as fast.
This was great. The only change I made was there was too much chicken for the pan so I did it in batches. Given that, I pulled all the chicken when it was done and put in a bowl while I cooked the vegies, which I didn’t have to hope they were done at the same time as the chicken. As someone else implied, the vegies cooked faster than I thought and it was good that I kept trying them. Also, it called for a Serrano pepper and I replaced that with a dried Passilla which is a smokey mild Mexican. Maybe that and a jalapeño next time.
Are we supposed to add the marinade in with the chicken or discard?
Subbed ground turkey (the kids are far more likely to eat ground meat), worked great!
did this happen to anyone else? i got a black crust on the bottom of my pan after cooking the chicken on medium to high heat....? partly due to the soy sauce and partly due to burning when cooking the chicken in batches. Before I cooked the veggies (separately--as a consensus of reader comments suggests) I had to clean the pan, adding water to the pan and continuing to cook on medium to scrape the sheet of black crust off. This was a pain in the hinie! It tasted alright but i will not make again
If I were to make this again, I would definitely go with what other folks said and fry the chicken in batches and then the veggie separately. Would also add a touch of corn starch to the marinade. Following the recipe as is, there was way too much liquid and the ingredients boiled/steamed instead of browned ending with soggy blahness. I had to spoon liquid out of the pan while it was cooking and then add other sauce at the end for more flavor.