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!
Just wondering if chunking the chicken ahead of time would help with stopping the dryness.
Love making this dish it’s a huge hit in my household. I find cutting up the chicken into chunks saves me time and chicken doesn’t become dry
Very very tasty. I served it with garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed green beans.
Sounds like the perfect pairing. Thanks for letting me know!
I like the idea of easy simple recipes and very little ingredients. And i had all these ingredients so i decided why not. i had 2pounds of chicken breast soaked in this sauce that smells great but my chicken came out dry 😢 3hrs on low was definitely too long for my chicken. definitely will probably try thighs instead.
your slow cooker must run hot (many do) – 3 hours on LOW should not dry it out.
It’s called bourbon chicken, but where’s the bourbon?
Answered above.
This looks and sounds amazing! Just wondering if I need to make any changes to make a day or 2 ahead of time to serve quickly on one of our busy nights this week?
To make it & reheat?
what does the ketchup do? I dont keep ketchup is there a replacement recommendation you have?
Here’s a substitute you could try https://www.acouplecooks.com/ketchup-substitute/
Is there enough sauce to serve over rice or noodles?
Yes
Smells so good in my house! Thank you for your pointers about thickening. Also thank you for mentioning about not putting frozen chicken in slow cooker – after this dinner, I will not do that again….
Thanks, Debbie! I’m glad that was helpful 🙂
Could this be made in instant pot??
Sure. I haven’t tested it but I’d do 15 minutes on manual, then 5 min natural release (with thawed chicken).
I give this dish 4.5 stars. It’s good but unfortunately the sauce didn’t thicken up like in the photo. I made it to the T and my chicken is dry even though it’s surrounded by all these juices.
Try using cornstarch to thicken up any sauce e
Inquiring minds want to know what makes it Bourbon Chicken without a drop of bourbon in the recipe…vivid imagination or an oversight?
If only that was answered in the body of the post… 🙂
Which inquiring minds are those? The ones that read, or the ones that don’t?
Where is the Bourbon in this and I was thinking Bourbon Flavoring
Answered above.
Looks good, but where is the Bourbon?
Answered above.
What are the best sides to serve with the chicken?
I usually pair it with rice and a roasted veggie (like zucchini or green beans).
I have this in the crockpot now. Smells delish and can’t wait to try it!
I hope you like it!
This might be a dumb question but if I make this with 4 chicken breasts instead of 2, should I increase cook time? If so, by how much? Thanks!
Not dumb and no, cook time should stay around 4 hours on HIGH or 6 on LOW.
Thank you! That would be an increase though wouldn’t it? It says 3-4 on low or 1.5-2.5 on high in the recipe above.
Yeah, sorry. I do almost all my dishes on LOW for 4-6 hours but slow cookers seem to cook quickly for many. If you have a meat thermometer, just make sure it hits 165°.
This was awesome! Made last night and my family loved it!
Yay, thanks for letting me know!
Where’s the bourbon in the recipe.
Several people have asked and she refuses to answer the question…..I’ve looked and can’t find her answer. She’s cocky…..
Hi. “She” here. I’m not at all cocky, the answer is written above, in bold. It has been asked and answered many times.
Melissa, Thank you for this amazing recipe! After a very hectic day at work it was really nice to come home to such a delicious meal that didn’t take a lot of work! I hate to waste food, so I had a couple chicken wings and Drumsticks, that I needed to cook. I even had a couple links of chicken sausage I needed to cook up. I threw it all in together, and this worked out better than I had ever anticipated! It really helped me cook up a lot of things I had on hand, and use them before they turned. Sauce was delish, too! Thanks again for sharing this!
I love that – thanks for letting me know, Lori!
So many haters about the lack of bourbon in the recipe that I had to go read the reasoning even though I didn’t personally care 🙄. I made this for lunch on a cold day to have after we came in from working in the yard and all thought it was delicious. Thank you for sharing!
lol thanks, Shannon!
Can you share the rice recipe
It’s just brown rice 🙂
where is the bourbon though????????
My sediment exactly. How can one call it Bourbon chicken when there is no bourbon in the recipe. Might as well be Gin Chicken.
*sentiment