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!
This looks great! Can it be cooked on low throughout the day or does it have to be cooked on high for the shorter period?
It was ok. The chicken pulled apart easily and was cooked perfectly, but I found the homemade sauce to be really overwhelming. Very salty, very sweet, ginger taste was too strong. Personally, if you’re not a big ginger fan, I’d use about half the amount suggested. I could only eat about half the portion I would have liked to in one sitting before the sauce got to be too much. I think I’ll use a premade teriyaki next time.
Delicious and easy. Used the leftovers to make sliders the next day.
This is absolutely delicious and I will definitely make it again. The only change I made was to slice and lightly brown the chicken first. Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly as written. YUM!!!!
Pre-slicing the chicken helped it cook faster, since I didn’t even start the process until around noon. Also, didn’t have to shred, since it had cooked down and pretty much shredded itself from the occasional stir.
Thank you for the recipe, the article is very useful to learn to make at home
Whole family loved this! These are hard to please teens who usually don’t want my healthy home made food…but they ate this on brown rice with roasted broccoli and asparagus. Yum
DELISH! Made this tonight and my chef husband raved about how tender the meat was. I made a few tweaks cause I didn’t have everything (1 tsp ground ginger instead of fresh, apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar, red onion instead of white) but the sauce still came out SO good. Saving for later so I can make again!
Would I cut the cooking time in 1/2 if I’m only using 1 lb of chicken? Thanks so much! :-)
Hi Hannah! We wouldn’t cut the cook time in half, but we would recommend checking it after four hours. We hope this helps!
Best chicken teriyaki I’ve EVER made, and I’ve made a lot of different recipes trying to find the right sauce that reminded me of the place I got it growing up. So easy to prepare too! I think the key is the cornstarch slurry to give it the right consistency. Thx so much!
Wow, thank you so much, Morgan! We’re thrilled you guys loved it!
Silly question when i was at the store getting the ingredients i messed up on the rice eine vinegar and got red wine vinegar instead, i have apple cider , balsamic, and white wine vinegar, which one could i substitute for rive wine that ont ruin the recipe abd livibg out in the country nearest store is like 20 miles
Hi Sean! Hmmm, we think we would probably opt for the white balsamic as the closest substitute. We hope this helps!