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This Slow Cooker teriyaki chicken and broccoli is an easy four-ingredient dinner with tender chicken, saucy broccoli, and sweet-savory flavor. You’re going to love how quickly it comes together with frozen broccoli and bottled teriyaki sauce.
Why You’ll Love It
- Just 4 ingredients — chicken, frozen broccoli, teriyaki sauce, and honey.
- No prep-heavy steps — no browning chicken or thawing broccoli.
- Sweet-savory and saucy — the honey gives the teriyaki sauce a sticky finish.
- Flexible for serving — spoon it over rice, noodles, or cauliflower rice.
- Slow cooker easy — dinner cooks while you handle everything else.
Ingredient Notes
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are what I use because they’re easy, lean, and usually what I have tucked in the freezer or picked up on sale. Dice them into roughly 1-inch pieces. Don’t agonize over making every cube identical; this is dinner, not a geometry final.
Use frozen broccoli florets, not the chopped kind with all those tiny stem bits if you can help it. The florets hold up better in the slow cooker and look more like an intentional vegetable rather than something scooped from the bottom of a freezer drawer. No thawing needed, which is half the beauty of this recipe.
For the teriyaki sauce, bottled is the whole point. Use one you like the taste of right out of the bottle, because that flavor is front and center. I tend to buy whichever familiar brand is on sale, although I’ve learned that some are much saltier than others. The honey rounds it out and gives the sauce that sticky finish. It may seem like a small amount, but it does plenty.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into about 1-inch pieces — close enough is close enough
- 4 cups frozen broccoli florets, straight from the freezer bag
- 3/4 cup bottled teriyaki sauce, use one your family actually likes
- 1/4 cup honey, the regular squeeze-bottle kind works just fine
Instructions
Place the diced chicken breasts in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker and spread them into a fairly even layer. You do not need to oil the insert or dirty up a skillet beforehand. I know some folks like to brown chicken first, and yes, that can be lovely — but then it would no longer be the kind of meal you can throw together while looking for a permission slip.
Pour the 4 cups of frozen broccoli florets right over the chicken. Do not thaw the broccoli first. I have done that once because I thought I was being organized, and it turned into a damp, drippy mess on the counter for no good reason. Frozen is correct here.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the 3/4 cup bottled teriyaki sauce and 1/4 cup honey until the honey is blended in and the sauce looks smooth. If your honey is stubborn and thick, warm the bottle in your hands for a minute or scrape it out with a spoon. It will survive.
Pour the teriyaki-honey mixture evenly over the chicken and broccoli. Give everything a gentle stir with a spoon so the chicken pieces and broccoli are lightly coated. Don’t worry if it looks a little sparse at this stage; the chicken and frozen broccoli will release some moisture as they cook, and the sauce comes together by the end.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, or on HIGH for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the broccoli is hot and just soft. Try not to lift the lid every twenty minutes. I know, I know — it is tempting. But every peek lets heat out, and then dinner takes longer, which feels personal somehow.
When the chicken is done, stir everything well so the chicken and broccoli are coated in the thickened, sticky sauce. Taste it before serving. If you want it sweeter, add a little more honey; if it needs more salty teriyaki flavor, add a small splash of teriyaki sauce. Serve hot over rice or noodles, with extra sauce spooned over the top. I like it with microwaveable jasmine rice on weeknights, though I will pretend I made a whole pot if company is coming. No shame in it.
Variations
If you like a saucier dinner, you can add up to 1/4 cup more teriyaki sauce and 2 tablespoons more honey before cooking. It makes a little more to spoon over the rice, which is never a bad thing.
For a thicker, stickier sauce, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water, then mix it into the slow cooker during the last 20 to 30 minutes on HIGH. Cold water matters. I once used warm water because it was sitting in a mug beside me, and got little cornstarch pebbles in the sauce. Not the end of the world, but not a banner evening either.
Chicken thighs can be used instead of breasts if you want a richer, more forgiving result. Trim and dice them the same way. For a lighter version, use reduced-sodium teriyaki sauce and cut the honey back to 2 or 3 tablespoons, then taste at the end and see where you land.
You can also stir in a pinch of red pepper flakes or drizzle on sriracha just before serving if you like heat.
One variation I would skip is trying to use fresh broccoli for the full cooking time. I did it once and it went rather army-green and floppy. Still edible, of course. We ate it. But frozen broccoli really is the right choice for this particular slow cooker situation.
Storage & Reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They keep well for lunches the next day, and possibly the day after that, though around here they rarely make it that long. The sauce thickens as it sits, which is normal.
Reheat a serving gently in the microwave with a small splash of water if the sauce seems too thick. Stir halfway through so the chicken heats evenly. I’ve also warmed it in a small skillet over low heat, but the microwave is easier when you’re standing at the counter in slippers at noon, eating lunch while answering an email you should probably not answer yet.
The broccoli will be softer after reheating. That is simply the nature of leftover broccoli, bless it. The flavor is still good, and sometimes even better after the sauce has had a night to settle in.
Final Notes
There is something comforting about a dinner that doesn’t ask much of you. Not every meal has to be a production with a cutting board full of herbs and three pans going at once. Some nights, getting chicken and broccoli on the table — warm, sweet-salty, glossy around a mound of rice — feels like enough.
More than enough, really.
4-Ingredient Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts diced into about 1-inch pieces
- 4 cups frozen broccoli florets use straight from the freezer; do not thaw
- 3/4 cup bottled teriyaki sauce use one your family likes
- 1/4 cup honey regular squeeze-bottle honey works well
Instructions
- Place the diced chicken breasts in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker and spread them into a fairly even layer.
- Pour the frozen broccoli florets over the chicken without thawing them first.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the bottled teriyaki sauce and honey until the honey is blended in and the sauce looks smooth.
- Pour the teriyaki-honey mixture evenly over the chicken and broccoli, then gently stir so everything is lightly coated.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, or on HIGH for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the broccoli is hot and just soft.
- Stir everything well so the chicken and broccoli are coated in the thickened, sticky sauce, then serve hot over rice or noodles with extra sauce spooned over the top.