Name: Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 485 min
Ingredients: 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ((mine were frozen)); 1 cup BBQ Sauce; 1 cup apricot preserves; 1 (1 ounce) packet dry onion soup mix; 2 Tablespoon water

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We are in the final phases of planning our annual Build Your Blog Conference that is happening in less than a month, so things are HAIRY around here! We have over 400 bloggers coming to our conference in Salt Lake City and we are busy wrapping up the final details . . . it’s going to be an amazing conference!
However, amid all the chaos of planning a huge conference, dinners have to be quick and simple or they just don’t happen. I have been using my slow cooker almost every night and the less complicated and the fewer ingredients a recipe uses, the more I love it!

My cute mother-in-law shared this recipe with me from a neighborhood cookbook that her friends had put together. The version she gave me was to bake it in the oven, but I didn’t have time to keep basting the chicken, so I thought I would just dump it in my slow cooker- BEST DECISION EVER! I have seen similar recipes floating around, but this version was definitely a hit in our family! I even cut up the leftover chicken the next day and threw it on top of a salad- it was delicious.

So, do yourself a favor and let your slow cooker do all the cooking for you. This dish couldn’t be any easier!

Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken Recipe

Do yourself a favor and let your slow cooker do all the cooking for you. This dish couldn't be any easier!

5 people

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 8

Total Time 8 5

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Ingredients

▢ 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (mine were frozen)
▢ 1 cup BBQ Sauce
▢ 1 cup apricot preserves
▢ 1 (1 ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
▢ 2 Tablespoon water

Equipment

Slow Cooker

Instructions

Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
Place chicken breasts in slow cooker and pour bbq sauce and preserves over top.
Sprinkle the dry soup mix over the top, add the water and cover with the lid.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours (a little less if your chicken is not frozen).
You can serve this over rice if you would like to.

Notes

To make into a Freezer Meal:

Place chicken in resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Pour the BBQ sauce, jam, soup mix and water on top of the chicken. Mix together in bag and zip closed.

When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

You can serve this over rice or just on your plate.

Nutrition

Calories: 342 kcal · Carbohydrates: 54 g · Protein: 25 g · Fat: 3 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Trans Fat: 0.01 g · Cholesterol: 72 mg · Sodium: 756 mg · Potassium: 589 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 40 g · Vitamin A: 259 IU · Vitamin C: 6 mg · Calcium: 34 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Cuisine: American

Course: Main Course

Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.

Try our Instant Pot Sticky Chicken Recipe HERE!

Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken

Looking for other yummy slow cooker dishes?
Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas
Slow Cooker Bajio Chicken
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Our cookbook makes a wonderful gift (and it’s priced right at less than $18!) . . . you can check it out HERE.

Questions & Reviews

ann t says:

I’ve been making this same recipe for years, except I use Russian/Catalina dressing instead of bbq sauce. We always called it sweet and sour chicken! I’m excited to try it with the bbq sauce!

Cat says:

What do you do with the 2 tablespoons water?

Renae says:

I had all of the ingredients so immediately got up from my desk and put them in the crockpot. I didn’t have quite enough jam so I’ll hit the store later but for now, dinner will be ready at 6! 🙂 Thank you! I hope we love this!!

MegT says:

I look forward to trying this recipe this week!

Lauren says:

LOVE slow cooker recipes for those crazy days! Not sure if I’ll have leftovers with my hungry family, but on a salad is a great idea I hope I can try 😉

Sinea Pies says:

This looks SOOOO good. Going on this week’s menu!
Blessings,
Sinea
Ducks ?n a Row

Dianajo says:

Can this be done as a freezer meal?

Jeanie says:

Should the barbecue sauce and preserves be mixed together before being put in the slow cooker? Thanks.

Cyd says:

We have done it both ways. It’s easier to mix them together in a bowl and then pour it over the chicken. Hope this helps! 🙂

Michelle says:

Can you use any other flavor preserve? I’m not a fan of apricot.

Cyd says:

You could use a different flavor, but you would want to make sure it went well with chicken!

Kris says:

I’m going to try it as one… I will let you know!

Dana says:

Is this a kid favorite? 3 picky kids in my house, but they will all eat chicken. Hubby and I are getting sick of the same ol’ chicken dishes and would like to try something new. Also, ever tried those slow-cooker liners? Just wondering if they work…I’d like to cut down the scrubbing time on my crock.

Cyd says:

Slow cooker liners will become your best friend! Our kids are picky and they like the sticky chicken. We have a lot of kid friendly chicken recipes. On the front page of our website click on recipe index. You can then click on chicken or kid approved recipes. Hope this helps!

Sharyl D. Connor says:

Can you use other chicken parts (legs, thighs and breast).

God Blessed!

Daun says:

I live overseas and have not found dry onion soup here. Can I make it without the soup? Or is there anything I could sub the soup with..

Thanks

Cyd says:

Here is a homemade substitute for dry onion soup mix. Just mix the following ingredients together:
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons low-sodium beef bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Cassandra says:

I don’t really like onion, is there another dry mix type thing you think would work in it’s place?

Heather says:

I really wanted to love this because it was such a simple recipe but I just didn’t enjoy it. I actually threw out three of the pieces because I didn’t want to eat it again tomorrow 🙁 So sad

Erin says:

The only BBQ Sauce that I have on hand is Hoisin, do you think this would work just as well?

Cyd says:

BBQ sauce and Hoisin don’t have quite the same taste! So the taste would be different with the Hoisin.

Linda says:

I was so looking forward to trying this recipe – the picture looked amazing. But I tried it with thighs because that was all I had and it was a runny, soupy mess. Not sticky at all. I am going to try it again this weekend with the boneless, skinless breasts and see if it works better. My husband and I both tasted the sauce before adding it to the chicken and thought it was wonderful. So disappointed. 🙁 Do you think my problem was just in using the thighs?

Cyd says:

Hi Linda, Not sure what could have gone wrong. Perhaps the thighs give off more grease and made it runnier. Not sure! 🙁

Lynise says:

I was disappointed in this recipe. It smelt really good in the crockpot all day but it just didn’t do it for me. I served it over rice…but something is missing… not quite sure what but I won’t be making this again.

Jessica S says:

I made 2 batches of this for freezer meals. I made the first bag last night. I will admit I was a little hesitant with the apricot, bbq sauce and onion soup combo and it smelled a little strange while cooking. However, it turned out great. My husband loved this recipe very much. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts because I like the extra flavor from the dark meat. This is definitely something I would make again. We served this over mashed potatoes with a side salad for an easy and satisfying meal. It served 2 adults, 1 kid and made for 2 giant lunch portions for my husband and I.

Thanks for this great recipe!

Janiece Pfeiffer says:

When I tried it it did not come out a soupy mess, but it was very liquidy. It was not sticky, as most of the sauce had run off the chicken.
I used one boneless skinless chicken breast with 2 thighs and 2 drumsticks. It still tasted good. I served it over rice . I thickened the sauce by turning the crock pot to high, stirring in a paste of corn starch and water and letting it cook until it had thickened. Next time I will leave out the water, or maybe just cook it in the oven.

Julie says:

I made this with a some hot bbq sauce and i ended up using orange marmelade ( cause it was what I had left after making two of these to stock the freezer). oh my it was soooo good. i added steamed broccoli and rice after cooking and it was fantastic. leftovers for lunch two days later and it was still so good and everyone was smelling it and wanting the recipe.
Awesome recipe

Betsy says:

I am diabetic the carbs. protein,fats etc.would be helpful when making this.

LARRY says:

WONT LET ME PRINT

Cyd says:

Scroll down to the square with the recipe ingredients and directions. At the bottom right side of the square it says Print Recipe. Click that and it will work. I just tried it with no problems. Hope this helps!

Stephanie Smith says:

Do you think that you could make this in the instant pot? I forgot to put it in this morning and wondering if I could throw it in that way instead?

Cyd says:

Here is the link to a post we did on converting recipes to the Instant Pot. https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/how-to-convert-recipes-into-instant-pot-recipes/

Kathy says:

I really liked this recipe and the simple and quick prep. I only used 3 thawed chicken breasts and it was great with all of the sauce. I cooked it for 5.5 hours on low then 30 minutes on high, trying to reduce the sauce to make it sticky. It wasn’t all that sticky but had a great sauce.

Join The Discussion

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ann t says:

I’ve been making this same recipe for years, except I use Russian/Catalina dressing instead of bbq sauce. We always called it sweet and sour chicken! I’m excited to try it with the bbq sauce!
Cat says:

What do you do with the 2 tablespoons water?
Renae says:

I had all of the ingredients so immediately got up from my desk and put them in the crockpot. I didn’t have quite enough jam so I’ll hit the store later but for now, dinner will be ready at 6! 🙂 Thank you! I hope we love this!!
MegT says:

I look forward to trying this recipe this week!
Lauren says:

LOVE slow cooker recipes for those crazy days! Not sure if I’ll have leftovers with my hungry family, but on a salad is a great idea I hope I can try 😉
Sinea Pies says:

This looks SOOOO good. Going on this week’s menu!
Blessings,
Sinea
Ducks ?n a Row
Dianajo says:

Can this be done as a freezer meal?
Jeanie says:

Should the barbecue sauce and preserves be mixed together before being put in the slow cooker? Thanks.
Cyd says:

We have done it both ways. It’s easier to mix them together in a bowl and then pour it over the chicken. Hope this helps! 🙂
Michelle says:

Can you use any other flavor preserve? I’m not a fan of apricot.
Cyd says:

You could use a different flavor, but you would want to make sure it went well with chicken!
Kris says:

I’m going to try it as one… I will let you know!
Dana says:

Is this a kid favorite? 3 picky kids in my house, but they will all eat chicken. Hubby and I are getting sick of the same ol’ chicken dishes and would like to try something new. Also, ever tried those slow-cooker liners? Just wondering if they work…I’d like to cut down the scrubbing time on my crock.
Cyd says:

Slow cooker liners will become your best friend! Our kids are picky and they like the sticky chicken. We have a lot of kid friendly chicken recipes. On the front page of our website click on recipe index. You can then click on chicken or kid approved recipes. Hope this helps!
Sharyl D. Connor says:

Can you use other chicken parts (legs, thighs and breast).

God Blessed!
Daun says:

I live overseas and have not found dry onion soup here. Can I make it without the soup? Or is there anything I could sub the soup with..

Thanks
Cyd says:

Here is a homemade substitute for dry onion soup mix. Just mix the following ingredients together:
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons low-sodium beef bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Cassandra says:

I don’t really like onion, is there another dry mix type thing you think would work in it’s place?
Heather says:

I really wanted to love this because it was such a simple recipe but I just didn’t enjoy it. I actually threw out three of the pieces because I didn’t want to eat it again tomorrow 🙁 So sad
Erin says:

The only BBQ Sauce that I have on hand is Hoisin, do you think this would work just as well?
Cyd says:

BBQ sauce and Hoisin don’t have quite the same taste! So the taste would be different with the Hoisin.
Linda says:

I was so looking forward to trying this recipe – the picture looked amazing. But I tried it with thighs because that was all I had and it was a runny, soupy mess. Not sticky at all. I am going to try it again this weekend with the boneless, skinless breasts and see if it works better. My husband and I both tasted the sauce before adding it to the chicken and thought it was wonderful. So disappointed. 🙁 Do you think my problem was just in using the thighs?
Cyd says:

Hi Linda, Not sure what could have gone wrong. Perhaps the thighs give off more grease and made it runnier. Not sure! 🙁
Lynise says:

I was disappointed in this recipe. It smelt really good in the crockpot all day but it just didn’t do it for me. I served it over rice…but something is missing… not quite sure what but I won’t be making this again.
Jessica S says:

I made 2 batches of this for freezer meals. I made the first bag last night. I will admit I was a little hesitant with the apricot, bbq sauce and onion soup combo and it smelled a little strange while cooking. However, it turned out great. My husband loved this recipe very much. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts because I like the extra flavor from the dark meat. This is definitely something I would make again. We served this over mashed potatoes with a side salad for an easy and satisfying meal. It served 2 adults, 1 kid and made for 2 giant lunch portions for my husband and I.

Thanks for this great recipe!
Janiece Pfeiffer says:

When I tried it it did not come out a soupy mess, but it was very liquidy. It was not sticky, as most of the sauce had run off the chicken.
I used one boneless skinless chicken breast with 2 thighs and 2 drumsticks. It still tasted good. I served it over rice . I thickened the sauce by turning the crock pot to high, stirring in a paste of corn starch and water and letting it cook until it had thickened. Next time I will leave out the water, or maybe just cook it in the oven.
Julie says:

I made this with a some hot bbq sauce and i ended up using orange marmelade ( cause it was what I had left after making two of these to stock the freezer). oh my it was soooo good. i added steamed broccoli and rice after cooking and it was fantastic. leftovers for lunch two days later and it was still so good and everyone was smelling it and wanting the recipe.
Awesome recipe
Betsy says:

I am diabetic the carbs. protein,fats etc.would be helpful when making this.
LARRY says:

WONT LET ME PRINT
Cyd says:

Scroll down to the square with the recipe ingredients and directions. At the bottom right side of the square it says Print Recipe. Click that and it will work. I just tried it with no problems. Hope this helps!
Stephanie Smith says:

Do you think that you could make this in the instant pot? I forgot to put it in this morning and wondering if I could throw it in that way instead?
Cyd says:

Here is the link to a post we did on converting recipes to the Instant Pot. https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/how-to-convert-recipes-into-instant-pot-recipes/
Kathy says:

I really liked this recipe and the simple and quick prep. I only used 3 thawed chicken breasts and it was great with all of the sauce. I cooked it for 5.5 hours on low then 30 minutes on high, trying to reduce the sauce to make it sticky. It wasn’t all that sticky but had a great sauce.