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This crock pot honey garlic chicken turns a few pantry staples into a sweet and garlicky shredded chicken dinner with just 5 minutes of hands-on prep. Serve it over rice with steamed veggies, or pile it onto a sandwich roll with coleslaw for something different.
Weeknight Win: Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
Big fan of Asian flavors around here, and while this particular recipe isn’t anything authentic, it really packs a flavor punch.
Shredded honey garlic chicken that’s coated in a sweet, sticky, garlicky sauce is a major favorite in my house. The family loves the bold flavors and I love that it literally takes 5 minutes of prep and uses pantry staples!
We’re real big on bowls these days and make a little honey garlic chicken bowl with this one – Instant Pot jasmine rice, a pile of steamed broccoli, tender shreddy chicken, and maybeeee a little drizzle of sriracha mayo.
Serve this just as it is, or pair with my fav air fryer egg rolls or a side of Asian cucumber salad. The perfect combo, if you ask me!
3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Just 5 minutes of prep. Dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do the work.
- Works two ways. Serve it over rice for dinner or pile it onto a sandwich roll for something different.
- Freezer friendly. Make a double batch and freeze half for a night you don’t want to cook at all.
Ingredients, Swaps, & Tips:
Chicken thighs work great in place of chicken breasts, no other changes needed.
Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Regular soy sauce makes this dish too salty.
Adjust the red pepper flakes to taste, or skip them completely if you’re feeding picky eaters.
Making this for dinner tonight? Double the recipe and freeze half in a zip-top bag for a night you don’t want to cook. Dump it straight into the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
What Readers are Saying!
“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!!!” – Nicole
How to Make Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken:
Mix the sauce: Whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
Slow cook: Pour the sauce over the chicken in the slow cooker and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours, until the chicken is tender and easily shreds.
Shred: Remove the chicken and shred with two forks, or use a hand mixer for a quick shortcut.
Thicken and finish: Whisk the cornstarch and water together, stir into the sauce, then return the chicken to the slow cooker on high for 30 minutes to 1 hour until the sauce thickens.
Helpful Tip!
Soy sauce 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.
- If you’re worried about spice, you can reduce the red pepper flakes. They do add a kick to this dish, but we don’t find it to be overly spicy at all.
Crockpot Recommendation!
In the market for a new slow cooker? We love this 7 quart Crockpot. It’s simple to use, cooks evenly, and is very budget friendly. Plus, it has a 4 1/2 star rating with over 5,000 reviews on Amazon!
Serving Ideas
- Over rice with a side of steamed broccoli
- Piled onto a sandwich roll with coleslaw
- Wrapped in lettuce leaves with slivered almonds for a lighter option
- Topped with sesame seeds for a little crunch
Freezer Hack!
Making this for dinner tonight? Make double and put one half into a zip top freezer bag and freeze for another night. When ready to cook, just dump the bag into the slow cooker on cook low for 8 hours.
FAQs:
You can keep the honey garlic chicken breasts and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can reheat this recipe in the microwave.
Nope! You’ll just add it to the slow cooker and let it work its magic until the chicken is perfectly tender and shreddable.
If you’re starting with frozen chicken breasts, you’ll want to increase the cook time until your chicken easily shreds apart with a fork. Otherwise follow the recipe as written.
MORE ASIAN INSPIRED RECIPES!
- 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!
- Asian Brussels Sprouts: An easy air fryer recipe and a great side dish!
- Keto Chicken Stir Fry: Enjoy your favorite stir fry without the carbs!
Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
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
- Add the chicken to a 5 quart slow cooker.
- Add the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a small bowl and whisk well to combine.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir to coat.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 3 1/2 hours or until the meat is cooked through and easily shreds.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred the meat with a fork.
- Stir together the water and cornstarch and whisk into the sauce. Set slow cooker to high and return the chicken to the sauce.
- Continue cooking for 30 minutes to thicken the sauce slightly.
Jordan Dail says
I just moved out from home and I was looking for some delicious, inexpensive meals because I love cooking and love eating healthy. This was the first crock pot dish I made and it was absolutely great. I steamed some broccoli and made some rice to go with it. I personally used regular soy sauce, but only used 1/4 a cup. Would recommend.
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Jordan!
Sue Geo says
I really wanted to like this. It was SO easy to make and I loved that it used standard stock pantry items.
This was super easy for a weeknight.
I made it exactly per the instructions, however, it was still too salty for my family (even with the reduced sodium soy sauce).
If there’s a substitute for the (reduced sodium) soy sauce, I’d gladly try this again.
Wondering if cutting down the soy sauce to a couple of tablespoons and using apple juice for the difference would work?
Karly says
Hi Sue! We haven’t tried reducing the amount of soy sauce, but I think it would work well. I’m not sure you’d even need to replace it with anything – though I’d probably use broth instead of apple juice if I did swap it, otherwise things might go the other direction and end up too sweet.
Wanda says
Can the soy sauce be substituted with something else?
Karly says
Coconut aminos would work.
Luv_Ags says
If I wanted to make this dish in the crock pot what would be the time of cooking?
Thanks!
Karly says
Hello! This recipe was created for the crockpot. The instructions are in the recipe card. 🙂
Amanda says
I am trying this recipe right now. This is the third slow cooker recipe I have tried since getting one. I am excited about it — though, i had to really save on groceries and so don’t have fresh garlic or reduced sodium soy salt…i am hoping with everything I’ve got that depleting the called for amount with water by half will taste alright. I am so nervous!
And — I just have to say that the ads on your site right now are so far beyond overkill. They are all really taking away from user experience with your page.
Karly says
Hi Amanda! I hope it turns out for you!
I’m sorry to hear about the ads. It’s a tough balance and we’re always tweaking to get it right. 🙂
Amanda says
Hi! I was wondering if I could use frozen chicken breasts in this? I don’t have enough time to thaw…
Karly says
Yes, that should work fine, though the cook time will be longer. Just cook until the meat shreds easily. 🙂
GABRIELLE M PANTINO says
Can I use chicken thighs for this recipe?
Karly says
Yep, that will work fine! 🙂
Karly Dudzek says
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!
Karly Krecklow says
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.
Karly says
Ahh, there’s 3 of us!! 🙂
Karly says
So glad it was a hit!
Wendy says
Have you tried making this in the pressure cooker?
Karly says
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.
Laura says
I cooked it in the instant pot today and added an extra 1/2 cup of water to the bottom. I didn’t add in the cornstarch until after it cooked. I took out the chicken, shredded it, used the saute setting when adding the cornstarch to the liquid, then added the chicken back in. It worked great! This is so tasty! Wonderful recipe!
Laura says
I forgot to mention I pressure cooked it for 15 minutes like you advised.
Karly says
Thanks for sharing, Laura! I’m so glad it worked in the Instant Pot!
Aimee says
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!
Karly says
Aw, I love that! Thanks for sharing, Aimee!
L says
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!
Amanda says
I don’t have a slow cooker, any way I can make this in a Dutch oven?
Karly says
I’m sure you could, though I haven’t tried.
Michelle says
Hi, is there a substitute for soy sauce for thus recipe??
Karly says
You could try swapping in coconut aminos.
Emily K. says
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!
Karly says
Sounds like you made a delicious dinner!! 🙂
Shayna says
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.
Karly says
I think it would probably work, though I haven’t tried it to say for sure. 🙂