The Quick 2-Ingredient Glaze For Chicken With Sweet Southern Flavor

On the scale of flavorful proteins, you have a succulent ribeye on one end and chicken on the other. Surely, someone has to be in last place, but many recipes just do this bland poultry dirty. Unlike beef, which shines with a mere sprinkle of salt and pepper, chicken needs to be heavily marinated, sauced, and doused so that it tastes like something. If your chicken drumsticks (or really, any cut) look a bit worse for wear, we have a sauce solution worth trying: a simple honey and butter mixture.

Unlike an Asian-inspired marinade or a spicy Nashville hot seasoning, honey butter is easy to pair with dishes outside of its Southern-leaning domain, and it adds both richness and sweetness. Our honey butter chicken drumstick recipe calls for creating a simple sauce with melted butter, chili flakes, garlic, honey, and lemon zest, which is added to the pan with the browned drumsticks before the entire thing is thrown into the oven to finish. Browning the pieces first is critical, as it will lock in the moisture and add a toasty, complementary flavor to the buttery, sweet chicken.

One of our favorite things about this honey butter sauce is that it starts with only two ingredients (technically) but can be modified to fit any flavor profile that you're trying to achieve. Harissa paste, for one, may be worth trying in your honey butter recipe because it adds a layer of complexity and smokiness. It's excellent when used in a compound butter, so why not add a hint of sweetness with the honey?

However, if you prefer to keep things as simple as possible, you could also fix up the two ingredients that it does require. One of the best things that you can do is to brown your butter first. Carefully toast it in a stainless steel pan (a lightly colored is preferred so you can see its color) before adding the rest of your ingredients. This will give your chicken a nutty undertone that pairs well with garlicky mashed potatoes and fresh lemony green beans.