CrockPot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe

this is how you make chicken teriyaki drummettes in the crockpot slow cooker


Day 97.

Last night my husband took my eldest daughter to the Daddy Daughter Dance held in the school cafeteria.

When my daughter burst through the front door pink-cheeked and out of breath, she yelled, "Mom! They had the best food ever!" 

I was instantly intrigued---what magical feast was served at this $30/pair event?

Teriyaki chicken and white rice.

Dude. That, I can make.


The Ingredients.
these are the ingredients you need to make chicken teriyaki drummettes in the crockpot slow cooker2 pounds chicken pieces. I used frozen wings and drumettes, but you can use whatever body parts you have on hand.

--> if you have bottled teriyaki sauce, you are done. Just make it the lazy way-
-and use about 3/4 of a cup, and then 2 tablespoons water. <--

I wasn't lucky enough to be lazy, because we were out of bottled teriyaki, and I wasn't about to put off cooking "the best food ever."

I used this:

1/2 cup soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free, and so is Tamari Wheat Free)
3 tablepoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cooking or regular sherry (I think tequila would work, too)
3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic


The Directions.

--plop your chicken in the crockpot
--cover it up with the sauce

cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. 

If you are using frozen pieces, it will take longer than if you are using thawed or fresh chicken. 
Different pieces of chicken also have different density, and that will also effect cooking time. If you are going to be out of the house, cook on low. 

You can always switch it to high later.


The Verdict.


The kids gobbled every last drumette and wing I made. They were like savage beasts.

I've now made this a bunch of times, with different chicken parts. If you don't want to mess around with bones, I suggest using chicken thighs. 

Chicken breast just really doesn't have enough fat in it to hold up nicely in the slow cooker unless you decide to shred it completely.


Make as a dinner or as an appetizer -- chicken teriyaki drumettes in the crockpot slow cooker is a great way to cook a bunch of chicken at once. If you don't want to have bones, opt for chicken thighs.

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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at April 06, 2008

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What they say about this article

  1. Fabbo - I do something very similar but with honey instead of brown sugar. Never occurred to me to do it in the crock pot. I do loooove my crock pot, and have a wicked spicy rib recipe I can give you if you fancy it.

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  2. Yes, Kiriel! I'd love it!
    -steph

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  3. Anonymous4/06/2008

    I am a first time visitor. This is such a great idea--I love it. I never knew so much could be made in the Crock Pot. This is going to change my life, I've determined. :-)

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  4. This sounds like something even my kids would eat (YAY!). Thanks for the idea.

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  5. I have this in my crock pot RIGHT NOW! I only had boneless skinless breasts... but I am sure it will still be yummy.

    I keep BOTTLES of Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce in my pantry :) Now I can do more than stir fry! YOU TOTALLY ROCK.

    THANK YOU!

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  6. Really funny, my coworker was describing to me friday how he makes different kinds of marinated chicken in the steamer basket of his rice cooker. this way all the yummyness from the chicken drips down into the rice and I have been craving teriyaki chicken ever since. I will have to try one of the two methods.

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  7. Anonymous4/06/2008

    Yumm! I love wings, I will have to try this recipe. Thanks!

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  8. Anonymous4/06/2008

    Yumm! I love wings, I will have to try this recipe. Thanks!

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  9. Anonymous4/06/2008

    LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog!!!

    How to make your own foolproof teriyaki sauce:

    3/4 cup soy sauce
    3/4 cup sugar
    1/4 cup mirin (Japanese rice wine)
    grated fresh ginger to taste
    pinch of granulated garlic

    Combine all ingredients in a medium size saucepan. Bring to a low boil over medium heat stirring occasionally until sugar is completely dissolved. Watch carefully when the sauce comes to a boil as it can boil over quickly due to the amount of sugar.

    Cool and decant into a bottle. Store in the fridge until ready to use as a sauce or glazing meats. Cooking the sauce is what gives that shiny glaze to meats.

    To die for on baby back ribs!

    Enjoy!

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  10. Anonymous4/06/2008

    Girl! Am I glad I found you! You're going on my Foodie Blogroll :)

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  11. rqdragon, I have read recipes that call for mirin, but wasn't sure what it was. thank you for the input!
    -steph

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  12. Oh my goodness, this sounds incredible. And I just happen to have drummettes in the freezer! I just found your blog by visiting Rocks in my Dryer. I'll be back!

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  13. Just found you from Rocks in my dryer and I hope you don't mind, I referred some friends your way.

    I plan to jump on the bandwagon ...

    Thanks for the inspiration.

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  14. I just found this blog and love it! What a fun idea:) I've been reading off all of the titles of the post to my husband and we've been laughing...

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  15. I'm not sure how I got to your blog...maybe "Rocks in my Dryer"...but I'm EXCSTATIC to find you! I got a crockpot for Christmas in 2006 and have used it MAYBE 10 times. But now I have triplets...there's no better time to start using it, right? Now I have you and your recipes to help me figure it out!!!!

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  16. Um, yeah, I think i love you and I'll be reading your blog every day.

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  17. I love your blog and have linked to you from mine. Thanks for all the crockpotting you are doing!

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  18. Anonymous4/08/2008

    I made this for lunch today. Absolutely delicious!! And oh-so-easy!!~karen (Wisconsin)

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  19. Anonymous4/13/2008

    I made this tonight and it was the best! I used GF La Choy teriyaki on my drumsticks. We had this with brown rice that I also cooked in my other crock pot. Thank you for the tip!!!
    Heather

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  20. Anonymous4/15/2008

    This was great. I inhaled mounds of it last night for dinner and again today for lunch. MMMmmmmmm......

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  21. I made this tonight and it was delicious. =D Thanks!

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  22. I think this would have been fab but sauce was burnt..what did I do wrong?? Oh well I'll try again.

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  23. Another great one. I had someone get up and eat it for breakfast! I used boneless chicken breast and turned it a few times to let the sauce really sink in. It was saturated and yummy!

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  24. you know what I REALLY love? that people post follow ups, and say, I changed it this way...

    thanks to the woman who said honey instead of brown sugar. I just used the last of my brown sugar the other day, and am trying this recipe! I REALLY hope my picky family likes it!

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  25. This is in the crock right now - we're running low on groceries, and had pretty much everything for this recipe.

    I used Brandy we did have instead of the Sherry we didn't, and frozen Chicken and Turkey breasts. For my E, my vegetarian hubby, there's some faux chicken strips marinating in the sauce in the fridge.

    I'll let you know how it turns out!

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  26. Direct quote from my husband:

    "These are the greatest. Make them again and again."

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  27. Anonymous11/09/2008

    I am trying this right now! I loved the verdict! My husband is begging me to make the "candy chicken", but we keep forgetting to get the lemon lime soda and vinegar.

    I did not have sherry, the only thing I had was Southern Comfort *for my SC Cake*, so I used it instead and used half brown sugar and half honey. The sauce looks great and stuck to the chicken as I poured it on! I also added a little pineapple juice from my fruit cup, as I hate wasting it.

    Knowing you love wings, I have a wing recipe for you. The longer it cooks, the darker and stickier the sauce gets.

    This should be enough for 3 lbs of wings...
    the sauce:
    3/4 c soy sauce
    2 tbsp vegetable oil
    1/4 c chili sauce (I use Heinz)
    1/3 c honey/brown sugar or mix
    1/4 c Coca Cola (real, not diet, not pepsi)
    1/2 tsp ginger
    2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

    Mix the sauce and pour it over the chicken in the crock. I'd cook on low til chicken is cooked to desired tenderness. Slow and low ;)

    I usually bake it in the oven for 350 for an hour and then at 200 for another hour, turning every twenty minutes, but I am going to make it in the crockpot next time. I am sure you don't have to keep turning it while it's in there!

    Thanks again for all the great recipes!

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  28. Anonymous11/29/2008

    I made this today and the family loved it! Thanks for the great recipe.

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  29. I love your blog! I wish I had discovered it early in the year too. I made this recipe yesterday, it was great! I also used some mirin too to add to the flavor. Thanks!

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  30. Can you use something in place of the alcohol or can it be left out?

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  31. Hi Amanda,
    I think you could safely leave it out, although if you happen to have apple juice or white grape in the house, those would swap in nicely.
    xox
    steph

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  32. I think I am becoming a blog stalker ;) I love your blog and am so grateful that you have all these cool recipes for us all to try! Also, thanks so much for the VERDICT part - I have 4 kids and this is very important to me too!

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  33. Ok, so (as with most recipes I find when I'm just looking for something to make) I changed a couple of things. First, I used a giant package of legs I had in the freezer (barely fit in my 5? qt.), thawed just enouh to unstick them from each other and take off the skin. I doubled the sauce, used half honey, half brown sugar, and subbed dry white wine and rice wine vinegar for the sherry. I think I also added an extra garlic clove to finish off the bulb I had.

    The verdict? The sauce is really good, but the legs made this really greasy. I think next time I'll make it with boneless skinless breasts, or at least wings. I also ended up with a TON of liquid (probably because it was frozen), and it's a bit over-cooked because I over compensated for it being frozen. Since I made a whole bunch of this, I'll probably be using the leftovers in stir-fries for a while, and maybe some fried rice. Since it is greasy, I figure I can get a really rich taste out of it without too much added oil.

    Overall, your recipe is good, my subs were not, lol.

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  34. Anonymous8/26/2010

    This is going to be my scheme for tomorrow night! I even have some edamame I keep forgetting about in the fridge, so that'll make a nice appetizer. One note for people who are as cheap as I am - you can mix up your own brown sugar by combining the same (or nearly) amount of white sugar with molasses. It takes maybe a minute to stir it all together, and it's cheaper than buying brown sugar - and no worries about clumping!

    No sherry, but I do have tequila and some other exciting liquors, so I'll definitely figure something out!

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  35. Frau_B9/09/2010

    It was really really good, but why in your picture do they look nice and sticky, like the sauce is nicely coating the meat, sort of stuck to them a bit, but mine was just chicken wings floating in some brown sauce, and when I lifted them out, they were just wings, without sauce :( What have I done wrong? I want sticky wings like yours!

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  36. Frau_B - maybe it was the type of teriyaki sauce you were using? I am making this recipe now with chicken breasts and my La Choy sauce was thicker than the Kikkoman brand I also had in the fridge (Kikkoman was much thinner; hopefully this isn't because my La Choy was past expiration or something, haha). In this recipe Stephanie said she had to make her own teriyaki, and it's possible that the combo of the ingredients (especially the brown sugar) made it thicker/stickier. Also if you used frozen chicken, that will create more water as they cook and thin out the sauce. Hope one of these ideas helps!

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  37. am with my daughter for 6 days .grandchildren are always helpful .especially 8 year old sophia who will let me use her computer and very happy when i use it.this teriyaky recipe is so good and easy.i will make it today for lunch .she will love it.

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  38. Anonymous4/13/2011

    You rock. That's all. :)

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  39. I love your blog! I found it after my first child was born and I was still working, it was the only way we got to eat. Now I am 8 months pregnant with our second child ( In July no less) and all my daily stuff that doesn't get done by noon, doesn't get done. The crock-pot is again a lifesaver! Thanks for all the great recipes, this Teriyaki is dinner tonight!

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  40. JN Tan8/11/2011

    Dear Stephanie,
    Thanks for this recipe. Tried it. But the chicken (it was already defrosted when I put it in) turned out to be swimmming in its soup of its own juices and the teriyaki sauce. It also didnt get that nice brown colour yours has.

    I had to thicken the sauce by adding corn starch and cooking it in a little wok on the stove.

    Please advise? Thank you

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  41. I did this this morning without trying it. I have faith that this will be great. I had some drummettes in the freezer so I was pretty excited. I added a small chunk of ginger and a half teaspoon of sesame oil but I believe it will be fantastic. Thanks for the great ideas !

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  42. Just thought I'd add my piece!! - I am in England and got hold of a bottle of Soy Vay teriyaki sauce - so - I got a whole small chicken, marinated it in the sauce overnight then the next morning sliced a couple of onions, laid them on the bottom of the crockpot then put the whole chicken breast side down on top of the onions and poured over the marinade. All I can say is - yummy! Lifted out the chicken after 8 hours on low, the meat just fell away from the bones and was delicious served over noodles with some of the sauce poured over - mmmmm!

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  43. Sorry for repost, I first chose "anonymous."

    Anyway, I made this today with frozen thighs from Costco. When I get home from work, I plan on throwing in some frozen broccoli and edamame. Thanks

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  44. I made this tonight, subbing in a couple of duck sauce packets for the brown sugar and adding a healthy squirt of sriracha. The wings tasted amazingly delicious! Thanks for providing a great database of slow cooker recipes.

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  45. do you think splenda would work? instead of sugar....my diabetic hubby loves teriyaki chk

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  46. Hi Bliss, I haven't tried it personally with Splenda, but I have gotten emails from readers who have and they enjoyed it! I'm not sure conversion rate -- hopefully you know that information due to your use at home. enjoy!!

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  47. Anonymous7/10/2015

    I'm wondering what the texture of the skin is like when the wings are done? I like the idea of this, but have only made chicken in the crock pot with skin on once and the skin was slimy and gross. I am not de-skinning wings, and I would like to use wings. Any feedback? Stephanie?

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  48. Hi Anon, great question. The wings certainly aren't crispy, but they aren't overly soggy the way you might imagine.
    There isn't all that much cooking liquid added and while the skin doesn't really crisp up, it doesn't separate and fall off the way a whole chicken or skin-on thighs would.

    I hope this helps a bit!!

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  49. In your chicken teriyaki recipe, can I leave out the sherry or tequila? I just don't want to buy a bottle for just 1 tablespoon. Or is there a substitute?
    Thanks for the great website.

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  50. Hi Sharona, great question. Yes, you can use apple juice if you have it on hand, or even a tiny bit of sugar mixed with water would work.

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  51. OK apple juice it is. I may even get braver and use some apple cider vinegar. I'll be making it tomorrow and report back which I used and whether it was good or not.
    Thanks again.

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  52. Good Stephanie.I made my teriyaki sauce per your ingredients listed. It didn't completely cover the chicken...is that ok?will the chicken still cook ok?

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  53. Hi Alisa, yes, the chicken will cook just fine.
    If you'd like, you ca make another bit of sauce for dipping to serve at the table.
    But the chicken will cook well without needing to be covered.

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