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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)
Great served over rice and steamed broccoli.. side of cheesy scalloped potatoes did help to cut the sweetness of the dish… my family enjoyed it
I like the sound of rice AND potatoes =)
This was delicious!!
Thanks, Dianne!
Bought thin cut chicken breast by accident lol! Do I need to cut back on the cook time?
3-4 hours on low is probably plenty. Do you have a meat thermometer? As long as you hit 165° you’re good.
This was amazing. I did change a few things
– I used 3 chicken breasts (that is all that fits)
– I halfed the ingredients
– cooked on low for 3 hours, last hour or 2 put it on warm over night, chicken fell apart 😋
We put it over rice (we put some all purpose seasoning in with the rice while it cooked) added few dashes of Worcestershire sauce when it was finished on top and wooooweee!!!
Thanks! Saving this one!
Yum! Thanks, Jamie!
Could I make this in my Dutch oven? If so, what temp and for how long would you recommend? My crock pot broke!
I haven’t tested but it should be fine. Sear the chicken, add the sauce, 325° for about 1-1.5 hours should do.
I am diabetic and can not have a cup of honey. Could I use a brown sugar substitute instead or is it the honey that makes the flavors work?
I’ve heard raw, unpasteurized honey is better for diabetics. Worth a Google. Or maybe this replacement, though I haven’t tested this. (Affiliate link) https://amzn.to/3aAnC98
This recipe looks great, but where’s the bourbon? Am I missing something? LOL!
yes, it is discussed above 🙂
Well the name of it is Honey BOURBON chicken and I see no Bourbon in it anywhere…and another person asked where the Bourbon is and the reply was that it was addressed in “above comments”…what am I missing…I see not comments about why the Bourbon is missing…help???
“The name Bourbon Chicken comes from Bourbon Street in New Orleans, which it’s named after.” Not because there is bourbon in the actual recipe. She mentioned you can add yourself though if you’d like!
☺️☺️
Oh I finally see where it is, not in the comments, but in the posts itself…sorry if you had “rude comments” about it…now I get it, it’s named after a place, not the ingredients…still sounds great and I’ll give it a try…
Thanks, Sandi. I’m glad you found it. I promise we put helpful info in the posts that people are always complaining about! lol
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, so can’t comment so much on taste right now, but looks super yummy.
By any chance, though, do you have a conversion for this recipe to Instant Pot?
Also, just a thought, since I’m now in that group, do you think the salt could be completely left out because of the salt in the soy sauce and still have the flavors?
Hi Tina. In the IP I would do 15 minutes on manual, then 5 min natural release. You’ll be fine without additional salt & I always use low sodium soy sauce.
Mine didn’t turn out anything like the picture. It was not what I was expecting. Disappointed.
I’m sorry yours didn’t look like mine. Did you like the taste?
how much Bourbon o you put in it?
Everything looks so good I’ll defenetly try them all
How does it get caramelized like yours in the picture? Did you finish in oven?
That picture was taken straight from the crockpot onto my dinner plate on my lap 🙂
Should I use less soy sauce if it isn’t low sodium?
Yes, you could take it down a bit. I also wouldn’t season the chicken with any salt.
This looks incredible! Im definitely trying this tonight 🙂
Quick question from a crockpot rookie — can you just add potatoes in the pot with the chicken? Is that allowed?
Yep, that’s allowed! I haven’t tried it here but it’ll probably be good with the sauce. I’d cube them & put the potatoes on the bottom. Let me know how it goes!
Sorry if this is in the comments already, can you make this a few hours ahead and store in the fridge? I love this recipe but today I need to make it early lol. Thanks!
You mean store raw in the fridge? It should be fine for a few hours. Otherwise, leftovers warm up well 🙂
I only have 3 chicken breasts… how long should I cook them for?? & should I half the ingredients?
You can halve the ingredients, unless you like a lot of sauce. I’d do 4-6 hours on LOW.
Does this come out sweet and tangy ?
sweet with a little heat
This is a good recipe and my family likes it. I use bone in skin on chicken thighs and I pan sear the thighs to crisp the skin before adding them to the crockpot and I add a half cup of bourbon to my recipe. Can’t be bourbon chicken without bourbon. Low cook it in