Make One – Freeze One: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
This Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken is so easy and delicious! The best part is you can make one now, and pop one in the freezer to have ready to go for next time!
I love doubling, even tripling recipes that I make on repeat like this so I always have a few backups in the freezer.
Make one, freeze one is such a timesaver. Since I’m already making one, might as well make a few more – my future self will thank me!
What I like to do is “schedule” these meals on my dinner menu a few weeks apart so I already know when I’m going to make them and it’s one less meal I know I need to plan that week – again my future self with thank me. 😉
Let’s talk about the chicken for a minute. This recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I highly, highly recommend using chicken thighs, and this is coming from someone that is not a big chicken thigh person. While you can use chicken breasts, I feel you get the best results with thighs. They are so tender, juicy and flavorful. Trust me on this! I actually prefer cooking thighs in the slow cooker, especially for meals like this.
Another thing about cooking chicken in the slow cooker is to watch it as chicken can cook fast in the slow cooker and some slow cookers cook hotter than others so just be mindful of that. The best way to ensure properly cooked chicken that is not overcooked or undercooked is check for doneness using a meat thermometer and check the temperature after 3 1/2-4 hours. Mine cooks at just about 4 hours. If you’ve ever cooked chicken in the slow cooker and it just falls apart and gets too mushy it was probably cooked too long in the slow cooker. Chicken slow cooker meals is one of those meals I want to make sure I’m around for at the end of the cooking time to avoid it being overdone. And when it’s cooked just right, it makes an incredible tender, juicy and flavorful meal like this. I never have leftovers when I make this! It is a family favorite!
I like to serve this basmati rice that I cook in my Instant Pot or you save time using Minute Rice or microwave rice. I also serve this with veggies. I like to use frozen steamed veggies like broccoli or even frozen stir-fry veggies. I serve these as Honey Garlic Bowls topped with chopped green onion too.
Watch Here
You can watch how I make this meal in this video.
Make One, Freeze One – Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4-5 hours on low
- Total Time: 31 minute
- Yield: 4 servings per meal
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2/3 cup honey
- 2/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes – optional
After Cooked
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch for MAKE NOW slow cooker meal – not needed until cooked.
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch for FREEZER MEAL – not needed until cooked.
For Serving
- Cooked rice
- Veggies – Frozen stir fried veggies or broccoli cooked per package directions
- Chopped green onions
Instructions
- Divide chicken and place half in slow cooker and the other half in a gallon size freezer bag.
- In a medium bowl mix together honey, soy sauce, tomato paste, rice vinegar, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes until combined.
- Pour half the mixture over chicken in slow cooker, and the remaining sauce in freezer bag.
- SLOW COOKER – Mix sauce with chicken in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or low for 2-3 hours.
- Remove chicken from slow cooker, whisk in 2 TABLESPOONS CORNSTARCH. Chop chicken if desired and return chicken back into sauce. Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Serve with rice and veggies.
- FREEZER – Shake sauce in bag with chicken. Seal bag and lay bag flat. Get out as much air in bag as you can. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- LABEL BAG – Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Place mixture in slow cooker and cook for 4-5 hours on low or 2-3 hours overnight. Remove chicken from slow cooker, whisk in 2 TABLESPOONS CORNSTARCH. Chop chicken if desired and return chicken back into sauce. Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
Notes
Here are the measurements if you don’t want to double recipe –
- 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes – optional
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch – NOT NEEDED UNTIL AFTER CHICKEN IS COOKED
Place chicken in slow cooker. Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch in a bowl until combined and pour sauce over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3.
Remove chicken from slow cooker, whisk in 2 TABLESPOONS CORNSTARCH. Chop chicken if desired and return chicken back into sauce. Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Serve with rice and veggies.
