Honey garlic chicken sliders

Do you know the very sweet Kelly from Life Made Sweeter?  Though Kelly and I have never met in person, I've gotten to know her via this food blogging journey and have the pleasure of considering her a friend.  Take a look at her site and it'll be obvious that Kelly is an incredible cook and baker.  You'll find her making delicious yet easy Asian-inspired meals, whipping up fresh batches of granola for her family, concocting fantastical cakes for her kids' birthdays, or tempting us with glorious desserts.  She's a supermom to 2 adorable little kids, a devoted wife, and a loving daughter.  Kindness just radiates from her and I can't thank Kelly enough for the support and encouragement she's shown me in the last few years.  

Lucky for all of us, Kelly just launched her first cookbook, The Asian Slow Cooker!  I am so happy for all her well-deserved success and it's clear she worked very hard on this book.  It's chock full of easy, mouth-watering, creative recipes with an Asian twist, often using the slow cooker to do the work so we can have more time to do everything else.  

I've tagged many recipes to make from the cookbook so I'll be busy for a while! And although it wasn't easy picking the first recipe to make, I went for the honey garlic chicken sliders...who doesn't love honey garlic chicken!  This is my kind of recipe - an easy one that uses a handful of mainly pantry ingredients with hardly any prep.  After a few hours in the slow cooker, the chicken turns out moist and succulent - and the sauce (which I thickened slightly with a cornstarch slurry to make more of a glaze) lends it a delicious sweetness; my son likened it to teriyaki sauce, which is a very good thing in our book.  Shredded, the chicken is great for sliders, as a filling for tacos, or eaten on its own with some rice or noodles.  

Making this for dinner on a busy weeknight, I used Hawaiian rolls and loaded them up with the chicken and plenty of the tasty sauce.  We had some roasted veggies - as well as tortilla chips and salsa - with it but to kick it up another notch, follow Kelly's advice and make a colorful and crunchy cabbage slaw to go with the sliders.  Either way, you can't go wrong.

There is something wonderfully cozy about a slow-cooker working away in your kitchen, filling your house with delicious aroma as you go about your day.  You can make a hearty, healthy meal to share with your family and often have leftovers to repurpose for another day.  For anyone who likes the idea of Asian inspired slow cooker recipes, or who loves Chinese takeout but is looking for a healthier, tastier alternative to enjoy at home, this is a great book for you!


This recipe is really easy to put together!  I opted to use (skinless, bone-in) chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts and started with a little over 1 1/2 lbs.  Simply place the chicken in the slow cooker and mix together the ingredients that will flavor the chicken.  It's a blend of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, balsamic glaze, honey, and garlic.  Lucky for me, I have most of these ingredients sitting in my pantry.  The one thing I don't have is balsamic glaze so I used a spoonful of balsamic vinegar; it's not exactly the same but I think I still get a bit of that complex flavor profile.  

All you have to do is pour this sauce over the chicken, along with a chopped onion.  I gave it a little nudge and stir and let it cook for about 4 hours on low in my slow cooker.  I can't leave well enough alone so I went in to give it a stir once or twice but you can just go about your day while dinner's cooking away.  After 4 hours or so, you have this marvelous mahogany-colored chicken that you can pull apart with 2 forks.

You can take the sauce/juice straight from the slow cooker and use it to moisten the chicken.  I wanted to thicken it somewhat so I transferred the sauce to a small saucepan and thickened it with a little cornstarch slurry.  This way you have a bit of a glaze that will stick to the meat better.  I ended up adding more and more of the sauce as I was putting each slider together!

You can top the chicken with some toasted sesame seeds or add a little hot sauce for extra spice.  Have fun!  I know we had a fun time gobbling up these sliders!

Kelly...your book rocks!  I know you did your mom and family proud.  Thank you for sharing your wonderful straightforward recipes with us.  I just love that you included a photo for each recipe so I can picture it on my dining room table!  I already have my eye on the Vietnamese pork chops and would love to cook up the eggplant for my mom.  It'll happen soon!  

Recipe:

Honey Garlic Chicken Sliders
Adapted from The Asian Slow Cooker by Kelly Kwok

- 4 to 6 servings - 

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. skinless, bone-in chicken thighs or chicken breasts (I used thighs)
1/4 cup (59ml) low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons (48g) hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons (48g) Thai sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons (30ml) balsamic glaze (I substituted with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar)
2 tablespoons (42g) honey
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, sliced or diced
Slider buns

Place chicken directly into the bottom of your slow cooker.  Combine the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, balsamic glaze, honey, garlic, and pour evenly on top of the chicken.  Scatter the onion on top and give everything a light stir.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours (I gave it a stir midway).  Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred into thin strips using 2 forks.  Take a little of the sauce/juice* and stir it into the shredded chicken to moisten.  Fill slider buns with the shredded chicken and enjoy!

* If desired, you can do like I did and transfer the sauce/juice from the slow cooker into a small saucepan and thicken it with a cornstarch slurry.  I mixed about 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 4 teaspoons cold water.  Over medium heat, stir about half the slurry into the sauce until thickened.  Add a bit more slurry if necessary to reach the desired consistency you prefer.