Easy Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken (+ Instant Pot Instructions)

This easy crockpot honey garlic chicken is absolutely delicious and so simple to make. You probably have most of the ingredients already!

Crockpot chicken recipes are always my favorite. It’s just so easy to throw everything in and let it cook while you check everything else off your to-do list. Double tasking! Just make sure you plug your slow cooker in because one time I forgot to do that and realized 2 hours later nothing had been cooking…whoops.

But if you’re short on time, I’ve included Instant Pot instructions! While I love this chicken most in the slow cooker, it’s still super yummy in the Instant Pot and ready way sooner.

This honey garlic chicken is sweet, but so savory, and so perfect paired with some cooked rice and steamed broccoli. I also love to top mine off with plenty of sesame seeds and green onion! So delicious and adds some pretty color.

Here’s everything you’ll need and how to make it either way.

What You’ll Need

Equipment

• Crockpot or
• Instant Pot
• Rice cooker optional

Ingredients

• Boneless, skinless chicken breast: An amazing lean source of protein and one of my absolute favorites to cook with. I just trim off any weird pieces before tossing it into the slow cooker or instant pot. You’ll need about 4 smaller breasts or 3 larger ones.
• Low-sodium soy sauce
• Honey
• Garlic
• Tomato paste
• Apple cider vinegar: Or rice vinegar.
• Hot sauce: Whatever kind you like – I use Cholula.
• Corn starch: To thicken the sauce.

How To Make It (Crockpot)

1. Prep the chicken: Trim any weird pieces off of the chicken breasts (ew). Place the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot.
2. Make the sauce: In a bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the rest of the ingredients except cornstarch. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cook: Cook the chicken on low for 4-5 hours, or on high for 2 1/2 hours.
4. Shred and thicken: Shred the chicken with either two forks or a hand mixer (if I use a hand mixer, I transfer the chicken to a different bowl, then put back in the sauce after shredding). Mix the cornstarch with a little water to make a slurry and add to the crockpot. Cook on high for 15 minutes, until thickened. Turn off the heat, toss chicken around in the sauce, and garnish with lots of sesame seeds and green onions!

How To Make It (Instant Pot)

1. Prep the chicken: Trim any weird pieces off of the chicken breasts. Spray the bottom of the instant pot with cooking spray (give it a good healthy dose! Nothing is worse than the instant pot yelling at you that the bottom is burned), then add the chicken.
2. Make the sauce: In a bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, garlic, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, hot sauce and 1/4 cup water (to help make sure there’s enough liquid to steam). Whisk until there are no clumps left, then pour over the chicken.
3. Cook: Using the manual pressure cook setting on the instant pot, set to high pressure and adjust the time to 25 minutes. Make sure the vent is sealed and it should automatically beep and begin cooking after a few seconds. The chicken will technically cook in 15 minutes, but I find that 25 minutes results in more tender chicken.
4. Shred and thicken: After cooking, carefully do a pressure release (scares me every time), then shred the chicken with either two forks or a hand mixer. Whisk the cornstarch with a little cold water to make a slurry, then add to the pot and turn on the sauté function to thicken the sauce. Once it’s thick, turn off immediately. Garnish with lots of sesame seeds and green onion and enjoy!

To Serve

You can’t forget to pair this delicious chicken with some cooked rice and steamed broccoli! You could really serve it with whatever you want, but those two are always a winning combo for me.

To Store

If you have leftovers, make sure it’s cooled before transferring to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days! To reheat, microwave in 30 second increments until desired warmth.

Similar Recipes

• Turkey meatballs with pineapple teriyaki sauce
• Easy crockpot Mexican shredded chicken
• Easy crockpot buffalo ranch shredded chicken

Lastly, if you make the recipe, be sure to leave a comment and review! I always appreciate the feedback and it helps to support me and my little blog ❤️ Happy Friday!

Easy Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken (+ Instant Pot Instructions)

4.50 from 6 votes

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Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:4 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: 6

Calories: 258kcal

Equipment

• Slow cooker or
• Instant pot
• Rice cooker optional

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast about 4 smaller breasts or 3 larger ones
• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce (80 ml)
• 1/3 cup honey (112 g)
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (15 g)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (15 ml)
• 1/2 tbsp hot sauce
• 2 tbsp corn starch (16 g)
• green onion and sesame seeds to garnish, optional
• rice and broccoli to serve, optional

Instructions

Crockpot

• Trim any weird pieces off the chicken and place in the bottom of the crockpot.
• For the sauce, whisk together all ingredients from soy sauce to hot sauce in a bowl or glass measuring cup. Whisk until smooth, then pour over the chicken.
• Cook on low for 4-5 hours, or high for 2 1/2 hours. Shred the chicken with either two forks or a hand mixer.
• Mix the cornstarch with 3 tbsp cold water until smooth, add to the crockpot, and cook on high for 15 minutes, until thickened. Turn off the heat, garnish with green onion and sesame seeds and enjoy with rice and steamed broccoli!

Instant Pot

• Spray the bottom of the instant pot well with cooking spray, then add trimmed chicken breasts.
• For the sauce, whisk together all ingredients from soy sauce to hot sauce and add an extra 1/4 cup water. Whisk until there are no clumps left, then pour over the chicken.
• Using the manual pressure cook setting, set to high pressure and adjust the time to 25 minutes. Make sure the vent is closed and it should beep and begin cooking on its own within a few seconds.
• After releasing the pressure, shred chicken with either two forks or a hand mixer. Mix the cornstarch with 3 tbsp cold water, then add to the pot and turn on the sauté function to thicken the sauce. Once thick, immediately turn it off. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds and enjoy with rice and steamed broccoli!

Notes

• When cooking on low, I like to add the cornstarch to the rest of the sauce instead of after cooking.

Nutrition

Serving: 167g | Calories: 258kcal | Carbohydrates: 19.9g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 4g | Fiber: 0.1g

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