This chicken is tender, bursting with flavor (thanks to a bacon-lined crockpot) and only uses a handful of ingredients. My kids could not get enough of this chicken. My daughter told me, “this is the best chicken in the world.” I think you will agree!
Now that I’ve been blogging slow cooker recipes for 5 1/2 years, I’ve pretty much tried them all. At least it feels that way. One recipe that I hadn’t made was kalua pork. I’ve been wanting to make this yummy recipe that is destined for the crockpot for a while. When I went to find pork at the grocery store it was too expensive and I knew that I had my trusty bag of Costco frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs at home. So I thought, “why not make kalua chicken instead of pork?” So that is what I did. And it was awesome. And my family thought so too. I think this is my new favorite chicken recipe.
First off the recipe only has 4 total ingredients. I love recipes like that. I really do. Second, I didn’t even thaw the chicken. I just threw it in frozen. Third, I didn’t have to fry the bacon beforehand. I just lined the bottom of the crockpot with uncooked bacon and the chicken was so bacon-licious! I just threw away the bacon at the end and shredded up the chicken. We served our chicken on rolls but you could eat this however you like. If you like your chicken more saucy, you can easily add some BBQ sauce at the end or whatever you prefer.
thighs (I buy mine in a big
Costco bag for less than $2 a lb)
cooker with the bacon. It should fit nicely in the bottom and if
neccessary up the sides of the slow cooker.
the bacon.
smoke on top of the chicken.
hours, or until chicken is tender and easy to shred. (If you are using chicken that is
not frozen it will take about 2 hours less…so a total of 4-6 hours).
forks or with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. (I just used my little
hand mixer and it shredded it up in about 20 seconds!).
if needs be. Serve chicken as is or with some bbq sauce. (We
made ours into sandwiches on freshly baked rolls).
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Can’t wait to make this. I was looking for something easy to use up the chicken thighs I have, perfect for lunches this week!
Hope you like it!
do you chop up the bacon with the chicken, or is it just for flavor?
Hi Vicki, it’s just for flavor.
Made this tonight, came out great. Will spice it up a bit next time. Plenty of liquid, result was very moist. Dogs appreciated the scrap bacon out of the crock!
Ha! I bet they did 🙂
Tried this tonight and it was a big hit! I made some modifications…Made both boneless leg and breast, used seasoning salt, and added some dry onion. I also was late getting it going and had to cook on high (it took about 2hrs 45min). You cannot go wrong cooking with bacon. Remember the famous quote "That's too much bacon – said No one ever"
That is very true, Greg. You are a wise man.
It's in the crockpot. 🙂
I've never tried a crockpot recipe with so little liquid. I'm intrigued and going to make it this weekend. 🙂
Yes, it's weird right? Well there will be liquid at the end because of the frozen chicken (those little ice crystals will melt) and the bacon has liquid released. I would cook this chicken in the smallest crockpot you have that the chicken will fit into.
Is sea salt absolutely necessary? And where in the grocery do I find liquid smoke? I have never purchased it before. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Michelle!
Sea salt is not absolutely necessary. I'd substitute kosher salt if you can't find the sea salt. Liquid smoke is just by the bbq sauce usually.
Hope it works out for you!
Kalua Pig is popular at Hawaiian luaus where a whole pig is smoked in a sand pit with sea salt, banana leaves and koa wood
You're thinking of Kahlua…the coffee flavored?
sorry to disappoint!
Yeah, I realized that after I sent the message. My bad. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. 🙂
Replace the liquid smoke with a healthy shot of Hahlua. Who’s watching? 🙂
Make that Kahlua. :/
🙂
Where does the Kahlua come in? I was excited at the prospect of cooking chicken with Kahlua but it wasn't part of the recipe. 🙁