Honey garlic sauce is a spicy-sweet, savory sauce that can elevate all your other recipes. All you need to make this honey garlic wing sauce is a handful of simple ingredients and ten minutes of prep time.

Honey Garlic Sauce in a clear small mason jar.

In today’s post, I am excited to teach you how to make honey garlic sauce. Whether you are cruising for a honey garlic wing sauce, or simply looking for your new go-to condiment, this recipe is sure to impress.

This spicy, sweet, and savory sauce goes with just about everything! Use your honey garlic sauce for chicken, meatballs, pork chops, pork tenderloin, stir fry, and more — with this sticky, sweet garlic sauce, you can’t go wrong!

Make honey garlic sauce for chicken, as a glaze for salmon or pork, or as a dipping sauce for all your favorite appetizers. Your family won’t be able to get enough.

Overhead view of the ingredients needed to prepare honey garlic sauce.

How to Make Honey Garlic Sauce

A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.

Melted butter and garlic cloves in a small sauce pan.

STEP ONE: Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add in the garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Adding honey, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and cornstarch to the garlic butter in a small saucepan.

STEP TWO: Whisk in the honey, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and cornstarch. Stir well to combine.

Boiling honey garlic sauce in a small saucepan.

STEP THREE: Stir frequently and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. You want the sauce to be thick enough that it coats the back of a spoon.

Closeup view of honey garlic sauce in a clear small mason jar.

STEP FOUR: Allow a few minutes for the sauce to cool. Enjoy!

What to Serve With Honey Soy Garlic Sauce

A spoon lifting a small amount of Honey Garlic Sauce out of a small clear mason jar.

Variations for Honey Garlic Sauce

Use a different thickener. Cornstarch isn’t the only way to thicken your honey garlic sauce. If needed, you can use all-purpose flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot powder. While these are all great alternatives, they are not all 1 to 1 substitutions. Make sure you do a bit of research first to get it right.
Substitute powdered garlic. If you are out of fresh garlic, or want a milder garlicky bite, you can sub in powdered garlic for this recipe. A clove of garlic is roughly equivalent to ⅛ teaspoon of pure garlic powder. So, aim for about ½ teaspoon of powdered garlic to take the place of the 4 cloves. Start slowly and add more as needed.
Switch up the sweeteners. If honey isn’t available for any reason, the best stand-in is pure maple syrup. For the brown sugar, it is possible to use a 1:1 white sugar substitute. However, brown sugar has a deep, caramel flavor that white sugar does not. You can mimic this element with a teaspoon of molasses added to the white sugar.
Adapt as needed. There are several ways to adapt this recipe to fit any dietary restriction or preferences. For a vegan version, replace the butter with olive oil. To be soy free, you can use coconut aminos. No rice vinegar available? Sub in apple cider vinegar. Each of these tweaks will slightly alter the honey garlic sauce, but I assure you it will be just as delicious.

More Sweet and Spicy Sauce Recipes

Honey Garlic Sauce coating chicken wings resting on a white plate.

What Goes With Honey Garlic Chicken?

Using honey garlic sauce for chicken is probably the most common way to include this scrumptious sauce. But what about side dishes? Try some of these easy recipes to round out your meal.

Close up view of a honey garlic sauce coated chicken wing.

What Is Honey Garlic Wing Sauce Made Of?

While recipes will vary slightly, this honey soy garlic sauce is a simple combination of garlic, honey, soy sauce, butter, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch. Check out the section above for variations and substitutions!

How Long Can Honey Garlic Sauce Last In The Fridge?

When kept in a glass jar or airtight container, honey soy garlic sauce will last for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Other Garlic-Infused Recipes You’ll Love:

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