Maple Miso Chicken

This sweet and savory miso chicken recipe is simple yet outrageously delicious. Coated in a buttery glaze of miso paste, maple syrup, garlic, ginger, shallots, oil and vinegar, the chicken bakes until lusciously golden and sticky.

Miso paste has become my new latest ingredient obsession.

For awhile tahini reigned supreme and I was making my lemon garlic tahini dressing on repeat or simply drizzling it all over vegetables like roasted romanesco.

But tahini is back in the pantry (for now) and miso is front and center.

This, by the way, is coming from someone who despises miso soup. I honestly think it tastes like dirty sock water.

Sorry, but it does.

Yet somehow, when I use miso paste in literally any other capacity, I’m obsessed.

And this miso chicken is a prime example.

Miso paste and maple syrup combine as the prominent ingredients to create the most swoon-worthy sweet and savory sticky glaze on the chicken.

It’s a skillet chicken dinner recipe you will undoubtedly bookmark as a favorite once you give it a try!

WHY I LOVE THIS MISO CHICKEN RECIPE

1. SIMPLICITY
   
   With just the chicken (drumsticks or thighs work well for this recipe) and miso marinade/glaze ingredients, there’s nothing complicated about this recipe.
   
   Outside of the miso paste, there’s no oddball Asian ingredients that require a special grocery store run.
   
   And that’s not meant to offend but let’s be real, how many of us have things like hoisin sauce, mirin, oyster sauce or shaoxing wine on hand at all times? Not me.
   
   The chicken is also skillet baked entirely in the oven. No browning or prep steps necessary.
   
2. IT’S A DELIGHT OF THE 5 TASTES
   
   If you’re a sucker for combining the 5 basic tastes, miso maple chicken certainly checks off sweet, savory and even the 5th lesser known taste, umami.
   
   I always default to mushrooms when tasked with defining “umami” (which is Japanese and actually translates to “delicious”) but miso paste is another excellent example of it. I love the description of its origins in this article.
   
   Umami is a beautiful intersection of savory, salty and buttery and when combined with the maple syrup and touch of acidity from the rice vinegar and lime, this miso glazed chicken truly delights.
   
   Check out this post about the best miso substitutes if you don’t have it on hand.
   
3. IT PAIRS WELL WITH ALMOST ANYTHING
   
   When I make this recipe, I love the flexibility of side dishes that can go with it.
   
   If you want to stick to an Asian theme, white rice and air fryer frozen broccoli are both easy options. Air fryer mushrooms would be a double dose of umami deliciousness!
   
   However, it’s not an overly “Asian” flavored meal so it can just as easily go with a side of potatoes and any other green you prefer.
   
   I love throwing some purple sweet potato fries in the oven while the chicken cooks and making some sautéed greens on the stove top or something light like this mizuna salad (*tip – add some miso paste to the dressing!) for a balanced meal.

INGREDIENTS FOR BAKED MAPLE MISO CHICKEN

• Chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)
• white miso paste
• maple syrup
• diced shallot
• minced garlic
• minced ginger
• rice vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice & zest of 1 lime

While this recipe is shown with chicken drumsticks, bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs are a 1:1 swap. Chicken leg quarters are also an option, they’re the drumstick and thigh in one piece.

If you’d rather use boneless skinless chicken breast, you can but the cooking time will be reduced (check around 20 minutes) and you won’t get the same golden brown color without the skin.

A split breast (bone-in) with the skin on would be a better replacement if you prefer breast meat.

You can even roast a whole chicken with this miso glaze! Much like roasted apple butter chicken, just coat the entire chicken with the miso sauce and brush/baste it as it cooks.

HOW TO MAKE MISO GLAZED CHICKEN

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and place in a large mixing bowl.

Combine the miso paste, maple syrup, shallots, garlic, ginger, olive oil, rice vinegar, lime juice and zest in a small bowl and whisk together.

Pour the miso marinade over the chicken and toss until well coated. Set aside until the oven is ready.

Reserve the extra marinade in the bowl.

Arrange the chicken in a large cast iron skillet (12-14″) with the skin side facing up.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, brushing the chicken with the extra miso marinade every 10 minutes.

Broil for the last 2 minutes for a lovely golden color.

Chicken is fully cooked at 160°F internal temperature using an instant read thermometer.

Remove from oven and let rest, covered, for about 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro, scallions and/or sesame seeds if desired.

CAN I PREP THIS AHEAD OF TIME?

Yes, the chicken can be prepped through the marinade step ahead of time.

After you pour the miso sauce over the chicken in the bowl, toss to coat then cover with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Don’t go much past this amount of time since there’s acid in the sauce from the vinegar and lime and you don’t want it to “cook” the chicken while it marinates.

WHERE TO FIND MISO PASTE

Most grocery stores now carry miso paste and although there is both white and red miso paste, I find white miso paste to be more easily obtainable.

Of course you can order online from Amazon, but places like Whole Foods and Sprouts will undoubtedly have it if your local grocery store doesn’t.

When it comes to soy based products, I always look for organic and preferably sprouted.

The brand Miso Master (I find it at Whole Foods where the tofu is) fits both of those requirements and is my miso paste of choice.

A FEW QUESTIONS ON MISO PASTE

If you’re new to the miso game, you may be wondering about a few of these things.

My goal is to make miso a less scary ingredient so you have more confidence to cook with it because it’s truly delicious!

I’ve personally gone from the “ew, miso soup – nah, I’ll pass on miso paste” mentality to using this ingredient weekly.

WHAT IS MISO MADE OF?

Miso is a fermented soy product that’s combined with salt and koji, a type of mold.

If you’re like omg, mold?! It’s the same mold that is used to make sake and it’s completely safe so don’t worry!

Sometimes, miso paste will also contain barley, rice, rye or other grains.

If gluten-free is important to you, make sure you read the label and look for a brand that is certified gluten-free without the added grains.

WHAT CAN YOU USE MISO PASTE WITH?

Besides creating sauces and glazes like with this miso chicken recipe, you can also make deliciously creamy pasta sauces using miso, add it to soups and broths or, use it in a salad dressing.

When combined with meat, miso also acts as a tenderizer.

Its umami flavor lends it wonderfully to almost any savory application.

My personal favorite is using it in pasta sauces. Lately, I’ve been adding it to this creamy pumpkin garlic pasta and it brings a whole new dimension to the taste of that dish.

Savory miso oatmeal is also a thing! A wonderfully delicious thing that I also highly recommend trying.

IS MISO SAUCE HEALTHY?

Absolutely! Miso has an abundance of health benefits and is considered a highly nutritious food.

Because it’s a fermented product, all the benefits of fermentation carry over to miso.

So everything you’d enjoy from fermented vegetables (like better digestion and immune support) applies to miso paste as well!

Miso is a complete protein and good source of probiotics.

Perhaps miso soup is the secret to the people of the Okinawan blue zone!

Currently, there are over 1,000 recipes on this site. That’s a lot.

But every now and then there are those few that excel like the overachiever teacher’s pet from grade school.

Those are the recipes where I sit at the computer struggling to find the most appropriately compelling words to convince you to try them. Because I know if you do, you’ll fall just as much in love as I have.

This miso chicken recipe is one of those.

With it’s lusciously sweet, salty and buttery glaze accented with touches of bright acidity in that addictive sticky glaze texture, it’s truly one of the special ones around here.

My hope is that it becomes the same in your kitchen as well.

And if you love the flavors going on in this recipe, be sure to try these air fryer frozen shrimp that are tossed in an equally interesting garlic ginger sesame soy glaze!

MORE CHICKEN RECIPES TO TRY:

Sticky Thai Chicken
Sheet Pan Maple Mustard Chicken
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Grilled Hawaiian Chicken
Five Spice Cream Cheese Chicken