Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

1274 Comments

4.86 from 202 votes
5 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
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Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken made with just five ingredients from your pantry. Set it in minutes for the perfect weeknight meal!

This tender, flavorful chicken recipe is the ultimate family meal. For more Slow Cooker Favorites try my Classic Crisp & Juicy Slow Cooker Chicken and Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken.

Sabrina’s Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

This meal is the slow cooker chicken version of one of the most popular recipes on my blog, Brown Sugar Garlic Pork with Carrots & Potatoes. If you’re looking for a slow cooker pork version of this recipe (minus the veggies and plus some bacon) here it is! Slow Cooker Bacon Garlic Pork Loin

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken Recipe

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken made with just five ingredients from your pantry. Set it in minutes for the perfect weeknight meal!
Yield 5 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Seasoned Chicken thighs cooked in slow cooker pot.
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 5 chicken thighs , skin on, bone-in
  • 2 tablespoons garlic , minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar , packed

Instructions

  • Add the chicken, salt, pepper, and garlic to the slow cooker.
  • Note: If you like more brown, crispy skin you can brown the chicken, skin-side down in a pan with about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil for a few minutes before adding to the slow cooker. If your slow cooker has a sear function, you can sear the skin right in the slow cooker.
  • Mix it up then flip the chicken skin side up.
  • Sprinkle on the brown sugar.
  • Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
  • (Optional) Serve with fresh chopped parsley sprinkled over the top.

Nutrition

Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 324mg | Potassium: 265mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 89IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg

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About This Recipe

This recipe was made in a slow cooker that has a browning or searing function and the. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and I don’t lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.

Chef’s Note

Want some spice? Add in crushed red pepper or a squirt of Sriracha. If you want an even deeper caramel flavor, try dark brown sugar. Do not add any liquid! I know it can be scary to cook dry in a slow cooker, the chicken will release a lot of liquids.

What to Pair With

  • Serve with white or brown rice or Potato Wedges and Roasted Vegetables. These are some of my favorite sides to pair with this easy meal. You can also just choose your own family favorites. This chicken will go well with so many sides.

Alternative Cooking Techniques

  • You can absolutely make this meal in the oven. Set it on a sheet pan just like you would in the slow cooker and roast at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes (you may want to use foil). You can brown the skin under the broiler at the end, if you like.

Variations

  • Different Cuts of Chicken: Try using Chicken Breasts (brownie points for draping bacon on them to keep the chicken moist).
  • Chicken Wings: Double the topping and toss chicken wings with the same topping and cook for 6 hours on low.
  • Whole Chicken: Try rubbing a double topping amount over an entire chicken propped up on some foil balls to keep the chicken out of liquid.

More Bacon Brown Sugar Recipes

Slow Cooker Chicken made with Brown Sugar Garlic seasoning

These images were used in previous versions of this post:

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken collage of zoomed out photo of thighs cooked and close up of one thigh. Recipe name in blue banner across center.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

    1. You can Laura! I would cut the cooking time by 10 – 15 minutes at least. Keep an eye on the inner temperature of the thickest part of your thighs and when it reaches 165 degrees you’re ready to serve!

      Reply

  2. If I’m using my crock pot to cook this dish I’m afraid it’s gonna dry out. Could I use some chicken broth so it does not dry out ?

    Reply

    1. I know it’s super scary to not add extra juices (see my blog comments lol!). What did you decide to do?

      Reply