Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Noodles Recipe

Name: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Noodles
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 190 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1/3 cup honey; 1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce; 6 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 3 tablespoons); 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce or soy sauce; 2 tablespoons oyster sauce; 1 tablespoon Sriracha chile sauce; 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (from 1 [2-inch] piece); 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs); 2 tablespoons tap water; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 16 ounces fresh lo mein noodles, cooked according to package directions; 3 large (1/2-ounce each) scallions, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup), plus more for garnish; White sesame seeds

Cook Time: 180 minutes

Umami noodles that cook themselves? Yes, please! This slow cooker recipe transforms tender chicken thighs into a sweet and savory masterpiece. Toss in soft lo mein noodles, and you get a comforting bowl full of rich flavors that everyone will love. The beauty of this recipe is that despite its layered tastes, its effortless to make.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chile sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
16 ounces fresh lo mein noodles, cooked according to package directions
3 large scallions, thinly sliced, plus extra for garnish
White sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions

Prepare all ingredients so everything is ready to go.
In a 6-quart slow cooker, combine honey, low-sodium soy sauce, garlic, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, Sriracha, Shaoxing wine, ginger, sesame oil, and salt. Stir well until fully mixed.
Add the chicken thighs in a single layer, coating them with the sauce. Cover the slow cooker and cook until chicken is tender, approximately 3 hours on HIGH or 5 hours on LOW.
While the chicken cooks, mix the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth.
Once the chicken is done, transfer it to a cutting board and shred with two forks.
With the slow cooker on HIGH, stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook for about 30 seconds until slightly thickened. Turn off the slow cooker.
Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker, add the cooked noodles and sliced scallions, and toss everything to coat evenly with the sauce.
Serve the noodle mixture in six bowls and garnish with extra scallions and a sprinkle of white sesame seeds.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

Calories: 410
Total Fat: 15g (19% DV)
Saturated Fat: 4g (18% DV)
Cholesterol: 138mg (46% DV)
Sodium: 1746mg (76% DV)
Total Carbohydrate: 38g (14% DV)
Dietary Fiber: 3g (10% DV)
Total Sugars: 19g
Protein: 34g (68% DV)
Vitamin C: 9mg (10% DV)
Calcium: 109mg (8% DV)
Iron: 3mg (19% DV)
Potassium: 592mg (13% DV)

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Noodles Recipe

Origins of the Dish

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Noodles is a modern fusion dish that brings together classic East Asian pantry staples and the convenience of Western slow-cooking traditions. While honeygarlic sauces have roots in Chinese home-style cooking, the adaptation to a slow cooker reflects a contemporary shift toward easy, hands-off meal preparation. This marriage of flavors and technique emerged in North America, where cooks increasingly use slow cookers to recreate restaurant-style noodle bowls at home.

Regional Variations

Across different regions, cooks tweak the recipe to reflect local tastes and available ingredients. In the U.S., versions often lean sweeter and may add vegetables like bell peppers or broccoli. In the U.K., where oyster sauce and Shaoxing wine may be less common in home kitchens, substitutions such as tamari, rice vinegar, or dry sherry are frequent. In parts of Southeast Asia, similar dishes incorporate chili pastes like sambal oelek for extra heat, or use rice noodles to better align with regional preferences. These variations highlight the dishs flexibility and global appeal.

How It Differs from Similar Dishes

Unlike traditional lo mein or stir-fried noodle dishes, this recipe relies entirely on slow cooking, producing exceptionally tender chicken with minimal effort. Instead of the fast, high-heat technique used in wok-based dishes, the slow cooker builds flavor gradually, allowing the honey, soy sauces, ginger, and garlic to meld into a deep, aromatic broth. Another distinction is the shredded texture of the chicken, which more closely resembles pulled poultry dishes than sliced stir-fried meat.

Where It Is Commonly Served

This dish is most often enjoyed as a hearty home-cooked meal rather than a restaurant offering. It frequently appears at family dinners, potlucks, and meal-prep sessions thanks to its high yield and simplicity. In colder seasons, it becomes a comfort-food favorite, offering a warming, savory noodle bowl that requires minimal active cooking time.

Interesting Facts

A key feature of this recipe is its adaptabilityhome cooks routinely adjust sweetness, saltiness, and spice levels to suit personal tastes. The dish also highlights how slow cookers can recreate flavors typically associated with fast-cooking Asian techniques. Another fun detail is that the honeygarlic combination has long been appreciated not only for its flavor but also for the glossy finish it gives chicken. Finally, the recipe has grown popular online because it offers set-and-forget convenience while delivering complex, restaurant-quality depth of taste.

FAQ about Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Noodles Recipe

The chicken should be cooked for about 3 hours on HIGH or 5 hours on LOW until it becomes tender.

Yes, you can use bone-in chicken, but the cooking time might vary slightly. Bone-in chicken may require a longer cooking time to become tender.

If you don't have Shaoxing wine, you can substitute it with dry sherry or rice wine.

Yes, you can adjust the spiciness by adding more Sriracha sauce or using a spicier chili paste of your choice.

Yes, you can substitute lo mein noodles with other types of noodles such as rice noodles, spaghetti, or egg noodles.

To thicken the sauce, mix cornstarch with water in a small bowl until smooth, then stir it into the slow cooker for about 30 seconds on HIGH until the sauce thickens.

Yes, you can add vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, or mushrooms towards the end of cooking to incorporate them into the dish.

The cornstarch mixture helps thicken the sauce, but if you prefer a thinner sauce, you can skip this step.

You can reduce the amount of soy sauce or use a low-sodium version of soy sauce and oyster sauce to reduce the saltiness of the dish.

Yes, you can prepare this recipe ahead of time by placing the ingredients in the slow cooker and refrigerating it overnight. Then, cook it the next day as directed.

Comments

Christine Harvey

10/06/2025 01:52:54 PM

Added 1/4 cup water to crock pot. Also cut all other ingredients, except low sodium soy sauce and honey, in half to give it less "salty" taste. Took suggestion of previous reviewer to add a little less ginger, more garlic. Loved the taste and will make this for my family again!

Joe Davis

08/13/2024 10:40:15 PM

Used ~2lbs of chicken. Could have used even more. Will make again but plan on adding something like shiitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, and maybe broccoli in the last hour.

cantorj2

09/17/2024 05:04:11 PM

Used bone-in chicken thighs and came out great. Next time will make more of the sauce mixture - seemed like there wasn't much to coat the noodles by the time they were added.

Dano

08/31/2024 12:42:49 PM

Wow, amazing flavor and really easy to make. Used 3lbs of chicken thighs so was thinking I needed to double the sauce as others have suggested, but surprisingly there's a good amount of sauce already. The chicken is so tender it falls apart in the soup, so I didn't have to take it out and shred it. Also added sliced mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. Anything you normally find in a lo mein dish works as well.

Linda Marfuggi

08/10/2024 08:13:13 PM

I added peas, carrots and mushrooms to sauce while I was started cooking the noodles. I doubled the sauce. I also increased the honey to 1/2 cup. I didn't have dark soy which I felt was fine based on the too salty comments. I didn't add the salt that the receipe called for either. My husband said it was a keeper.

CraftyLadle3876

02/22/2025 02:29:53 AM

This had a lot of flavor but I felt that it was too sweet and too salty (and that was without adding the salt). I would also reduce the amount of ginger. I added a chopped crown of broccoli for about 10 minutes after removing the chicken to shred, then added the chicken and noodles for another 10 minutes to bring everything up to temp.

jennifer

12/31/2024 07:56:39 AM

I loved it. I didn’t have red wine. I used red wine vinegar and pepper flakes in place of sriracha sauce. It was lovely. I also used cooked spaghetti and allowed it to absorb the sauce. Omitted the oyster sauce.

FunkyPlum9597

12/17/2024 10:32:09 AM

Did double the sauce for leftovers and did not add noodles until plated. Will cook additional noodles for leftover chicken and sauce.

Barbie

08/07/2024 05:12:36 PM

My prior review didn't post so trying again! For fun, my husband likes to rate my dinners on a scale of 1 to 10. I made this for us last night, only change was to add more garlic since we love garlic. Well, my husband gave me my first 10 in 2024! HaHaHa That only took 8 months and this meal to accomplish! Loved it, served with cooked slivered carrots and edamame beans mixed in at the end.

lelee32287

09/19/2024 03:06:51 AM

Great, easy recipe with lots of flavor. I just made a few small changes to accommodate our tastes and the ingredients we had on hand - tamari instead of dark soy sauce, and rice vinegar instead of Shaoxing wine. I also used about 2 pounds of chicken, and it was completely cooked in about 4 hours on low. One suggestion - if you can handle the heat, I recommend that you drizzle a little extra Sriracha sauce over the finished dish. It really brightens up the flavor!

TheBeerDrinker

08/25/2024 03:13:33 AM

Really good. Definitely need to increase the volume of the broth. I also added a can of sliced mushrooms and some frozen peas and carrots.

Daniel Nilssen

05/12/2025 12:01:38 AM

Seemed like the wrong noodles for this recipe and a little more honey wouldn't hurt

Michelle Millan

05/05/2025 03:42:18 PM

My husband really liked this recipe. I used a rice noodle because it was what we had int he cupboard. Followed the recipe as is. No changes were made. Ill do this one again.

linda

04/06/2025 04:58:18 PM

It was delicious. I added sliced carrot celery and red pepper with a few sliced mushrooms for 20 mins before serving. It was so tasty

Sheena

01/10/2025 07:21:25 PM

I added onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Doubled the sauce as I saw was suggested and we love sauces, and added more chicken due to we don't usually use this part of the chicken so used it all. Just over 2 pounds. Didn't want it to be salty so used only low sodium soy sauce, and didnt double the garlic. Used sambar oeler for chili paste. I didn't double that bc I didn't want it to spicy, added more later bc I like spicy. I used Hokkien Stir fry noodles. Microwaved them for 90 seconds and stirred them in the pot. Dad and I like it but the real critic is mom. Dad said definitely make again

HotCow3713

12/10/2024 06:57:59 PM

Almost 1800 ml salt/sodium?????

Dave Baxter

12/09/2024 01:24:25 AM

Loving this recipe. I will make it tomorrow. Most of the recipes on this site from contributors in the US use packet seasonings and canned sauces that we can't get in the UK (or probably anywhere outside the US) but this one is great. The only thing I will change is that I never use low sodium soy sauce. Why add salt in the recipe when using low sodium soy? The umami flavour is partially because of the salt anyway