Honey Garlic Chicken

This recipe caught my attention because of the picture. The chicken in it had such a lovely color and over the white rice looked so yummy!

I decided right away that I would make it at once! Slow cooker meals have a way of capturing my attention. 🙂 I didn’t have any ketchup however, so I used THIS recipe. It was extremely sweet. Blah! I’m not a huge ketchup fan to begin with which is why we had none in our house, but this recipe was not one you’d want to dip your fries in. Because of that I cut down the honey by half. I also used chicken breast because I didn’t have thighs. I also didn’t have fresh Basil so I just didn’t bother with that spice. 🙂

I smelled this cooking all day and thought for sure it was going to be a huge flop. I can usually tell. 😉 However, it began to improve toward the end, and when I asked Stu about it, he said it was good! I didn’t thicken the sauce, it seemed thick enough on it’s own. I served it over jasmine rice, and I think when I make it again I’ll add some broccoli to the last little bit of cooking time.

It had a very asian flavor to it, as in, you could totally imagine tasting it in a nice Chinese restaurant, not like China King, blah! 😉 I did find it a tad salty, probably because I didn’t have low-sodium soy sauce, but that’s what I’ll use next time. And I might splurge and get some store bought ketchup too. 😉

All in all it was good and Qade was thrilled that he was going to get to eat “Chinese food” which is anything with rice. 😉 Ha ha ha!! I’m trying to decide the best way to use the leftovers, though they are pretty good just reheated. I just like to make something “new” with them. 🙂

Honey Garlic Chicken:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 garlic cloves, minced or chopped
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup honey
(optional) fresh basil, shredded, for garnish

Place the chicken in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, soy sauce, ketchup and honey. Pour over the chicken and cover.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Be sure to check the chicken periodically. My chicken was done after 5 hours on low. Remove chicken, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Transfer the remaining sauce to a saucepan and reduce down over medium heat until desired consistency is reached. I mixed a teaspoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water and added it to the sauce and continued to stir and cook on medium heat until it thickened up a bit.

Serve a little sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh basil.