Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

As seen in my article on @YorkRegion: RENATA’S TABLE: Slow cooker honey-garlic chicken a time-saving joy

One of my favourite kitchen appliances is my slow cooker, also known as a crockpot. I appreciate so much that it does the cooking while I am busy with other things during the day.

The rich aroma of dinner in the slow cooker makes my home my happy place, especially with recipes that are easy to prep earlier in the day. To have dinner ready without a lot of fuss is a time-saving joy. This time of year, when the weather cools and busy schedules heat up, cozy, ready to enjoy slow cooker meals are always a relaxing indulgence..

This Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken is such a recipe – easy prep, then set it and forget it until dinnertime. The sauce is so good! When my weekly meal planning includes this recipe, the day before I make extra servings of rice, quinoa or noodles to have in the fridge to heat up, or even crusty bread, to serve along side the chicken, peas and sauce for a fast, welcome, delicious, healthy, homecooked meal.    

As always, when you make this recipe, I would love to see your creation so please post a photo of your Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken goodness and tag my IG account #RenataCollective or leave a comment with your thoughts!

Prep Time: 15 minutes / Slow cooker Time: 3 hours on high or 5 hours on low / Makes: 4-5 servings       

Ingredients

• 10 Chicken Thighs – boneless and skinless

• 1/3 Cup Honey

• ¼ Cup Tamari or Soy Sauce

• 14 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce

• 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

• 4 Cloves Garlic – minced

• 1 Tablespoon Grated Fresh Ginger

• Generous Grinds of Fresh Black Pepper

• Optional: 1 teaspoon Hot Sauce

• 1 Cup Frozen Peas

• 2 teaspoons Arrowroot Powder or Corn Starch

• 3 teaspoons Water

How It’s Made

• I like to ‘season’ my slow cooker by spraying or brushing the bottom and up the sides with olive oil, then sprinkling garlic powder on the oil.

• Trim the chicken thighs of visible fat.

• Place the thighs in the slow cooker – 10 should cover the bottom of most slow cooker models.

•  Make the sauce: Mix together the honey, tamari or soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger and pepper. Add the hot sauce of your choice if you wish the sauce to have heat. I do not add salt as sone of the ingredients already contain salt.

• Pour the sauce over the chicken and spoon some sauce over and under the chicken thighs.

• Top with a few more grinds of fresh black pepper.

• Place the cover on the slow cooker and cook for 3 hours on high or 5 hours on low.

• As each slow cooker is different in how it heats and cooks, after the cooking time, with a meat thermometer, check the chicken – it must be cooked to 165°F. If not there yet, cook longer and check every 10 minutes.

• Remove the cooked chicken to a dish leaving the sauce in the slow cooker.

• Make the slurry by mixing the arrowroot or cornstarch with the water until smooth and pour this into the slow cooker. Give it a stir.

• Add the frozen peas and stir them in.  

• Cover and cook on high for 10-15 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Add the chicken thighs back in the slow cooker for 5 minutes to warm up.

• Serve with your choice of side such as rice, quinoa, noodles or a slice of crusty bread to soak up the delicious sauce.

  Enjoy!