Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
These Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Thighs are the perfect mix of sweet and savory, and they turn out super tender every time. Pair them with rice and veggies for an easy, delicious family meal.
This might honestly be one of our favorite Thriving Home dinner recipes that we’ve tried! The flavor of the sauce was great (not too sweet or salty), the chicken was super tender, and with the rice, green onions, and toasted sesame seeds, it made for an easy yet flavorful meal. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Rachel W.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Super tender chicken every time – Chicken thighs are very forgiving in the slow cooker.
- Big flavor, simple ingredients – Pantry staples come together into a delicious teriyaki sauce.
- Kid-friendly – Slightly sweet (like takeout!) and always a hit with families.
- Perfect for meal prep – Reheats beautifully for lunches.
- Freezer-friendly – Prep it ahead and stash it away for later.
Ingredients
The ingredients are simple. I bet you have most of them at home already! Here is what you’ll need…
Recipe Testing Notes
- Soy Sauce: I learned it’s very important to use a low-sodium option here. Substitute low-sodium soy sauce for coconut aminos or reduced-sodium tamari.
- Brown Sugar: I prefer light brown sugar but dark brown sugar will also work.
- You can substitute rice vinegar for white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or champagne vinegar.
- Sesame Seeds – optional but recommended: White sesame seeds can be used instead of toasted sesame seeds, or you can toast them yourself. To do so, add white sesame seeds to a small saute pan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown and aromatic. This just takes a few minutes.
- Cook on low – When it comes to chicken thighs, we have found it’s always best to cook them on Low and only for 3-4 hours at the very most. While chicken thighs can cook a bit longer than chicken breast, they will definitely start to dry out after that amount of time cooking.
Here is a Quick Overview of How it Comes Together
Make it A Meal
Here are some ideas on what to serve Teriyaki Chicken with.
Freezer Instructions
To Freeze For Later: Follow Step 1. Place the cooled onion/garlic mixture, raw chicken thighs, and soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, and vinegar into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Seal, squish around to mix, and freeze.
To Prepare From Frozen: Thaw using one of these safe methods and then cook as directed in Steps 3-5.
Make It A Freezer Meal: You can freeze this recipe along with a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables and Instant Pot Coconut Rice to make a freezer meal kit.
Recipe FAQs
While you can for sure add vegetables to the recipe in the slow cooker, I’d recommend giving them a quick saute on the stove instead and then stirring them in at the very end. That way they stay fresh and crisp. When cooked in the slow cooker, vegetables can get a little soggy.
Yes! Instant Pot Instructions:
1) Place the sauce ingredients and chicken thighs (not the cornstarch) inside the Instant Pot, being mindful not to stack if possible.
2) Lock and seal the lid.
3) Using the manual function, cook at high pressure for 6 minutes if using boneless chicken thighs (15-20 minutes for frozen) OR 12 minutes for bone-in chicken thighs (17-22 minutes for frozen) and then quick release the pressure.
(Check to make sure the chicken is done, which means no more pink inside and/or registers 165°F internally.) Read How Long to Cook Chicken Thighs in the Instant Pot for more information.
You bet! Just use our cooking times chart to navigate how long to cook the chicken for in the slow cooker.
How to Video
Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or more, if you’d like)
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned!)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs ( about 6 thighs per batch)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 cups cooked rice (for serving)
- 4 green onions (thinly sliced; I used green parts only, but it’s your choice.)
- 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds (see Cooking Notes)
- Optional for serving: Sriracha sauce or Bang Bang Sauce
Instructions
- Aromatics: Heat the oil in a small saute pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add in the garlic and saute for another 30-60 seconds. Add to the slow cooker.
- Sauce: Add the soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, and vinegar to the slow cooker and whisk until combined. Nestle the chicken into the bottom and make sure it’s coated in the sauce.
- Cook and Shred Chicken: Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours (the chicken is done when it is no longer pink inside and/or registers 165°F internally but it can cook a little longer). Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a wooden cutting board. Dice or shred the meat, and set aside.
- Slurry: In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together the cold water and cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved and no longer lumpy.
- Thicken Sauce: Meanwhile, carefully strain the marinade into a medium saucepan using a mesh strainer. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the teriyaki sauce and whisk to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Serve: Serve the shredded chicken over rice, pour the sauce over top, and garnish with sliced green onions and toasted white sesame seeds.
Freezer Instructions
Notes/Tips
- Microwaving the Aromatics Instead: Toss the onions and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl with the oil, cover, and microwave for 3-4 minutes or until softened, stirring once.
- About Chicken Thighs: If using smaller chicken thighs, begin checking for doneness around 2½ hours. However, thighs can slightly overcook and be fine, so don’t stress if you leave them on low for up to 4 hours or if they sit on the warm setting for a few hours.
- To Toast Sesame Seeds: Add white sesame seeds to a dry saute pan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown and aromatic. This just takes a few minutes and adds a LOT of flavor and texture.
- Sauce Tips:
- Prefer a less sweet sauce? You can reduce the total sweetener to 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup without sacrificing too much flavor. Try using 1/4 cup honey and 2 tablespoons brown sugar.
- For a thinner sauce, start by adding only half of the cornstarch slurry. Let it cook for 1–2 minutes, then add more as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
- Want to add some heat? Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the onions while they cook, or squeeze in Sriracha sauce to the sauce mixture while the chicken cooks. I’d start with 2 teaspoons. Or serve with our Bang Bang Sauce on top!
- High Protein Boost: Use chicken bone broth.
- Gluten-Free Version: Use gluten free tamari sauce or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce.
- Looking for the old recipe? We recently retested this older recipe from our site and one of our cookbooks, using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and thought it was much easier and just as good. So we made updates. You can find the original recipe here.
Can I cook this on high for an hour and low for the other 3 hours?
We do not recommend cooking chicken on high, as it can dry it out (although thighs on the bone do seem to be more forgiving). We actually just retested this with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and they were done at 2 hours and 50 minutes on LOW. Would that help to use that cut instead?
My husband and son really liked this recipe. I am not sure why my sauce does not look like your pictures. They said everything was very tasty and would like for me to make it again. I will keep this recipe on the monthly meal plan rotation. When I make a recipe we like, I write the name and source (cookbook or website) on my calendar with a smile so I know to repeat it. Thanks.
Glad your family enjoyed this recipe Michelle. Love how you use the smiley face to note the ones you want to make it again. Thanks for leaving a review.
Super easy and very delicious! I didn’t have regular honey and mistakenly put whipped cinnamon honey in it and it was STILL delicious!
Oh wow, so glad the accidental cinnamon honey still worked. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review Morgan!
So delicious! I had skinned the thighs before tossing this together in a freezer bag. Popped in the slow cooker particularly frozen, came out great. I will be making this again for sure!
Love hearing this Iris. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Easy and delicious! I didn’t feel like pre-cooking onion since I was making this in slowcooker instead of instant pot so I used 1/2 tbsp of dried onion. My son doesn’t like sauces so I took one of the thighs out before adding the corn starch slurry – he loved it. Super happy that I doubled this and have a bag in the freezer for the future.
Definitely a win when the kiddos are on board… and a double win to have one in the freezer!
Do you know, if I double this recipe and the thighs are layered in thr crockpot, do i need to increase the cooking time?
If you have a large crockpot (6 quart), I don’t think you’ll need to add much time. But when the chicken gets stacked it can take longer for the meat to cook for sure, so I always try to spread it out as much as possible.
Can I use apple cider vinegar instead?
I would use white vinegar if you have it. If not, I bet apple cider would work. It’s just a bit more of a distinct flavor.
Hi Ladies
I have just found your blog and have been going through it like a mad Mommy on a Mission. I literally just schlurpped out loud on this recipe. LOL… It looks amazing.
You mention it can be frozen before cooking, but can I freeze after cooking as well, and if so would I do with or without the sauce? Thank you so much
Halima in South Africa
Hi Halima! So glad you found us. 🙂 You can totally freeze it after cooking too. It will be a bit more like leftovers in that case. Meaning you will just make the recipe as directed (with the sauce) and freeze it after it’s cooled. The reheating might dry the chicken out a bit but chicken thighs are pretty forgiving so you should be ok.
When making it a freezer meal do you saute the onions/garlic before putting into the freezer? Thanks!
That would be best. Otherwise they won’t cook all the way through in the slow cooker. One shortcut is to cook them in the microwave in a covered bowl with a little bit of oil for 4-5 minutes.
This was great! I’m all about a good slow cooker recipe. I like some spice, so I added red pepper flakes and cut some of the brown sugar.
Thank you for the feedback and your tweaks. We’re so glad you enjoyed it! I’ve also started broiled it a little after it comes out of the slow cooker to get the skin crispy.
Think I could use teriyaki sauce instead? Which ingredients would I omit?
Yes, just replace all the sauce ingredients (everything after the chicken in the list) with 1 1/2 cups teriyaki sauce.
Thanks for the quick reply! I’m making it now!!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was really yummy, the kids loved it too. I used chicken breast because that’s what I had on hand, I cooked it on low for 3 hours. I added a half teaspoon of ground ginger too. I liked the way you boil the marinade at the end because then you can add as much or as little of the teriyaki glaze as you want. Perfect for different tastes. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Glad you liked it, Jerusha. Thanks for sharing your tweaks.
Do you use boneless skinless chicken thighs or bone-in skin on?
Good question. You’ll use bone-in, skin-on thighs. You can cook them longer in the slow cooker with the bone-in. I just updated the recipe to make this clearer.
This looks delicious! I love that you make your own teriyaki sauce rather than using the bottled like a lot of recipes I have seen. The rice you served this with looks delicious too. Is it a recipe you can share? Thanks!
Thanks! That’s our Fried Rice with Sweet Soy Sauce and it’s soooo yummy. https://thrivinghomeblog.com/2013/04/fried-rice-with-sweet-soy-sauce-updated/
looks delicious and easy! Will try this week. Thanks for posting.
Can’t wait to try this!!!