Sunday 17 August 2014

Slow Cooked Honey & Garlic Chicken


Do you know anyone with a slow cooker? If you do, I’m sure you’re used to them singing its praises – oh, it’s changed their life! Oh, it’s just so easy! Oh, they don’t know how they got along without it!

I’m going to drop some knowledge now, so prepare yourselves accordingly – they’re right. They’re totally right. Slow cookers are AMAZING. I actually don’t have one, but Matt’s housemate does and we’ve kind of claimed it for our own (we’ll give it back, promise!). We first tried it out with pulled pork a couple of months ago – remember that awesome Dr Pepper and Jack Daniel’s recipe? I sure do *hungry face* We made the pulled pork a second time for a party, but decided to try and do a chicken recipe too for those people who don’t eat pork. And I am here to tell you it was an epic success. And also to tell you the recipe!


This was so easy. We based it on this recipe but tweaked it quite a lot – we substituted a few things, used a whole chicken instead of chicken pieces and upped the quantities. We’ve made it twice now and everyone raves about it. It’s sweet, spicy and actually pretty good for you – there’s not a drop of oil in this baby! It’s lovely on rice, but we usually just pop it in soft baps with a few lettuce leaves. It also makes loads - a good 10 portions!

Slow Cooked Honey & Garlic Chicken
1 whole chicken (we used a large one)
340g honey
150ml soy sauce
60ml hoisin sauce
50ml sweet chilli sauce
Half a bulb of garlic, crushed
1 onion, diced
1 stock cube, dissolved in a pint of boiling water
2 tablespoons cornflour
Sliced spring onions, for garnish (optional)
Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Weight Watchers SmartPoints: The app says a whole chicken is 52SP, and the sauce is 84SP total, split between however many portions you have. Remember, if you just eat the chicken breast (no skin) you only have to point the sauce.


1. In a big bowl, add all your ingredients except for the cornflour and stir to combine

2. Put your chicken in your slow cooker then pour the ingredients over it

3. Cover the slow cooker and cook it on low for 8-10 hours (we left it overnight)


4. When it’s done, remove the chicken from the slow cooker. You may find that it falls apart upon removal – slow cooking makes the meat ridiculously tender. That’s fine though, just get the meat out piece by piece, and start removing the bones (you can set these aside for soup if you’re feeling creative, or just throw them away). I recommend using a slotted spoon for this bit.

5. Put the chicken in a shallow dish like a lasagne dish, and shred it into smaller pieces (you can check for bones while you do this)


6. Pour the remaining juices into a saucepan through a sieve. Meanwhile, in a small jug or bowl, add a few drops of water to your cornflour to make a paste and stir together. If it’s too thick, add more water, if it’s too runny, add more cornflour. When it’s roughly the consistency of PVA glue, add to your saucepan of chicken juices and stir.

7. Bring the saucepan to a boil and let it reduce slightly – only needs a couple of minutes at full boil before it’s done, and keep stirring in case it burns. If it still seems too runny, add more cornflour and water (mix the cornflour into the water first, or it’ll go lumpy).


8. Pour the sauce over the chicken, tossing with forks to combine. You can leave this to cool and reheat in the oven later, or serve immediately with sliced spring onions and sesame seeds. The sesame seeds don’t add an awful lot in terms of flavour and texture, but they look nice.

Yum, this was SO good. Next up in our slow cooker adventures has definitely got to be some lamb or beef. I want me some brisket!

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4 comments

  1. I'm desperate to buy a slow cooker but I just don't have the counter space at the moment. Some day.... and I will definitely use this recipe!
    PS, I love your foodie posts :) I've been following your blog for some time now, and I really like the breadth of content you post now. Thank you!

    theyupblog.blogspot.co.uk

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  2. Yep, i'm drooling at the screen. This looks SO good. I really need to get a slow cooker.....!!!!!!

    Beth // SANS SOUCI

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  3. MMMMMMM!! I need to get a slow cooker for the winter. The soup/casserole possibilities are endless x

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  4. Oh my god, this sounds amazing, definitely the next thing I am trying!

    Maria xxx

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