44 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Sweet Chili Chicken is slow-cooked until tender and coated in a creamy, tangy sauce with just the right amount of heat. Tastes great over rice for an Asian inpired dinner.
Featured Comment
"I made this tonight and it was delicious! I added minced garlic and 2 tbsp of soy sauce and served over lo mein noodles!"
- Stephanie
We love sweet chili sauce in our house; the kind you dip crab rangoons in, not the super spicy Thai version. Paired with the other ingredients in this recipe, it’s the perfect combo.
A pizza from a local shop in my town inspired this sweet chili chicken. It has a cream cheese base, tender chicken, and a drizzle of sweet chili sauce with green onions on top—this recipe brings those same flavors to the crockpot. I hope you enjoy my latest creation.
Key Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breasts: Absorbs the creamy sweet sauce and shreds well.
Sweet chili sauce: This is the sweeter version, like the kinds used for asian dipping sauces. I use the Panda Express brand.
Ranch seasoning: Adds all the seasonings this meal needs, doesn't seem like an asian seasoning, but it gives lots of onion and garlic flavor.
Cream cheese: Makes the sauce rich and smooth. Cream cheese is a magic ingredient to add flavor and creaminess to many slow cooker recipes. You can also find cream cheese in Slow Cooker Crack Chicken, Crockpot Fiesta Chicken, and Artichoke Mushroom Chicken.
Green onions: Add a little crunch and flavor to each bite, don't skip this.
How to Make Sweet Chili Chicken
This super-easy meal comes together in the crockpot in minutes and only takes a few hours to perfection.
- Put the raw chicken into the slow cooker.
- Add the ranch mix over the chicken.
- Drizzle over the sweet chili sauce.
- Place the cream cheese on top and cook until the chicken is ultra tender and shred.
Cook's Notes and Variations
Added Vegetables: One of the most popular variations is to add onion, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, and pineapple chunks.
Chicken Thighs: A meat variation idea is to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Make into a freezer meal: Add all ingredients into a freezer-proof Ziploc bag and try to remove as much air as possible. Freeze it flat for up to 3 months. When you're ready to cook it, allow it to defrost, add it to your crockpot and cook according to the directions
How to Serve Sweet Chili Chicken
Toppings: Besides sliced green onion, try cilantro and/or toasted sesame seeds. Adding toppings like this to slow cooker meals makes all the difference in flavor and texture.
Sides: This sweet chili chicken recipe pairs perfectly with steamed white rice or chow mein noodles. Add a stir-fry vegetable to round out the meal.
Is Sweet Chili Sauce Hot?
The sweet chili sauce we use is sweeter than spicy. There is a slight hint of heat, but if paired with other ingredients, it usually is tamed down very well.
More slow cooker Asian chicken recipes
Try bold and flavorful meals like Korean BBQ Chicken or Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken, both packed with sweet and savory depth.
For something rich and nutty, Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is a creamy favorite. Craving takeout at home?
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken and Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken hit the spot. Or go with Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo for a tangy, slow-simmered classic.
If you tried this Sweet Chili Chicken recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Happy Slow Cooking!
How to Video
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 oz. packet ranch dressing mix
- 20.75 oz. sweet chili sauce, (about 2.5 cups, I use Panda Express Brand)
- 8 oz. cream cheese, Philidelphia brand melts best
- sliced green onions for serving
Instructions
- Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle over the ranch dressing mix.
- Pour over the sweet chili sauce.
- Place the block of cream cheese on top of the chicken.
- Cook on LOW for 4.5 hours or HIGH for 3.5 hours.
- Shred the chicken with two forks and stir the cooked cream cheese into the sauce and chicken. Serve with rice topped with green onions with a green veggie if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Tasted really weird, threw the whole thing away sorry but this isn’t the one
Do you think this recipe could be done in an instant pot?
I don’t see why not!
Can I use frozen chicken
This turned out amazing! I used Trader Joe’s sweet chili sauce but I think Frank’s Red Hot would have been my first choice if I had it on hand. Added a little bit of garlic to the ranch dressing mix. I knew I would be making this again before it was even done! Served over cauliflower rice.
Worst decision of my life would rather eat canned tuna fish. Avoid this
I will make this again using regular Chile sauce- the sweet was way too sweet for my husband and myself. I didn’t have green onions so used carrots and broccoli instead which gave it good color. Hopefully using the regular chili sauce will work.
We love this recipe, and will be adding it into our regular rotation of meals. I used the Panda Express Sweet Chili Sauce, and it was great! As well as being surprisingly pretty clean with the ingredients. I had never tried it before, so I was expecting it to start out with having high fructose corn syrup, but refreshingly, it does not contain any. We had plenty of leftovers, since it was two adults, and a small child eating. We made pulled chicken sandwiches out of the leftover topped with pepper jack cheese, and they were outstanding! Thank you!
I doubled the recipe. Worse mistake ever. It turned into soup. Even after all the meat was shredded. It smelled good.
Can you use a low fat cream cheese to cut back on calories?
Yes, low fat will work fine.
Can I replace the cream cheese with green yogurt?
When I use greek yogurt in hot recipes it turns to water, so it’s not the best idea.
At the risk of sounding stupid, lol, is sweet chili sauce spicy? I have zero tolerance for hot/spicy foods but this sounds so good, I’d love to try it!
It can be a little spicy! You could try sweet and sour sauce instead.
A little spicy!! It’s super spicy. Way too spicy to enjoy. Probably a half cup of the sweet chilli sauce would be better. And I love spicy food.