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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. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card.
- 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.
Tools to make 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
Ingredients
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- 4 Tablespoons vegetable 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Video
Notes
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!
Or maybe you’d like…
Bourbon Chicken with Roasted Potatoes (a non-slow cooker version)
If you are using the slurry do you make it and put it in the sauce at the beginning or remove the chicken when almost done and then thicken the sauce and finish cooking?
Make it at the end – remove the chicken, thicken the sauce, then put the chicken back in & finish cooking 🙂
This was a nice change from our normal routine. This won’t make the weekly menu, but would be good to throw in once a month. I used my ninja foodi and pressure cooked on high for 25 min, natural release for 8 min then used sear/sautee to thicken sauce with cornstarch mixture. I had a 3lb package of chicken breast so I increased measurements accordingly. I did substitute honey amount with 1 c white corn syrup and 1/2 c honey (I just didn’t have enough honey on hand). I cut my chicken into 2in cubes.
Thanks for the alternate directions! 🙂
Could I add all the ingredients to a log ziploc and let it sit overnight and just dump it all in the next day?
I haven’t tried that, but it seems like it should be fine. Like a marinade. 🙂 Let me know how it works out.
Is there any substitute for the soy sauce?
Worcestershire sauce should work.
Are the nutrition facts per serving?
It is an estimate per serving, assuming 4 servings. But you’re likely not going to eat ALL the sauce.
Why don’t you have any measurements like how much soy sauce???
Do you not see the recipe card?
How much bourbon do you put in it.
The recipe doesn’t call for any bourbon. Feel free to add some if it makes you happy 🙂
Can u put the rice in with everything
You can cook rice in the slow cooker but it’s not something I’ve tested with this recipe yet so I’m not sure the measurements work.
Can you double the recipe?
Sure 🙂
I don’t have an onion on hand. Is this a make-or-break ingredient?
Nope, you’ll be fine 🙂 any dried onion for the flavor?
I love making my version of this and my family loves it!! I add carrots, onion, red bell peppers & potatoes
Maybe I missed it, but is there supposed to be bourbon in this recipe?
No bourbon & there’s a full explanation why in the text 🙂
Is that sodium content for the whole dish or one serving?
That’s a very rough estimate that assumes you eat ALL the sauce, which you probably wouldn’t. I never have.
It was great I did tweek mine sauce a little I have a large family so i needed more sauce because I putti in lots of chicken. The only thing I did was add a cup of broth tasted wonderful.
Why is it called “honey bourbon” if there is no bourbon? I clicked on it because my guy likes anything bourbon flavored.
If you read the post, it tells you why. Also, if bourbon makes you happy, add some.
Recipe was great. I put my chicken on the griddle for a few minutes when they came out of the crockpot. Whole family loved them!
Thank you Stacy!
It was really good. Since I was running late to start supper, I used the instant pot to pressure cook, Manual setting for 15 mins. It worked!
Glad it worked out! I haven’t tried in the IP yet so thanks for the tip!
This was great. I cooked it as the recipe stated and my family just loved it. It was very tender. I will make this again.
So happy to hear this! Thanks for reporting back!
Delicious! I served it with pearled couscous and used the extra crockpot sauce to mix into the couscous.
Happy to hear that! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
This is a great recipe…so quick, simple and flavorful! We are having triple digit heat here in Arizona, so I searched Pinterest for slow cooker chicken and POOF, there it was! We doubled the diced onion but other than that, followed the recipel. We always use fresh diced garlic and we did chicken breast and a few hot pepper flakes (my husband used more later). We had made a full InstantPot of Trader Joe’s Organic Basmati Rice which we always make with their chicken broth, then split into small containers, freeze. They defrost quickly and are ready to go when you need a side. We liked the sauce the way it was, especially with the doubled diced onion and the diced garlic pieces showing. We saw no need to thicken. I would serve this at a dinner party any day.
Thank you, Jackie! I love hearing that =) And I love that rice idea, I’m going to have to try that.