Slow Cooker Maple Dijon Chicken and Broccoli
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Sweet, tangy and packed with so much flavor, made right in your crockpot! It just doesn’t get any easier!
I kind of have a thing for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. I mean, I have like 135365476457 recipes for it. But I also have a thing for chicken thighs made in the crockpot, so I have concluded that chicken thighs just need to be made in the slow cooker.
They just do, smothered in REAL maple syrup, two types of mustard, and a little bit of orange zest.
And then you can throw in some broccoli so you have your veggies right alongside your chicken.
Could dinner get any easier?
Slow Cooker Maple Dijon Chicken and Broccoli
Sweet, tangy and packed with so much flavor, made right in your crockpot! It just doesn't get any easier!
Ingredients
- 8 teaspoons brown sugar, divided
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the sauce
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Zest of 1 orange
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together maple syrup, mustards, red wine vinegar, garlic, rosemary, oregano and orange zest; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
- Using your fingers, work the brown sugar, about 1 teaspoon per thigh, onto both sides of the chicken; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.
- Place chicken thighs into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in maple syrup mixture. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Add broccoli during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Yes! Someone who promotes the dark meat.
Besides being higher in iron, they are also juicier and have more flavour to them.
This looks like a great recipe and a keeper.
Trying this recipe tonight. My 4-year-old loved helping me (at least with the sauce – raw chicken isn’t her thing). It may have been partially the speed of my helper, but I felt like the prep time took twice as long as suggested. No complaints, just wanted to provide the feedback. Can’t wait to try it!
Chungah, thank you so much for getting back to me! I already have spicy brown mustard, dijon mustard, and Frenchs type. Glad I don’t have to buy another mustard.
When I went to the grocery store, there were large bunches of broccoli and small bunches of brocolli. I made florets of 2 bunches, and will see what fits. But do you have an estimate of how many cups of brocolli florets are in the recipe? By the way, the house smells amazing from the slow cooker. We can’t wait for dinner!!!
1 medium head of broccoli is roughly equivalent to 3 1/2 cups broccoli florets. Hope that helps!
I wish I had commented sooner, but I just decided to have this tomorrow.
I’d rather not buy the stone ground mustard, since I already have dijon and regular mustards. Can I leave out the stone ground, or sub for it?
Thank you.
PS. LOVE your recipes!
PS. I don’t expect your answer in time for tomorrow. But I would love to know for the future.
Yes, absolutely! 🙂
Maybe it’s because I didn’t use the right mustard, but this was too sweet for us. I didn’t know if I should try cutting the maple syrup and adding water in the same amount. We ADORE your honey garlic slow cooker chicken, so maybe we will stick with that. Thank you so much!!
I made this for my family and they loved it. Thanks you for all your great recipes. I love you site.
Is there a substitute for orange zest or is it okay just to omit it? (due to allergies, any citrus is out)
Yes, you can omit as needed.
Oh this looks good. How would you adjust this to do with pork instead? Somehow we have a freezer full of pork and this flavor combination sounds excellent for it!
What a great idea! Cooking time may have to be adjusted as needed.
i think i like it, but the orange zest was too much for me and i couldn’t taste the mustard. will try it again with none or less. my orange was a large one. thanks!
The recipe doesn’t specify how much orange zest and my sauce was overpowered with orange flavor. I can’t taste maple or mustard 🙁
I can’t wait to try again without the orange zest
The recipe specifies zest of 1 orange. You can add as little or as much as you’d like.
This recipe sounds so delicious! Looks like a perfect recipe for my new casserole crock-pot! Thank you!
I made this recipe for my family last night and it was delicious! Thank you!
I made this exactly but by the end the chicken was swimming in fat and the skin had become soggy. So I removed the chicken and took off the skin. I strained the remaining liquid into a sauce pan, skimmed off the fat and boiled the remainder for 5 minutes. I then hit it with another tablespoon of whole grain mustard and a good splash of cream, re seasoned with salt and pepper and it was spectacular! I served it over a brown/wild rice mixture and that was an amazing combo!
Next time I will take off the skin at the beginning, cut back the cooking time and see what happens. I may still have to do the added steps but there won’t be so much fat to skim away.
Thanks for the recipe, we all enjoyed the flavors!
Beautiful chicken! I think the bone-in is more flavorful. I always drool over your photos!! Perfection!
Love this recipe! There’s actually a slow cooker where you can saute and slow cook in the same cooking pot: “Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker: Slow Cooker, Brown/Saute, Steamer”. Saves you from having to wash a skillet.
Wow, I saw your post and was all excited because I have a little birthday money to spend, but then I read the reviews of this 3-in-1. I hope you got a good one ~ seems Cuisinart has a few bugs to work out. Great concept, though!
This looks delicious! So much so that I’d like to make it for dinner tonight! Would this recipe work with boneless skinless chicken breasts instead?
Yes, absolutely!
If i swap 4 boneless skinless breast instead of thighs, whats my cook time adjustment need to be. They are not the huge ones, each one is less than a pound. And do you think some fried potatoes with those seasonings be a good side dish to go with
Another awesome crockpot recipe that I am busting to try! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ah gosh this looks great, can’t wait to try it out Chungah! I hate to be one of “those” blog commenters.. pleeeease forgive me, but I have grown to really dislike broccoli for some strange reason. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute? I’m not really familiar with my slow cooker yet.
Yes, you can substitute veggies like carrots and/or potatoes but cooking time will have to be adjusted as needed.
Perhaps it is not the broccoli you dislike, it may be the way it is prepared.
Okay, omg, time to invest in a slow cooker because this looks SO GOOD. Thanks for posting this recipe, one day I will definitely, definitely try making it! 🙂
Slow cookers have come a long way over the years and are well worth the investment! Go for it, you will be one happy cook.
Bone-in, skin-on chicken ALWAYS yields the best results, especially in a slow cooker! I LOVE this combo of flavors, pinned!!
This looks amazing! I made your slow cooker honey garlic chicken last night, it was delicious, my hubby loved it. It was even better today for lunch. I’m excited to try more of your recipes, especially ones for the crock pot!
Hi Chungah:
Love, love, love your recipes!!!! Can I make this with boneless thighs, perhaps 8 thighs? If so, will the time be different?
Thanks,
Kathryn
Yes, absolutely! Timing should stay the same.