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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- 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!
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.
Course Dinner
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I have a big problem with recipes like this. i am attracted by the great photography only to find that a dark meat has been used. I hate, hate, hate, dark meat and that goes for ALL fowl. I would rather eat dried out chicken breasts.So if you don’t mind I am going to try this recipe using chicken breasts and I will probably enjoy it as much as you enjoy the thighs.
I hope that you enjoy the recipe Barbara! I completely understand your aversion to dark meat. After you try this dish with breasts please let us know how it turned out!
We’ve made this recipe multiple times because it is amazing and we always use chicken breasts or tenderloins so the white meat works perfect with it.
Looking for easy low cost recipes for chicken, rice, beans, noodles.
You might like a few of these recipes Korine:
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/pasta-fagioli-soup-recipe/
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/chicken-lo-mein-take-out/
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/garlic-butter-rice/?swpmtx=a4b2123afa18b68cd18649360182033d&swpmtxnonce=2ec36dce8c
I absolutely hate ketchup. Do you think I could sub for some mix of tomato sauce, vinegar and sugar? I think that would essentially be the same flavors as ketchup. I love the look of this recipe (besides the ketchup) Thanks!
I have only tried this recipe as written, but if you try it with the substitutions let us know how it turns out!
Can you freeze the ingredients raw and then throw them in the crock pot?
We have not tried making it this way, but it should work. Let us know how it turns out if you try freezing it before cooking Myra!
Can not wait to try this recipe looks sooo good
I hope you love it when you try it Mary Ann!
Any idea what the nutrition info/calories per serving/serving size is?
Just found it in the post. Thank you.
:)
This recipe makes 6 servings. You can find the nutrition information at the bottom of the recipe card. Enjoy Janey!
Made this today and was underwhelmed. It was tasty, but not OMG good. I followed the recipe exactly, but used red pepper flakes instead of chili flakes because that’s what I had on hand. Perhaps the leftovers will be tastier, as the flavors would have time to marry.
Great recipe Holly! It was a big hit at our house. I had to use orange juice instead of apple juice as I didn’t have any on hand. I was in a hurry so I cut the raw chicken up into bit size pieces so it cooked faster. It only had to cook 2 1/2 hours in the crock pot. Served with rice and broccoli! Thank you for a new family favorite!
So glad your family loved it so much Lori!
This has become a staple at our house. I usually throw in sliced mushrooms about 1/2 hour before it is done cooking.
So glad you love it Cindy!
The recipe looks easy and delicious.
I have a couple of questions.
What is the substitute for bourbon? and if I’m not using a crockpot, what should be changed?
I’ve only tried this recipe as written so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out. You could change the bourbon for apple juice (although this will change the flavor).
I’m worried about it having an alcohol taste… does it after it’s cooked so long?
Hi Rachael, the actual alcohol itself cooks out of this recipe, but it does leave behind a bourbon flavor.
Made this last night…..family loved it! I put the chicken on top of white rice, made fresh broccoli sautéed with garlic and oil, and made a tomato and mozzarella salad. Delish
Glad to hear that your family loves this as much as mine does Linda!
How could I do this in my instant pot?
Hi Deb, I haven’t tried this recipe in the instant pot so I can’t say for sure. But another reader made it by putting the sauce (without the water) and chicken thighs in the instant pot on manual for 15 minutes. Then used the saute setting to thicken the sauce with the cornstarch. Let us know how it turns out for you!
FANTASTIC!! I’ve now made this twice and couldn’t be MORE impressed! I’ve found my newest go-to recipe! I’ve always headed to my favorite takeout for this dish and to actually be able to make it anytime I want — HEAVEN!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
You’re so welcome Jeanne! It makes my day to hear that you love it so much!
It says to put all the ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken. But then later it says to mix the water and cornstarch. Is this supposed to be in the initial bowl as well?
The cornstarch doesn’t got in the initial bowl, just the ingredients listed under the sauce heading.
I made this tonight for family and was excellent!Chicken was fall apart, expected for 6 hours of cooking, flavor was all there with bourbon, i wouldn’t dare try making this without it. I added extra half tsp of chilli flakes and wow extra kick.
I’m so happy to hear how much you love the chicken Mike!
Made this a few times, excellent, best for company as I did not care for it reheated
I have made this recipe several times. We love it!
Does this taste similar to the bourbon chicken in the mall?
That’s more of a sticky glazed chicken while this is more like an Asian inspired chicken.
This was amazing. Everyone love it! I will be making this again.
Made yesterday and all I can say is, I can’t wait to make it again! Even my husband said that it was so good, make sure that you print this recipe!!! I followed the recipe exactly. Served it over fried rice. Delicious!!!!!
After making it last week, I was requested by my husband to make it again this week We added onions and I did 1/3 of the soy sauce, bourbon and apple cider to make by accident but it came out great lol. Next time we may try with dumplings. But this is definitely a win win recipe in our house!
This recipe is amazing, amazing, amazing….love it so much…worth making over and over…
Made the Crockpot Bourbon Chicken for dinner last night and we are having it as a leftover tonight.
Am looking forward to it.
Absolutely delicious! Loved the taste of the sauce and the chicken was so tender. Will probably add a few more red pepper flakes next time to spice it up a little more for our tastes.
Husband had his over rice. I had some left over mashed potatoes and used those (potatoes are probably my single favorite food in the world so I had to use them!)
Your food photos are beautiful.
Thanks for another delicious yet easy to make recipe.
So happy to hear you both loved it Bobbi! And I am with you, potatoes (cooked almost any way) are my favorite food!