Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Crock pot honey garlic chicken is a simple meal that you can toss in the slow cooker for any night of the week. Serve this shredded honey garlic chicken breast over rice with a side of steamed vegetables for a complete meal or stick the shredded chicken in a sandwich roll and top with coleslaw for a tasty lunch!
I am the least chill person alive.
I have the biggest startle reflex of anyone I’ve ever met and it’s honestly getting a little embarrassing.
When my kids walk into the room I am in, I am often so startled that I scream. They’re not sneaking up on me, they just literally walk into the room.
This often even happens when I walk into a room they are in. Like, I am going to talk to my kids and walk into the family room to find them, see they are there, get startled, scream.
It’s ridiculous.
The other day I was in the drive through (don’t hate) and when the lady opened the window to take my money, it startled me and I screamed. It started her and she screamed back.
I could go on with stories like that for days.
That literally has nothing to do with this slow cooker honey garlic chicken recipe, but it was on mind when I sat down to write this recipe up for you, because my kid just scared the crap outta me. I watched her walk in the room, I knew she was there, but as soon as my brain processed that she was there, I jumped and screamed.
I might need to see a doctor about this?
Anyway, honey garlic chicken! Let’s talk about this crockpot chicken recipe, shall we?
This is an Asian-y tasting recipe, but I hesitate to actually call it Asian food. Does authentic Asian food contain ketchup? I feel like no, but maybe I’m wrong!
Either way, this reminds me of my favorite Chinese take-out joint. The sauce is sweet and salty and full of garlic. Served over rice, with a side of steamed broccoli, it’s hard to go wrong with this slow cooker meal!
How to make slow cooker honey garlic chicken:
You’ll start with a couple of pounds of chicken breasts. Add those guys to a slow cooker.
I use this Ninja slow cooker (affiliate link) and love it, but any 5-6 quart slow cooker will work fine here.
In a small bowl, whisk together some ketchup, reduced sodium soy sauce, honey, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes.
Do be sure to use reduced sodium soy sauce or your chicken will come out quite salty! I love salty flavors, but it’s too much to use the regular soy sauce – trust me on this. 😉
Pour the sauce over the chicken, give it a quick toss to coat the chicken in the sauce, and then cover your slow cooker and cook on low 3-4 hours, depending on your crockpot.
When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the slow cooker and shred with a couple of forks.
At this point, you can return the chicken to the sauce and then serve.
Alternately, if you’d like your sauce a bit thicker, go ahead and add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water and stir to combine. Whisk that into the sauce well, set the crock pot to high, and return the chicken to the sauce. Cover and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour, to thicken the sauce a bit.
Honey garlic chicken thighs:
If you’re a dark meat person, go ahead and swap chicken thighs for the chicken breasts in this recipe. No other adjustments needed.
If you’d prefer not to shred the meat, no problem! Just remove the chicken from the slow cooker and serve!
More Asian flavors you might like to try:
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps: If you’re watching carbs, these lettuce wraps are keto friendly!
Spam Fried Rice: I’m not much of a Spam person, but even I have to admit that it’s delicious in fried rice!
Korean BBQ Sauce: Slather this Korean BBQ sauce on pork chops and grill ’em up!
Pork Stir Fry: Such an easy recipe for busy nights and it sure beats take-out!
Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice: Another low carb favorite in our house – skip the rice and use cauliflower crumbles!
Follow me on Pinterest for more easy weeknight recipe ideas! Click here to follow me!
Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
This simple honey garlic sauce is full of flavor that soaks into the chicken as it cooks. Serve over rice with some steamed veggies for a complete meal.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
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Add the chicken to a 5 quart slow cooker.
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Add the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a small bowl and whisk well to combine.
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Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir to coat.
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Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 3 1/2 hours or until the meat is cooked through and easily shreds.
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Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred the meat with a fork.
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Stir together the water and cornstarch and whisk into the sauce. Set slow cooker to high and return the chicken to the sauce.
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Continue cooking for 30 minutes to thicken the sauce slightly.
Recipe Notes
This dish will turn out too salty if you use regular soy sauce. Reduced sodium soy sauce is required.
Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to taste.
Nutrition Disclaimer: All information presented on this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information shared on bunsinmyoven.com should only be used as a general guideline.
sounds yummy! Is 3 1/2 hours on low right? Thanks!
It is in my slow cooker, but all of them are different and some heat faster/slower than others. You just want to cook the chicken long enough to shred it. 🙂
Edith, it’s on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, low is 8 hours. Thought you might like to know this! ?
In most newer slow cookers, cooking chicken breast for 8 hours would be overkill. 4 hours on low is plenty in mine. Temp the thickest breast prior to shredding if you’re nervous. Every single one is different.
Yep I made this today and set it on low for 7 hours and it’s toasted ?? Darn… definitely trying this one again though bc my house smells amazing right now haha! My 5 year old keeps telling me the house smells yummy ha!
Oh no, I’m sorry! I just realized it said you could cook for longer in the blog post than it does in the recipe card. The recipe card is correct – low for 3-4 hours, until you can shred the chicken. I’m sorry about that. 🙁 I hope you try again, because it tastes just as good as it smells!
This dish is nothing short of all your other recipes that’s amazing. Thanks for sharing this yummy one to.
Thanks, Ivory! <3
this is everything I didn’t know I wanted. and more.
Haha! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
What a simple, yet flavorful recipe! This chicken would make the best tacos. YUM!
Sounds very good! I use reduced sodium soy lots, makes a difference. I have a TREMENDOUS startle reflex. My family warns me before they step in the room. But i scream anyway! Its crazy. Good to know there are others out there ?
Ha ha! Thank you for sharing your story, I laughed!! Going to make this tonight! It looks and sounds amazing!!
P.S. Maybe you should get that checked out!! ??
I made this yesterday and the whole family loved it! Healthy and delicious recipe, I will definitely make it again!
So glad to hear that!
Very good recipe! I added 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar to the sauce to give a little more sweetness to it and it was absolutely delicious!
This recipe sounds delicious! I can hardly wait to cook it for my family. To comment on your being easily startled, I’m the same exact way….(except for the screaming part) it is most annoying and my sons and husband ENJOY each time they accidentally make me jump and rare my fists up…..lol This happens everyday, I’m used to it. I don’t think you need to see a doctor, it’s just the way we’re wired. God Bless ya Karly!
I’d hate to be formally diagnosed by a doctor as ‘being weird’ so I’ll stick with your explanation! Hahaha! Good luck with those boys of yours…mine like to startle me too.
This chicken was delicious and is officially a new staple in my house!! I shredded it and then served it in Boston lettuce leaves, topped with cole slaw and slivered almonds. These ‘Asian lettuce wraps’ were fabulous!!! Then I used the leftover chicken the next day, served on hamburger buns (and again topped with cole slaw). Sooooo GOOD!!!
Yum! So glad you shared!
Planning on making this sometime this week! My husband doesn’t like the taste of soy sauce though- I was wondering if you could actually taste it in this recipe or not? Thanks!
It’s mixed with quite a bit of other things, so I don’t think it stands out a whole lot. It definitely does add to the flavor though.
I never comment on blogs but I’m sitting here CRACKING UP. Literally laughing out loud because of your stories of getting startled easily. I’m the exact same way. I almost just punched a balloon that was floating in my kids’ playroom bc it scared the shit outta me when I turned around. (It’s been there for days).
I’m going to make this recipe tonight in honor of the crazy ppl out there like us who can’t handle things/people in rooms ?
Hahahah! Hope you enjoyed the recipe. Good luck with life. We both need it.
Can you dilute reg soy sauce, so not alot of sodium?
I would just use low sodium soy sauce. Not sure if diluting the regular would offer the same flavor.
Do you have to use cornstarch? What if I don’t have any, but have flour.
I have not tried making this with flour. The cornstarch acts as a thickener so if you leave it out, the sauce will be runny.
I don’t have ketchup, what can be a substitute?
I don’t have any substitutes for ketchup on this one since it’s one of the main ingredients in the sauce.
This looks amazing, and I’m definitely going to try it! I’m going to be out for a couple of hours before I want to serve it. If I added the water and cornstarch earlier (and kept cooking it on low), do you think that would work to thicken the sauce? And then I’d pull out the chicken to shred it at the end, after the sauce is already thickened.
I think it would probably work, though I haven’t tried it to say for sure. 🙂
My family loved it! I’m a sophomore in High school, so if I can cook it anyone can! I also made brown rice and Brussels sprouts and garlic mashed potatoes as sides with this meal. Yumm! There’s still a ton of leftovers from my family of four!
Sounds like you made a delicious dinner!! 🙂
Hi, is there a substitute for soy sauce for thus recipe??
You could try swapping in coconut aminos.
I don’t have a slow cooker, any way I can make this in a Dutch oven?
I’m sure you could, though I haven’t tried.
This was awesome. I used double the chicken in thighs instead of breast, doubled everything but the soy sauce (used that st 1.5× the amount) & made into wraps after I topped the chicken with homemade coleslaw (made with a coat of outback steakhouse aussie fries dip) & it was amazing, both alone & in the wraps!
This was a first time for my 62yr old father inlaw cooking for his wife. AMAZING! Cant rave enough. Followed to the “t” using thighs-cooking times- exact seasonings – easy directions and absolutely perfect even in Colorado altitude.
The whole family- even Papa couldn’t believe how wonderful the meal was and everyone over full. Papa so proud and ready for another great recipe- no longer scared.
Thank you!
Aw, I love that! Thanks for sharing, Aimee!
Have you tried making this in the pressure cooker?
No, afraid not. I think it would likely work fine on high pressure for 15 minutes with a natural release, but the sugar content might cause it to burn so I can’t say for sure.
From one Karly to another ???? I just have to say- this recipe was so good, so easy and oh so right for my family! I made this on a whim- had 6-7 thawed chicken breasts and didn’t know what to do. I’m so glad to have found your recipe!!! Thank you! I tripled every ingredient to the tee and it turned out wonderfully. (Yes I did the water corn starch and yes low sodium soy sauce is a must) everything turned out perfectly! Served over riced with mixed veggies on the side. So good!
Side note… I have never seen or known anyone with my name spelled the exact same way! So cheers to that!!! I’m super excited to follow and try all your recipes.
Ahh, there’s 3 of us!! 🙂
So glad it was a hit!
Can I use chicken thighs for this recipe?
Yep, that will work fine! 🙂