If you love bourbon chicken from the food court at the mall, you’ll love this version of Crock Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken that’s made right in your slow cooker!
Slow Cooker Honey Bourbon Chicken
Crock Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken
One of my favorite things about cooking, and I’ve said this before, is having leftovers. Today, however, there was no chicken left and none of the M&M cookies.
I hate when that happens. But, it is a good indicator of how good these dishes are.
I’ve made bourbon chicken before but I really liked this crock pot rendition. This version tastes less like the food court dish but it is simple and very good. I forgot how much I’ve missed my crock pot the last few months.
Why it’s called Bourbon Chicken
Fun Fact: There’s no bourbon in this recipe, which many of you have pointed out to me (mostly rudely). The name Bourbon Chicken comes from Bourbon Street in New Orleans, which it’s named after.
✨ If it makes you happy, throw in some bourbon.
When I was in college, I used to stop at the mall that was across the street and have lunch. My favorite restaurant in the food court was one called Bourbon Street Grill. They had the best bourbon chicken.
I used to get the chicken with potatoes and rice. #carbsoncarbs
This slow cooker version makes a lot of “sauce” which is perfect for spooning over rice or potatoes or whatever you’re serving with the chicken.
Bourbon Chicken Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- Chicken – I like to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You can also use thighs or tenders.
- Salt & Pepper – The essentials.
- Honey
- Soy Sauce – I like to use low sodium.
- Ketchup
- Oil – I usually use vegetable oil but you could use olive oil or canola oil.
- Garlic – Use two cloves or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.
- Onion – I usually use a yellow or white onion.
- Red Pepper Flakes – Red pepper flakes help to balance the sweetness of the honey and give the chicken a tiny kick. You can skip it if you want.
How to thicken up the sauce
It will be a thin sauce but you can make a cornstarch slurry (2 parts cold water with 1 part cornstarch) and whisk it in to thicken it up. I personally prefer it thin to spoon over my rice and veggies, but I’ve had many commenters say they’d like it thicker.
How to store leftovers
Leftovers should be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top. Or, if you have enough, you can put it back in the slow cooker to heat through.
Do you call it a slow cooker or a crock pot? I asked on Facebook and it seems most people call it a Crock Pot but that’s a brand.
Like calling tissue Kleenex.
Or inline skates Roller Blades (do people still do that?? ha).
Whatever you call it, it’s good. & really easy. I served it with brown rice and roasted zucchini.
PIN SLOW COOKER HONEY BOURBON CHICKEN FOR LATER
Can you put frozen chicken in the Crock Pot?
This is a common question I get, but the safest, best answer is no, you shouldn’t put frozen chicken in the slow cooker.
Because of the amount of time it takes a slow cooker to get meat up to a safe temperature (it’s a slow cooker, after all), bacteria could contaminate the chicken.
Meat should already be thawed when you place it in the crock pot. Ideally, you’d thaw the chicken in the fridge the night before.
That said, I have used frozen chicken in a pinch and lived to tell the tale, but now that I know better, I don’t.
Can I make it in the Instant Pot?
I haven’t tested in the IP, I’m more of a slow cooker girl lol, but I’d whisk up the sauce in the instant pot, put the thawed chicken in & coat it in the sauce. Seal & cook for 15 mins, natural release for 5 mins, then quick release.
Helpful Tools for Slow Cooker Bourbon Chicken
- My slow cooker of choice – I love that you can set the cook time then it automatically switches over to “warm” after the cook time.
- Time-saving minced garlic – I always keep minced garlic packed in oil in my fridge.
- A whisk if you’re going to make that slurry I talked about above.
Need more crock pot chicken ideas? Try these:
Click here to view my entire collection of slow cooker recipes.
Watch how easy this Crock Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken is to make:
How to make Bourbon Chicken
Crock Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic or 1 teaspoon minced garlic in oil
- ½ cup onion diced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Trim your chicken breasts, sprinkle with salt & pepper and place them in your slow cooker.2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, salt and pepper
- In a medium bowl, add the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. Stir well to combine. Pour over the chicken in the slow cooker.1 cup honey, 1 cup low sodium soy sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup, 4 Tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 cup onion, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or HIGH for 1½ to 2½ hours.
- When done, remove chicken from crock pot and cut into chunks.
Notes
- It’s safest to avoid using frozen chicken in the slow cooker—use thawed chicken for best results.
- To thicken the sauce, make a cornstarch slurry (2 parts cold water to 1 part cornstarch) and whisk it in. If you prefer a thinner sauce, no need to thicken—it’s perfect over rice or veggies.
- Coconut aminos can be used in place of soy sauce.
- Red pepper flakes can be omitted.
- Store leftovers in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @melissa_pplates so I can see!Originally published October 9, 2012; photos updated June 12, 2025
Did You Make This?
If you made this recipe, I’d love to know how it went in the comments section below.
You can also tag me on Instagram – @melissa_ppplates or share a pic in the Persnickety Plates Community Facebook group. I love seeing what you’ve tried!
This sounds delicious! I’ve really been a fan of crockpot dishes lately. So easy!
This looks delicious!! I’ve been looking for crockpot recipes, definitely need to try this!
The sauce looks awesome! Well, the chicken does too! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This sounds great! Found this from I Love My Disorganized Life!
Any idea of calories per serving?
Hi. I don’t typically calculate calories but I have used this calculator from Spark People (http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp) before.
Why do they call it bourbon chicken if there is no bourbon? lol
Thats what I’m sayin! lol
Where’s the bourbon in the Honey Bourbon Chicken?
It doesn’t have any. Most (all?) of the food court versions skip it, too.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Is it safe to put the chicken in crockpot raw?!
Absolutely 🙂 The crock pot cooks it.
How much bourbon do you use?
No bourbon. The majority of bourbon chicken recipes don’t actually include bourbon.
Then why call it bourbon chicken? Maybe it should be honey bourbon-less chicken.
I bolded this line above since people seem to miss it —> There’s no bourbon in this recipe, which many of you have pointed out to me (mostly rudely). The name Bourbon Chicken comes from Bourbon Street in New Orleans, which it’s named after.
is “4 tb of vegetable oil” teaspoons or tablespoons? I’m assuming tablespoons?
Also, after putting the chicken back in, how long should you leave it in there before serving?
Yes, tablespoons. & I didn’t do the last step of putting it back in the pot but it’s just to soak up the thickened sauce, so not long. 🙂
How do you thicken the sauce?
The sauce you see in the pictures is un-thickened but if you want it thicker, you can take the chicken out of the crock pot and whisk in a little bit of cornstarch (& water, if necessary) into the liquid. Once it gets to the consistency you want, add the chicken back in. Hope that helps!
Hi, got round the no bourbon, just add some JD!
I can print the ingredients, but have had to write the directions !
Why can’t I print the whole thing, then have it printed ready for when I want to make it again?
Adding JD is perfect =) Sorry, about the printing error. I’m in the (very slow, tedious) process of switching all my recipes over to printer friendly versions. It’s fixed now!
I made this tonight and it was very tasty. However, it was also very watery. I guess I had expected it to be a lot more sticky like the bourbon chicken you get at restaurants. So, what I did was thicken it with cornstarch, then I laid the chicken pieces out onto a cookie sheet and coated them with the thickened sauce and broiled it in the oven, flipped, coated and broiled the other side. The result was exactly what I was after. Very delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds like good additions! I originally whisked in some corn starch to the sauce but I ended up taking that step out of the directions because I kinda like the thinner sauce to pour over my rice 🙂
What can I use instead of cornstarch?
I haven’t tried any of these but here’s some ideas: http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/cooking-questions/constarch-substitutes
Arrowroot is a 1:1 substitute and works great.
How long do you broil? I’m kinda looking for the same outcome, thicker glaze like texture.
No broiling in the slow cooker.
This is sweet. REALLY sweet. I would cut honey in half, use tomato paste instead of ketchup, and add some balsamic or rice wine vinegar to balance out the sweetness.
It is sweet, but I typically serve it over rice or potatoes which helps absorb the sweetness =)
I Tried your way By cutting honey to 1/2 cup honey, used 1/2 cup tomato paste instead of ketchup like listed above, 1/4 cup rice vinegar and did everything else listed in Recipe and it turned out AMAZING! Also put the chicken on a bed of steamed rice and man I was in Heaven =D I’m not a big chicken fan so I’ve been searching new ways to eat it since chicken is heather for you and all =D. LOVED THIS and so did my hubby and he is picker then I am lol. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WILL DEFINITELY MAKE THIS AGAIN.. 5 STARS!
Cam u use frozen chicken
Judy
Hi Judy,
Sorry for the delay – I was on vacation.
You can use frozen chicken but some say it’s unsafe in a slow cooker because the meat takes so long to reach a safe temp so I try not to. That said, I have done it in the past and been fine.
I cook frozen chicken in my crockpot all the time. I put the frozen chicken breasts in the bottom and layer everything on top of it. I’m usually letting it cook on low setting all day long. It will cook up nice and tender to the point where you just touch it with a fork and it falls apart. I’ve never had a problem with it not cooking to a proper temp or making myself or family sick.
This sounds good. I got the ‘no bourbon’ part. I suppose some people don’t read everything. Who knows! I have been looking for something to fix in a crock pot to take to our land when we go hunting. We have electricity but no ovens.
This seems like a perfect meal for no oven =)
I made this bourbon chicken with rice and cabbage I must say it was amazing they loved it!!!
Yay love hearing that! <3
If it doesn’t have bourbon in it and named after a street, then call it Bourbon STREET Chicken. A really stupid recipe
Thanks for taking time out of your day to be rude.
It’s so hard for me to accept that some people will go out of their way to be incredibly rude. If the recipe does not interest you, then do not make it. There is no need to spread your bad attitude.
With that being said, I am excited to try this tonight! ????
Agreed. & thank you =) I hope you like it!
Right???? Internet makes it so easy to be anonymously snide. Unreal.
People are just mean sometimes. Can’t wait to try this recipe. I’m sure I’ll love it no matter what it’s called!!
❤️❤️
wow , way to be rude.
french fries arent french, maybe you should write mcdonalds a letter. HAHA
great recipe. made it as is last time and family went bonkers for it. will try half the honey this time to try it over mashed potatoes!
haha best answer. Glad you liked it!
Sometimes people just enjoy being randomly rude, it is no reflection on you though, it is just better to move on from it because of it’s sheer and complete irrelevance. Thank you for posting.
Can I save the sauce to use on other dishes at a later date?
Maybe but I wouldn’t just because you’re cooking the chicken in the sauce. This one is really good (& needs new pics…) as a standalone sauce //www.persnicketyplates.com/tgi-fridays-jack-daniels-sauce/
I don’t normally comment on these, but this looks delicious! AND you made my day by not taking attitude from anyone. I literally laughed out loud at your response!
????????
Lol, me too, definitely some sad people in this world!
I laughed, too, because how someone can give attitude towards another who is kind enough to share a recipe for others to enjoy is just ridiculous. I APPRECIATE Melissa for sharing this recipe, it was flavorful and delicious, and I definitely recommend making it.