Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken (5 Minutes Prep)

It’s a winner! And utterly delicious. Believe me, you’re hoping there are leftovers in this meal!

If you love quick-to-prep slow cooker dinners, this crockpot chicken recipe is one you’ll want to add to your meal rotation. Much like Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken or Crockpot Hawaiian Pineapple Pork, it also takes about 5 minutes to prep, and then the crockpot works its magic.

What to Love About Honey Garlic Chicken

There are so many reasons I particularly love this crockpot recipe, but here are a few standout favorites:

• 5 Minutes Prep: When busy days become hectic, 5-minute prep dinners save the day!
• Requires no browning or precooking of any ingredient; it’s a classic dump and go crock pot meal.
• Delicious takeout flavor made easily at home whether that be for weeknight dinners or a weekend treat.

Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken Ingredients

There are only a handful of ingredients needed for this oh-so-simple slow cooker chicken recipe. Ingredient measurements are in the recipe card below.

• Chicken: Look for boneless, skinless chicken, either thighs or chicken breasts. I prefer the flavor of chicken thighs but breasts work equally well.
• Soy sauce: Light, low-sodium, or all-purpose soy sauce works well in this recipe. If using dark soy, the flavor will dominate the sauce.
• Honey or maple syrup
• Chili paste or sauce: I have a sweet ginger chile sauce in the refrigerator that I’ve been using, but Sirarcha, hot sauce, or sambal oelek works deliciously too.
• Garlic cloves, minced
• Apple cider vinegar or your favorite vinegar like white vinegar or rice wine vinegar.
• To thicken the sauce, use a slurry of cornstarch and water.

How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken

Step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here is a quick overview of how to make this slow cooker chicken recipe.

Step 1: Season the chicken

There is already a lot of seasoning in this recipe, but I do like to lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper before adding them to a 6-quart slow cooker.

Step 2: Whisk the sauce

In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, honey, garlic paste (to taste), garlic, and vinegar together. Pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or until the chicken is cooked through with an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Step 3: Shred the chicken and thicken the sauce

Remove the chicken from the crockpot to a plate. Then whisk the cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water) and add to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.

If you want to thicken the sauce more quickly, add it to a saucepan, with the slurry, bring to a boil, and then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until desired thickness.

Return the shredded chicken to the sauce, turn to coat, and serve.

How to Serve Honey Garlic Chicken

I love to serve this chicken dish over rice, often brown rice, but tonight it’s basmati rice. You can also serve it over your favorite grain.

To garnish: I love the flavor of chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Improvising Note: I didn’t put this in the recipe because some of you might roll your eyes. But I’m always looking for ways to add additional greens to our diet.

So… when stirring the shredded chicken back into the sauce, I will often add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and let it cook for a minute, or until the greens begin to wilt and turn bright green. It’s pretty and adds additional nutrients… (and I love it!).