Slow Cooker Coca Cola Chicken – 🍗🙌🏻🎉 Saucy, juicy, sweet-yet-savory chicken that’s so EASY and virtually work-free! Add just 6 ingredients to your Crockpot and let it do all the work! You’ll be rewarded with chicken that’s moist, tender, and an instant family FAVORITE! Leftover chicken is always handy to have on hand and great for meal prep, in wraps, or on sandwiches.
Table of Contents
- Easy Slow Cooker Coca Cola Chicken with Barbecue Sauce
- Ingredients in Crockpot Coca Cola Chicken Recipe
- Cooking with Soda? Yes, It’s a Thing!
- How To Make Coca Cola Slow Cooker Chicken
- what to serve with Coca cola barbecue chicken
- Recipe FAQs
- Slow Cooker Coca Cola Chicken Recipe
- More Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes:
Easy Slow Cooker Coca Cola Chicken with Barbecue Sauce
I recently posted a recipe for Crockpot Coca Cola Pork Chops and it’s been very popular so I decided to make a Crockpot chicken with Coca Cola. It’s so incredibly easy with virtually no hands on prep time or work involved. Your slow cooker really does do all the work!
Along with the barbecue sauce, the Coke tenderizes the chicken as it slow cooks. Must be those bubbles and carbonation! During the slow cooking process, the liquid volume of the barbecue sauce and Coke evaporates, and you’re left with a thick, rich sauce that’s sweet yet savory like a sweet barbecue sauce.
And for those who are wondering: no, this juicy chicken does not taste just like Coca Cola. What you’ve got here is chicken that’s so juicy and tender and smothered in a rich sauce with lots of layers of flavor. You can’t really pinpoint the cola, or at least we can’t because there’s also bbq sauce, garlic, and minced onions.
Ingredients in Crockpot Coca Cola Chicken Recipe
With just 6 main ingredients in this doctored up bbq chicken recipe (because I don’t count salt and pepper), you’re bound to have nearly everything on hand.
- boneless skinless chicken breasts – boneless skinless chicken thighs or bone-in thighs are fine to use
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Coca Cola – wondering more about this? See the FAQs below
- BBQ sauce – I use Sweet Baby Rays
- light brown sugar
- garlic cloves – garlic powder may be subbed
- minced dried onion
- fresh parsley, optional for garnishing
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Coca Cola Slow Cooker Chicken
- Evenly season the chicken with salt, pepper, and place them into your slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, stir together all the remaining ingredients (except the Coke and the parsley).
- Evenly pour the mixture over the chicken, pour in the Coke, cover your slow cooker, and cook for 3-4 hours on high (or approx 5-6 hrs on low) or until chicken is done.
- Sprinkle optionally with parsley and serve!
what to serve with Coca cola barbecue chicken
Recipe FAQs
I recommend either a 6-quart or 7-quart oval-shaped slow cooker. Anything smaller such as the 4 or 5-quart models, or round shapes, won’t allow for optimal cooking. You need enough space for things to actually cook properly.
I have seen recipes that do this, but and they also call for worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, paprika, and other spices. My Crockpot Coca Cola Pork Chops use ketchup rather than BBQ sauce so it is possible provided you’re adding other ingredients too for flavor.
With the high heat setting, the pork chops are done in about 3-4 hours. And on low, closer to 6-7 hours. For me, I prefer cooking on high because it works out better for my life and evening dinner planning. But you can cook on slow/low if you want these beauties really slow cooking all day. Slow cookers can vary dramatically in their heat output so cooking time is just a guesstimate based on your device.
I have not tried either of them and don’t recommend it. The natural sugar in real Coca Cola is what makes these pork chops so good. The issue with diet or zero products is that frankly the chemicals are simmering for hours and the chemical-ey taste may intensify which is why I personally haven’t tried. I don’t want to ruin perfectly good meat with that experiment.
As long as they’re regular (full sugar and not diet), they will likely be fine. Although I have only made these Crockpot pork chops with Coca Cola. I’ve also seen similar recipes using root beer and Dr. Pepper rather than cola.
The flavor of the chicken is balance but on the sweeter side like barbecue chicken can be. If you want to make the overall flavor a bit less sweet, omit the brown sugar. To make it spicier, garnish with diced jalapenos or red chili flakes.
You can thicken the juices from the slow cooker by whisking 1 tablespoon of cornstarch + 1 tablespoon of water to form a slurry, and then add that to the juices in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 30 minutes, uncovered.
Or add the slow cooker liquids to a saucepan, then whisk together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch + 1 tablespoon and add it to the pan, and simmer uncovered over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached.
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Slow Cooker Coca Cola Chicken
Equipment
- 1 6-quart slow cooker OR
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, (about 6 ounces each works best)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 12 ounces Coca Cola , (see the FAQs in the blog post for more info)
- 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce, (I use Sweet Baby Rays but use your favorite)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, (omit to make overall dish less sweet)
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons minced dried onions
- Fresh parsley, finely minced; optional for garnishing
Instructions
- Spray the inside of your slow cooker basin with cooking spray and place the chicken in the slow cooker, as spread out as space allows; set aside momentarily.
- To a medium bowl, add all the remaining ingredients (except for the Coke and the parsley), and gently whisk to combine taking care due to the carbonation in the Coke.
- Evenly pour the mixture over the chicken. Then pour in the Coke. Stir lightly to combine it a bit.
- Cover the slow cooker with the lid and slow cook on HIGH heat for 3 to 4 hours. OR cook on LOW heat for 5 to 6 hours. Slow Cooking Tips – Chicken is done when the internal temp reaches 165F as measured by a thermometer. Do no guess; use a thermometer. All slow cookers vary in their heat output, as chicken breasts vary in their size and thickness, as do kitchens vary in how warm they are. All these variables will affect the cook time. Cook until the chicken reaches the correct temperature, and this can vary by hours. It's best though not to keep opening the lid and "checking" on it. Check, but not excessively, so that precious steam and heat aren't escaping and unlike a normal oven, a slow cooker won't come back up to temp for a longer time period, which just prolongs the cooking process unnecessarily.
- After the chicken is done, I always spoon extra sauce/cooking juices from the slow cooker over the chicken for extra flavor and juiciness. Tip – If you want to make a thicker sauce, read the FAQs in the blog post for how to do this with cornstarch.
- Optionally garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I removed the chicken legs (cooked and tender) an hour before the sauce was thickened the I poured it over the chicken. I added more spices to taste to the sauce. There’s a lot more leftover sauce that I can bottle and use again. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Tender and Delicious!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Dulcie, and I’m glad this was delicious and that you can even save and use the sauce again!
I just pulled out my frozen cooked meatballs and slow cooked it in my leftover sauce. Wallah! Dinner for two more days all ready!
This is awesome – great thinking about how to repurpose the extra sauce!
The sauce was very tasty but the chicken was dry. I think I might try this again using chicken thighs instead of chicken breast.
Thanks for trying the recipe. Is it possible that you overcooked the chicken? It’s very easy to do with chicken breasts. My guess is that if it’s dry, it was overcooked. Always check, using a thermometer or laser and don’t cook past 160-165F for breasts. this is my favorite that’s also fairly inexpensive. https://amzn.to/486Fi9k 16.99 today just checked the price. It saves you from dry chicken!
Thighs have more fat and are more forgiving and with those, I cook to 170-175 for the most tender texture.