Brown Sugar Chicken in the Crock Pot

The title alone of this recipe should clue you in that it's good. Sugar + Crock Pot = Good.

But just in case that didn't get the point across, I'll tell you, this recipe is good.

This chicken is not winning any awards for prettiest meal. In fact, as I was dishing it up, I was a little nervous about how good this was going to taste because it wasn't super pretty. But after I took my first bite I paused and told Kyle, "Oh this is good."

There you have it - it's good.

AND EASY!

I had pinned this recipe on Pinterest a long time ago but it got lost in Pinland for a while, so I'm glad I noticed it on my board again.

The only troublespot I had with this recipe is that the "sauce" was super duper liquidy - I'm not sure if maybe cooking this on high instead of low would solve that problem? Or I guess reducing the amount of liquid would help, but I'm not sure how that would affect the flavor of the chicken. Here are some options:

* Try cooking it on high for a shorter amount of time vs. on low.

* For the last hour of cooking, take the lid off of the crock pot to allow some of the liquid to reduce and evaporate (just keep an eye on it). 

* Reduce the sauce on the stove (this is what I did). To do this, spoon out a good amount of the sauce into a sauce pan, and simmer it on the stove until the liquid has thickened into more of a glaze (I think this took mine probably around 10-15 minutes). Stir or whisk frequently during this time. You can tell the difference in the picture above - the liquid on the plate is the liquid that came out of the crock pot with the chicken, but then notice on top of the chicken the thick glaze - that was the reduced sauce. In my opinion, this was TOTALLY WORTH the effort it took for the flavor it added to the chicken. But it would still taste good without it!

This is sort of barbecue-y? A lot of the same components, minus the ketchup and onion and adding soy sauce and Sprite. It was kinda sweet, kinda tangy...it was just delicious!

When I made this I halved the recipe with just three chicken breasts. The original recipe says you can also use thighs or drumsticks...I'm just a white meat only type of person.

Brown Sugar Chicken

Original Recipe

6 chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

1 cup of brown sugar

4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

2/3 cup of apple cider vinegar (or white, if that's what you have)

1/4 cup Sprite or other lemon lime soda (just not diet)

2 TBS soy sauce

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Put the chicken in the bottom. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the chicken, followed by the garlic, salt and pepper. Add the vinegar and soy sauce. Then pour in the Sprite. Cook on low for 6-9 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

I served mine with zucchini and potatoes, which was a hit with my husband, but you could serve it with any type of vegetable side dish. We are normally big rice fans with chicken, but I don't personally think this would go perfectly with rice - the chicken was great as a stand alone!