Slow Cooker Caramelized Chicken

My takeaway from this recipe? Sure ain’t pretty, and fairly sure mine didn’t “caramelize”, but it sure was delicious!

The pictures of this recipe from Skinny Ms. (see link at the bottom) look beautiful, so not sure what I did wrong to keep it from caramelizing. However, the flavors are so great that it was a keeper recipe anyway. It’s sweet and salty and layered, with a little kick from the cayenne. (Well, “little” depending on how much you put in…I’m a baby.)

It also is super fast and easy. The only down side is that cleaning my crockpot was insanely difficult afterward—I have a really old crockpot and it doesn’t have a removable piece. I’ve never used liners but might have to see if they make one for mine, because cleaning that was ridiculous.

Dice up your green onions…the dark green ends and the white ends, but don’t use the pale green in the middle.

Also, I’m terrible at reading directions, because these chicken breasts should have been cut into cubes first. Don’t be me. Cut your chicken into 1″ cubes and put in the crockpot, then combine all of the rest of the ingredients and pour in there.

Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, until the chicken is tender.

Turn your oven to broil. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker, lay it out on a foil-lined 9×13 pan, and cover with the liquid from the crockpot. Broil for 4 minutes, or until chicken is caramelized. Mine never caramelized, so I just did it for 4 minutes and stopped so it didn’t dry out.

Serve by itself, on top of rice, or with Asian noodles. Add whatever sides you like. Makes great leftovers.

1/2 cup of honey
1-1/2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce or Tamari
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 pound of chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, optional

Combine all of the ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, until the chicken is tender.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker, lay it out on a foil-lined 9×13 pan, and cover with the liquid from the crockpot. Broil for 4 minutes, or until chicken is caramelized (or just stop at 4 minutes because you don’t want it drying out).

Original recipe from Skinny Ms.