Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Developed and tested by Robyn Conley Downs
on Sep 18, 2023 (last updated Jul 22, 2026) 
This slow cooker honey garlic chicken requires only 5 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep time for sweet, savory, and sticky boneless chicken with no pre-cooking required. Serve with rice and it’s a weeknight dinner staple you’ll want to make again and again!
5 star review
“Took me 5 minutes to put together. My husband says he wants this once a week now. I made the recipe as is with no tweaks. 5 stars! So good!”
– Emily
Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
If you’re looking for a high-protein dinner idea that requires less than 5 minutes of prep, no chopping, and minimal my slow cooker honey garlic chicken fits the bill! Okay, but here’s the thing, when it comes to cooking chicken in the slow cooker something I hear people complain about a lot is that they lack flavor, which can totally happen when a sauce cooks for a long time.
I combat this bland chicken problem by only using ¾ of the sauce to cook the chicken in and reserving ¼ to add at the end to give it a boost of fresh flavor. This small trick takes no extra time for you, but make such a big difference in the final flavor of this chicken. It really is all about the sauce, and on that note, my honey soy marinade is the backbone of this recipe. It’s seriously so delicious, so if you love that flavor combination, the standalone version is definitely worth bookmarking too.
Another great thing about this recipe is that it actually cooks fairly quickly for a slow cooker when using chicken thighs, only takes 2-3 hours to cook on high, so it’s a great option on a busy night. I love serving this crockpot honey garlic chicken with my hands-off cilantro lime rice and crunchy Asian slaw for an easy complete meal my family loves!
Welcome to My Kitchen, Let’s Make Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
Robyn’s Testing Tips for Honey Garlic Chicken
- Make it family-friendly by leaving out the hot sauce. Or if you want an extra kick, add sriracha or chili sauce at the end, which I highly recommend.
- For a gluten-free version, I like to use low-sodium tamari.
- This recipe works really well with chicken thighs, but you can use chicken breasts. Thighs are going to cook faster, while breasts will take a bit longer.
- You can create a thicker sauce if you want, however I personally prefer it as is. But if you want to create a thicker, stickier sauce, follow steps 5 and 6. If you don’t want a thicker sauce, just skip steps 5 and 6.
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken (5-Ingredients)
Ingredients
For the Honey Garlic Sauce
- ⅓ cup reduced sodium soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- ⅓ cup honey
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)
To Add at the End (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Equipment
Instructions
Make the Sauce
- Whisk together the soy sauce, honey, garlic and lime juice in a medium bowl until well combined.
Make Chicken
- Add the chicken to a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour over about 3/4 of the honey garlic sauce and toss to coat. Set the remaining honey garlic sauce aside while the chicken cooks.
- Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours or low for 4-6, or until the chicken is cooked through and very tender.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board and let it cool slightly, then shred it with two forks.
Thicken the Sauce (Optional)
- If you wish to thicken the sauce, carefully remove 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid to a medium bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch, then add back to the slow cooker along with the remaining honey garlic sauce, whisking to combine.
- Cover and cook the sauce only on high for 15-30 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
- Add back the chicken and stir to combine and allow to warm back through. Serve with green onion and hot sauce, if desired.
Notes
- Optional Serving Suggestions: Sliced green onions, sriracha or chili sauce, cooked rice, crunchy Asian slaw.
- Thicken the Sauce: If you don’t want (or don’t have time) to thicken the sauce, skip step 5 and 6 and simply add the chicken directly back to the slow cooker along with the remaining honey garlic sauce, stirring to combine. Allow to warm through, then serve.
- Thighs vs. Breasts: Cook time is given for boneless, skinless thighs, which my family prefers for this recipe. You can use boneless, skinless breasts, however, you might need to cook for an additional 30-60 minutes.
Where is the 25g of fat per serving coming from? Sees really high
Jan, it’s possible the software we use was pulling nutrition info for thighs with skin. Either way, I’ve adjusted it to approximate 6oz of boneless, skinless thighs. The calories will vary depending on how much sauce you consume. And the fat will be significantly lower if you use boneless, skinless breasts. Hope that helps!
Can this recipe be doubled without altering the ratios? I’ve found that sometimes I need to add less garlic if doubling/tripling.
Shauna, great question! I haven’t tested it, but I think your hunch about the garlic is likely correct. I imagine the liquid ratios can stay the same, but you can try less garlic. So for example, doubling the liquids and only using 6 garlic cloves rather than 8. The good thing about this sauce is that you can taste it “raw,” and determine how much garlic is enough. So I’d start with less and then add until you get the garlic flavor you like. If you give it a try let me know how it turns out!
Made this tonight … so easy & so delicious! It’s amazing what the lime juice brings! Thank you for another winner!!
Amy, yay, so happy to hear you enjoyed this one! I agree, that lime just really gives it a lift. Thanks so much for leaving a review!
Made this chicken last night. So easy I had all ingredients on hand. Threw it in the crockpot and came out delicious. I did not use the cornstarch. I served it with white rice and broccoli. Even my picky eater ate it all. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you
Wonderful to hear you and your crew enjoyed this one, Nikki. Thanks so much for leaving a review!
This was a big hit with the family. Love how quick the prep is and the final product was delicious. Served with rice and broccoli (the sauce was delicious over broccoli). Will def make this again!
Wonderful to hear this was a hit, Jamie! Thanks for the tip about serving it with broccoli, too. Appreciate your review!
Winner!!! Made it tonight and everyone loved it. Used chicken tenders (what I had on hand). Doubled the recipe and added salt and pepper. So happy to have another delicious and easy chicken recipe to add to dinner rotation!!!
Wonderful to hear this one was a hit, Angie! Great idea to double it, too, as the leftovers are so versatile. Thanks so much for leaving a review!
My husband and I love this recipe! It’s very flavorful and I enjoy making a crockpot recipe once a week. Thanks for making it easy.
Love that you do “crockpot night” too, Nancy! Makes it so easy to plan. Happy to hear you enjoyed this one, and thanks for leaving a review!
This is such a great recipe! We enjoy it with white rice, green onion and a drizzle of hoisin. So good!
Ohhh, great idea to add a drizzle of hoisin! Thanks for the tip, Elizabeth, and for leaving a review!
The flavor and simplicity of this recipe is amazing!! It’s everything I need during my recent postpartum season. But, I used chicken breasts and followed the cooking directions exactly yet the meat was really tough 🙁 I’ll try again with chicken thighs and adjust my cooking time as needed!
Leah, so glad you loved the flavor profile and ease of this recipe and sorry to hear the chicken came out tough. The tricky thing about slow cookers is that they can really vary WILDLY in temp (one models “high” can be drastically different from another model, for example). When you say “tough” do you mean dry, or do you mean that the chicken didn’t shred easily? If it didn’t shred easily, it likely needs more time (try adding 30 minute increments until it falls apart easily). Another great option is to use chicken thighs, which are much more forgiving since they have a higher fat content. The good news is that once you figure out the correct setting/timing for your slow cooker you’ll be in the clear! Do let me know if I can help you troubleshoot further.
Made this tonight – so easy and delish! My boys love it over rice. I steamed broccoli for the veggie.
Wonderful to hear this one was a hit — thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
My daughter now refers to this recipe as her “favorite chicken!” So simple and delicious!
Salley, oh, I love that! Thank so much for sharing and for leaving review. 🙂
Took me 5 minutes to put together. My husband says he wants this once a week now. I made the recipe as is with no tweaks. 5 stars! So good!
Emily, well I would definitely call that a win! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for leaving a review!
So good!
Because I used skinless chicken breasts, it soaked up the sauce after I’d shredded it and put it back in the slow cooker. I ended up making more of the sauce since I was serving it over rice and wanted it to be saucy!
Lori, so glad you enjoyed this one, and great tip on making extra sauce! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for leaving a review!
Hi. When you refer to ‘a cup’ in your recipes what size / volume is that?
Hi Sarah, are you asking about the metric conversions for this recipe? One-third of a cup (US customary) of soy sauce converts to approximately 75 to 80 milliliters.
How big are the servings by grams?
Hi Beau, I’m not able to provide grams per serving because that’s really going to depend on the exact weight of the ingredients you use (especially the chicken). For exact measurements, you can weigh your cooked chicken at the end of cook time. I hope you enjoy!
I made this recipe and I got my one-year-old to finally eat after a few days of not wanting to eat anything even his favorite foods. The whole house loved it! Making it again!!
Frankie, yay, I definitely call that a dinner win! So happy to hear it was a hit, thanks so much for sharing your notes and for leaving a review!
Excellent! Super flavorful and will be a new addition to the dinner rotation. I used Tamari, boneless chicken breasts and used 1/2 cup honey, plus about 1/4 cup hoisin. Served with rice and broccoli… It is perfection.
Crockin, ohhh, sounds so yummy! So happy to hear you enjoyed, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and leaving a review!
This was good but would have been better with low sodium soy sauce as it was extremely salty. Otherwise the flavor was good!
Fran, thanks for the note about the soy sauce – I agree and have added that note to the recipe. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for leaving a review!