These Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs are amazing! Cook hands-off in the crockpot and serve with broccoli and rice for a full meal.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Sunflower oil – use chili oil or a neutral cooking oil like olive or avocado oil.
- Soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best soy sauce substitutes.
- Honey – maple syrup or brown sugar would also be good here.
- Minced garlic – freshly minced garlic cloves are best but jarred minced garlic can be used in a pinch.
- Sriracha – use any hot sauce of your choice or leave this out if you don’t like spice.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs – you could also try making this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Broccoli – substitute for another veggie of your choice.
Rice
- White rice – serve this dish with brown rice or quinoa instead.
- Salt – to taste.
Optional garnishes
- Green onions – scallions would also be good.
- Sesame seeds – black or white sesame seeds can both be used.
How to make chicken thighs in the slow cooker
Step 1: Add the sauce ingredients.
Add sunflower oil, soy sauce, honey, water, garlic and sriracha to the slow cooker, mixing well.
Step 2: Toss the chicken in the sauce.
Toss the boneless chicken thighs in the mixture, then cook on high for 3 hrs or on low for 6 hrs.
Step 3: Make the rice.
Half an hour before cooking time is up, add water, rice and salt to a rice cooker or pot on the stove and cook until the liquid has absorbed.
Step 4: Steam the broccoli.
At the same time, microwave broccoli in a large bowl of water for 10 minutes, then drain.
Step 5: Garnish the chicken.
Serve chicken thighs on top of rice with broccoli on the side and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
What to serve with slow cooker chicken thighs
Since this is such an easy slow cooker recipe, I like keeping the sides pretty simple too, with some rice or grains and vegetables. Here are some different side dish options you can try out:
- Grains: Cauliflower rice, coconut rice or quinoa
- Veggies: Steamed broccoli, glazed carrots or steamed veggies
- Salad: Brussels sprouts salad, quinoa salad, sweet potato salad or arugula salad
- Other sides: Sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes or baked potatoes
Frequently Asked Questions
When you’re making chicken thighs in a crock pot, there’s no need to brown them first. It’s perfectly safe to add them to the pot raw!
You can cook these crockpot chicken thighs either on low for 6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours – they’ll turn out delicious both ways. Cooking them on low might make them a bit more tender, but either method is fine.
The honey garlic sauce should already be pretty thick after slow cooking, but if you want it to be even thicker, you can stir in a cornstarch slurry and set the crockpot to simmer until it's reached your desired consistency.
For food safety purposes, you can't cook frozen chicken in the slow cooker. Let the chicken defrost fully in the fridge, then use it to make this recipe.
I personally haven't tested this recipe with bone-in thighs, but they should work! You'll likely need to increase the cooking time to 4-5 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
Storing and reheating
These slow cooker chicken thighs are great for meal prep. You can store the leftovers in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I’d recommend storing the chicken with the sauce so it stays nice and moist. Make sure to keep the rice and broccoli separately for best results.
When you’re ready to enjoy, sprinkle a bit of water over top of the chicken to avoid that dreaded leftover chicken flavor and microwave for 1 to 2 mins until heated through. You can even repurpose the chicken for other recipes like salads, sandwiches, wraps and more.
Freezing this recipe
If you make a big batch of these crockpot chicken thighs, you can freeze some for later. Once they’ve completely cooled, transfer the chicken thighs to glass bowls or freezer-safe Ziploc bags and freeze them for up to 3 months. All you have to do when you’re ready to use them is let them defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat as normal. Easy-peasy!
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More chicken thigh recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- Pick up a crock pot if you don't already have one to make this recipe!
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing the leftovers in the fridge.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through.
- A rice cooker is invaluable for saving time, and it cooks other grains, too!
- **Get my full list of tools here**
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower or chili oil
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 head broccoli chopped into florets
Rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 pinch salt
Optional garnishes
- 2 green onions sliced
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add sunflower oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic and sriracha to the slow cooker, mixing well. Toss chicken thighs in mixture, then cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
- Half an hour before cooking time is up, add water, rice and salt to a rice cooker or pot on the stove and cook until the liquid has absorbed. At the same time, microwave broccoli in a large bowl of water for 10 minutes, then drain.
- Serve chicken thighs on top of rice with broccoli on the side and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired. Enjoy!
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