Slow-Cooker Hot-Honey Chicken Sandwiches

By Sarah DiGregorio

Updated July 14, 2021

  • Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
4 to 5 hours and 20 minutes
Rating
4(2,790)
Comments
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These simple sandwiches are reminiscent of a lazy summer cookout — but doable on a weeknight. Though slow cookers are often associated with winter, they’re great in hot weather because they don’t heat up the kitchen like ovens do. For this recipe, there is no need to add liquid to the pot before cooking, because the chicken will release moisture as it cooks. If you have a lot of liquid remaining when the chicken is done, that’s absolutely fine; just incorporate it into the shredded chicken. But if you have a little extra time, before you shred the chicken or add the honey, remove the chicken to a bowl with tongs, pour the juices into a small saucepan, and simmer until the juices are reduced by half to intensify flavor and thicken the sauce. After that, simply pick the recipe back up at Step 3.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings 

  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

  • 2 teaspoons red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste

  • 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika

  • ¼ teaspoon ground smoked paprika 

  • Kosher salt and black pepper

  • ¼ cup honey 

  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar, plus more to taste

  • 2 heaping cups shredded green cabbage (about 8 ounces or ¼ medium green cabbage)

  • ¼ cup mayonnaise, plus more for the buns

  • 3 scallions, sliced

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 4 rolls or buns (preferably onion rolls)

  • Vinegary hot sauce, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

45 grams carbs; 219 milligrams cholesterol; 618 calories; 9 grams monosaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 26 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 854 milligrams sodium; 50 grams protein; 22 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine the chicken, oil, 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, the onion powder, sweet paprika and smoked paprikas. Season with 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt and several generous grinds of black pepper. Stir well to combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low until the chicken is very tender, 4 to 5 hours. (The chicken will keep well on warm for another 3 hours.)

  2. Step 2

    At any time before serving, combine the honey with the remaining 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes and ½ teaspoon garlic powder in a liquid measuring cup or a small bowl. Cover and reserve at room temperature until the chicken is done.

  3. Step 3

    Using two forks, finely shred the chicken with its cooking liquid. Pour in the spiced honey and the cider vinegar and toss to coat. Taste; it may need a little more salt, to sharpen the flavor. Also add more red-pepper flakes and vinegar, if you like.

  4. Step 4

    In a medium bowl, combine the cabbage, mayonnaise, scallions and lemon juice; season the slaw to taste with salt and pepper.

  5. Step 5

    Toast the buns, then spread with mayonnaise and a few shakes of hot sauce. Mound the chicken on the bottom buns and top with the slaw.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
2,790 user ratings
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Comments

mirrorball

Look at the Chipotle-Honey Chicken Taco recipe on NYT-Cooking. It has both a slow-cooker and an Instant Pot version. I think the same modifications might work well to convert this to Instant Pot. For 1-1/2 lbs it's high pressure for 13 minutes plus 5 minutes natural pressure release - and then shred the chicken. Maybe a touch longer for this recipe since 2 lbs is recommended. But I've not done it. That chipotle-honey taco recipe is a favorite regular in our house.

Sarah R

I cooked it in my Dutch oven at 325 for 1.5 hrs. It worked out really well and I didn’t need to add any additional liquid.

buffy

Served this at a party last night. Lots of raves! Tripled the recipe; used two separate slow cookers, 3 lbs chicken in each. Made 3 days in advance. Shredded the chicken into a 13x9 pan, then reduced and added the liquid. Refrigerated. Yesterday put all the meat into large slow cooker and reheated on low. Added the honey mixture and vinegar; made the slaw fresh. Only used 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. Served on toasted onions rolls with a variety of hot sauces and TJ’s chili Mayo on the side.

The perfect Sunday Summer lunch

Was delicious even though I butchered the recipe. I doubled the chicken and then failed to realize I didn’t double the seasoning and sauce. 🤦‍♀️ Despite my incompetence, it STILL turned out delicious and flavorful (just not quite the punch as it would have had). Coming home after church to this fragrant scent was incredible! 10/10 will make again… and next time maybe I’ll even get it right 😂

Brian

This was a very satisfying dish. Made generally as directed, but with breasts and a x1.5 slaw sauce-to-shredded greens ratio. (Didn't spread additional mayo as a result.) Tested with Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce and felt that it paired really well. Also added generous sprinkles of shredded Wisconsin sharp cheddar cheese, because why not :)

Achoo

So good! I used a pressure cooker -- browned the thighs on the sautee mode and then pressure cooked for 20min. Huge hit. I used the premade slaw mix from the store to speed things up even more -- delicious.

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