Sticky slow cooker honey garlic chicken is full of flavor and a cinch to whip up with hardly any prep or clean up. An instant family favorite!
Looking for more easy slow cooker chicken recipes? I have you covered: Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala, Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Soup, and Slow Cooker
This is it. This is as easy as it gets without warming up a frozen dinner. Except for the part where this is 900 times more delicious and, let’s be honest, a whole lot healthier, than a frozen dinner. And I’m not even frozen dinner bashing because even though I haven’t touched one in years, I grew up on those things and loved them.
I’m just saying that even15 years ago I could have handled the preparation on this dish and would have turned down microwave riblets and cherry cobbler in exchange for this saucy slow cooker chicken.
And, if the simplicity and ease don’t make you love this slow cooker chicken recipe, what will for sure make you a convert is the sauce. It’s sweet and savory, and so full of sticky goodness you will absolutely fall in love with every finger-lickin-good drop of it.
Why This Recipe Works
Seven ingredients — That’s it! That’s all it takes to get this slow cooker honey garlic chicken underway.
Slow cooker — Thanks to my favorite appliance, you don’t even have to be around while this delicious honey garlic chicken dish is coming together. You can literally set it and forget it.
Honey — Tastes delicious and helps all the sauce stick to the chicken so you get a lovely, honey/garlic/herby mouthful with every bite.
Perfect for meal prep — Double this recipe if you want to eat it for meals throughout the week. Toss it over rice or noodles with a side of steamed veggies for a healthy, complete meal.
Here’s How You Make it
Are you ready for the easiest directions of all time? You almost don’t need instructions for making this slow cooker honey garlic chicken, but here goes anyway:
- Place the chicken breasts or thighs at the bottom of a greased slow cooker.
- Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce together and pour it over the chicken.
- Add the lid and cook on low for 6 hours (or high for 3).
- Serve and garnish with fresh herbs if you like.
Ideas for Serving this Recipe
- I love to serve this slow cooker honey garlic chicken over white or brown rice. In a hurry? Use instant rice, or one of those microwaveable bags of rice.
- This slow cooker garlic chicken also goes great over egg noodles. Be sure to spoon on extra sauce over the top for the noodles to soak up.
- If you’re looking for a low-carb meal, you can add this chicken over cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash.
- I have also used leftover honey garlic chicken for the main filling for wraps or inside a quesadilla with some monetary jack or pepper jack cheese.
- Shred the chicken and drain off most of the juice and add the chicken over the top of an Asian-inspired salad.
- Want the best of all worlds? Shred or dice the chicken and add it to an Asian noodle salad that contains both spaghetti and veggies. Yum!
Is It Okay to Put Raw Chicken In a Slow Cooker?
Oh heck yes it’s okay. That’s what most recipes call for, in fact. The purpose of a slow cooker is to cook from raw so you don’t have to cook over the stove, in the oven, or on the grill. Any type of raw chicken works in the slow cooker — breasts, thighs, bone-in…you name it! You can even start with frozen chicken (see below).
Can You Put Frozen Chicken in a Slow Cooker?
Yep! Sure can start with frozen, but it will take longer to cook. Also, I feel like the chicken won’t be as flavorful because it will spend the first hour or so of cooking thawing. However, it must be noted that I have no real evidence of this, it’s just what I’ve experienced in the past. If you want to start with frozen chicken, then add another hour to your cooking time.
Expert Tips
- For even spicier slow cooker garlic chicken, double the hot sauce in the ingredients, add red pepper flakes, or top the chicken with more hot sauce (I love Sriracha!).
- If you want to add some veggies to this dish, I suggest starting with a microwavable/steamable bag of broccoli, cauliflower, edamame, or another of your favorite veggies. Steam the veggies according to package directions, then add them to the slow cooker during the last 30 min or so of cooking time. Stir together before serving.
- The chicken will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months.
More Chicken Recipes
- Greek Avocado Chicken Salad
- Chicken Salad with Grapes
- Hawaiian Ham & Swiss cheese Sliders
- Best Broccoli Salad (without mayo!)
- Strawberry Pasta Spinach Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing
- Greek Lemon Rice
Did you try this amazingly easy and tasty grilled chicken recipe? YAY! Please rate the recipe below!
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts - OR 6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Arrange chicken in the bottom of a greased slow cooker. Whisk together all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Garnish with fresh thyme or parsley if desired and serve.
I made this tonight and I increased all but the soy sauce and honey. I removed the chicken and added flour to the liquid and whisked at the end. Then added chicken back. Served it over rice with mixed veggies
I just made this for the fIrst time and it was so delicious! I served it with roasted potaToes and thickened the sauce a bIt with A corNstarch water mix. Thank you! I always love your recipes! <3
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your great feedback!
This was DELICIOUS! I LOVED ALL THE FLAVORS. hUSBAND & KIDS ASKED ME TO KEEP IT IN THE WEEKLY ROTATION.
Super excited to hear that you and your family loved this recipe so much, Jamie!! Yay for finding a new weekly staple! 😉
Hi Tiffany
Can you add any veggies to make this a one pot meal
I haven’t tried it myself but I think it would work!? I would love to hear that outcome for sure! One pot meal are life savers, I totally get it!
Hello. I’m new to your site. The recipes look and sound delicious. What spices do you include in italion spice blend?
Hi Kathryn- welcome to CDLC! Thanks for your sweet compliment. I used a premixed italian spice blend. I did not mix it myself!
Planning on making this tonight! Would you recommend sriracha for the hot sauce or more of a regular hot sauce like Texas Pete? Also, do you think substituting BBQ for the ketchup would taste good? Excited to try!! 🙂
I made this earlier in the week and it had completely dried out and burned to a crisp… I followed the recipe but any other tips welcomed
Hello Debbie, I’ve found that most slow cooker recipes give a much longer cook time than necessary, from 2-3x longer! I have owned 3 slow cookers and have found this to be the case with all of them. They are pretty small slow cookers, and I suspect that times have to be reduced for them. When I’ve set my cooker to low, I can get a low simmer, and on high I get a low boil. From what I read about the temperatures slow cookers should have, they should never reach that temperature. Hence, I believe it to be a flaw in the smaller ones. Why they can’t account for it, I don’t know, but it seems to be the case. Of course, it can also be based on the size you cut the meat to, with smaller pieces obviously cooking more quickly. Personally, I am making this dish tonight, and I expect it to be cooked in about 2 hours, perhaps 3-4 at the most depending on a few factors(I have it marinating in the refrigerator right now, which might add a little to the cooking time since it will be chilled when put in the cooker). I will post how it turned out later, and would make a bet it will be done in no longer than 3 hours.
Hi! Trying this tonight!
How do you serve this? Do you shred the chicken up when it’s done and serve it over rice?
I assume you drizzle the sauce over it? Thanks for any suggestions!
Just made this for supper. My kitchen smelled wonderful. The consensus was ” this is delicious! ” Easy and flavorful! Just like I like my meals. Would recommend to all! You won’t be disappointed!
Just found your site and looking forward to trying some recipes. I recently bought an air fryer. Do you have any recipes for it?
Hey girl this looks very tasty! How are the twins? Love to see pics!
Slow cooker liners were made for these kinds of recipes. Absolutely no clean up!
Hi,
I am from the UK but now living in Spain. LOve the recipes, but occasionally get stumped by an ingredient.
In the Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken recipe, what is “Hot Sauce”?
Thanks
Ian
Hi Ian! Okay, I just had a reader ask the same thing, she is from Australia – I had no idea hot sauce wasn’t a universal thing! So here in the US hot sauce is a red sauce you can buy, usually in the Latin/Mexican section of our grocery stores and it comes in various spice levels and flavors. If that isn’t available near you, don’t stress, you can substitute crushed red pepper flakes 🙂 I’d recommend about 1/2 teaspoon for this recipe!
Hi Tiffany,
Many thanks for your reply and my apologies for getting back to you so late.
I wasn’t sure if you meant ordinary Tabasco sauce or something similar. However when I was in Seattle in July I bought a bottle of Cholula Hot Sauce after being taken to an iHOP for Sunday Brunch ( which was an experience in itself!!)
Hot sauce is chilli sauce
No. Chili sauce is completely different
A Red peppered sAuce condimen tlike ketchup or mustard or steak sauce but spicey