Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken 🍗🍯🧄 with only 5 ingredients but is layered with flavor! Smoky, savory, and a little bit sweet, this tender chicken melts in your mouth! It’s so EASY and truly a set-it-and-forget-it recipe to keep on hand when life is too busy to cook!
Easy Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
- If you’re in need of the easiest chicken dinner ever, this is the one to make! There’s no searing, no sauces to reduce, nothing to cut up, nothing to shred – do I have your attention yet? It’s truly one of those recipes where your slow cooker does all the work!
- This very minimal ingredient slow cooker chicken comes together with only: bbq sauce, honey, garlic, and chicken thighs.
- Green onions and sesame seeds are both optional garnishes, but if you’re going to use one or the other, I’d go with the green onions. So that’s how I came to settle on five ingredients (or six, max).
- The barbecue sauce adds smokiness, honey adds a touch of sweetness but in a balanced way, and the garlic adds so much flavor. Since the chicken slow cooks in this saucy mixture, it stays so juicy and tender.
- This is the type of slow cooker recipe I like to have in my back pocket for those days where I know I’m not going to have the time or energy for “cooking” something. I just pop this in my slow cooker and a few hours later, a high protein dinner is served!
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Barbecue sauce: Use your favorite barbecue sauce such as Sweet Baby Ray’s or whatever speaks to you. It can be mild, spicy, extra garlicky, or whatever you’d like. I have tried making this recipe with “honey barbecue sauce” and omitting the honey but there’s almost no honey flavor after cooking, which really takes away from the dish. Tip: Some bbq sauces are gluten-free, others aren’t but it’s easy to keep this recipe gluten-free based on the bbq sauce you select.
Honey: Make sure to use real honey for best flavor.
Garlic: I use about one tablespoon of prepared minced garlic, but you can adjust this up or down, and mince your own fresh garlic if you prefer.
Chicken: Two pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs (gotta love the dark meat for juiciness) is what I use because when I’m making this, I make enough so I have leftovers for extra meals later in the week or that I can freeze – although you can halve the recipe. You can also substitute with boneless skinless chicken breasts. I have not used bone-in chicken for this recipe.
Garnishes: Green onions and sesame seeds are lovely. If you want heat, add red pepper flakes, fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil, or mint are nice.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
- To the insert of a large slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, honey, minced garlic, and whisk to combine. Remove 1/2 cup of the sauce and set it aside in the fridge.
- Add the chicken, toss it around, so it’s coated evenly in the honey garlic sauce ingredients and place it in an even flat layer.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for about 5-6 hours on LOW; or for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours on HIGH, or until the internal temperature is 165F. All crock pots heat differently so make sure you check the temp.
- Optionally, you can shred it after it’s cooked, and then toss it back into the slow if you’d like to use it for barbecue chicken sliders or make chicken enchiladas.
- Add the reserved sauce and toss to coat, garnish, and serve alongside Spanish rice, brown rice, mashed potatoes, or as desired. Leftover chicken is great for adding to a Southwest Cobb Salad or with roasted broccoli or veggies.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce, (your favorite such as Sweet Baby Ray's, Trader Joe's, mild, spicy, garlicky, etc.)
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste (about 4-5 cloves, finely minced)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, (about 8-10 thighs; boneless skinless chicken breasts may be substituted – if they're very thick, pound them thinner)
- Green onions, sliced into thin rounds; optional for garnishing
- Sesame seeds, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- I recommend spring, the insert of your 6-quart or 7-quart slow cooker with cooking spray, although it's optional.
- Add the barbecue sauce, honey, garlic, and stir to combine. BBQ Sauce Tip – I've used barbecue sauce with honey in it, but the finished chicken has almost no honey flavor, which I feel distracts from it.
- Remove approximately 1/2 cup of the sauce, cover, and place in the refrigerator for use later.
- Add the chicken, toss it around in the sauce to coat it evenly, and on all sides, and then arrange the chicken so it's in as even of a flat layer as possible.
- Placed the lid on top and slow cook on HIGH for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or on LOW for about 5 to 6 hours, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165F. Slow Cooking Tips – Since all slow cookers have different heat output, and variables such as how crowded your slow cooker is, the exact amount of chicken you're using, etc. the cooking times will vary so I recommend checking early.
- Optionally, after the chicken has fully cooked through if you want to shred it, you can now. Place it on a cutting board and shred it with two forks. Then place the shredded meat back into the slow cooker.
- Add the reserved 1/2 cup sauce mixture, and toss the chicken in it, to ensure it's nice and saucy.
- Optionally, garnish with green onions, sesame seeds, salt and pepper if desired, red pepper flakes if desired for heat, etc.
- Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, with veggies, in enchiladas, tortillas, or sliders.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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