Food with My Dude #20: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Hello! I hope your day is going swell so far.

I had some chicken thawing out in the refrigerator after we returned home after the holidays and I’ve been wanting to use my Crock Pot more, so I found this Honey Garlic Chicken recipe on Simply Happy Foodie that I wanted to give a try.

I overlooked the fact that I needed an onion, just a small amount, so that’s not pictured. It recommends using legs or thighs, but I just use chicken breasts since I always buy them.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs Chicken Legs or Thighs [3 chicken breasts]
• 2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce, low sodium
• 2 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tsp Ginger, grated [1/8 tsp of ground ginger]
• 4 – 5 lg Garlic Cloves, pressed or finely minced
• 2 tbsp Onion, finely minced
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Thicken the Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 3 Tbsp Cold Water

Price:

The ingredients are relatively cheap to buy. I always half the chicken package as soon as I buy it since it’s just the two of us and it’s more than plenty. Plus, the majority of the items are staples that we always have stocked in our apartment.

Cut, Mix, and Cook!

Before you cut up the chicken, you can spray the inside of the Crock Pot, set it on the Low setting, and put 1/4 cup of water in just to get it to heat up a little by the time you put the chicken in.

I always have such a wonderful time trimming the chicken. Am I cutting enough? Too much? That looks about right.

Anyway, after removing the fat and other things, I salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts.

Once you generously salt and pepper the chicken breasts, place them in the Pot. Ours is the small 4-quart Crock Pot.

I put the cover back on since making the marinade mix will take me a few minutes.

So in a bowl, mix these ingredients together:

• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce, low sodium
• 2 Tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tsp Ginger, grated [1/8 tsp of ground ginger]
• 4 – 5 lg Garlic Cloves, pressed or finely minced
• 2 Tbsp Onion, finely minced
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

To make it less spicy for Stephen’s sake, I only put 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes in the marinade.

[I find that it’s easier to list the step like this instead of having to scroll back up to the top of the post to find the measurements for each ingredient whenever I want to remake these recipes. I’ll slowly edit my previous posts to mimic it.]

I always taste the marinade before mixing it with the rest of the dish, and this tasted super before even putting it in the Pot!

The marinade to chicken ratio seems pretty adequate to me, so I think this was a good balance.

I set a timer for the chicken to cook on the Low setting for two hours. The website said to check the dish’s progress after two hours to determine its doneness. I took a piece out to cut and see inside of the middle to double check, and it was finished.

As the directions stated originally, once the chicken is finished, you’re to remove the chicken from the Crock Pot and set it aside on a plate.

Then, crank up the setting to High and mix the 2 tbsp of cornstarch and 3 tbsp of water in a little dish. I just used a little measuring cup since it was a small amount.

Once the cornstarch dissolves, pour it into the marinade and stir. I was under the impression that I let it cook for a few minutes to thicken, but I was wrong about that.

After putting the water/cornstarch mixture in the Pot, you can return the chicken and cook on high for 10-15 minutes.

My silly self left the chicken out for a few minutes and I got worried about it getting cold while waiting for the sauce to thicken. So, I put Press ‘n Seal over it, then realized that I misread that I could put the chicken back in. RIP the Press ‘n Seal’s usage for about three minutes! At least we have a lot of it because I hardly use it.

I kept checking the chicken afterwards so it wouldn’t overcook. It was probably because of my constant stirring and checking it that it didn’t thicken as quickly as I thought it would. I decided to leave it alone for about 15 minutes, then turned the setting back to Low and it began to thicken afterwards.

And, that’s all it is! Of course I paired it with rice, but I probably should have a veggie in the mix, maybe broccoli?

Taste: The honey taste isn’t strong and it tastes so yummy with the soy sauce and the garlic. Since there was so much of the marinade mixture, I poured a little more into my dish to give the rice some flavor! This was a good, even marinade that was simple to make.

Rating:

Next time, I think I’ll dice up the chicken just so that there will be smaller pieces in the bowl. Overall, I think this recipe is a winner that I’ll keep making.

Heat level:

Of course, you can adjust the spiciness yourself. It would go well with the sweet flavor! I think I’d like it a tad bit spicier, but I can always add more afterwards.

Are there any Crock Pot recipes that you’ve made or found lately to try? I’m looking for more!