Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

This Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken is an easy-to-prepare and delicious, flavorful take on one of our favorite Chinese take-out meals.

Tender chicken thighs simmer for hours in a honey-garlic sauce until they are falling apart tender. Serve this easy slow cooker dinner with rice, and you won’t miss the take-out!

With a large family and more than a dozen kids in and out of the house all day, I love a great crockpot meal. This honey garlic chicken is SUPER easy, not much preparation and I just let it sit all day.

It’s a perfect dish rounded off with some edamame, steamed carrots, peas, or broccoli, served with a side of rice. This is another Chinese “take-out” hit (if you have read some of my previous post my kids love Chinese take-out or what they think is Chinese take-out).

This Easy Recipe is all About the Sauce

The chicken simmers in the most amazing Asian-style sauce. Once cooked, the sauce is reduced until it’s thick and sticky. It’s so delicious.

• Honey
• Low-sodium soy sauce
• Blackberry jam
• Hoisin sauce
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Diced onion
• Crushed red pepper flakes (optional if you want a kick of heat)
• Cornstarch

The blackberry jam is an unexpected ingredient but it adds a lot of sweetness and depth of flavor without having to add other types of sugar. It also gives the sauce a wonderful texture.

Prep and Then Set it and Forget It

• Arrange the thighs in the slow cooker so that they are not overlapping.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, blackberry jam, hoisin, olive oil, garlic, onion, and crushed red pepper flakes, and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook the chicken on LOW for 4 to 5 hours until the chicken is fully cooked.
• Using tongs, remove the meat from the slow cooker (reserving the liquids) and place it on a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the chicken into smaller pieces. Place the shredded meat in a large serving bowl, set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry.
• Transfer the liquids from the slow cooker into a small saucepan set over medium-high heat and whisk in the slurry. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook it until it reduces and has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken, tossing to combine. Serve the final dish topped with sliced scallions and sesame seeds.

How to Serve It

There are so many ways to serve this easy dinner – here are some ideas:

• We love the shredded chicken and sauce piled on rice. You could also use cauliflower rice. We also love sliced green onions as a garnish.
• Add some cooked carrots, broccoli or snow peas (or a mix!).
• Steamed edamame or green peas would work really well, too.
• Colorful sliced bell peppers would be delicious, too.

I love how easy this recipe is and how many it serves. If you’re not serving a crowd the leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for several days. 

I think the best ingredient in this dish is the blackberry jam, it gives the chicken a nice coloring and adds a touch of sweetness. Oh, and the kids ate this up and loved it – another great Chinese “take-out”.

If you’re tempted to pick up the phone to order take-out this easy recipe will cure that craving. 

Enjoy! XOXO San

My Favorite Kitchen Tools for this Recipe

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SLOW COOKER: I prefer my slow cooker to have a timer. This is because I always somehow forget about it. So having a timer and a lid that locks are two essential things for me when purchasing a slow cooker.

MIXING BOWLS: I love having a variety of sizes of mixing bowls. From small to large, I find that having at least 3 bowls of different sizes have been essential in my kitchen. I prefer Pyrex because of the durability.

MEASURING CUPS: Nothing beats a good set of measuring cups that last a long time. I love metal measuring cups because of its durability.

MEASURING SPOONS: I have to have a metal set of measuring spoons on hand. The plastic ones just don’t last long in our house thanks in large part to the garbage disposal.

More Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes to Try

I love to use my crock pot to make meals for my family – here are a few more you might like to try, too:

• My Beef Stew is comfort food at its best. Slow-cooked and packed with meat, potatoes and veggies, this recipe is great to have on hand for busy nights.
• Sweet Italian Pulled Pork is an easy and delicious slow cooker recipe made with sweet Italian flavors, making this a meal the entire family will love.
• Jambalaya is a simple recipe that is hearty and full of flavor!
• Easy crock pot chicken chili is loaded with flavor and always a family favorite.

Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board to save for later!

Slower Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 4 hours hrs

Total: 4 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 8 -10

Calories: 364 kcal

This Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken is an easy to prepare yet delicious, flavorful take on one of our favorite Chinese take-out meals.

ByBy: Sandra

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Ingredients

 

• ▢ 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (you can use breasts as well, but thighs have more flavor!)
• ▢ 1/2 cup honey
• ▢ 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 1/4 cup blackberry jam
• ▢ 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1/2 cup diced onion
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ sliced scallions for garnish
• ▢ sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

 

• Arrange the chicken thighs in the slow cooker so that they are not overlapping.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, blackberry jam, hoisin, olive oil, garlic, onion, and crushed red pepper flakes, and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook the chicken on LOW for 4 to 5 hours until the chicken is fully cooked.
• Using tongs, remove the chicken from the slow cooker (reserving the liquids) and place it on a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the chicken into smaller pieces. Place the shredded chicken in a large serving bowl, set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry.
• Transfer the liquids from the slow cooker into a small saucepan set over medium-high heat and whisk in the slurry. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook it until it reduces and has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken, tossing to combine. Serve the chicken topped with sliced scallions and sesame seeds.

Notes

Adapted from: Just a Taste

NUTRITION

Calories: 364kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 34gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 161mgSodium: 827mgPotassium: 493mgSugar: 25gVitamin A: 60IUVitamin C: 2.1mgCalcium: 29mgIron: 1.9mg

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