Slow Cooker Chicken With Honey-Hoisin Sauce Recipe

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 02/4/20
A piece of honey-hoisin chicken
siims/Getty Images
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 6 hrs
Total: 6 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 8 servings

Chicken recipes for the slow cooker are widely varied, with most focusing on American favorites that mix rice or pasta with chicken, vegetables and various kinds of sauce with different seasonings that play on that riff. This recipe, spiked with honey and hoisin sauce, gives this old crockpot standby a sweet and sour Asian twist.

Hoisin sauce is a jarred sauce commonly used in Asian dishes or as a dipping sauce. It's variously described as being sweet and sour or sweet and salty. Various brands differ on how sweet, sour or salty they are, and that all depends on the specific ingredients used. Find the brand you prefer and then experiment with it. This recipe gets its Asian character from the hoisin sauce, along with soy sauce and ginger root.

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 pounds chicken parts or whole chicken (cut up)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger root or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons water

Steps to Make It

  1. Pat the chicken dry.

  2. Arrange the chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker.

  3. Combine the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, wine, ginger, and pepper.

  4. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

  5. Cover and cook on low from 5 1/2 to 8 hours, or until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear.

  6. Mix the cornstarch and water.

  7. Remove the fully cooked chicken from the slow cooker and reserve.

  8. Turn the heat up to high and add the cornstarch and water mixture.

  9. Continue to cook the mixture until thickened.

  10. When the mixture is thick, add the cooked chicken back to the slow cooker to heat through.

Tips

  • Serve this honeyed, hoisin-flavored chicken dish with hot cooked rice and stir-fried vegetables. Season the stir-fry with the hoisin for a full-on Asian meal. Serve with dry white wine like sauvignon blanc or cabernet or a lager or pilsner beer. If the wine you added to the dish is drinkable and not just for cooking, bring it to the table for dinner. Serve a light, citrusy dessert like lemon cake, lemon meringue pie or Key lime pie.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
368 Calories
19g Fat
8g Carbs
38g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 368
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 19g 24%
Saturated Fat 5g 26%
Cholesterol 119mg 40%
Sodium 412mg 18%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Protein 38g
Calcium 24mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)