Crock Pot brown sugar chicken is sweet, savory, and easy! Tender shredded chicken cooks with garlic, sesame, and brown sugar for a quick, kid-friendly dinner.
I don’t like to play favorites when it comes to my recipes (they’re all good, and different moods call for different meals)…BUT. This right here? It’s definitely one of my kids’ favorite dinners. In fact, my youngest calls the Crock Pot garlic brown sugar chicken, “the best chicken in the world!” Best of all, the meal is so darn easy. You only need three ingredients for the most delicious and sweet and savory sauce: brown sugar, water, and soy sauce.
This recipe is a “go-to” for us! I like to add red pepper flakes to the sauce before cooking, makes it super spicy!
– Kelly
Ingredient Notes and Tips for Success
- I recommend boneless skinless chicken thighs, which stay tender and juicy in the slow cooker. You can substitute with boneless skinless chicken breasts if you like; just be careful not to overcook the white meat or it can become tough and dry.
- Sesame oil is a key ingredient that gives the chicken that classic Asian sesame flavor. Please don’t try to substitute with a different oil (such as olive oil). The dinner just will not taste the same. If you have extra sesame oil on hand, use it in this popular egg roll in a bowl recipe or this dump-and-bake General Tso chicken.
- I find that the chicken has the best texture when cooked in my slow cooker on HIGH for about 2-3 hours (at the most — sometimes it’s done in just 90 minutes). This keeps the meat moist and juicy, and prevents it from drying out. The meat is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Garnish each serving with sliced green onion, herbs (like cilantro, chives, or parsley), toasted sesame seeds, or crushed red pepper flakes for added flavor.
How to Make this Brown Sugar Chicken Crock Pot Recipe
This recipe could not be easier — you don’t even have to turn on the stove or oven, and you don’t have to spend extra time to sear the meat! With about 10 minutes of prep, you can “set it and forget it.” I’ve shown the Crock Pot method here, but the Instant Pot pressure cooker instructions are also included in the recipe card below.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Whisk together the three-ingredient sauce.
- Spread sesame oil in the bottom of a large slow cooker.
- Arrange the onion and smashed garlic cloves on top of the oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the onions. Pour the sauce over top.
- Cover the Crock Pot with the lid and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours, or on HIGH for 2-3 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, but not too dry. Remember — every slow cooker runs at a slightly different temperature (which is why the recipe gives you general time ranges, rather than exact times). Since my slow cooker tends to cook at a relatively high temperature, I find that the meal is best when cooked on HIGH for about 2 hours or on LOW for about 4 hours. Just get familiar with your pot and adjust accordingly.
- Slice the chicken or shred the brown sugar soy sauce chicken with two forks.
- Return the meat to the Crock Pot and stir into the sauce and juices.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this brown sugar chicken recipe over sticky white rice, or pair it with cauliflower rice for a lighter, grain-free option. You can also add the chicken to salads, serve it over pasta, stuff it into baked potatoes, or pair it with stir-fry veggies. The sauce makes everything taste good! Additional options include rice noodles, ramen noodles, sesame peanut noodles, ramen noodle coleslaw, sesame ginger snap pea salad, steamed broccoli, or baked store-bought egg rolls. Don’t forget fortune cookies for dessert, too!
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Brown Sugar Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 ½ – 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or substitute with an equal amount of chicken breasts)
- 1 – 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup less sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- Optional garnish: sliced green onions, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes
- Optional for serving: rice or cauliflower rice
Instructions
- Season the chicken with kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, and water. Set aside.
- Spread the sesame oil in the bottom of a large slow cooker to coat the bottom.
- Place the onion and garlic in the slow cooker and season with additional salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken on top of the onions and pour the sauce over everything.
- Cover and cook until the chicken is tender but not dry, reaching an internal temperature of 165°F, about 4-6 hours on LOW or 2-3 hours on HIGH.
- Slice the chicken or shred the meat with two forks. Return the chicken to the pot and stir the meat into the sauce. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice or cauliflower rice. Garnish with sliced green onion, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Storage Tips
Leftover chicken and sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
To reheat, place the cooked chicken and sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop. Cover with a lid and warm over low heat, just until the meat reaches the desired temperature (stirring regularly). You can also reheat individual servings in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes.
Recipe Variations
- Make it a freezer meal! You can freeze the raw ingredients together (including the sesame oil, veggies, chicken, and sauce) in a large Ziploc freezer bag if you’re prepping a batch of freezer meals. Thaw the bag in the refrigerator overnight, and then dump everything from the bag into a slow cooker when you’re ready to enjoy.
- Serving a larger group? Double all of the ingredients.
- Make it spicy by adding some cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes as a garnish. Sriracha or other hot sauce is also a nice touch.
- Swap out the low sodium soy sauce and use coconut aminos if you prefer.
So good, my new favorite easy quick meal with rice and steamed broccoli! I added a little bit of chili garlic sauce to the Crock-Pot also. Going in my rotation!
– Melissa
More Asian Chicken Crock Pot Recipes
Honey Soy Chicken
1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken and Broccoli
2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Crock Pot Maple Soy Chicken
2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Originally published in September, 2018, this post was updated in July, 2025.
Oh this chicken looks absolutely delicious!!!!
Thank you so much! I hope that you get to try it soon! 🙂
This recipe is a “go-to” for us! I like to add red pepper flakes to the sauce before cooking, makes it super spicy!
That’s awesome, Kelly! I bet the spicy kick is perfect!
So good, my new favorite easy quick meal with rice and steamed broccoli! I added a little bit of chili garlic sauce to the Crock-Pot also. Going in my rotation!
That sounds like a delicious addition! Thank you for trying it out, Melissa. We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
Yummm! Sesame is one of my favourite flavours in savory dishes so I have to try this!
Me too! The sesame flavor is so unique and delicious. 🙂
We love this recipe! Fast and delicious. The only thing is we are trying to cut our sugar intake and it’s just so hard with asian cooking. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Thanks so much, Debra! I’m really glad to know that you enjoy this dinner! It’s one of my kids’ favorites, too. 🙂
We are doing the Standard Process diet (an elimination diet similar to Whole30 that cuts out sugar). I made it without brown sugar and added red pepper flakes and a couple extra cloves of garlic. We added the chicken to an Asian salad for one meal, and mixed it with avocado and served over quinoa for the next! It was so delicious!
Oh, wow — that’s good to know that you enjoyed it without the sugar, Samantha. I’m sure that will help a lot of other folks as well. Thanks for your note!
My husband and I really like this recipe! We omit the sugar in the sauce since we’re trying to limit our sugar consumption and it’s still very tasty!
Awesome! Good to know. Thank you, Jacinthe!
Can this be cooked with frozen chicken?
(Using the Instant Pot)
Yes! You can definitely put it in the instant pot frozen — you’ll likely just need to increase the cooking time a little bit. 🙂
So very yummy!!!
Thanks, Joann!
What pressure level should the instant pot be at? High? Thanks so much! I’m cooking it now with frozen breast!
Hi, Rachel! When it’s on “manual” mode, you just set a time — not a level (at least on my model). If your model requires a level setting, I would go with high. 🙂
Can I use shrimp in this instead?
Hi, Steph! I’ve never tried cooking shrimp in the slow cooker or instant pot. It cooks so quickly that I worry it would be easily overdone in no time. Feel free to experiment and let me know if you give it a shot! 🙂
Just double-checking. By sesame oil, I assume you mean the toasted sesame oil which you can find in the Asian ingredients, right? Not the untoasted sesame oil which would be in with the rest of the cooking oils, correct?
Sounds delicious and easy. And I’m pleased that I can use it as a freezer meal! Do you think you could make a collection of freezer meals? Your weekly collections are so great!
Thanks! I hope all of you are recovering well from the stomach bug. Take care and my love to all!
Yes, ma’am! The toasted sesame oil from the Asian section is perfect!
I’ll add your freezer meal suggestion to my list. I won’t get to it for awhile (so many others to do in the meantime, but I promise it’s coming)! 🙂
Thanks. I was thinking of buying boneless pieces and cutting them up to freeze in useful amounts. That will take care of some of the work and the worst of the mess. I was wanting to double check about how much do you use in a typical recipe which calls for raw small pieces? Half a pound or a pound or what? How big do you consider a bite-sized piece? One inch or two inches? And how long would it take the chicken to thaw. 24 hours? Thanks so much!
I don’t know…I don’t often call for pre-diced raw chicken in my recipes. I’d say maybe freeze in about 1-lb. packages? A bite-sized piece would be about 1 inch. Thaw overnight in the fridge. 🙂
You have diced raw chicken in some of the dump-and-bake recipes. My kitchen is so small and my patience, and sometimes my strength, is so limited that I think if I can handle some of the messiest work, such as cutting chicken, it would help me
Yes, that’s true. I had forgotten about those! For those dishes I’d say about 1 inch pieces are perfect. I sometimes use kitchen shears to cut the boneless chicken…maybe those would be easier for you?
Thanks for the reminder about using scissors. I will compare the two, scissors and knife and see which I prefer!
Made this tonight. In the last hour in the crock pot I added a bag of fresh green beans. Turned out perfect! Next time might double the sauce though.
Perfect! Thanks, Tina!
I am cooking this in my crock pot as we speak. However, I am using pork tenderloin in lieu of chicken. I will let you know how it turns out.
We can’t wait to hear how it is!
I tried this tonight in the Instant Pot. I love these flavors but next time would cut back on sesame oil, sugar and soy sauce.
Thank you for the feedback, Linda! It’s definitely any easily adjustable recipe.
My sauce is not thick should it be
Hi, Diana! No, the sauce isn’t supposed to be thick since we don’t add any thickening agents (like cornstarch). If you’d like to thicken the sauce, you can add a cornstarch slurry at the end. To do so, remove the chicken to a cutting board and shred the meat with two forks. While the chicken is resting on the cutting board, whisk together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the sauce in the slow cooker, cover, and cook on HIGH for about 15-30 minutes, or until it thickens. Stir the chicken back in to warm through, and serve!