Slow Cooker Leg Quarter Recipes

plate of honey garlic chicken thighs garnished with parseley.

This slow cooker chicken thighs recipe cooks all day while you do your own thing. Do whatever you want and come home to this delicious family dinner.

This easy recipe for crock pot chicken thighs is one of our favorite low-cost family meals. It also happens to be one of our favorite ways to make chicken.

Read on and I'll show you exactly how to make it!

Chicken thigh with green beans ane potatoes on a serving plate.

Make this easy dinner for less than two dollars per serving.

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About this meal
What's in it?
How to make it
How to make crock pot gravy
Common recipe questions
Similar recipes
📖 Recipe
Comments

About this meal

We put this latest crockpot chicken recipe together at our little weekend oasis located on a small lake in the middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin. It's a tranquil place to get off the grid, hit the nearby farmer's market, and make a lot of family recipes.

A plate of food with meat and vegetables, with Chicken and Slow cooker

These slow cooker chicken thighs use just a few ordinary ingredients that you probably already have.

Some of our favorite recipes are made at our lake cottage and often with the kids helping out. We've made such great recipes as our Sweet and Savory Grilled Eggplant, our Cottage Cake, our Crustless Vegetable Quiche, and many, many more.

In town or in the country, this easy family dinner is perfect for wherever this may find you.

Two slow-cooked chicken thighs on a serving platter with fork.

This one pot meal means less kitchen clean-up!

What's in it?

Chicken leg quarters (bone-in and skin on)
Honey
Garlic
Barbecue Sauce
Soy Sauce
Ketchup
Oregano
Salt and Pepper

How to make it

Place the chicken quarters in a single layer, skin side up.

Start by placing the pieces in a single layer, in your slow cooker. Although you can use chicken breast, dark meat will add more flavor.

There isn't a lot of liquid in this recipe and so leaving the skin on helps prevent it from drying out.

Uncooked chicken thighs in a slow-cooker with barbecue sauce drizzeld over them.

You only need a small number of ingredients for this easy dinner idea.

Water is cooked out during the process, so cutting back on the quantity of barbecue sauce and honey will help reduce the amount of liquid when the meat is finished cooking.

After you put all the ingredients in your slow cooker, you can just set it to low and come home to a delicious family dinner.

Once the meat is finished cooking, you're going to place it on a baking sheet and brown it under your oven broiler for just a couple of minutes. Doing this will give it a nice caramelized finish and taste.

While the chicken is browning up a bit, you're going to make good use of the leftover liquid.

How to make crock pot gravy

Adding flour to slow cooker gravy using a fine-mesh strainer.

Make a flavorful gravy with the juices.

I grew up loving gravy, and that is one thing that hasn't changed. I will actively seek the chance to make gravy anytime when I'm in the kitchen.

If you've ever wondered how to make gravy, there are many methods. With this recipe, we are going to keep it very short and very simple.

Turn the crockpot to a high setting which will help reduce the liquid. Then, place a tablespoon or two of flour and put it in a small fine-mesh strainer.

Then, use your finger to tap-tap-tap a little flour into the liquid, a little at a time, while continuously stirring with a fork. This will give you a nice gravy with no lumps!

If you want to learn more about how to make gravy, check out our gravy recipes that include our Southern Giblet Gravy and our post on How to Make a Roux.

Plate of slow-cooker honey-garlic chicken thighs with potatoe slics and green beans.

We serve these slow cooker chicken thighs with green beans and oven-roasted red potatoes.

Common recipe questions

How do you make crock pot chicken thighs as a make-ahead meal?

If you want to assemble and freeze the ingredients for this slow cooker meal, simply put them in a freezer bag and be sure to freeze them flat which will allow for even defrosting.
Allow them to thaw and defrost for 24 hours before cooking and just follow the recipe card below.

Can you make this using boneless chicken thighs?

You can use this recipe to make either slow cooker chicken thighs recipe bone-in, or make it using boneless breasts.

Can you use this a make keto-friendly crock pot recipe?

Absolutely. Just be sure that you are using keto-friendly barbecue sauce and keto-friendly ketchup.

Similar recipes

Dan from Platter Talk standing in the kitchen.

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📖 Recipe

Chicken thigh with green beans ane potatoes on a serving plate.

▢ 4 Chicken leg quarters Bone-in, skin on.
▢ 2 tbsp Barbecue Sauce Spicey flavored.
▢ 2 tbsp Honey
▢ 5 cloves Garlic Minced
▢ 2 tbsp Ketchup
▢ 2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
▢ Salt and Pepper To taste.

Place chicken quarters, skin side up, in a single layer of your crock pot. Add remaining ingredients, cover, and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

When the chicken thighs are done, brown it for a minute or two, under your oven broiler.

Updated from the original post of September 27, 2018