As winter drags on and everything is grey and cold, the prospect of a hearty and warm home-cooked meal is always motivation to get through the day. The problem is, we college students never have time to prepare this grand, lavish dinner and end up resorting to the cafeteria. The solution? The Crock-Pot: invest 10 minutes in the morning and by the time you’re done with your last class of the day, you come home to a delicious meal.
I ended up making this dish one night for my housemates because we were all hella busy and were in desperate need of sustenance. The best thing about it is the fact that you whisk all the ingredients together, dump it all over the chicken and let it develop into something luxurious. Super easy and relatively cheap for the amount of food it makes.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours and 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
4 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4 pounds)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil (any kind will do, I used extra virgin olive oil)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup blackberry jam (can substitute with black raspberry jam)
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2-3 tablespoons corn starch
1 box of any kind of rice to your liking (I prefer jasmine rice)
Sliced green onions, for garnish
Directions:
1. Whisk together the honey, soy sauce, oil, garlic, onions, hoisin sauce, jam, and red pepper flakes in a bowl.
Photo by George Farah
2. Arrange the chicken in the Crock-Pot so that the chicken is in one even layer (no overlapping or it won’t cook thoroughly).
3. Pour the honey-soy sauce awesomeness over the chicken and add water if needed to cover the chicken.
Photo by George Farah
4. Cook on ‘high’ for 5 hours, or until the chicken is tender and cooked throughout.
5. About 20 minutes before the chicken is done, get that rice started according to the box’s directions
Photo by George Farah
6. Once the chicken is done, the fun part starts. Take each chicken breast out and shred it with a pair of tongs; get rid of the bones. The chicken should fall-off-the-bone.
Photo by George Farah
7. Take all of the liquid out of the Crock-Pot and pour it into a saucepan over high heat. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing together the corn starch and 5 tablespoons of cold water in a cup, then whisk it into the sauce.
Photo by George Farah
8. Let the sauce cook and reduce for about 5 minutes. If you like your sauce thicker, add a little more corn starch. A good amount to add would be 1 more tablespoon of corn starch with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Let the sauce cook a little more if you do though: the only way it’s going to work is with heat.
9. Finally, add the rice to the bottom of a serving dish, followed by the shredded chicken, and add the sauce on top. Garnish with sliced green onions.
Some tips:
- If you don’t want it to have a little spicy kick, just take out the red pepper flakes.
- The bone-in breasts make all the difference, keeping the chicken moist and fall-off-the-bone good.
- Sometimes there will be leftover sauce. Keep it and add it to vegetables for a great way to spice up bland veggies.
Photo by George Farah
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