This 5-star Honey Garlic Chicken is made in the slow cooker and is perfect for any weeknight meal. It’s kid-friendly and made with 5 simple ingredients.
This honey garlic chicken (crock pot) is a Fit Foodie Finds reader favorite. So many of you have made this dish time and time again and we hope you love it!
Seriously the BEST Honey Garlic Chicken
If you are looking for a simple, saucy, flavorful slow cooker chicken breast recipe, then you are going to swoon over this honey garlic chicken.
The honey garlic sauce for this recipe is flavorful, sweet, and spicy all at the same time and is made with just 4 ingredients. The chicken is slow-cooked in the sauce, leaving it super tender and saucy, the perfect topping for your grain of choice.
We love that you literally place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker uncooked (no need to sear in a skillet or pan) and let it do its magic!
5-Ingredients You Need
You read that correctly, this amazing slow cooker honey garlic chicken is made with only 5 ingredients…and chances are you already have them in your pantry! Here’s the line-up:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: we’re using chicken breast, but you’re more than welcome to use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead.
- Minced garlic: you’re going to need 3 whole tablespoons of minced garlic. Trust us.
- Honey: we love that honey is an all-natural sweetener. Plus, it pairs quite nicely with soy sauce and garlic.
- Soy sauce (or tamari): soy sauce adds a great savory flavor and also has a decent amount of salt in it.
- Red chili garlic sauce: want to add some heat, but not too much spice? A little red chili garlic sauce goes a long way.
Before You Start This Recipe…
what does honey garlic chicken taste like?
This honey garlic chicken recipe is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. The honey balances out the chili sauce to make a sticky and delicious sauce.
Internal Temperature
Be sure that the chicken breasts have an internal temperature of 165ºF before shredding the chicken after cooking.
What type of chicken Do I use?
We use chicken breasts for this honey garlic chicken recipe. If you are a dark meat kind of person, feel free to use chicken thighs (boneless or bone-in).
Just be sure you check the temperature of the chicken thighs and remove the bones before shredding the meat.
be sure you spray your slow cooker
We always recommend spraying your slow cooker before cooking anything for a long period of time to avoid burning on the edges of your slow cooker.
Check it out!
6 Crockpot Chicken Recipes
Looking for more crockpot chicken recipes? Look no further! Check out 6 similar recipes below. And for an added bonus, check out our Crockpot Freezer Meals post where we teach you how to turn all of these slow cooker recipes into freezer meals.
How to Make Honey Garlic Chicken Breast
It’s quite simple. All you have to do for this recipe is put all 5 ingredients into a slow cooker, turn it on, and walk away!
Temperature + Cook Time
High: 2-3 hours
Low: for 4-5 hours
- Make the sauce. You want to make the sauce in a separate bowl before pouring it into the slow cooker. Why? You want to make sure the honey has dissolved into the other ingredients.
- Add the chicken breast. Spray the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray and then add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
- Pour the sauce. Pour the sauce into the slow cooker over the chicken. Be sure the chicken is covered in the sauce.
- Cook the chicken. Cook on high or on low.
- Shred the chicken. Once the chicken has an internal temperature of 165ºF shred the chicken with two forks.
- Optional thicken. If you like a thicker sauce add 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch to around 1/4 cup sauce and whisk to combine. Then, pour it back into the slow cooker. Mix the chicken with the sauce, cover the slow cooker, and let the sauce thicken.
- Serve over rice. Enjoy!
Honey Garlic Chicken Instant Pot Instructions
- Place chicken breast and honey garlic sauce into your Instant Pot.
- Cover the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 8-10 minutes. Quick release.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and use 2 forks to shred.
- Thicken sauce by removing 1/4 cup of sauce and whisking it with 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch. Pour the sauce and shredded chicken back into the Instant Pot and mix.
- Turn on the sauté feature and bring the sauce to a boil to activate the cornstarch.
- Once thickened, serve immediately.
Instant Pot
Chicken Thighs with Honey Garlic Sauce
If you love this recipe, check out our Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs recipe for a slightly different variation.
What Goes with Honey Garlic Chicken?
You can easily turn this slow cooker chicken breast recipe into an amazing chicken meal prep by pairing it with your favorite grain and stir-fried veggies.
Portion out a serving of honey garlic chicken with a cup of cooked grains and a cup of veggies.
- Grains: brown rice, chicken fried rice, white sticky rice, quinoa, chicken fried rice, or cauliflower rice
- Veggies: green beans, steamed broccoli, or peppers and onions.
- Sides: pork dumplings, chicken lettuce wraps, or papaya salad.
a couple more ingredient tips
Make it spicy
If you want to make this honey garlic chicken any spicier, add red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons (or a tablespoon if you’re a fire-breathing dragon!) of sriracha to the honey garlic sauce.
Add some crunch
Serve this honey garlic chicken with sesame seeds or chopped cashews for some extra crunch.
FAQ
Honey garlic chicken is a simple, yet flavorful recipe made with chicken breasts, garlic, honey, and soy sauce, and a little chili garlic sauce for heat.
We recommend serving your honey garlic chicken recipe with steamed rice and stir-fried veggies or steamed broccoli.
Most honey garlic chicken recipes are mild in spice, but you can add chili garlic sauce or sriracha to kick up the heat.
Your honey garlic chicken will last up to 5 days in the fridge.
How to Store Honey Garlic Chicken
Store this honey garlic chicken in an air-tight container for 5-7 days in the refrigerator. We recommend keeping the honey garlic chicken separate from other ingredients (rice, veggies, etc.).
Can I Make this a Freezer Meal?
This honey garlic chicken is a great freezer meal if you are meal-prepping for yourself or any loved ones.
- Create honey garlic sauce by mixing together minced garlic, honey, soy sauce and red chili garlic sauce until the honey has dissolved.
- Then, place the chicken breast into a freezer-safe gallon-sized bag and pour sauce on top.
- Remove as much air from the bag as possible and seal tightly.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Want to learn how to reheat this freezer meal? Check out how here.
Best Honey Garlic Chicken (Crock Pot)
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast thighs work, too
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
- 2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch optional
Instructions
- First, create your honey garlic sauce. Whisk together minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, and red chili garlic sauce un the honey has fully dissolved.
- Next, place chicken breast onto the bottom of your slow cooker. Then, pour the sauce over the chicken.
- Turn slow cooker to high and cook for 2-3 hours OR low and cook for 4-5 hours.
- Once your chicken is fully cooked (165ºF internally) and tender, remove the chicken from the slow cooker and use 2 forks to shred.
- If you wish to thicken the sauce, remove 1/4 cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and whisk in 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch until it dissolved. Then, pour that back into the slow cooker and mix until combined.
- Then, add the chicken back into the crockpot and mix it with the sauce. Cover and let cook for 10 more minutes on high so that the sauce can fully thicken.
- Serve with your favorite grain and vegetable. Top with sesame seeds and green onion.
Tips & Notes
- Nutrition is just for the chicken.
- Cornstarch is optional, but your sauce will be thin if you don’t use it.
- This recipe was slightly updated on January 19, 2022. Nothing major was changed.
Made it once and it was good but a little dry! Going to try again tomorrow. Wondering if I can mix the sauce up tonight and then pour it over the chicken in a ziploc bag and let it marinate in the fridge before putting in crockpot tomorrow!?!
You definitely can marinate this chicken overnight!
Looks great , but definitely wouldn’t say it’s healthy or weightloss friendly if you have ONLY put the nutrition for the chicken and not even the Honey. This would well be over anyone’s caloric intake 480 calories and 136 carbs in 1/2 a cup of honey.
Kid approved and made great leftovers!
This recipe is easy and so delicious, and makes plenty for lunch or dinner through the week. Perfectly saucy, sweet, savory, and spicy!
This recipe was so simple to make and so yummy!! I paired the chicken with rice and steamed broccoli. I will definitively be making it again!!!
One of my favorite easy dinner recipes. Love pairing it with basmati rice and some stir fry veggies. It’s also great to make a Buddha bowl with! Love that I always have these ingredients on hand.
So easy to make and delicious! My daughter, husband and I all loved it!
Yum! Simple ingredients I always have on hand. We paired with steamed broccoli and jasmine rice. My 1 year old loved it.
I have been making this recipe for a couple years and it is one of my absolute favorite meals because it is so convenient and delicious!! It’s made with ingredients I always have on hand and is very low effort with the crock pot. I also recently started to make it as a freezer meal to give to friends with newborns and have gotten asked for the recipe multiple times! You won’t regret making this one!!!
Aw Kenna! Thank you for this review — SO glad to hear you love this honey garlic chicken too 😀
One of my absolute fave FFF recipes. Made a batch for lunches all week and I still won’t be tired of it by Friday. I did 2.5 hours on high, served over brown rice, and it was 👌
Mmmmmm looks so delish, Kristin!
Quick, easy and delicious! I served this recipe over quinoa with a side of roasted Broc/cauli/Brussels. Perfect!
Oo love that you served this with quinoa! YUM!
I love this recipe, so easy to throw together. Served over brown rice and broccoli
I made a few modifications and it turned out great. I added about 2 cups of chicken broth to the sauce, enough so it tasted good and then ensured the chicken breasts were submerged. I don’t like spicy so I just substituted the chili sauce for a little sweet soy sauce. Also added 2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Cooked on high about 3 hours then removed the chicken, shredded it, added about 3 table spoons of flour (mixed in cold water) to the broth to thicken it, added another cup of broth to get the right texture, then added the chicken back for another 15 min. Season as needed. Served over rice it was wonderful!
Way to make this recipe your own, Chris! Glad you loved it 😀
I had very high hopes for this recipe. Unfortunately, the off-putting chicken smell was strong despite all the garlic and chilli garlic sauce. I actually turned the chicken over at 1:30 in to prevent that but it did not help. My husband and I struggled to finish one bowl of it. I didn’t want to throw it out, so I edited it and added some veggies and more garlic and chilli garlic, so we’ll see how it tastes.
Amazing!
Adapted for the instant pot – cooked on high pressure for 10 min and released steam at 5 min. The chicken was tender and so flavorful. Yum!
I followed the instructions exactly and the chicken was very dry and browned out. I even turned the chicken while cooking in the slow cooker- I ended up having to throw out 🙁
I made two alterations, using half the amount of tamari (because I find soy sauce/tamari to be too salty/overwhelming) and chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts and WOW I’m in love
I bet the chicken thighs were AMAZING!
I keep going back to this recipe time and time again! So easy and so tasty!! The flavor is awesome and it’s always a hit. I will say this usually cooks in way less time than the recipe suggests but I just pay attention and turn it off earlier. Delish!!
I bloody love this recipe so much! It’s truely delicious. So easy to make and pretty cheap on the wallet too which is a bonus. I just have mine with brown rice and some broccoli and it’s genuinely the best lunch. Would be awesome with lots of other sides and in a wrap too. LOVE!
This is seriously one of my favorites!