Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
Summer at our house is a different kind of busy. It’s not the same “rushing kids to three different activities” busy as the school year, but somehow dinner still manages to sneak up on me every single time. Between the kids being home all day, trips to the pool, and just trying to soak up the nice weather while we’ve got it, meal planning tends to fall to the bottom of the list—right until 5 pm hits, and everyone’s asking what’s for dinner.
That’s basically how this recipe came to be a regular in our house. I had a whole meal planned out one afternoon, went to grab everything for it, and realized I was missing like three different ingredients I swore we had. No time to run to the store, kids are hungry, and I’m standing in the pantry trying to figure out what we actually had on hand. Turns out, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and a few pantry staples are all it takes to pull together something genuinely good—and now this one’s become the “oh no, I forgot something” save more times than I’d like to admit.
That’s the beauty of this one. It’s another easy weeknight meal unlocked, and the ingredients are about as basic pantry-and-fridge as it gets. Dump everything in the crockpot, walk away, come back hours later to dinner that tastes as if you put in way more effort than you actually did.
We serve ours over rice with some snap peas or broccoli thrown in, but honestly this sauce is good enough that you could put it over just about anything and call it a win.
As always, I will now walk through a few of the key ingredients, cooking tips, and steps to help you crush this meal and be the dinner time hero:
The Sauce – Soy sauce, honey, garlic, a little sriracha, tomato paste, and rice vinegar. That’s it. It comes together in like two minutes and somehow tastes like you put way more effort in than you actually did.
The Chicken – Just toss in a couple chicken breasts (mine were even partially frozen), no need to do anything fancy to them first. The crockpot handles all the work, and they shred apart with barely any effort once they’re done.
The Veggies – We go back and forth between snap peas and broccoli depending on what’s in the fridge. Add them in toward the end so they keep a little bite instead of going mushy. If I have more time, oven roasting the broccoli can add some great flavor (recipe here)
The Timing – Low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3—whatever fits your day. This is one of those great “throw it in before you leave” recipes.
Pro Tip – Shred the chicken right in the sauce so it soaks up all that flavor, serve it over rice, sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, and that’s dinner handled.
If you make this one, let me know how it turns out—and tag me on Instagram so I can see it!
Enjoy!!
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 Tbsp Sriracha
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 cups snap peas or broccoli
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, Sriracha, minced garlic cloves, tomato paste, and rice vinegar until combined.
- Place the 2 chicken breasts in the crockpot and pour the sauce over the top, making sure it’s coated.
- Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 2-3 hours (depending on your crockpot), until the chicken is cooked through and falling apart.
- Shred the chicken right in the crockpot (I used tongs) in the sauce so it soaks up all that flavor.
- Add the veggies: Stir in the 2 cups snap peas or broccoli and let them warm through for a few minutes (or steam them separately if you like more bite).
- Serve over rice and top with sesame seeds, green onion, or whatever else you like!
- Enjoy!!
