Crock Pot Chicken Thighs are cooked in delicious honey soy sauce for a new family favorite! Much like baked chicken thighs, the dark meat in this recipe stays moist and juicy with little effort.
Serve this recipe over fried rice or your favorite chow mein noodles and a side of sesame ginger bok choy!
Ingredients
Chicken:
- Chicken thighs in this recipe give maximum flavor while still keeping moist and tender. Boneless thighs make for easy serving.
- You can replace the thighs with breasts but be sure not to overcook them. I find chicken breasts don’t hold moisture as well so I often add a bit of chicken broth and shred them back into the sauce.
Sauce:
- Freshly grated ginger, and garlic add tons of flavor to this sauce while a scoop of brown sugar adds sweetness.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
- Brown boneless skinless thighs and place in the bottom of a slow cooker/crockpot.
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken (see recipe below).
- Cook and enjoy!
How long to cook chicken thighs in the Crock Pot: These chicken thighs can be cooked on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours. High temperature is preferred with this recipe.
What to Serve with Crock Pot Chicken Thighs
This slow cooker chicken recipe is perfect served over fluffy rice (or brown rice). Spoon the chicken over rice, ladle some extra sauce over the top and garnish with sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.
As the sauce is slightly sweet I like to keep the sides fresh and simple like steamed broccoli, bok choy, snap peas or even steamed asparagus.
More Easy CrockPot Chicken
-
- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken – deliciously easy meal!
- Crockpot Chicken Fajitas – just 10 mins prep
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken & Gravy – easy and delicious!
- Crockpot Chicken and Rice – hearty, comforting soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo – a little sweet & spicy!
Ingredients
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs trimmed of extra fat
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup less sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 4 cups cooked white rice for serving
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Season chicken thighs with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Heat olive oil over medium-high in a 12" skillet. Cook 3-5 minutes until browned on each side.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl add ketchup, soy sauce, honey, dark brown sugar, ginger, sriracha and garlic. Whisk to combine.
- Add chicken thighs to a 6 quart slow cooker. Pour sauce over the chicken thighs.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours or until the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce has slightly thickened.
- When fully cooked sprinkle the top of the chicken with green onions and cilantro. Serve over rice.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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These were easy and delicious. Very customizable. I added chili paste to bump up the heat factor.
Hi- changed the recipe to reflect 24 pieces, however it doesnt change the time required to cook. Will it stay the same? 2-3 hours on high?
You may need to increase the cooking time slightly but in general if the pieces of chicken are all roughly the same size and the crockpot can comfortably hold that amount of chicken then it shouldn’t need much longer to cook.
This sounds delicious! Do you think I could use pork chops instead? I love pork chops cooked in a sauce.
I have never tried making this recipe with pork chops instead so I can’t say for sure, Gail. If you do decide to try it, we would love to hear how it turns out!
Followed the recipe to the T, came out killer, thanks.
I made these chicken thighs today. Used skinless, bone in thighs. Excellent taste, easy to prepare. I did switch the slow cooker to the lower setting for about an hour, just to slow things down a bit. Then for the last hour, I switched it back to high. Definitely will make these again
I use your recipes virtually every day. now my son in law, who loves cooking is hooked on your recipes too.
But this one is by far our favourite. Due to husband being diabetic we can’t serve potatoes, rice or bread so we just serve with roasted veggies.
Just so delicious
I’m so glad you and your son-in-law have loved the recipes Lynda, thank you for following along!
I love your recipes, and this sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try it, but wonder if I need to make any adjustments if using boneless skinless breasts instead of thighs? I just really don’t like thighs. Thanks for your site, recipes and tips! I use your app often.
You can replace the thighs with breasts but be sure not to overcook them. I find chicken breasts don’t hold moisture as well so I often add a bit of chicken broth and shred them back into the sauce.
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Patricia!
I don’t have ginger. can I substitute for something else or just not add it?
You could use dried ground ginger and it’s about ⅛ to ½ teaspoon in place of the fresh ginger. You could also leave it out and while it will change the flavor, it will still be delicious. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out Arin!
Hi there!
Since the baby will be enjoying dinner with us and he’s under 1yo, I was wondering if using more brown sugar instead of honey would be doable here?
It will slightly change the flavor but will still be delicious Kyilye! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi, this sounds delicious. Can I brown the chicken the night before, refrigerate and then do the rest of the cooking the next day?
This should work just fine Mark! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Could you use housing sauce in place of the ketchup and soy?
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I left out the honey because my husband hates sweet sauces and used red hot instead of sriracha because that is what I had in my fridge. The chicken thighs turned out great and the sauce had just enough sweetness from the brown sugar to offset the tang from the ketchup and saltiness from the soy sauce. I will definitely use this recipe again.
This will be the third time I’m making this dish! It’s simple and easy to prepare and did I fail to mention that’s it’s quite delicious ..
Made this tonight. Followed the recipe as written and it turned out amazing. I always search for your recipes as I can trust they turn out great. Thanks!
Thank you so much Jill, so glad you loved it!
Absolutely delicious! Made exactly as written !
So glad you loved the recipe Donna!
Followed the recipe as written and it turned out plain bad. The chicken was bland, the sauce was watery and lacked flavor. I am so disappointed that I wasted a pack of chicken thighs on this.
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you Annie, I can’t say for sure what went wrong as I haven’t had the same problem. Were the chicken thighs thawed?
Love it. I’ve made it at least four times over the winter. Was wondering if anyone tried it on the grill.
I haven’t tried grilling this although I do think the sauce would be great as a marinade. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how it worked out for you!
Hi. I’ve made this 3-4 times this winter. We love it. Had anyone tried grilling?
Tx
When you say half a cup is that a tea cup sorry new to all this
Half a cup means 4 fluid ounces. Enjoy Lee!
This looks amazing! I’m planning on cooking it today!
Could I double the recipe without wrecking it?
with many thanks,
Kathleen
Hi Kathleen, we have only made this recipe as listed but I think doubling it should turn out fine as long as your crockpot is big enough! Other readers have said it worked well for them. Let us know how it turns out.
I’m planning on making this this weekend. I’ve premade the sauce and added a little toasted sesame oil, because I like it . I’m curious as to why cooking on high for 2-3 hours is “preferred”? I was hoping to throw everything in my slow cooker and go skiing then come home to a ready dinner! So I’d like it to take at least 4 hours with out messing up the recipe. Thanks!
Hi Val, we prefer the higher temperature as we find it thickens the sauce better. You can cook it on low as well for 4-5 hours as well.