Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken features tender chicken breasts or thighs coated with sticky honey garlic sauce. It's easy to make with only 10 minutes of prep time. Let your slow cooker do the work for the perfect sweet, savory, and spicy weeknight dinner.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs
Honey garlic sauce—soy sauce, honey, garlic cloves, basil(optional), crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Corn starch—optional for thickening|
For serving—rice, toasted sesame seeds, green onions
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐓Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken in a Crock Pot—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 👨🍳Make it right every time
- 🐓What chicken to use
- 🥣Honey garlic sauce—tips and variations
- ↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
- 🍲Suggested crock pot sizes
- 🍽️Serving
- 🍚Chinese Recipes
- ❄️Storage of leftovers
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment by Paul D.:
"Fantastic recipe! My family loves it. My wife thinks I'm a genius, lol."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Everybody needs more easy chicken recipes. With a sticky honey sauce, this is one of my easiest and best crock pot chicken breast recipes.
It is super easy to make with the step-by-step photo instructions. You can use almost any size slow cooker, 1 or 2-quart mini crock pots, or larger. Use either chicken breasts or thighs. And make it a complete meal by adding stir-fried vegetables and rice.
This sticky honey chicken will become a family favorite with great Asian flavor and tender chicken breasts or thighs. And it fits most healthy diets like a low-calorie or low-fat diet. And it can be made to fit a gluten-free diet.
👨🍳How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken in a Crock Pot—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Trim and cut chicken breasts.
2. Mix the honey garlic sauce.
3. In a smaller crock pot, stir the chicken with the sauce until coated.
4. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, but check at 2 hours. Breasts are done at 165° and thighs at 180°-185°.
5. If you want a thicker sauce, add a cornstarch slurry for the last hour of cooking.
6. Serve with rice and use the sauce as gravy. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
👨🍳Make it right every time
Cutting the chicken breasts into smaller pieces will help them cook more quickly and evenly, resulting in serving-sized portions and allowing more sauce to flavor the chicken.
Towards the end of cooking, you can shred the chicken and mix it back into the sauce.
Cook chicken breasts to 165° and thighs, although safe at 165°, are tenderer at 180°+. Bone-in chicken takes a bit longer to cook. Remove any skin before cooking.
If you want a thicker sauce, add a slurry of cornstarch mixed in cool water until smooth before adding slowly.
Many people want more sauce for rice; adjust to the amount you wish. I usually double it.
🐓What chicken to use
Skinless boneless chicken breasts are recommended. You may use skinless chicken thighs, which may be boneless or bone-in. The size of the thighs is thinner and smaller than the breasts, so they do not need to be cut into pieces.
🥣Honey garlic sauce—tips and variations
Soy sauce: Regular soy sauce has lots of salt, so I suggest using low-sodium soy sauce to decrease the sodium level.
Honey: The sweetness of the sauce is from the honey. You can adjust to your taste.
Garlic: I prefer fresh crushed or minced garlic. You could use garlic powder. Use ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder in place of each clove of garlic.
The basil is usually used in this recipe, but I no longer use it, so it is optional. Some will use oregano to replace the basil.
A touch of fresh ginger, sesame oil, rice vinegar (some may contain gluten), or crushed red pepper flakes are good. I added red pepper as my option.
↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
This is a very easy recipe to cut in half or double. As written, it makes four servings of about 1 cup and can be made in a 2-quart or larger crock pot.
- Use the recipe card and change the number of servings.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
🍲Suggested crock pot sizes
A half recipe will fit in a 1 quart, but crock pots smaller than 2 quarts are notoriously inaccurate in cooking. So, you can use one at your own risk and watch the temperature.
For a full-size recipe, generally use a 2 to 4-quart crock pot, although bigger may be used. You can use a bigger slow cooker but watch the temperature closely. Cooking small recipes in large crock pots tends to overcook rapidly and may burn. Cook to an internal temperature and not by time.
For a double recipe—use a 3-quart or larger crock pot and watch the final temperature.
🍽️Serving
Serve with rice, like Plain Fried Rice or Baked Rice. Add some stir-fry vegetables or steamed broccoli for a complete meal.
The simplest serving method is with the honey garlic sauce over rice or cauliflower rice with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and some sliced green onions.
🍚Chinese Recipes
Check out these other easy Chinese take-out recipes: Chinese Boneless Ribs, Beef and Broccoli, General Tso Chicken, Cashew Chicken, and Chicken Stir Fry.
Serve with rice, like Plain Fried Rice or Baked Rice.
❄️Storage of leftovers
Store in the refrigerator for 4 days or freeze in an airtight container for 4 months.
Reheat in the microwave or a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add a small amount of chicken broth or water to the sauce if needed.
❓FAQs
To make honey garlic chicken gluten-free, use Tamari to replace the soy sauce. Most Tamari is gluten-free but check the label.
No. There are two issues with adding frozen chicken to a cooking crock pot.
First, the internal temperature of the chicken may not reach the safe final internal temperature of 165°.
Second, there have been a few reports of ceramic crock pots breaking due to temperature differentials.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds skinless chicken - breasts or thights
Honey Garlic Sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup soy sauce - low sodium preferred
- ¼ cup honey
- 2-4 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- ½ teaspoon basil - optional
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes - optional
Optional thickening
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
For serving
- rice
- toasted sesame seeds
- sliced green onions
Instructions
- Trim about 1 ½ pounds of chicken. If using skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut them into serving-size pieces. You may use skinless chicken thighs if you wish.
- In a medium bowl, ½ cup of ketchup, ¼ cup of soy sauce (low sodium preferred), ¼ cup of honey, four cloves crushed garlic, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional), and ½ teaspoon basil (optional) whisk together.
- Spread the chicken across the bottom of a 2-quart or larger crock pot coated with PAM cooking spray. Add the sauce and mix.
- If you want a thicker sauce, in a small bowl, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cool water until smooth. Add to the crock pot and mix well during the last hour of cooking.
- Cook on low for 3-4 hours. Breasts should reach 165°, or thighs should be 180° minimum when done. Check the chicken temperature at about 2 hours since crock pots vary.
- Serve with rice and use the sauce as gravy. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Use low-sodium soy sauce for lower sodium.
- It will fit nicely in a 2 qt or bigger crock pot. See the recipe post to discuss increasing or decreasing amounts and crock pot size options.
- If you add vegetables to the crock pot, you will also need to increase the crock pot size and increase the sauce.
- Cook to an internal temperature of 165° for the chicken breasts. If using thighs, you will be happier with the texture of the chicken if you cook it to 180°+.
- Thickening is optional, and you may want to increase the amount of sauce for serving.
- Good refrigerated for 4 days. Good frozen for 4 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Adapted from Allrecipes Honey-Garlic Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs.
Originally Published January 4, 2015. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Dandy Sandy says
Hi DrDan!
I appreciate your idea of not cooking from a can and "fresh" is best. My husband and I are vegetarians and we have a standing goal of becoming vegan. I have printed several of your recipes and look forward to modifying them slightly by substituting tempeh or tofu for the meats. What brought me to your site...your "Easy General Tso Chicken". I've been having a hankering for the sauce and look forward to using your recipe! Thank you for creating "101cookingfortwo.com".
DrDan says
Welcome to the site.
Thanks for the note. You're right that I try to avoid things like cans of soup or packages of unknown things.
You'll like the sauce but it is a little sweet and I like it better with the brown sugar cut back a little.
DrDan
Dandy Sandy says
Thanks for the tip! I'll post my results as I try your recipes. :)
Xiomara says
Can I make this without honey?
DrDan says
Honey is the main flavor. So leaving it out would be a big change... It would cook ok but taste change unknown. So probably not recommended.
DrDan
Caitlin says
I am making this now, and it smells delicious, but I would hardly call this recipe a healthy food choice given the amount of sodium and sugar. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of trying to cut fat? I personally will be draining off most of the sauce before serving it to myself and my children to try to reduce that.
Megan Highfill says
I made my own ketchup to reduce sugar and sodium, used "lite" soy sauce, and raw honey (which is really good for you). One serving ended up: Calories-329, Fat-8.4 g, Fiber-3.4 g, Carbs-26.9 g, Sodium-4,465 mg, Protein-40 g (I used a pound of chicken divided into 3 servings, but the rest of the recipe I left the same). You are so right, the sodium is crazy, even with the "lite" sauce, but I still think it's okay as long as it's not a daily occurrence. Given the low calories and the high good fat, I consider this a win.
Jeph says
Made mine more Canadian by adding only half of the honey called for and replacing the rest with maple syrup. Delicious.
DrDan says
I can see that...
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Nancy says
Thanks, the chicken was tender and had a nice flavor. My husband said, let's have it again, and soon!
Scott says
My crock pot has a setting for 4hrs and 6hrs (also 8/10). Can I use the 6hr setting in lieu of 4? Looking forward to seeing how this comes out.
DrDan says
Nope, I wouldn't do that. The 4 hours was really the max on this recipe.
DrDan
Rachel says
Scott, my crock pot has the same settings, I believe. However, the two longer settings are "low" while the two shorter settings are "high". You may want to double check you aren't accidentally putting it on high for 4 hours. Just a thought. :-)
scott says
thanks rachel...made the dish last night on 4hrs and it came out perfect. nice dish. now in our rotation.
Cerwyn says
I only have traditional soy sauce not reduced sodium what should I do to make sure this isn't a salt lick? Yes, I will switch over to low sodium but I must've picked the wrong bottle and I won't waste it. 😁
Also is this ok with bone in thighs?
DrDan says
Hi Cerwyn,
First the soy sauce, cut it in half or it will be way salty with this recipe. Just sub in water for the volume.
The bone in thighs would be fine. I would take off the skin.
Dan
Mary Ann says
Oh my heavens! Apparently I looked at the ingredients askance, and mixed honey and soy sauce to get hot sauce! Oops! Thank you for being so nice about it. ? I'm definitely making this for dinner tonight. My internist has given me some instructions, too! Thanks again!
Mary Ann says
Hi DrDan!
This sounds delicious! I don't typically have hot sauce on hand, but I do have red pepper flakes & ground cayenne. Do you think a substitution of some kind would work? I'm afraid I'm a real novice when it comes to substitution.
Thanks so much!
Mary Ann
DrDan says
Hi Mary Ann, I think you miss read something, there is no hot sauce. I generally use cayenne or red pepper flakes if I want a little heat. I have a bottle of hot sauce but I'm not the biggest fan of the taste and don't think I have published a recipe with it...
DrDan
Dave says
This was soooo good, here is the changes and additions I made. Cut a sweet onion in half then diced, 2 stalks of celery, diced, 1/2 of a red pepper, diced, put these in the bottom of the crock pot. Took the frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer, weighed out 2 lbs while my skillet was heating the 2 Tbls of oil, then seared the chicken, after they were seared cut up into bite size pieces, added to crock pot.
Poured the liquid over the top, I left out the garlic and basil because I used 14.5 oz of can of tomatoes, diced with garlic, oregano & basil, which I added to the crock pot. I also added a 4 oz can of diced green chilies. Then for a veggie I added a cup of frozen corn.
Added 1 cup of chicken broth, 1/3 cup of long grain rice ( long grain rice will not clump up like white rice does when cooking in a crock pot) added a 2 tsp of pepper. Set the crock pot on low for 8 hours.
Seems I always have to add something to the recipes I find online, just me I guess. Sorry.
DrDan says
Hi Dave, Thanks so much for the suggestions. Recipes are only guidelines and should always be modified to taste.
Thanks again for the note and rating
Dan
UPDATE: Dave has contacted me and believes the rice didn't cook well and suggests cooking the rice separately.
Chris Dryman says
Do you have nutritional information for this recipe?
Christina Dryman says
Thanks so much! Lilly and Molly are gorgeous by the way ;)
Taylor says
I am the worst cook, while my husband use to be a chef. So he does most of the cooking around here, but I decided to try my hand at something simple. This was SO easy and SO good. Thanks for sharing!
Megann says
Glad I have come across your cooking blog! I whipped this up at lunch and it is in the slow cooker for supper tonight! Cannot wait to try many of your recipes!
Megann says
This turned out very good! next time I might tone back the garlic a smidge just for our tastes, but if you are a garlic lover definitely put all 4 cloves in!
DrDan says
My wife is a garlic hound so it was just enough for her.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Mary D says
I made this last night. It was good, but the sauce didn't get thicker as I'd hoped.
susie Cop says
just made it for dinner tonight also the sauce was not thick like the picture.
Nichole says
Was your chicken totally defrosted?
Jan says
Lovely Friday night supper with family, doubled the ingredience, added half glass of white wine, tsp chinese five spice in place of basil and red onion to add natural sweetness, result - a tasty meal which I will do again. Oh, as no slow cooker, seared the chicken, mixed everything together and let the whole lot marinate for a couple of hours then cooked for 1hr in oven @ 150 degrees. Perfect. A great basic recipe that you can experiment with and change to your own tastes.
Jess says
I think you just made a new recipe. LOL
Becky says
Dan, do you think this will freeze well if a big batch is made at once? Thanks, looks great!
DrDan says
It should freeze well.
DrDan
Barbara says
Tried this recipe today. It was easy to make, delious and easy to clean up! Thank you!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Denise says
Is there something I can put in to make it less salty?
DrDan says
The salt is mostly the soy sauce and some from the ketchup. So use low sodium versions of both. Cut back both be 25% and make it up with water or chicken broth. Also adding frozen veggies near the end will spread it out some.