Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
Sep 06, 2015, Updated Aug 31, 2022
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Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken is an easy slow cooker dinner, featuring a sticky-sweet sauce and juicy, perfectly cooked chicken thighs. Everyone will be fighting for the last piece!
Want more chicken thigh recipes? Try this easy air fryer chicken thighs recipe!
So Good You Might Just Lick Your Plate (I Did!)
Crockpot honey garlic chicken always makes me think of this one time, at a reallllyyy nice restaurant, when I picked up my plate and slurped up all the sauce. No shame.
It just so happened that I had a hot date at one of Chicago’s best Asian restaurants, and because I knew the owner, I felt like, hey anything goes! I felt like a hot shot, if you will, until I completely made a fool of myself because I could not stop slurping up the honey garlic sauce. I didn’t completely pick up the plate – just kind of tilted it a little bit – enough to get every last drop of that sauce! This experience was akin to the first time I tasted bourbon chicken, with its equally irresistible sauce that leaves you wanting more.
As a result, I developed this recurring hangry hunger for honey garlic chicken because it is simply that good. Tender, moist, chicken thighs, coated in the most glorious homemade honey garlic sauce, and in my version, it all comes together in the slow cooker. This recipe will change your life!
What You’ll Need
We’re only dealing with 5 ingredients here plus a seasoning or two. Super easy, I’m telling you. Here’s what you will need to make the perfect crockpot honey garlic chicken:
- Chicken Thighs: Since this recipe is for the slow cooker, I recommend using boneless, skinless thighs. Skin-on chicken would not get crispy.
- Garlic: Mince up some fresh garlic for a pop of savory flavor.
- Honey: For sweetness and stickiness! Pure maple syrup makes a good substitute if needed.
- Ketchup: Low-sodium is my preference, but you can use any ketchup you like.
- Soy Sauce: Again, I like low-sodium soy sauce. However, you can use regular soy sauce, or substitute tamari or coconut aminos.
- Dried Herbs/Seasonings: Dried oregano, fresh parsley, and toasted sesame seeds… yum!
How to Make Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
Take out the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and chicken thighs – things are about to get amazing!
- Mix the Sauce Ingredients. In a bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients: honey, ketchup, garlic, soy sauce, and dried herbs.
- Place the Sauce and Chicken in the Slow Cooker. Arrange the boneless, skinless chicken thighs inside the slow cooker, and pour the sauce over them.
- Cook. Cover the Crockpot and cook on HIGH for about three hours, or on LOW for 4 to 5 hours.
- Optional: Thicken the Sauce. If you would like to thicken the sauce, you can whisk a cornstarch slurry into the sauce about thirty minutes before the end of the cooking time.
How to Make a Cornstarch Slurry
To make the slurry for thickening, mix a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with a tablespoon of cold water, to form a paste. Whisk this into your sauce inside the slow cooker, cover and continue to cook. The sauce will thicken up beautifully!
Helpful Tips
This easy recipe is perfect for any dinner, with its ultra-simple ingredients and scrumptious taste. Plus, these tips make it even easier to whip up!
- How Much Chicken Should I Use? Use enough chicken thighs to cover the bottom of your slow cooker. You can also use chicken breasts, or substitute bone-in, skin-on chicken, if you prefer. Keep in mind that different kinds of concern require different cooking times!
- How Long Should I Cook This? All crock pots cook at different times and temperatures. Some readers suggest to cook the chicken for only 3 hours, while others said it took 4 hours in their crock pot. You can use a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is done.
- Checking for Doneness. Most importantly, 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the safe internal temperature for both the white meat of the chicken, and the dark meat. Always cook to this temperature for food safety!
Great Side Dish Ideas
To serve this chicken, I like to make jasmine rice or another white rice. Of course, you could also make salad, or serve some simple veggies cooked with salt and maybe a little butter. Still looking for inspiration? Well, some other good side dishes could include…
- Broccoli: Fresh, green, Garlicky Steamed Broccoli is a great contrast for sticky chicken. It adds nutrition, too, of course! I love the fragrant garlic flavor in this recipe.
- Noodles: Instead of rice, add even more yumminess to your meal with a serving of noodles.
- Snap Peas: Crispy, crunchy, and sweet, these Sesame Snap Peas are always a huge hit and a breeze to make. Sesame goes perfectly with the sweetness of the honey garlic chicken.
Storing and Reheating the Leftovers
- To store, place the chicken and sauce in airtight containers or bags, and refrigerate for up to four days.
- Reheat on the stove over medium heat until heated through.
Can I Freeze Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken?
Yes, you can! Just place the cooked, cooled chicken and sauce in a freezer bag or container, leaving as little air inside as possible. Mark with the date, freeze, and use within 3 months for best results.
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Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, , skinless chicken thighs*
- 4 garlic cloves, , minced
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup low sodium ketchup
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Arrange chicken thighs on the bottom of your slow cooker; set aside. (please look at the notes section)
- In a mixing bowl, combine garlic, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, oregano and parsley; whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken thighs. Close with a lid and cook for 4 to 5 hours on LOW, or 3 to 4 hours on HIGH.** (please look at the notes section)
- Remove lid and transfer chicken to a serving plate.
- Spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve.
Video
Notes
- Use 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water; mix it together until mixture forms a paste.
- 30 minutes before the chicken is done cooking, whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce inside the slow cooker; cover and continue to cook for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I used skin on, non boneless thighs and it works great! This is my second time making it and we love it! Thank you!
Hi there! I found the skin on/bone in thighs on sale this weekend for a party and wanted to use them for this recipe. Did you up the cooking time, due to the bone in?? (I was going to make approx 20 of them)
Yes, I didn’t work for me either. I was wondering if I should have put some water, it was so dark and the taste to soya sauce was really intense. My son calle at work thinking that I have left it on your mistake and that it had burned. Also the chicken was quite dry.
Is the chicken supposed to be frozen or can it be thawed before putting in the crock pot? Is 6 hours too long for thawed chicked?
Hi Emily!! No, the chicken doesn’t have to be frozen. Some commenters have said that they made it with frozen chicken and it worked out, but no, you can go ahead and thaw it first. 6 hours is too long if it’s on HIGH – I would start checking at around the 4 hour mark.
Thanks for posting this one! I made this a few days ago and loved how it was was so easy! It turned out well overall. Only issues I encountered were that it wasn’t as sweet as I expected it to taste and 5 hours on high was definitely too long. I noticed the chicken start to burn at 4 hours, so I stopped the cooking at that point. And next time, I’m going to try switching the honey and ketchup measurements to get the sweetness I wanted.
Can teriyaki sauce be used insted of soy??
Hi! Yes, of course, but it will be a whole different recipe – a teriyaki-chicken recipe. 🙂
Have you tried with chicken breasts? How long is the cook time, thanks (:
Wow! This dish was amazing and a huge hit for dinner I prepared for guests. I served it with white rice and broccoli. Even my daughter who never finishes her food scarfed it down, that’s when I knew I did a good job. The sauce came out perfectly, chicken so juicy and tender, probably going to make it again for this week (since my guests ate all of it) lol.
Should it be boiling on low? Think my crock pot cooks hot.
Hi Brian! If it’s toward the end of cooking, then it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is possible that the crock pot cooks hot. That’s how my last unit was and I would end up burning almost everything that I put in there.
Did exactly this recipe for 8 hours on low in a Crock Pot brand digital cooker. I came home 7 hours later to a boiling crock pot with four perfect lumps of coal.
It burned the bejesus out of my chicken, boiled the sauce.
I can’t be the only one.
Hi Gregory! I am so sorry it didn’t turn out for you! 🙁 I looked through the comments to see if someone else had the same issue, but didn’t find anything. Did you use chicken thighs?
Just a thought, but my old crock pot would run way too hot even when on “low”, and burn things all the time. No matter what, though, I really am sorry that happened. Have a great day ahead!
Your recipe calls for 6 to 7 hours not 8. That could be the problem. My crockpot also cooks hotter so I check before earliest time
I put this all together just now and put it in the crock and put in the frige so all I have to do tomorrow is put it in the base and turn it on. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Smells good already!
Hi Susan! It already sounds amazing! All those flavors marinading for several hours… yum! 😀
I think it makes a difference if using skin on and bone in. Skin on will produce more juices for the chicken to cook in. I would still not make a dish like this unattended. Perhaps this should be a weekend dish for those with a more heat producing pot. Or. add some water if leaving for a long time. Just a thought. : )
Can you do this but use frozen chicken? I work an 8 hour shift so I want to cook it on low and would assume if I used frozen chicken thighs it would take longer to cook and would be just ready by the time I got home. Anyone done this with frozen chicken yet?
I wouid be wary of using frozen meats in the crock pot as I feel like as they thawed it might make the sauce more watery and throw off flavors? I could be completely wrong, but I’ve never tried a frozen meat because I have that fear.
I haven’t done this specific recipe YET (I just got the ingredients 🙂 but I’ve done other recipes with blocks of (3) frozen boneless skinless chicken breast. After 8 hours, it was cooked enough to shred.
So excited to try this one!
If you use frozen meat in a slow cooker you increase the time it spends at a mid-range temperature. It spends longer at the temperature bacteria reproduce quickest. You might not get food poisoning every time but you are massively increasing the risk, especially with Chicken and the risk of salmonella. This applies even if you cook it thoroughly because not entry last bacteria are killed, even when cooked right through.