Hey guess what? I made you a new recipe with your three favorite words in the title — slow cooker chicken.
That’s right. Without fail, requests for slow cooker recipes and chicken recipes seem to far outweigh all other topics in surveys and your emails. So today I’m doing a two-for-one and also introducing a healthier new take on a classic — Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken!
This version includes all of the delicious sweet and savory teriyaki flavors you love. But this easy homemade teriyaki sauce is naturally sweetened with honey instead of refined sugar. And since your slow cooker is going to do most of the work for you, there is very minimal prep time required. I think we can call that a win-win.
Speaking of winning, we’re also giving away not one but two amazing new Crock-Pot slow cookers in a giveaway below. Yep, the winner will receive one to keep and one to give to a friend. How cool is that?! So read on for this tasty recipe and take a minute to enter the giveaway too.
I mean, really, just look at that chicken drenched in that thick, sweet teriyaki sauce. It’s calling your name.
Here’s how to make it happen.
First we begin by making the teriyaki sauce base. Simply whisk together the ingredients.
Then lay your chicken breasts out in a single layer in your slow cooker and pour the sauce over them. Cover and cook on high for about 4-5 hours, or until the chicken basically falls apart when shredded with a fork. Get ready, because your home is going to smell a-ma-zing.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove it with a slotted spoon and shred it on a separate plate or in a bowl.
Then transfer the remaining teriyaki sauce to a small saucepan, and whisk a cornstarch slurry. Bring it to a boil and let it thicken. Then pour the sauce on top of your shredded chicken.
Gently toss to combine. And then comes the hardest part — deciding how you’re going to enjoy it!
I actually enjoyed my first serving on a little teriyaki chicken slider. So simple!
But of course, the classic way would be over rice. Or quinoa. Or even just on its own, with a side of veggies. I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong any way you choose, especially with that heavenly homemade teriyaki sauce. You’re gonna love it!
Here’s the recipe (and be sure to also check out the giveaway below!)
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce (use low-sodium if desired)
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
- 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
- (optional toppings: sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds)
Instructions
- Add the chicken breasts to the bottom of your slow cooker in a single layer.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the garlic, onion, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, and black pepper until combined. Pour the mixture on top of the chicken breasts. Cover slow cooker, and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon to a separate bowl and shred it using two forks. Transfer the remaining teriyaki sauce from the slow cooker to a medium saucepan.
- Meanwhile in a separate bowl, whisk together the cold water and cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved and no longer lumpy. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the teriyaki sauce mixture, and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, and let it boil for about 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and pour the sauce on top of the shredded chicken. Toss to combine.
- Serve topped with scallions (green onions) and toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Crock-Pot Giveaway
Giveaway Prize:
One winner will receive two (2) Crock-Pot® Digital Slow Cookers with iStir Stirring Systems — one for you, and one for you to give to a friend. And get ready, because they are going to knock your socks off! And here’s why:
iStir™ does the stirring for you so you don’t have to. With the slow cooker’s countdown digital timer and automatic stirring, you are provided the convenience of preparing food with perfect results, even if you are not in the kitchen. Simply prepare ingredients, set cook time and attach the motor housing with proper paddle in place. Choose the general purpose paddle for soup and chili or the stew paddle for thick stew and more dense dishes. After an initial 2-hour delay, the stirring self-activates every 30 minutes to ensure thorough mixing and even heating until turned off. Pretty darn cool.
I especially stirring system when making dips and chilis. It’s really handy, especially when just keeping the slow cooker on the “warm” setting while entertaining, to not have to constantly be stirring my recipe. But this Crock-Pot is also a pro at making all of your other favorite slow cooker meals that don’t need stirring. It pretty much does everything. :)
How To Enter:
Follow the Rafflecopter instructions below.
Disclaimer: This giveaway was sponsored by Crock-Pot. I received a complementary slow cooker to test and review, but was not paid and all opinions are 100% my own as always. Thanks for supporting the brands that make this site — and great giveaways — possible!
Hello~
I want to try your recipe but I’m a working mom and my cockpot settings are 4 hours, 6 hours, 8hours, and 10hours. I work from 9:00-2:30. I was thinking of leaving the chicken frozen and putting it on at 8:30am and putting it on the 6 hour setting. Do you think that would be fine? Or do you think I should put it on the 4 hour setting and reheat when dinner time?
Hi Becky! We actually wouldn’t recommend using frozen chicken. We’ve learned that putting frozen ingredients in a slow cooker (especially frozen meats) isn’t the safest thing to do. Slow cookers often can’t get frozen meats up to a safe temperature in time, which means your meat will spend too long in the “danger zone” – 40-140 degrees). This While we’ve tried using frozen meats before and been fine (it does work), it’s just too risky, as it raises the likelihood of unsafe bacteria forming, and the possibility of food borne-illnesses. That said, for the time frame you’re working with, we would suggest cooking this on low (start before you leave for work), and using your 8 or 10 hour setting. Since the recipe cooks on high for 4-5 hours (1 hour on high is equal to 2 hours on low), it’s probably best to start with the 8 hour setting, then you can check it after the 8 hour mark, since it may need another hour or two to cook. We hope this makes sense and is helpful!
I do not have rice wine vinegar, but I do have red wine, apple cider, and basalmic….. What do you recommend?? Thanks and can’t wait to try the recipe!
Hi Katelyn! Unfortunately you really need rice or white vinegar in this recipe. Do you have white vinegar?
Do you know how much ginger I should use if I don’t have fresh? I’m going to try this for dinner tonight. It looks amazing!
Hi Pamela! We would suggest using 1/4 teaspoon (you can always add more later if you feel it needs more). We hope you enjoy!
I have red wine vinegar and rice vinegar, but not rice wine vinegar? Are they all the same??? Not sure which to use????
Hi Karen! No worries, you can use the rice vinegar, it’s virtually the same thing as rice wine vinegar. We hope you enjoy this!
Hi, would you know the nutritional value for this recipe? Im following weight watchers and would love to know the calories, fat, protein, carbs and fiber content. Thank you.
Hi Alana! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
thanks for your recipe, I am going to try it. I just bought my slow cooker and I live alone. I wonder if I adjust quantities of the recipe do I also have to reduce the cooking time. Your recipe serves four people I assume. Do I divide the cooking time into four then for myself?
Hi Germaine! We would suggest cutting this in half, you should use a smaller slow cooker, so the heat will distribute evenly. What size did you get? Otherwise, we’d suggest just making the whole recipe and freezing whatever leftovers you can’t eat/want to save! :)
I want to make this for a large group of women, do I have to single layer the thighs? I have about 5-6pounds so was hoping to put it all in the crockpot. Any suggestions? and do I just increase ingredients proportionally, or are some stronger, ie ginger? thanks for your help
Hi Renee, we’re sorry we’re just now getting to your comment. We’d be concerned about that much chicken overcrowding the slow cooker. The chicken definitely needs to be on a single, even layer, otherwise it might not cook properly (same with if the slow cooker is too crowded). We would recommend doing one batch in one slow cooker and another batch in another slow cooker. We hope this helps, and that you and your friends enjoy!
When I cook, I typically use recipes as a backbone. I’d totally make the recipe exactly as it says, but somewhere along the lines I always mess it up. I used this recipe today and instead of Teriyaki Chicken, I ended up making Teriyaki Chicken burgers. Basically, I tried to make it look all pretty by shredding the chicken (bad idea) and so I improvised. This came out awesome! Thanks for the recipe :)
Thanks Sebastian, we’re so glad you liked it! :)
Hello! If I do not have ginger, how much will not using it affect the taste of the chicken?
It won’t make a huge difference Bekah – we hope you enjoy the recipe! :)
I am always amaze by a slow cooker recipe but I don’t have the cooker can you please furnish me the supplier and contact details tnx
Hi Susana, there are several different types of slow cookers/crockpots out there: