Crock Pot Bourbon Chicken is easy and delicious! Tender juicy chicken is cooked in a rich bourbon ginger sauce for a delicious meal. The whole family will love it. Serve it over rice, with a side of steamed broccoli, or inside some dinner rolls for a delicious bourbon chicken sandwich!
This Crock Pot bourbon chicken recipe takes all the work out of making dinner, making it perfect for busy weeknights. We love coming home to fall-apart, flavorful and tender chicken. It’s great just about any way you serve it!
Bourbon Chicken
Bourbon chicken received its name because it was created by a Chinese cook who worked in a restaurant on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Regardless of the name or how it came to be, this dish is absolutely delicious! This recipe creates a sweet and tender chicken that is perfect served over rice and it’s easy to make at home in the slow cooker!
The bourbon chicken sauce takes just a few minutes of prep the marinade and then it simmers in the slow cooker all day! The result is insanely tender chicken with a sweet Asian inspired sauce and lots of flavor.
How To Make Bourbon Chicken
To make this Crock Pot bourbon chicken:
- Combine sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken thighs.
- Turn the Slow Cooker to HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours.
- Shred the chicken and create a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
A few notes about this recipe… this dish is sweet as Bourbon chicken is a sweet dish (similar to sweet and sour). Do not use light soy sauce, the results and flavor are not the same. Chicken thighs are best in this recipe as they won’t dry out like slow cooked chicken breasts sometimes do!
5+ Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes You NEED in Your Life
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- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken – sweet and savory
- Crockpot Chicken Tacos – uber flavorful
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken & Gravy – great for entertaining!
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili – so easy
- Crock Pot BBQ Chicken – juicy shredded chicken!
Did you enjoy this Crock Pot Bourbon Chicken? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Crock Pot Bourbon Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup sliced green onions or more to taste
Sauce
- ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ⅓ cup apple juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup Bourbon
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Place chicken in slow cooker, pour sauce over top. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high 3 hours.
- Remove chicken and chop into bite sized pieces and cover to keep warm.
- Meanwhile, combine 3 tablespoons water with cornstarch. Turn slow cooker up to high. Whisk cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Cover and allow to thicken, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes). Stir chicken back into the sauce and add in green onions.
- Serve over rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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It was different, but still tasty. Side note though; bourbon chicken doesn’t usually have bourbon in it. It is named after Bourbon Street.
Tasted more bbq than bourbon chicken. Still good to eat, just not the flavor we were expecting.
Awesome! Wonderful taste, tender and delicious. Thank you. Usually I add or substitute to recipes but this recipe was just terrific as you wrote!
BTW, I could not get the sauce to thicken in the crock pot so my wife heated 1 cup w juice with the corn starch in a small pot just to a boil, then added back to the crock pot. Perfecto! We also added 1/2 can chopped pineapples and 10 peppercorns. Hardly any modifications, but a winner in our book.
Could this be made with beef instead?
I haven’t tried this with beef so I can’t say for sure. You’ll want to ensure you cook it long enough so the beef becomes tender. Let us know how it goes if you try it!
My girlfriend and I discovered this recipe years ago. We been making it ever since. We also add very lightly sautéed onions at the start, and then in the last hour of cook time we throw in chopped mushrooms. We put it over rice and then serve broccoli on the side. Literally so good.
I’ve made this recipe several times and every time it’s a big hit and I am inevitable asked for the recipe. It’s super easy and delicious-win, win! Anyway, I wanted to come back here and say thank you, Holly!
You are very welcome, Jocelyn! So happy to hear everyone enjoyed this recipe!
Was wondering … How would Rum be, instead of Bourbon
I haven’t tried it but sounds like a yummy idea! Let us know how it goes!
My family absolutely loved this recipe. I used it for the first time last night. I’m always looking for easy crockpot recipes for summer that allow for family time together instead of long dinner prep. This was perfect! Some reviews said they couldn’t get the sauce to thicken in the crockpot. I have two crockpots and I used the one that runs hot. I had no problems getting the sauce to thicken in less than 10 minutes. I will definitely be putting this in my recipe book. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m new to your recipe site. I made crock pot bourbon chicken for dinner tonight. First time that I every cooked bourbon chicken. It was delicious. Too many times I spend time reading the recipe over and over trying to figure out what to do next. I like how the ingredients are listed according to categories. The dinner came together effortlessly and the results tasted as if I slaved away in the kitchen for hours. I definitely will be trying many more of your creations. Thank you.
I’m so glad you loved it Carol!
I only have low sodium soy sauce. Is that going to work
Yes Lea Ann, that’ll work perfectly!
Holly I have made this dish a couple times yet I don’t think 3 table spoonsof water with 3 table spoons of corn starch will work ,that is just not enough liquid
Hi Lyle, glad you are enjoying it. We find the 3 tablespoons to be enough, but would love to hear what you prefer.
Found it to be really great and easy. We all loved it and it will go into the main dish list fir sure.
I was missing my local mall’s bourbon chicken and decided to try this based on all the great reviews. Boy, was I disappointed. It was overly salty and the amount of soy sauce used was ridiculous. The flavor was just off. I took a few bites and threw the rest in the trash. It was a waste of money and time. No offense to the chef and all the other reviewers, but it just wasn’t good. From what I hear, mall bourbon chicken doesn’t even include bourbon. Please just go to the mall and get this from the restaurant.
Sorry to hear that, Katie. We really enjoy this recipe as written.
I can already tell this is an excellent recipe. I’m going to try subbing the honey with 100% Maple Syrup (that’s how we do in the great white north!). Very excited to see how it turns out!
This looks so good Holly, Do you happen to have a Keto version of this?
Hi Christine, We do not have a keto version of this recipe but would love to hear your substitutions and how they turn out!
Curious, does this recipe call for light or dark brown sugar, or does it not matter?
Either will work in this recipe.
Could never get the sauce to thicken. There are better bourbon chicken recipes out there. Won’t try this one again.
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that Ashley. You can always try adding a little flour to the sauce to help it thicken.
I made this for the first time. I didn’t add the brown sugar as one of my guests doesn’t like sweet flavors. I also used chicken breasts. All my guests wanted the recipe, and wanted my leftovers. ( I made extra so I could have leftovers ). One of them said she wants me to make this every time she comes over. Great recipe. Thank you.
An this be made with chicken breast.
Chicken breasts will work in this recipe just make sure they are boneless and skinless!
I have never rated a recipe before…. but I have to say that this recipe is awesome…made it today for dinner and it is a big hit.. a keeper, is what we say in our family…. ! I added some julienned carrots and broccoli at the end, instead of on the side…. but the sauce is what made the dish… could be used in a lot of different dishes… Thank you…! The only other comment I can make is that the slurry didn’t thicken in the crock pot… so I had to transfer the sauce to a pot to thicken….
So glad your family enjoyed it, Vikki!