Slow cooker chicken & veggies is healthy one-pot recipe that uses a homemade sauce. You can also make this low-carb, paleo, whole30 recipe in the Instant Pot.
The inspiration for this slow cooker chicken & veggies recipe is chicken stir-fry. Of course being made in the slow cooker or Instant Pot, this is not a real stir fry. No hot oil, wok or skillet is used in the making of this chicken recipe. Having said that, I think some the flavors of a stir fry are here in a healthy version. Let me know what you think!
before (slow cooker)
All About The Sauce
The star of this recipe is the homemade teriyaki inspired sauce. The sauce makes is what I call the trifecta: low-carb, paleo, & whole30 compliant. Whole30 and paleo means there is no added sugar of any sort. I promise you, you won’t miss it. I almost added honey (paleo) or monkfruit sweetener (low-carb) but after tasting the sauce, I decided it didn’t need it. As always, I encourage you to taste your sauce before adding it in to the appliance and tweak as needed.
after (slow cooker)
What Cut Of Chicken To Use
For the chicken you will want to go with boneless, skinless chicken. Whether you use chicken breasts or chicken thighs is up to you. What you see here is chicken breasts. I know if might not look like there’s enough sauce to cook the food before it starts to cook. Trust me, it’s more than enough sauce. All the food will not be fully submerged in liquid. This is okay. There will plenty of liquid afterwards.
Thickening The Sauce
While I recommended thickening the homemade sauce, you do not have to. I have made this plenty of times without adding a slurry thickener. If you do thicken the sauce, it can be done directly in the slow cooker or pressure cooker (Instant Pot). I almost always use a slurry of arrowroot starch and water as my thickener. You can make your slurry as thick as you want. I use a a 1:1 water/starch ratio, usually 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.
What To Serve This With
Cauliflower rice is the obvious choice to keep this teriyaki chicken & veggies recipe low-carb, paleo, and whole30. If you’re not worried about that, then I suggest regular brown rice, white rice or even pasta. Don’t forget to pour the sauce from the slow cooker or Instant Pot on top of the food before serving.
Other take-out inspired recipes you might enjoy:
Broccoli & Beef
Cashew Chicken
Pepper Steak
Beef ‘Stir-Fry’
I used a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot to make this recipe.
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
- 2 bell peppers, chopped
- 1 medium-size onion, chopped
- 2 medium-size carrots, chopped
- 1 small head of broccoli, broken into florets
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil (for Instant Pot)
SAUCE
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce if not paleo or whole30)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch flour & 1 tablespoon water (to thicken)
Slow Cooker
- Add all the ingredients except the broccoli to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
- Add broccoli and cook an additional 30 minutes.
Instant Pot
- Turn on the pressure cooker and select sauté. When hot, add the oil, onion, and bell pepper & cook 3-5 minutes or until veggies are soft. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Turn off the pressure cooker.
- Add chicken, coconut aminos, water, rice vinegar, bell peppers, onion, carrots, ginger, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Quick release pressure.
- Turn on the IP and select sauté. Mix together arrowroot starch flour & water. Stir mixture into the Instant Pot along with the broccoli. Cook 5-10 minutes or until broccoli is tender and sauce has thickened to your liking.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
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