Grilled Honey Chicken with Cherry Sauce

Grilled Honey Chicken with Cherry Sauce is a recipe you’ll want to make while fresh cherries are in season and at their sweetest.

Grilled Honey Chicken with Cherry Sauce

This is a fabulous summertime dinner. Heat up your grill and cook the chicken that is lightly brushed with honey and lemon. And then you’ll top that grilled chicken with a wonderful, fresh cherry sauce that is super easy to make.

What are the best sweet cherries?

Bing cherries are the most popular cherries that you’ll spot in your market. Feel free to use those- they’re sweet and delicious enough. Rainier cherries can also be used for the cherry sauce.

How to make Cherry Sauce:

You’ll combine red wine, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, orange juice and orange zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then you’ll add fresh cherries and let those cook for about 10 minutes. Finally, you’ll add a slurry of cornstarch and water and heat until the sauce thickens a bit. That’s it!

Can I substitute something else for the red wine?

Absolutely! If you don’t like to use alcohol in your cooking, go ahead and sub one of the following for the red wine in the cherry sauce: pomegranate juice, cranberry juice or grape juice. All of those should still give the sauce great flavor!

What’s the best way to pit cherries?

Your best option is to buy a cherry pitter. You’ll probably use it more than you’d think (I use mine all the time!) If you don’t want to invest in a cherry pitter, check out this post on how to pit cherries without a cherry pitter.

This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly! It’s just a good, healthy, delicious summertime dinner. So, if you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below. Enjoy!

Here are a few more grilled chicken recipes you might enjoy:

• Chinese Grilled Chicken Salad
• Satay Chicken with Spicy Peanut Sauce
• Grilled Chicken Burrito Bowls
• Grilled Chicken Breasts with Herbs and Lemon
• Beer Can Chicken
• Grilled BBQ Chicken
• Carolina Style Barbecue Chicken
• Greek Chicken Kebabs

5 from 3 votes

Grilled Honey Chicken with Cherry Sauce

By RecipeGirl.com (adapted from an old Weight Watchers recipe)

This simple grilled chicken recipe is topped with the most amazing fresh cherry sauce.

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 45 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

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Ingredients

CHERRY SAUCE:

• ▢ ⅓ cup dry red wine
• ▢ 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon grated orange zest
• ▢ 2¼ cups pitted and quartered sweet cherries (about one pound)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 2 teaspoons water

CHICKEN:

• ▢ 6 (2 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 2 tablespoons honey
• ▢ 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions 

PREPARE THE CHERRY SAUCE:

• Combine the first 5 ingredients (through zest) in a medium saucepan; stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, and cook 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low; add the cherries, and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water; stir well, and add to the cherry mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook 1 minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Pour the cherry sauce into a bowl; set aside, and keep warm.

PREPARE THE CHICKEN:

• Pre-heat your grill. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the honey and lemon juice; stir well. Lightly brush the chicken with half of the honey mixture; grill on a grill rack sprayed with cooking spray for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the chicken over; brush with the remaining honey mixture. Grill 3 to 5 minutes or until the chicken is done.
• Serve the chicken topped with the cherry sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 268kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 97mg, Sodium: 372mg, Potassium: 694mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 19g, Vitamin A: 90IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 19mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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