Dump Meals

Chicken Freezer bag

Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

dumpmeals.com/recipes/honey-garlic-chicken-thighs/

Boneless chicken thighs in a sweet, salty honey and garlic sauce, thickened at the end and served over rice.

Serves
6
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours
Slow cooker
4-quart

This is a sweet and salty chicken dish built from pantry bottles: honey, soy sauce and ketchup, plus plenty of garlic. The sauce cooks down around the thighs and picks up their juices. Because the sauce starts thin, a quick cornstarch thickening at the end turns it into something that clings to rice.

Serve it over hot cooked rice with steamed green beans or broccoli on the side. Spoon extra sauce over the top. Low-sodium soy sauce keeps the salt in check, since the sauce reduces a little as it cooks. If you like a bit of heat, a pinch of red pepper flakes at the table works well.

Keep the pieces whole while they cook, then break them up with a spoon in the sauce. Rice soaks up the extra sauce, so cook a little more than you think you need. Leftover chicken is good chopped into fried rice.

Ingredients

Into the slow cooker

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • ½ cup honey
  • ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • ¼ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced

Near the end

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons water

To serve

  • hot cooked rice, for serving

Directions

  1. If your meat is frozen, thaw it completely in the refrigerator first. Never put frozen meat in the slow cooker.
  2. Lay the chicken in a 4-quart slow cooker.
  3. Whisk the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, broth and garlic together. Pour over the chicken. The liquid should come most of the way up the meat. If it doesn't, add a little more broth.
  4. Cover. Cook on low 4 to 6 hours or on high 2 to 3 hours.
  5. Check the chicken with a food thermometer. It should read at least 165°F in the thickest piece.
  6. Stir the cornstarch and cold water together until smooth. Stir into the sauce. Cook on high with the lid on 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
  7. Serve the chicken and sauce over hot rice.

It's done when the chicken reads at least 165°F in the thickest piece with a food thermometer, and the sauce coats the back of a spoon after thickening.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until hot all the way through (165°F), not in the slow cooker. Slow cooker safety

Make it a freezer dump bag

Put the chicken, honey, soy sauce, ketchup, broth and garlic in one gallon freezer bag. Mix the cornstarch and water on cook day. Press out the air, seal, label and freeze flat.

Bag: gallon freezer bag. Keeps: 3 months for best quality; safe indefinitely at 0°F in the freezer.

Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

Frozen on:

Thaw in the refrigerator 24 hours, until no ice is left in the middle. Never cook it from frozen, and cook it within 2 days of thawing. Dump into a 4-quart slow cooker. Cook on low 4 to 6 hours. Check with a food thermometer that the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest piece. Stir 2 tablespoons cornstarch into 2 tablespoons cold water, stir it in, and cook on high 15 to 20 minutes more.

Best within 3 months of the date above.

Plan several bags at once with one shopping list and printable labels.

The planner prints this label free. A designed set for all 17 freezer recipes, plus blanks, is in the Freezer Bag Labels pack ($7).

This recipe is one of the ten in The Freezer Session ($12): ten dump bags, one shopping trip, one afternoon.

Cooking for two

Use 1.5 lb thighs, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp ketchup, 1/4 cup broth, 3 cloves garlic and 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp water. Use a 2-quart slow cooker, so the food still fills it about halfway. Start checking at 3 hours on low.

More in Cooking for two in a slow cooker.

Tips

  • Thighs are forgiving. Breasts dry out faster in this much sauce.
  • Add the cornstarch mixture only after the chicken is done and the sauce is hot.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, in shallow covered containers. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until they reach 165°F. Do not reheat them in the slow cooker.

Food-safety sources

More chicken

  • Salsa Chicken Low 5 to 7 hours, or high 3 to 4 hours Freezer bag Chicken thighs, salsa, beans and corn in one pot. Shred and serve in tortillas, over rice or on its own.
  • Chicken Tortilla Soup Low 3 to 5 hours, or high 1½ to 2½ hours Freezer bag Chicken breasts, beans, corn and tomatoes with green chiles in a cumin-spiced broth. Top with crisp tortilla strips.
  • White Chicken Chili Low 3 to 5 hours, or high 1½ to 2½ hours Freezer bag Chicken and white beans simmered with green chiles and cumin, then finished with cream cheese for a creamy broth.
  • Teriyaki Chicken Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Freezer bag Chicken thighs and carrots in a ginger and garlic teriyaki sauce, thickened at the end. Serve over rice.