This slow cooker chicken thighs recipe cooks all day while you do your own thing. Do whatever you want and come home to this delicious family dinner.
This easy recipe for crock pot chicken thighs is one of our favorite low-cost family meals. It also happens to be one of our favorite ways to make chicken.
Read on and I'll show you exactly how to make it!
Make this easy dinner for less than two dollars per serving.
About this meal
We put this latest crockpot chicken recipe together at our little weekend oasis located on a small lake in the middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin. It's a tranquil place to get off the grid, hit the nearby farmer's market, and make a lot of family recipes.
These slow cooker chicken thighs use just a few ordinary ingredients that you probably already have.
Some of our favorite recipes are made at our lake cottage and often with the kids helping out. We've made such great recipes as our Sweet and Savory Grilled Eggplant, our Cottage Cake, our Crustless Vegetable Quiche, and many, many more.
In town or in the country, this easy family dinner is perfect for wherever this may find you.
This one pot meal means less kitchen clean-up!
What's in it?
- Chicken leg quarters (bone-in and skin on)
- Honey
- Garlic
- Barbecue Sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Ketchup
- Oregano
- Salt and Pepper
How to make it
Place the chicken quarters in a single layer, skin side up.
Start by placing the pieces in a single layer, in your slow cooker. Although you can use chicken breast, dark meat will add more flavor.
There isn't a lot of liquid in this recipe and so leaving the skin on helps prevent it from drying out.
You only need a small number of ingredients for this easy dinner idea.
Water is cooked out during the process, so cutting back on the quantity of barbecue sauce and honey will help reduce the amount of liquid when the meat is finished cooking.
After you put all the ingredients in your slow cooker, you can just set it to low and come home to a delicious family dinner.
Once the meat is finished cooking, you're going to place it on a baking sheet and brown it under your oven broiler for just a couple of minutes. Doing this will give it a nice caramelized finish and taste.
While the chicken is browning up a bit, you're going to make good use of the leftover liquid.
How to make crock pot gravy
Make a flavorful gravy with the juices.
I grew up loving gravy, and that is one thing that hasn't changed. I will actively seek the chance to make gravy anytime when I'm in the kitchen.
If you've ever wondered how to make gravy, there are many methods. With this recipe, we are going to keep it very short and very simple.
Turn the crockpot to a high setting which will help reduce the liquid. Then, place a tablespoon or two of flour and put it in a small fine-mesh strainer.
Then, use your finger to tap-tap-tap a little flour into the liquid, a little at a time, while continuously stirring with a fork. This will give you a nice gravy with no lumps!
If you want to learn more about how to make gravy, check out our gravy recipes that include our Southern Giblet Gravy and our post on How to Make a Roux.
We serve these slow cooker chicken thighs with green beans and oven-roasted red potatoes.
Common Questions
If you want to assemble and freeze the ingredients for this slow cooker meal it's easy to do. Simply put them in a freezer bag and be sure to freeze them flat which will allow for even defrosting.
Allow them to thaw and defrost for 24 hours before cooking and just follow the recipe card below.
You can use this recipe to make either slow cooker chicken thighs recipe bone-in, or make it using boneless breasts.
Absolutely. Just be sure that you are using keto-friendly barbecue sauce and keto-friendly ketchup.
Some of our favorite things to serve with these crock pot chicken thighs are potato croquettes, homemade crusty bread, and shoofly pie for dessert!
Similar recipes
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📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken leg quarters Bone-in, skin on.
- 2 tbsp Barbecue Sauce Spicey flavored.
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 5 cloves Garlic Minced
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- 2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- Salt and Pepper To taste.
Instructions
- Place chicken quarters, skin side up, in a single layer of your crock pot. Add remaining ingredients, cover, and cook on low for 6-7 hours.
Linda
Absolutely delicious chicken fell off the bone. May add a bit of chilli next time . Served with scalloped potatoes and tender stem broccoli
Dan from Platter Talk
Glad you enjoyed this, Linda. It sounds like we missed a great dinner!
Jillian
My husband LOVED this. It was so easy and I’m so grateful for another way to cook quarters! I made a second batch of sauce to put over the thighs into the air fryer and oven to make it extra delicious. Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe
Barbara Sosnowski
Hi Scott & Dan: I made the honey-garlic chicken in the slow cooker today for dinner. It was delicious and Uncle Ed can attest to that. He asked me to make it again soon. The chicken was so tender and moist. I served it with baked potatoes and fresh green beans. So yummy!
Dan from Platter Talk
Thanks Aunt Barb! We are happy you made this and are so grateful for you kind comments!
Barbara Sosnowski
Hi Scott & Dan: I made the honey-garlic chicken in the slow cooker today for dinner. It was delicious and Uncle Ed can attest to that. He asked me to make it again soon. The chicken was so tender and moist. I served it with baked potatoes and fresh green beans. So yummy! Aunt Barb 💕
Deanne Mineau
I didn't realize I could use my Slow Cooker without it being rather full. I make soups, chilli, beef bourguignon, did I say soup?? This sounds too easy to be true. I'll try it this week. Thanks.
Phil
Very much enjoyed the recipe! I found all the sauce left in the pot at the end makes a real good gravy of sorts if you whisk in a touch of flour to thicken it up
Dan from Platter Talk
Hi Phil and thanks for the nice feedback. In sauce there is life!
Carolyn
I loved this and it was easy, I was worried about the barbecue sauce but it wasn’t overpowering so I loved this recipe.
Thanks
Bob C.
Dan—
I know this is sacrilege but we are both not fans of barbecue sauce ESPECIALLY SPICY! What would you recommend as a replacement or would it work without it? Also there are 5 leg quarters in the package and I will be using them all. It’s 112 degrees and we’re eager to make this tomorrow Wednesday or the next day. Thank you.
Dan from Platter Talk
Hi Bob. You'll want to do some seasoning with this chicken. Alternatives to barbecue sauce could include a honey-mustard dressing or even an Italian dressing. Or, you could consider an apricot compote of some type. Also, Traeger makes an outstanding apricot BBQ sauce, which isn't spicy. I would also suggest a Buffalo BBQ sauce, but that may be too spicy for your palate. If you want old-school and basic, you could use some cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Thanks for the question; I hope you find a suitable alternative!