Ina Garten’s Indonesian ginger chicken coats quartered chickens in a sticky glaze of honey, soy sauce, fresh ginger, and garlic, then bakes them until the sauce turns rich and dark. It comes together in about 75 minutes plus an overnight soak.
This one goes all the way back to The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook from 1999, one of Ina’s earliest published recipes. She also made it on the Barefoot Contessa episode “Stephen’s Birthday” as the main course for a casual dinner party.
Do not skip the overnight marinade. The honey-soy glaze needs those hours to penetrate the chicken so it caramelizes during baking. Without that time, you get a sticky coating sitting on top of the skin instead of a deep, lacquered finish baked into every piece.
Ina Garten Indonesian Ginger Chicken
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4-6
servings15
minutes1
hour976
kcal1
hour15
minutesQuartered chickens soaked in a four-ingredient honey-ginger marinade, then baked in two stages until the glaze reduces to a dark, caramelized finish. The real work happens the night before, so dinner is mostly hands-off.
Ingredients
1 cup (240ml) honey
¾ cup (180ml) soy sauce
¼ cup (35g) minced garlic, about 8 to 12 cloves
½ cup (55g) peeled and grated fresh ginger root
2 (3½-pound/1.6kg each) chickens, quartered, backs removed
Directions
- Warm the glaze. Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey melts and everything combines, about 3 minutes.
- Marinate the chicken. Arrange the quartered chickens skin side down in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Pour the glaze over the top, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and refrigerate overnight.
- Bake covered. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the covered pan directly in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and finish. Remove the foil, flip each piece skin side up, and raise the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake another 30 minutes until the juices run clear between the leg and thigh and the sauce has reduced to a rich, dark brown.
- Rest and serve. Let the chicken sit for 5 to 10 minutes before plating. Spoon the concentrated pan sauce over each piece.
Notes
- Ina specifies removing the backs from both chickens before quartering. Ask your butcher to do this, or use kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the backbone yourself.
FAQs
Why does Ina warm the glaze before pouring it over the chicken?
Raw honey is too thick to mix evenly with soy sauce and grated ginger at room temperature. Gentle heat melts it into a smooth, pourable consistency so the garlic and ginger distribute across every piece.
Skipping this step leaves clumps of honey stuck to some quarters while others barely get coated. A quick warm in a saucepan takes about three minutes and guarantees even coverage overnight.
Why marinate overnight instead of a shorter soak?
The honey-soy glaze is thick, and chicken quarters are large, bone-in cuts. A few hours only flavors the surface. Overnight gives the salt from the soy sauce time to work deeper into the meat, seasoning it through to the bone.
The long soak also helps the sugars in the honey bond to the skin. That bond creates the dark, lacquered finish during baking rather than a glaze that pools at the bottom of the pan.
Why bake covered first and then uncovered at a higher temperature?
The covered stage at 350°F (180°C) steams the chicken gently so thick thigh and leg quarters cook through without drying out. Thirty minutes under foil brings the meat close to done while trapping moisture inside the pan.
Removing the foil and raising the heat to 375°F (190°C) lets the skin crisp and the glaze reduce into a sticky, concentrated sauce. Without that two-stage approach, you get either dry meat or pale, soggy skin.
Can you use bone-in chicken pieces instead of two whole quartered chickens?
Bone-in thighs or drumsticks work well and are easier to source. Keep the pieces skin-on so the glaze has something to caramelize against. Boneless cuts cook too fast and dry out during the hour-long bake.
Smaller pieces may finish 5 to 10 minutes sooner, so check for clear juices around the 50-minute mark. The sauce should still be dark and reduced by the time the chicken is done.
How should you store and reheat leftover Indonesian ginger chicken?
Cooled chicken keeps in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Per USDA guidance, cooked poultry should be refrigerated within two hours. It freezes well for up to three months if you store the pan sauce separately so it doesn’t soften the skin.
Reheat pieces on a sheet pan at 350°F (180°C) for 12 to 15 minutes, spooning reserved sauce over the top halfway through. The oven restores the glaze better than a microwave, which tends to turn the skin rubbery.
