Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken – Its sweet, sticky sauce has all of the allure of your favorite takeout but is made of healthy, natural ingredients. The recipe is only eight ingredients (nine if you’re a stickler and count the rice), and should you cook Asian food regularly (meaning you have soy sauce), you have each of them on your pantry right now.
I regularly hear that you’re constantly on the lookout for healthy, simple crockpot chicken recipes. As a fellow appreciator of maintaining dinner easy (but delicious!) And healthy (but by no means”diet”), recipes in this way slow cooker honey garlic chicken thighs are some of my favorites to create.
Does reading that recipe listing makes anybody else wish to borrow a few extra slow cookers and create one of these restaurant-style combo plates?
For now, but this yummy slow cooker honey garlic chicken is precisely what I want at the middle of my plate. The breezy ingredient list only requires a couple of minutes to stir together, the honey sauce merits nothing short of universal praise, along with the leftovers readily package for lunch and reheat as a fantasy.
About This Easy Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
The Ingredients
- Chiken. I opted to make this type of hot and flavorful boneless skinless chicken thighs slow cooker recipe, but you certainly can make this a honey garlic chicken breast slow cooker recipe. Either will be tasty!
- Honey and Garlic. This is a severely under-appreciated fixing mix. The honey provides the sauce its signature sweetness and stickiness, without the necessity for any extra sugar.
- Soy Sauce. The sour ying to equilibrium the honey’s candy yang.
- Tomato Paste. Wait, don’t go. I am aware that tomato paste sounds strange in a takeout-type recipe, however it provides the sauce freshness and a little acidity. Please don’t skip it.
- Chili Paste. (Also known as sambal ulek.) You can find it from the Asian or international food aisle of most major grocery stores (as well as Target) in case you don’t possess it, swap red pepper aromas. This dish isn’t hot, but you can always add more if you like a good kick.
- Rice Vinegar. To make the sauce punchy and tender.
The instructions
- Add your chicken into the toaster. In a mixing bowlwhisk your sauce ingredients together, and pour over the chicken. Cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hoursuntil the chicken, is completed. The chicken will bathe the yummy sauce!
- Remove the chicken to a plate to cool. Whisk the cornstarch directly into the slow cooker and cook until your sauce thickens.
- Shred the chicken, and return into the toaster. Stir and coat your chicken in the sauce. Serve as wanted (I love to serve it on rice topped with green onions and sesame seeds), and ENJOY!
As mentioned above, after the chicken has cooked, I insert cornstarch directly to the toaster to thicken the sauce further because we enjoy our sauce nice and thick.
Recipe Adaptations
- To Make Gluten-Free. Use gluten-free tamari in place of the soy sauce, and swap the rice vinegar for apple cider vinegar.
- To Produce Paleo. Utilize arrowroot starch in place of the cornstarch.
Tips for Cooking Chicken in the Slow Cooker
Choosing Between Breasts and Thighs, Bone-In or Bone-Out
- So far as which sort of poultry to utilize for this particular crockpot chicken recipe, you have choices. Dark meat is more forgiving so that it won’t dry out as fast. If you prefer, you can surely make this a slow cooker chicken breast recipe instead. Be sure to check the chicken early to make sure it does not overcook.
- To generate slow cooker chicken thighs bone-in, I propose removing the skin first so the sauce does not become greasy. You’ll also have to expand the cooking time. I’d estimate 4 to 6 hours on low, depending upon the size of your poultry. The same is true of slow cooker bone-in chicken breasts.
About Using Frozen Chicken for Slow Cooker Recipes
- Although it’s safe to cook raw chicken in the toaster, the chicken has to be thawed. Don’t place frozen beef in a slow cooker. It’ll spend too much time at room temperature and might not be safe to consume.
- For those who have your heart set on cooking using frozen poultry –state dinner is round the corner, and now you realized you forgot to pull the chicken thighs from the freezer (not that this has happened to me earlier!) , that could be made securely with frozen chicken thighs or chicken breasts.
How to Serve Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Make this recipe filling by including a side dish, then turn it into slow cooker honey garlic chicken and veggies.
- Veggies. Sauté or steam broccoli or mixed vegetables while the sauce finishes thickening in the toaster. I used a frozen stir-fry blend I sautéed with olive oil, garlic, along with a few shakes of soy sauce. Steam-in-the-bag microwavable frozen veggies are a simple choice also.
- Rice. Pile the veggies cooked brown rice (or cauliflower rice) with tons of those succulent chicken. Spoon the yummy honey garlic sauce generously over the top.
- Salad. Tasty Asian-inspired, crowd-pleasing Ramen Salad would be yummy.
I hope you enjoy and thanks a lot for reading. Want to browse all of my recipe posts? Follow my Pinterest.
Please, if you recreate this Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken recipe, don’t forget to give me star rate or comment below. Thanks!
Try these other Delicious Recipes options:
- Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad (vegan & gluten-free)
- Healthy Summer Broccoli Salad
- Healthier Broccoli Chicken Casserole
- Bacon Avocado Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Crispy Honey Chilli Potato | Honey Chilli Potato Recipe
- Keto Chicken Cheese Bake
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs — or chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons chili paste — sambal oelek, sriracha, or hot sauce of choice
- 4 cloves garlic — minced
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For Serving:
- Prepared brown rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Chopped green onion
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the bottom of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. In a medium mixing bowl or very large measuring cup, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, tomato paste, chili paste, garlic, and rice vinegar. Pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. If you are available, flip the chicken over once halfway through to coat both sides. (If not, don’t stress; it will still be tasty.)
- Remove the chicken to a plate and let cool slightly. Whisk the cornstarch into the slow cooker cooking liquid. Cover and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally. If you'd like the sauce particularly thick, you can cook it for a full 30 minutes in the slow cooker OR follow the stovetop method below.
- For quicker sauce thickening, reduce the sauce on the stove: After whisking in the cornstarch, transfer the cooking liquid to a medium saucepan. Cook on the stovetop over medium heat, stirring often until the sauce thickens, 5 to 10 minutes. (If your slow cooker insert is stovetop safe, you can remove it from the slow cooker and place it directly on the burner, but do not do this unless you are POSITIVE your insert is stovetop safe or it may crack.)
- With two forks (or your fingers if the chicken is cool enough), shred the chicken and place it in the slow cooker. If you reduced the sauce on the stove, add it back to the slow cooker now. Stir to coat the chicken with the sauce. Serve over rice, sprinkled with green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
- TO STORE: Store cooked and chilled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 times.
- TO REHEAT: Reheat gently in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low warmth, with a dash of water or broth if needed to keep it from drying out. You could even rewarm this in the microwave until heated through.
- TO FREEZE: Put cooked and cooled chicken in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
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