Chicken

Honey Garlic Chicken

Sweet, sticky and garlicky. No heat at all, so the whole table can eat it.

Prep 5 min LOW 5–6 hours HIGH 2½–3 hours Serves 6

Honey Garlic Chicken, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

Honey garlic is the flavor that ends arguments at dinner. It's sweet enough that kids are in immediately, garlicky enough that adults don't feel like they're eating kid food, and there's no heat to negotiate around.

This one is different from most of our chicken recipes in a small but important way: it uses almost no liquid. Half a cup, and that's it. The chicken releases its own juice and the packet turns it into a glaze rather than a sauce.

It's also faster. Five to six hours on LOW instead of the usual seven.

Why you'll love it

Zero heat.

Nothing to warn anyone about. Safe for the pickiest table you know.

It glazes instead of saucing.

Sticky and glossy, the way takeout looks, without the takeout.

Ready sooner.

Five to six hours on LOW. Good when you started late.

Great on drumsticks.

One of the few recipes here that works beautifully on the bone.

What's already in the packet

Honey powderBrown sugar powderGarlicOnionSoy sauce powderChicken bouillonGingerBlack pepper

Real honey powder and brown sugar with a soy base — that's what makes it glaze rather than pool.

Choose your setting

Recommended

LOW · 5–6 hours

Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.

HIGH · 2½–3 hours

For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.

Done at 165°F

Thighs and drumsticks are more forgiving — 175°F is fine and often better.

You'll Need

2 lbs Chicken (pick one below)
½ cup Water
1 packet Cook SLO Honey Garlic Chicken

Pick your chicken

2 lbs

Chicken thighs

2 lbs

Chicken drumsticks

2 lbs

Chicken breasts

Cook chicken to 165°F

Add vegetables

Baby carrots (fresh or frozen)Snap peas (fresh or frozen)Bell pepper strips (fresh or frozen)Broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)Pineapple chunksWater chestnutsBaby corn

Baby carrots (fresh or frozen) at the start, on the bottom; bell pepper strips (fresh or frozen) at the start; pineapple chunks in the last hour; snap peas (fresh or frozen), broccoli florets (fresh or frozen), water chestnuts and baby corn in the last forty-five minutes.

When to add what

When	Add	Why
At the start, on the bottom	Baby carrots (fresh or frozen)	Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate.
At the start, to soften into the sauce	Bell pepper strips (fresh or frozen)	These break down and give their flavour to the pot. Right for a gravy or a fajita, wrong if you want them to hold their shape.
Last hour	Pineapple chunks	Any longer and green beans go grey, squash turns to water, and pineapple falls apart.
Last 45 minutes	Snap peas (fresh or frozen)Broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)Water chestnutsBaby corn	This is the one people get wrong. Broccoli added at the start comes out grey and falls apart. Forty-five minutes keeps it bright and firm.

Two ways to do this

If you're home

Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.

About an hour is all you need

If you're out all day

Put in at the start as normal: baby carrots (fresh or frozen) and bell pepper strips (fresh or frozen). These need the full cook anyway.

Add pineapple chunks, snap peas (fresh or frozen), broccoli florets (fresh or frozen), water chestnuts and baby corn when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.

If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.

Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.

Pasta and noodles

**Served over noodles.** Cook lo mein or rice noodles separately and spoon the glaze from the bottom of the pot over the top. **Do not add dry pasta to the pot for this recipe.** There is only half a cup of liquid — it makes a glaze, not a sauce, and there is nothing for pasta to cook in.

Before anything goes in the pot

1
Coat the meat in a bag, not in the pot
Put the meat and the whole packet into a gallon zip bag, seal it, and shake until every surface is covered. It coats far more evenly than sprinkling from above, it takes ten seconds, and there is nothing to wash afterwards.

These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.

Tonight's Plan

1
Put the chicken in the crock pot.
Skin-on pieces work well here — the glaze sticks to them.
2
Pour in just ½ cup of water.
Half a cup, no more. This recipe makes its own sauce and extra liquid ruins the glaze.
3
Sprinkle the whole packet over the chicken.
Then turn the pieces once so they're coated on all sides.
4
Put the lid on.
Check at five hours if you're using breasts — they finish sooner than thighs.

Vegetables

Spoon the glaze from the bottom over the chicken.

All the good stuff sinks. Get it back on top.

Serve right away, while it's glossy.

The glaze sets as it cools and loses its shine.

Stirring

Stir once at the halfway point and turn the pieces over

There is very little liquid here and a lot of sugar, so the bottom catches. Turning the meat also brings glaze back up onto the top, where it belongs.

Swaps and add-ins

Broil it at the end.

Two minutes under the broiler and the glaze caramelizes at the edges. Worth doing.

Add pineapple.

A cup of chunks in the last 30 minutes. Tastes like a takeout classic.

Make it spicy for the adults.

Sriracha stirred into individual portions rather than the whole pot.

Use wings.

Three pounds of wings, same timing, then broil. Excellent party food.

Tips for success

Half a cup of water, seriously. Everyone wants to add more. Don't — it's the difference between glaze and soup.
Thighs stay juicier than breasts. Especially in a shorter cook where the sugar can dry out lean meat.
Broil for two minutes if you have time. It turns a good dish into one that looks professional.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

Toasted sesame seeds.

Ten seconds of effort, and it looks like it came from a restaurant.

Sliced green onion.

Sharp, fresh, and cuts straight through the sweetness.

A squeeze of lime.

Sweet and sticky needs acid more than any other dish here. This one matters.

Serve it over

White riceFried riceSteamed broccoliLo mein noodlesLettuce cups

Tomorrow night

Honey garlic rice bowls.

Over rice with cucumber, shredded carrot and sesame.

Chicken lettuce wraps.

Chopped small, in butter lettuce with green onion.

Sticky chicken sandwiches.

On a soft roll with slaw. Sweet and crunchy together.

Fried rice.

Chop it and fry with day-old rice, egg and peas.

Keeping it

Fridge

Airtight, up to 4 days

Freezer

3 months. Glazes freeze very well.

Reheating

Microwave or a hot pan. A hot pan re-crisps the glaze edges.

Questions people ask

Recipe card