Another Crockpot Chicken Recipe

[claire797]

Here's one I found on www.recipezaar.com. I made it last night and it was incredible....the sauce was very flavorful. I used frozen, bone-in(about 8 oz each), skinless breasts but you could probably use just about any cut you wanted.

The odd thing is, I cooked my chicken for 8 hours on low thinking that would barely be enough time since the chicken breasts were huge, frozen, and still on the bone. Interestingly enough, they came out a little dry. Next time I make this, I am going to do them on low for 6 1/2 hours.

At any rate, the sauce is incredible. It's not thick, but you could probably thicken it up with cornstarch if you wanted. The best part about it is how it marinates the chicken as it cooks. The chicken absorbs a lot of flavorful sauce.

Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

4 chicken breasts halves on bone, skinned
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup Sprite
2-3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours.

[Robyncz]

That sounds interesting. Thanks for the review. I don't think I would have gone for a chicken recipe using Sprite, but since you said it was so good, I just might try it!

Thanks for sharing!

[claire797]

Originally posted by Robyncz
That sounds interesting. Thanks for the review. I don't think I would have gone for a chicken recipe using Sprite, but since you said it was so good, I just might try it!

Thanks for sharing!

You don't taste the Sprite but it adds something. That is now my second crockpot recipe that uses a soft drink. You'd think I worked for Coke or something. BTW. The Coca Cola Pot Roast is really good too. I posted that in some other thread.

[Gilgamesh37]

Wait wait wait--didn't we just discuss this recently? I thought you were NEVER supposed to put frozen chicken or meat into a crockpot, because it keeps the meat at that dangerous "in between" temp (at which bacteria has a field day) for far too long?

Hmm. Maybe it was on my other food BB. Someone who's a nutritionist and someone else who's a lab scientist both chimed in and said NO (altho, to be fair, there were plenty of people who said they'd been doing it for years and hadn't killed anyone yet). If I can find it I'll post a link or pull the pertinent parts.

[claire797]

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37
Wait wait wait--didn't we just discuss this recently? I thought you were NEVER supposed to put frozen chicken or meat into a crockpot, because it keeps the meat at that dangerous "in between" temp (at which bacteria has a field day) for far too long?

Hmm. Maybe it was on my other food BB. Someone who's a nutritionist and someone else who's a lab scientist both chimed in and said NO (altho, to be fair, there were plenty of people who said they'd been doing it for years and hadn't killed anyone yet). If I can find it I'll post a link or pull the pertinent parts.

I'm still here to tell about it .

Actually. I have a BHG Crockpot Cookbook and it recommends that you use ONLY frozen chicken. Of course, those of you who don't like living on the edge like I do can put thawed chicken in and cook it for a shorter time.

[swquilts]

The folks on the Weight Watchers board do it all the time. Here's another chicken recipe:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I've also used boneless thighs)
1 can of cranberry sauce (I use the chunky one)
1 cup of French or Catalina salad dressing (I use low fat)
1 envelope of onion soup mix

Put chicken into crockpot, mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

(This is kind of a sweet/sour thing, I serve it over steamed rice with a touch of soy sauce)

[Gilgamesh37]

well, I can't find the thread I was thinking of, naturally. Found a lot of info supporting both sides on the web, from crockpot manufacturers (yes, sure!) to the Michigan Food Safety Task Force (no, don't)--but the latter also says never to use a whole chicken either, and I do that frequently. Who knows?

And I'm laughing at myself because altho I'm for some reason really alarmed and diligent about this particular food safety (potential) problem, I love sushi and sashimi, and I still eat raw ground beef! So who the heck do I think I am??!!?

[Jewel]

Claire, what kind of vinegar did you use? Just plain white vinegar or something different? That much vinegar is a scary prospect!

DH isn't a fan of 'sweet meat'. Does the vinegar and pepper cut the sweet?

[Susan]

Originally posted by claire797
Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe!!!! I have been on the lookout for easy crockpot recipes that my family would enjoy and this one looks perfect! Now I need to get some Sprite! I look forward to trying this very soon!

~Susan~

[claire797]

Jewel,

I used apple cider vinegar. The sauce was a bit on the sweet side, but not cloyingly. You could cut the sugar in half if you want and double the garlic if your want it a little less sweet. Or just double the garlic.

Susan,

Have fun making this! You could probably use 7-up too.

Another thing that might kick this recipe up a notch (sorry) is a dash of cracked red pepper. That would make it kind of sweet and spicy.

This recipe really, REALLY smells good while it's cooking. It's a great rainy day Fall type recipe.

[Molli526]

Do you think you can use boneless/ skinless chicken breasts?

[claire797]

Originally posted by Molli526
Do you think you can use boneless/ skinless chicken breasts?

Yes. Just do 4 1/2 or 5 hours on LOW. No longer.

[mjg]

Claire, Did you serve this over rice - or something else?

[Molli526]

Ok, I have this in the crockpot going. I had to sub diet coke for the sprite, all we had and I am drinking one right now I am going to start this on HIGH for an hour and about 3 hours on LOW. ( I know, I started dinner a little late - well, actually, we were going to eat leftovers so better late than never )

My chicken breasts were big and frozen if that makes any difference to you.


Gilgamesh - I have used frozen meat a few times. It gets pretty hot in there so I think it's OK.

[claire797]

I served this over plain white rice. The rice was good for absorbing the sauce.

Molli! You little devil! DIET COKE!!! Yikes. You must let me know how that turns out. I'm a little worried since aspartame breaks down in the heat, but then again, there's so little Diet Coke that maybe that won't happen...and since the heat is low....report back.
It will probably taste good anyway.

[Molli526]

It was all I had I thought it would be ok too since it's only a1/4 of a cup.

I also added some crushed red pepper per your suggestion

[boisewinesnob]

thanks for posting this!
I have the sticky chicken recipe from Simmerdown in the crockpot right now (smells yummy too!). Actually DH put it all together this morning; I just measured out the spices for him
We are trying to get more organized with the boys' sports/practice schedules. We're hoping to have a crockpot recipe going for every day that we have to take them to/from practices or games (about 3 days per week). Hopefully we'll avoid fast food or take-out altogether (we don't eat much of it anyways) and the house smells so good when we come home.....although the poor puppy is probably going crazy with all those tempting smells

[kimmer99]

Thanks for the recipe - like the other mom's out there I'm trying to make better use of my crockpost this year as the kids activities kick into high gear. I'm a little leary about the Sprite though ? Hmm...wonder if any other flavors would be good too....

Hope Molli526 reports back on the diet coke experiment.

[Molli526]

DH and I both liked it, but felt there was something missing. I *don't* think it was the swap of Diet Coke for the Sprite. It just needed a little something to it.

I cooked it on HIGH and it was done in 3 hours, using frozen, boneless, skinless, chicken breasts.

[claire797]

Originally posted by Molli526
DH and I both liked it, but felt there was something missing. I *don't* think it was the swap of Diet Coke for the Sprite. It just needed a little something to it.

I cooked it on HIGH and it was done in 3 hours, using frozen, boneless, skinless, chicken breasts.

Maybe a little hot red pepper...like cayenne or cracked red would have made it better. Or maybe it just tastes better with bone-in chicken. Then again, maybe the Sprite is crucial . Perhaps it undergoes some miraculous chemical change that imbues the finished product with flavor.

How much garlic did you use? I used about 4 tablespoons even though the recipe says 1 to 3.

[Molli526]

I used crushed red pepper and probably 4 cloves of garlic.

I realize now that it probably didn't get the full flavor because I cooked it faster than what it should have been ( HIGH for 3 hours). Had I cooked it on low, there would have been more time for the sauce to flavor the chicken. My fault there, and the more I think about it, why there probably wasn't as much flavor as should have been. I will try this again next week on LOW - 6 hours.

[claire797]

Hmmmmm. 4 cloves of garlic crushed up is probably only about 2 tablespoons at best. Maybe you should use a whole head of garlic? That's what I did. A small head crushed up came to about 4 tablespoons.

Also, I think maybe using bone-in breasts added something to it. I used a couple of really big, bone-in, skinless breasts.

Then again, maybe this type of recipe just isn't your thing . Here's a link to where I found the recipe. It has 35 reviews....most were positive but there were a few negatives mixed in.

http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook...id=16531&path=

[Molli526]

I need to make this again

I didn't realize I didn't have enough garlic.

Ok, next week, I am going to make it correctly.

This sounds like my type of thing.

[Linda in MO]

I think bone-in meats almost always have more flavor and are more tender.

[beckms]

Just wanted to post a review of this YUMMY and EASY recipe!

I made it tonight, and it is indeed very tasty. I served it with mashed potatoes.

My adjustments: after the doubt expressed by others regarding the anounts of vinegar and sugar, I used 1/2 cup cider vinegar and a scant 1 cup of brown sugar. The results were perfect, IMO. I also used 2 breasts and two legs, not frozen, and cooked on low for barely 6 hours.

Very tender and juicy!

[claire797]

Back to the debate about whether or not it's safe to put frozen chicken in the crockpot. I was in Barnes and Noble this weekend looking through a crockpot cookbook and in the beginning of the book they advised NOT to put frozen chicken in the crockpot for safety purposes. This seems weird to me because I have a Better Homes and Garden Crockpot Cookbook that recommends using only frozen chicken breasts. Go figure.

[kimmer99]

Originally posted by claire797
I was in Barnes and Noble this weekend looking through a crockpot cookbook and in the beginning of the book they advised NOT to put frozen chicken in the crockpot for safety purposes. This seems weird to me because I have a Better Homes and Garden Crockpot Cookbook that recommends using only frozen chicken breasts. Go figure.

Could it be the difference between the cut of chicken? Perhaps frozen chicken breasts are safe but not a whole frozen chicken? Any thoughts?

[beckms]

I don't understand why it wouldn't be safe, since the final temperature reached is the same regardless of the starting temp, right? Maybe there's something about incubating bacteria at a certain temperature for too long that is dangerous.

In any case, unless you don't have a microwave, wouldn't it be just as easy (and reassuring) to defrost the bird in the microwave prior to putting it in the crockpot? Then you wouldn't have to worry!

[amandacarlson24]

SOunds delicious....am making tomorrow. But I am vey leary as well about adding POP to food???!!! Yucky. I will just leave out. Thanks for the idea...I am alwys looking for crock pot recipes that are tasty.

[Hoosier65]

We had this last night and both DH and I thought it was very good. I used skinless chicken thighes and 7up instead of Sprite. It was done on medium after 4-5 hours. A repeater for sure.