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This Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Chicken recipe is a must-try if you’re looking to bring a classic Korean dish to your dinner table. A homemade sauce smothers chicken breasts and slow-cooked to fork-tender perfection to create a meal the whole family is sure to love.
If you love the flavors in this dish, also try my slow cooker teriyaki chicken, slow cooker chicken and broccoli, or slow cooker sweet and sour chicken.
Table of Contents
You can make a big batch of Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Chicken for your family! We love takeout-inspired meals like this, so we have a meal to look forward to after a long workday (or long school day!).
This barbecue sauce has a distinctive flavor that’s not like any other. The sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy taste comes from the combination of sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, tamari soy sauce, and a host of seasonings like red pepper flakes, turmeric, and black pepper. Also classic to this dish are garlic, ginger, and shallot—all of which add a unique pop in flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts: You’ll only need about 2 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breasts to yield plenty of servings.
- Chicken Broth: Helps enhance the flavor and cook the chicken to shred-ready perfection.
- Seasonings: Freshly crushed garlic cloves, chopped ginger, chopped green onions, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Barbecue Sauce: Tamari soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, hoisin, light brown sugar, honey, rice wine, sesame oil, minced ginger, turmeric, coarse black pepper, red pepper flakes, and cornstarch + water to create a slurry.
- (The full recipe is in the recipe card below the photos).
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Pat chicken dry and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place into the slow cooker with garlic, ginger, and green onions.
Step Two – Pour chicken broth into the slow cooker and cover.
Step Three – Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours, or LOW for 6 hours.
Step Four – Once cooking time is up, shred the chicken and drain any excess liquid. Add chicken back to the slow cooker.
Step Five – Prepare the sauce. In a medium mixing bowl combine soy sauce, chili sauce, hoisin, brown sugar, honey, rice wine, sesame oil, minced ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Whisk well.
Step Six – In a separate small bowl or ramekin, whisk together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry.
Step Seven – Add slurry to the sauce and whisk.
Step Eight – Pour sauce into the slow cooker with the chicken and toss to coat.
Step Nine – Cover and cook for 30 more minutes on HIGH. Serve and enjoy!
How to Serve
- Serve with Jasmine rice and garnish with toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onions, sliced shallots, and sliced carrots.
- You can also use this Korean bbq mixture to create a delicious lettuce wrap.
- This dish can also be used to make sliders, chicken bowls, or delicious Korean bbq tacos.
- As for sides, it pairs nicely with steamed broccoli and egg rolls.
Recipe FAQs
You can cut back on the amount of red pepper flakes or omit them.
Store any remaining bbq chicken in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed throughout.
Yes! This delicious recipe gets better in flavor over time (in my opinion).
More Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Recipes:
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Wings
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken and Ranch Potatoes
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
- Slow Cooker Root Beer Chicken
Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ Tbsp. chopped ginger
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- pinch of salt and pepper
Korean BBQ Sauce:
- ¼ cup Tamari soy sauce
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 Tbsp. hoisin
- 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar, (or rice vinegar)
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- ½ Tbsp. minced ginger
- 1 tsp. tumeric
- ½ tsp. coarse black pepper
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch + 1 tbsp water, slurry
Garnish:
- Sesame seeds
- Baby carrots thinly sliced
- Shallots, thinly sliced
- Green onions
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place into the slow cooker with garlic, ginger, and green onions.
- Pour chicken broth into the slow cooker and cover. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 5 hours.
- Once time is up, shred the chicken and drain any excess liquid. Add chicken back to the slow cooker,
- Prepare the sauce. In a medium mixing bowl combine soy sauce, chili sauce, hoisin, brown sugar, honey, rice wine, sesame oil, minced ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Whisk well.
- In a separate small bowl or ramekin, whisk together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Add slurry to the sauce and whisk. Pour sauce into the slow cooker with the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and cook for 30 more minutes on high.
- Serve with rice and garnish with sesame seeds, chopped green onions, sliced shallots, and sliced carrots. Enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
- Omit the red pepper flakes for a less spicy dish.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs can be used instead of chicken breasts.
- Regular soy sauce is fine if you do not have tamari.
- Other serving ideas are to serve the shredded chicken on slider buns or in lettuce wraps.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
We love Korean BBQ and the taste was just like dishes we’ve had at our favorite restaurant with far less calories! It’s a great spicy Weight Watchers dish over jasmine rice. Just didn’t add the green onions (market didn’t have them). Next time I won’t drain the little bit of juices left from the initial cooking-had to add some broth back because it was a bit dry after the sauce was added to the chicken. I have loved many recipes from your site! Will continue to scan through recipes to find ones I can use on our weight loss journey.
Sounds great! Typo in detailed instructions #5- change poison to hoisin! I always look forward to making your recipes!
Thank you! I fixed this, but it didn’t stick. I appreciate this.
Did you forget to mention noodles? I see noodles in the pictures.
There are no noodles in the photos, I apologize for the confusion.
Sounds good but WAY too many ingredients.