Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken

4.75 from 4 votes

There's nothing like the sweet and tangy flavor profile of honey and mustard.

Clean, healthy ingredients combine to create one seriously tasty meal.

Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken combines simple ingredients: chicken, mustard, honey, and some fresh rosemary. This light and lean chicken dish uses ingredients most of us have on hand, and it hits a home run for every player on your team. Because it’s low in calories but high in protein, there’s no doubt you’ll turn to this easy meal after a difficult day. There’s nothing like the sweet and tangy flavor profile of honey and mustard. Undoubtedly, the marriage of this unlikely duo will wake up your taste buds and leave you wanting more. 

Wonderful Honey Mustard

Honey mustard is by far the most important ingredient in this delicious chicken dish!
Photo Credit: Arianna Negri

Whoever decided to sweeten the bitingly-hot taste of mustard with the smooth sweetness of honey was most certainly a genius. Unsurprisingly, the first recipe for honey mustard sauce was published in the fourth century. The Romans used this recipe to glaze wild boar. In view of this combination‘s ancient history, it’s not surprising to learn that a chef named Dan Ryan popularized the classic flavor combination as a salad dressing in the 1970s. It took off immediately in the U.S., and it became the base for our light and lean chicken dish.

A Juicy Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken

This slow cooker honey mustard chicken is tangy, sweet, and absolutely delightful!
Photo Credit: Arianna Negri

Above all, the slow cooker definitely has your back when it comes to preparing juicy chicken with honey and mustard. We adore this light and lean chicken dish, appreciating its low-calorie yet protein-rich goodness. As a result of rosemary’s chic status in restaurants everywhere, the days of parsley garnishing our plates are over. 

If rosemary doesn’t grow as a shrub in your neighborhood or doesn’t even make it into your weekly shop, never fear! Equally great (or close to) are the dried or powdered forms of rosemary. A tablespoon of dried rosemary works well here. However, concentrated rosemary in its powdered form can quickly overpower a dish with its strong flavor. Use a teaspoon and a half if that’s all you have, or just forego it. The mustard and honey are enough to deliver great taste. Throw all the ingredients together in the slow cooker and bring on the magic! Everyone will love its lightly sweet and incredible taste.

Choose Bone-In Skinless Thighs

Our slow cooker honey mustard chicken is bound to become a new family favorite!
Photo Credit: Arianna Negri

We chose bone-in, skinless chicken thighs for four reasons. For starters, chicken skin is full of bad fat, so we remove it to make the dish healthier. Secondly, leaving the bone in helps to impart all the good nutrients and savory flavor bone marrow offers. Thirdly, keeping the bone in means less processing, leading to reason number four: Less processing equals less expense. Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Alternatively, you can also use an Instant Pot to make this Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken dish. We include instructions below, in case you’re interested.

4.75 from 4 votes

Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken

Light and lean, this tasty chicken is slow-cooked to perfection with minimal ingredients and prep time.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Yield 4 people
Serving Size 1 chicken thigh
Course Dinner
Cuisine American

Ingredients

  • 4 rosemary sprigs fresh
  • 4 chicken thighs bone in, skinless chicken thighs
  • 4 tablespoons honey
  • 4 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary fresh, finely chopped

Instructions

  • Place one rosemary sprig under each chicken in the slow cooker.
  • In a small bowl, mix the honey, mustard, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary. Pour the mixture on the chicken, making sure that they are all coated.
  • Cover and set the slow cooker on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Notes

Chicken breasts work great with this recipe. Reduce cooking time to 7 hours on low or 3 hours on high (one hour less) since they cook faster than thighs.
Instant Pot Directions
To set a timer on your cooking: first select pressure, input minutes* (according to which kind of thighs or breasts, fresh or frozen), and then press the Delay Start or Timer key. Use “+” and “-“ to set the delayed hours. Press Delay Start or Timer  key again to change the minutes. The time you are setting is the delayed time before the program starts.
*For boneless thighs: pressure cook on high for 8 minutes for fresh or 12 minutes for frozen thighs. For bone-in thighs: pressure cook on high for 10 minutes for fresh, or 15 minutes for frozen thighs. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then turn the valve to “venting” to release any remaining steam.
 

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1chicken thigh | Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 549mg | Potassium: 272mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 129IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg |
SmartPoints (Freestyle): 14
Keywords Budget-Friendly, Gluten-Free, Low-Carb, Slow Cooker

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on September 22, 2015.

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Rowena Dumlao-Giardina

Rowena is a recipe developer and food & travel writer/photographer from Italy with Asian roots. Creating healthy dishes in her own kitchen is priority. She believes there is nothing more satisfying than knowing that her family is eating natural & nutritious meals.

More by Rowena

14 Comments

  1. If I sub chicken breasts on bone how long should I cook it? How long should I cook boneless breasts? Thanks

    1. Anne, Try reducing to 4-5 hours on low or 2-3 on high. Be sure to check for doneness prior to serving.

  2. Why no skin? With honey and,d oil, surely this is not to save calories. Skin scds a little more flavour, as does bone.

    1. Ian, It’s fine to leave the skin on for added flavor while cooking, but for a healthier dish it’s best to remove the skin before eating. 🙂

  3. Really delicious! I’ve made this many times now and have only made tiny changes, such as pulling the rosemary off the stem and finely chopping I mix this in with the honey mustard mixture. I throw in some cubed sweet potatoes & red onions into the crock pot to make it a meal. So good and super easy!5 stars

  4. My kids LOVE this. It’s one of the few meat meals I can get my 2 year old to eat.
    I make it with boneless chicken thighs, a bit less rosemary than it calls for and add a few shakes of garlic powder
    Thanks!5 stars

    1. Maggie, It’s always a WIN when the kids love a recipe. Thanks so much for the feedback.

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