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Chicken with Apples & Honey + VIDEO

This slow cooker chicken with apples & honey recipe uses simple ingredients and will impress and crowd. Perfect for Rosh Hashanah, the end result of this crockpot chicken recipe is falling apart chicken & tender apples in a honey sauce. This sweet and savory dish will have your home in an irresistible aroma while it cooks, with minimal effort on your part. Instructions to make this High Holiday chicken recipe in the Instant Pot are also included. 

overhead shot of cooked chicken with apples and honey in a white baking dish

Ingredients For Chicken With Apple & Honey

  • Chicken, any cut (see below for more info)
  • Apples
  • Honey
  • Unsweetened Applesauce
  • Onion
  • Seasonings: salt, pepper, cinnamon, cumin

homemade sauce

How To Make Chicken With Apples & Honey In The Crockpot

Slow Cooker

  1. If using potatoes, add those to the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the chicken. Spread diced apples & onion on top of the chicken.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients until well blended.  Pour sauce on top of chicken.
  3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn the Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add the oil. If you’re using skin-on chicken: add the chicken and sear, few minutes on each side until browned. Remove chicken from the pressure cooker.  If you’re using skinless chicken, skip this step.
  2. Add onions (and more oil if needed) and cook 3-5 minutes until soft.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce into the pressure cooker and deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  4. Add chicken back into the Instant Pot. Add apples (and potatoes if using) on top.
  5. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook 12 minutes. When cook time is complete, quick release the pressure.

before

Apples & Honey, A Rosh Hashanah Recipe

This recipe was created with Rosh Hashanah in mind. If you are interested in learning more about Rosh Hashanah, Google can teach you way more than I can. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and one of the food customs of is to dip apple slices into honey to express hopes for a sweet and fruitful year. Apples & honey is as simple combination that pairs well with proteins like chicken, beef, or fish. In this particular recipe…chicken.

after

Homemade Apples & Honey Sauce

This High Holidays recipe is all about the sauce. It’s a combination of broth, honey, unsweetened apple sauce, and a few simple spices. Taste the sauce before you pour it into the slow cooker or Instant Pot; if you want it sweeter, add more honey. If you add potatoes (see note below), you might find that your food is not fully submerged in the sauce. This is okay. Trust me there’s plenty of liquid in there, no need to add any more liquid.

close up shot of cooked chicken with apples and honey in a white baking dish

Use Any Cut Of Chicken

As with a lot of my recipes, you can use your favorite cut of chicken with this recipe whether it be chicken legs, thighs, or even breasts. What you see in the pictures are bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are my go-to with slow cooking or pressure cooking but I understand that’s not the case for everyone. Below are a few notes about the using different types of chicken:

  • If you use chicken breasts, be aware that white meat is easy to overcook & dry out. When it’s done cooking, I suggest you turn off the appliance or remove the food immediately. Don’t let the chicken sit in the appliance on the warm setting because it will continue to cook.
  • If you use skinless chicken meat with the pressure cooker, you do not have to saute the meat first. Add the meat directly to the pressure cooker raw.
  • If you use skin-on chicken, whether you’re using the slow cooker or pressure cooker, you have the option to broil the chicken afterwards to crisp the skin. When the chicken done cooking, remove it from the appliance, place it on a baking sheet & then under the broiler for a few minutes.

close up shot of cooked chicken with apples and honey in a white baking dish

What Type Of Apples To Use

Your preferred apple! I like to use a sweet apple like gala or red delicious. If you prefer tart apples, use something like a granny smith. You can peel the skin off the apple if you want to but I never take the time to do so. When dicing the apple, try to dice it into even pieces.

plated pic of cooked Slow Cooker Instant Pot Chicken with Apples & Honey (6)

with potatoes

Adding Potatoes

To make this more of a complete meal, one thing you can do is add potatoes. If you are using a large slow cooker, you can add up to 2 pounds of potatoes. When I add potatoes to this a waxy potato like red potatoes. Waxy potatoes are best for slow cooking or the pressure cooker because they hold their shape during the cooking process. If you use a non-waxy potato like russet or even sweet potatoes, cut them in larger chunks than usual. This will help them not turn to mush.

Rosh Hashanah Recipes

Matzo Ball Soup

Brisket

Holiday Brisket 

Noodle Kugel Casserole

FAQs &  Tips

  • Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep for up to up to 4 days. 
  • I use a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot to make this recipe.
Print
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overhead shot of cooked chicken with apples and honey in a white baking dish

Crockpot Chicken with Apples And Honey

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

This slow cooker chicken with apples & honey recipe uses simple ingredients and will impress and crowd. Perfect for Rosh Hashanah, the end result of this crockpot chicken recipe is falling apart chicken & tender apples in a honey sauce. This sweet and savory dish will have your home in an irresistible aroma while it cooks, with minimal effort on your part. Instructions to make this High Holiday chicken recipe in the Instant Pot are also included.

  • Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 pounds chicken, any cut (see blog post) seasoned with salt & pepper
  • 1 large apple, diced
  • 1/3 cup onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp oil (for Instant Pot)

SAUCE

  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or more)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

Slow Cooker

  1. If using potatoes, add those to the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the chicken. Spread diced apples & onion on top of the chicken.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients until well blended.  Pour sauce on top of chicken.
  3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn the Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add the oil. If you’re using skin-on chicken: add the chicken and sear, few minutes on each side until browned. Remove chicken from the pressure cooker.  If you’re using skinless chicken, skip this step.
  2. Add onions (and more oil if needed) and cook 3-5 minutes until soft.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce into the pressure cooker and deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  4. Add chicken back into the Instant Pot. Add apples (and potatoes if using) on top.
  5. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook 12 minutes. When cook time is complete, quick release the pressure.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 3 hours

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 544
  • Sugar: 36.2 g
  • Fat: 6.4 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 66.1 g
  • Fiber: 5 g
  • Protein: 55.6 g
  • Cholesterol: 165.5 mg

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on one of the product links, I might receive compensation. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”5rNRbfPE” upload-date=”2021-08-26T19:48:24.000Z” name=”Slow Cooker Chicken with Apples & Honey ” description=”Chicken with apples & honey cook together in this easy recipe. Perfect for Rosh Hashanah, make this in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Jannette

Monday 8th of January 2024

How long would you bake this in oven using boneless chicken thighs?

Shannon Epstein

Friday 12th of January 2024

Bake at 400F for approximately 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Geo

Monday 18th of September 2023

Great way to make chicken .i ran out of honey so the other 1/4 was maple syrup .i give 5 stars

Rachael

Wednesday 13th of September 2023

Not wanting to mess up my first Rosh Hashanah dinner, I did a test run today. Oh my goodness this was good. And my house smelled wonderful. I halved the recipe & used chicken breasts. Thank you, I will make this again soon.

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