slow cooker honey garlic chicken

Slow cooker honey garlic chicken recipe

I love that it only takes 5 minutes to throw together the sauce for this slow cooker honey garlic chicken recipe making such and easy and delicious recipe. All you have to do is mix up the ingredients for the sauce, and then just add it to the slow-cooker with the chicken breasts and spring onions. This only uses 7 simple ingredients, slow-cooked with chicken breasts which become juicy and tender and then shredded into the sauce at the end of cooking. This is one of my favourite healthy slow cooker chicken recipes.

What is honey garlic chicken?

This slow cooked honey garlic chicken recipe is the perfect quick dinner that can be prepped in minutes. The chicken breast is slow cooked in an Asian inspired honey, garlic and tomato sauce with dark soy sauce, rice vinegar and spring onions and then served with sesame seeds and coriander leaves. You can either cook this recipe on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours. This fall-apart tender chicken recipe is brilliantly simple if you are short on time.

Watch how to make slow cooker honey garlic chicken

Watch how this simple slow-cooker honey garlic chicken is made here:

Why use a slow cooker to make honey garlic chicken?

I’ve always loved the slow-cooker. It’s an easy way to make great tasting food without having to put in a whole lot of effort- even if you don’t have any confidence in yourself as a cook you can happily take on slow-cooker meals like this! Take a look at my 6 reasons to use a slow-cooker post.

A slow-cooker is a really great value piece of kitchen equipment. I have one that is nearly 20 years old and works as well as when it was new. If you are looking to buy a new slow-cooker there are many on the market, and to suit any budget. Lots of supermarkets make their own brand, and you can find loads of great deals on Amazon too. The one I use has a 3.5 litre crockpot which is a good size for most family meals.

Once you have started to experiment with a slow-cooker you will find out how versatile it is. The first thing I ever cooked in mine was a beef and ale stew- and it was so good that it was all I made for years! Here’s my recipe for beef and ale stew.

What ingredients do I need to make slow cooker honey garlic chicken?

Here’s what you need to make the honey garlic sauce that you then cover the chicken breast with:

• Honey – this gives the sauce its popular sticky sweet character. You can use any honey in this recipe but here I’ve just used the standard jar or squeezy bottle variety from your local shop.

• Tomato puree – this puree gives depth to the sauce and helps to make sure that it’s not too runny.

• Dark soy sauce – The dark variety provides a more intense flavour and the saltiness to the dish. If you don’t have dark then the other soy sauce varieties will work but the flavour won’t be quite as deep. You can also use a low sodium soy sauce if you want to reduce the salt content.

• Rice Vinegar – This is widely available at the local shops and gives the sauce a slightly sweet, tart flavour to help balance the other ingredients.

• Spring onions – trim any woody parts and make sure that there is no dirt present.

• Garlic cloves – try to use cloves that are a good size to make sure there is enough garlic to get the flavour through.

• Chicken breasts – Chicken breasts are the best choice for a slow cooker pulled chicken recipe. Remove any signs of fat so they are as lean as possible. You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs but to keep the calories down you would need to make sure all the fat has been removed.

• Sesame seeds – These need to be lightly toasted in a dry frying pan just before serving to give them that nice nutty taste.

• Fresh coriander – either pull the leaves off and tear them or roughly chop before scattering on top.

What equipment do I need to make slow cooker honey garlic chicken?

Slow cooker – nearly all slow cookers are suitable for this recipe. This recipe is cooked in a slow cooker with a 3 1/2 litre crockpot.

Small bowl – This can be any small bowl, it’s just to mix the ingredients for the sauce together before adding it to the slow cooker.

Knife – a good sharp kitchen knife to chop the spring onions finely.

Garlic crusher – I use a simple hand garlic crusher but if you don’t have one you can always grate the garlic into fine pieces.

Frying pan – this is to toast the sesame seeds at the end.

What can I serve with honey garlic chicken?

This is a great dish which can work with a large variety of combinations. I love this served with:

• egg-fried rice
• cauliflower rice
• brown or white basmati rice
• stir-fried vegetables
• noodles
• in lettuce wraps with thinly sliced cucumber, carrot and shredded lettuce
• julienned/grated vegetables such as carrots, cucumber and red cabbage.
• Steamed or boiled vegetables like broccoli make a good side.
• Try drizzling some spicy sriracha sauce over this, it’s delicious!

How to store slow cooker honey garlic chicken?

You can store honey garlic chicken in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Fridge – Put the leftover honey garlic chicken in to a reusable, clean airtight container, this helps to lock in those flavours and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days

Freezer – This slow-cooker honey garlic chicken is a great freezer meal! Place any leftovers into an airtight freezer-safe container or alternatively in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. I always put a date on the container/bag when it goes into the freezer so I know how long it’s been in there.

If you have a large portion left you can freeze this into individual portions ready for later.

You can also prep this meal by mixing up the sauce and the chicken, and place the uncooked ingredients together in a ziplock bag or airtight freezer-safe container, then when you are ready to cook it just defrost and then place in the slow-cooker to cook for the indicated times in the recipe.

How to reheat honey garlic chicken?

Reheating honey garlic chicken is very simple, just make sure to fully defrost the chicken fully before reheating.

• Stovetop – Place the honey garlic chicken into a saucepan that easily fits the portion size and heat on a medium heat. Make sure to give the chicken a stir as it heats through to prevent it from sticking on the bottom of the pan. You may also need to add a small amount of water of the sauce is too thick. Just add a small amount at a time until you reach the right consistency.

• Microwave – Place the honey garlic chicken into a microwave safe dish and cover with a lid or some clingfilm. Heat the chicken through for 2-3 minutes depending on the portion size ( this would be for a single portion) and your microwave power. For larger potions you will need to adjust the cooking time. Give the chicken a stir halfway through to make sure that it’s heating through evenly. Be careful of the steam as this is incredibly hot. If it needs further cooking continue in 30 second intervals. Make sure the chicken is heated all the way through before serving.

Does this honey garlic chicken recipe have any allergens?

Yes this honey garlic chicken recipe does have ingredients that might cause allergies.

Soy sauce – This contains both soy and wheat. You can substitute the soy sauce with tamari.

Sesame seeds – these seeds contain sesame obviously! As these are added at the end they can be left off if needed.

DISCLAIMER: This information is given as a guide and is by no way definitive. It’s still really important you check all the ingredients you are planning on using to make sure that they don’t contain allergens if this is something that affects you.

How does honey garlic chicken work on Slimming World?

The great thing about this meal made in the slow-cooker is that there is no need for any extra oil. The only syns are in the honey (5 syns for 2 tbsp) and the sesame seeds (3 syns for 1 tbsp)

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What else can I make in the slow cooker?

There are so many fantastic meals that can be made in the slow-cooker. Here are a few other healthy slow cooker recipes.

Slow cooker Chinese pulled pork

Slow cooker Thai peanut chicken

Easy slow cooker wholemeal bread

Slow cooker Mexican casserole

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