Sweet, salty, tangy and a little spicy, this slow cooker chicken thighs recipe excites every tastebud. Skinless, bone-in chicken thighs are slow cooked with dried cherries, leeks, sweet wine, orange juice and aromatic spices, until they are wonderfully tender and flavorful.
This easiest of crockpot recipes requires no sautéing or fuss. Just throw everything in the pot and let the magic happen. This can be made in an electric slow cooker or on the stovetop in a Dutch oven. Instructions are included for both.
Weeknight Easy - Special Occasion Worthy
Although this slow cooker chicken thighs recipe is easy, family friendly and perfect for a weeknight dinner, I also love making it for guests. The chicken is melt-in-your-mouth tender and there's such a great balance of exciting, contrasting flavors at play here, with salty olives, sweet tangy cherries, hot red pepper flakes and rich fruity wine, just to name a few. Everyone who tries this dish is wowed, and I always get requests for the recipe.
It's worth telling you a fun story about my friend Shari who made these slow cooker chicken thigh for celebrity chef Ming Tsai. I'll never forget her S.O.S. phone call: Lisa help! Ming Tsai is coming to dinner? What am I going to make? I remember reassuring her that "It doesn't really matter what you cook. Throw some burgers on the grill and I'm sure Ming will be thrilled. It's the people and the conversation and the warmth of your home that will make the night special." But of course we both wanted to come up with something delicious.
In the end I suggested this slow cooker chicken thighs recipe because it's easy, fail-proof, and out-of-this-world delicious. Shari did a test run and agreed this dish was perfect for the occasion. She served the chicken over couscous, with a simple green salad and some beautiful sage rolls from a local bakery. I called her first thing the next morning to hear how things went. She said it was a great night and that Ming and his wife loved the meal. (Phew!)
Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Recipe
What you will need for this recipe
- 3 ½ pounds of bone-in chicken thighs with the skin removed. It's hard to find skinless bone-in chicken thighs at the market. I always buy whole bone-in chicken thighs and remove the skin myself. Sometimes you need to make a small slit with a knife to loosen an edge of the skin so you can grab onto it. Then you can pull the skin right off the chicken thigh, in one piece, relatively easily.
- 1 large leek, sliced thin and rinsed. Leeks have multiple layers which tend to hold sand and grit. The best way to remove the grit is to slice the leeks and then rinse them in a salad spinner or swish them in a bowl of water and then drain them in a mesh colander.
- 1 cup of ruby port. Ruby port is a fortified wine with sweet fruity flavors. If you don't have ruby port, you can substitute another sweet wine such as Madeira or Tawny port.
- ¾ cup of dried cherries. Dried cherries come in both sweet and unsweetened versions. I prefer the natural unsweetened cherries but both are tangy and delicious in this recipe.
- ¾ cup pitted Kalamata olives.
- Dried spices: 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika (sweet, not hot or smoked), 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (or Aleppo pepper), and 1 cinnamon stick, Kosher salt.
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme.
- Suggested Toppings: chopped cilantro leaves and toasted slivered almonds
How To Make These Delicious Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
As slow cooker recipes go, this one could not be easier. Slicing the leek is the only thing you have to do, beside plopping everything into a pot and turning on the heat.
- Crockpot Instructions: Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker except the cilantro and almonds. Mix, cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
- Dutch Oven Method: Put all the ingredients except the cilantro and almonds into a Dutch oven. Mix, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 2 ½ - 3 hours, until the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender.
The final step of this recipe is removing the bones and cinnamon stick from the pot, and stirring the tender chicken so it falls apart into the luscious sauce.
What to serve on the side
- Couscous, rice or quinoa is a must, something to soak up the delicious sauce.
- A green salad with citrusy dressing goes beautifully with this dish.
- Toppings of toasted almonds and chopped cilantro are great. The splash of fresh green herbs and the toasty crunch of the nuts adds a wonderful final layer of flavor and texture to this dish. If you don't like cilantro, (several of my friends and family members don't), you can use parsley.
Other Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes to Try:
• Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Chickpeas
• Slow Cooker Brazilian Feijoada
• Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja: Cuban Shredded Beef Stew
Here's the Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Recipe. If you try this recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
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Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs with Dried Cherries and Leeks
- Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 5 - 6 servings 1x
Description
Bone-in chicken thighs are slow cooked with dried cherries, leeks, sweet wine, orange juice and aromatic spices, until they are wonderfully tender and flavorful. An easy recipe that's family friendly and also worthy of a special occasion.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ pounds of bone-in chicken thighs with the skin removed
- 1 large leek, white part and a bit of the green, sliced thin and rinsed (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup ruby port or sweet red wine
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- ¾ cup unsweetened dried cherries (The sweetened ones are fine too)
- ¾ cup Kalamata olives (pitted)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or Aleppo pepper)
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 cinnamon stick (3-inch piece)
- Garnish
- ½ bunch cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (or substitute parsley)
- ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted (see notes below)
Instructions
- Conventional Stovetop Method: Put everything in a large heavy cooking pot or Dutch Oven, except the cilantro and almonds. Mix to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Lower to a very low simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 2 ½ - 3 hours, until the chicken is fall-apart tender. Check after 90 minutes and add a little water (¼ cup or so) if the pot is looking dry.
- Slow Cooker Method Put everything in the slow cooker, except the cilantro and almonds. Mix to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
- To finish the dish, remove bones, thyme sprigs and cinnamon stick. Stir to break up chicken so it has the consistency of pulled chicken. Serve over couscous or quinoa, topped with cilantro and toasted almonds.
Notes
How to toast slivered almonds: toss almonds in a small dry fry pan (preferably cast iron) over medium heat for a couple of minutes until they start to turn golden brown. Attend to them constantly so they don't burn. As soon as they start to turn golden brown, turn off the heat and continue to stir them. They will continue to brown from the heat of the pan.
Cook a big batch and freeze some: This dish freezes beautifully. To freeze, cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large resealable freezer bag, being sure to take out as much of the air out as you can before sealing. Getting rid of the excess air prevents freezer burn. To reheat, run a little cool water over the bag until you can pull the plastic away from the contents. Put the frozen chicken into a large heavy pot. Add ½ cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, cover the pot and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is heated through.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Main Course
- Method: slow cooker, crock pot
- Cuisine: Out of this world
Keywords: slow cooker chicken thighs, sweet salty tangy spicy slow cooker chicken thighs, crock pot chicken thighs, Dutch oven slow cooked chicken thighs
Originally published November 16, 2012. Updated January 12, 2021 with new photos, clarifying details in the written post and more details in the recipe about how to cook this in a Dutch oven. Same delicious recipe!
Francis
This is amazing! The flavors and the ease of cooking. I made it in my slow cooker. Served it over couscous as you suggested, with green salad. So good!!
★★★★★
Lisa
I'm so happy to hear you loved the chicken Francis. Thanks so much for your rating and comment!
Deb Nemetz
Hi Lisa. Looks amazing! Have a crowd of 12 coming in a couple of weeks. Can I use boneless chicken thighs? Do they sell this? Usually cook with breasts. So may do a combo for a crowd. Will the breasts work cooked the thighs? Also I know you recommend simple salad but with such a crowd feel I need some sides. Can you recommend a couple? Many thanks and you know you are my go to! Deb N
Lisa
Hi Deb, I've never tried this dish with boneless thighs. You can give it a try but I can't say whether it will be as good as using bone in thighs. The bones are easy to remove when the dish is done and they add a ton of flavor to the dish. I wouldn't recommend making this with breasts because I think it's likely to be dry. For sides, in addition to a green salad I love this with couscous. You can toss the couscous with chopped scallions and chopped parsley, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Another side that's easy to make and would be perfect with this dish is Moroccan Carrot Salad. Let me know if you need more suggestions. xx
Chantal Costello
Get this tonight and it was excellent! The only thing I did different was I use chicken base 2 teaspoons to each cup of water for broth, and 2 extra cloves of garlic.
This recipe rocks! Very good! I will definitely make it again!
★★★★★
Stef
I just returned to the slow cooker chicken recipe and didn't have many of the original ingrediants. So, i modified. Same spices but sweet onion instead of leeks, dried blueberries and cranberries instead of cherries, Spanish green olives with anchiove instead of Kalamata ...served over cauliflower rice. Thanks for the inspiratiin Lisa!
nina
One of my all time favorites--guests love it!
★★★★★
Gail
Lisa,
This dish looks very interesting. Thank you for providing details about slow cooking as well as conventional preparation. I'm not a fan of dark meat. I'd like to prepare this with whole chicken breast(with skin and bone). In addition, I thought about browning the chicken before adding to slow cooker. Do you think this manner of preparation would work? If so, can you tell me how long I would cook using slow cooker and/or Dutch oven method.
Many thanks.
Lisa
Hi Gail, I don't think you need to brown the chicken for this recipe - there is plenty of flavor infused into the chicken without browning. As for using breasts instead of thighs, I suggest using bone-in breast without skin. Follow the exact recipe but cook between 4-6 hours in the slow-cooker, checking for tenderness after 4 hours. If using a Dutch oven, cook between 2 1/2 and 3 hours, checking after 2 1/2 hours. Once the chicken breasts are tender, remove them from the pot, shred them with two forks, and return them to the pot. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Gail
Lisa,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply to my inquiry and your wonderful suggestions. I plan to make the dish today and will serve with couscous.
Gail
Lisa,
Made the chicken in my tagine on top of the stove. Delicious!! Cooked on low heat 2hrs. Chicken and the sauce was marvelous. I added a little more of the spices plus harissa, plus a few dried apricots for color. Used a little of the sauce to flavor the couscous, added a few dried cherries, apricots. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
★★★★
Lisa
Gail I'm so happy this worked out so well for you! Great to know that the recipe works with chicken breasts.
Steve Sharratt
Fantastic...thanks so much....it was awesome...and i just used regular chicken thighs with bone and skin attached. I'm checking out your other great offerings...superb
Natalie Ravech
Hi Lisa,
I made this the other night for dinner. It came out AMAZING!!! Everyone in my family loved it! It was so easy to make! Thank you for sharing!
Lisa Snellings
I'm going to serve this for dinner for 8. Do you have salad or side dishes you'd recommend to accompany?
Lisa
Hi Lisa, I usually serve it with couscous and a simple green salad. You might want to add some dinner rolls or bread. I don't think you need anything else. The flavors in the dish are really special so I try to keep the sides simple. Lisa
Shula
this is one of the first recipes I got from Lisa and I have made many times over the years...each time getting rave responses from everyone at the table. It really is as easy as she says!
Lindsay
I made this last night, Lisa, and it was a a big it! I love all the flavors and it was even better today as leftovers!