The first gift my husband ever gave me—besides some sweet, sweet lovin’—was a crockpot.
At the time, slow cooker recipes were having a heyday on Pinterest and I was feeling the FOMO (ever heard anything more millennial than that?). But, with a freshly baked batch of student loan debt to chew on, I wasn’t about to make such an extravagant purchase.
My newly Facebook-official boyfriend picked up on the not-so-subtle hints I was dropping and shelled out the twenty bucks I wasn’t filling to. And that was when I knew he was a real one.
Since then I’ve gone through phases with an instant pot and several air fryers, but the small appliance I always come back to is the slow cooker. There’s just something about dumping everything into it in the morning and then coming home to the best thing I’ve ever smelled in my life.
That is especially true for my latest crockpot creation—this slow cooker pineapple chicken.
Before work, I nestle some chicken thighs into a soy sauce-brown sugar-miso mixture—along with an array of aromatics and a plethora of pineapple chunks—and when I get home, I’m instantly salivating at the sweet and savory seduction.
It honestly puts me in the mood to complete my husband duties—making rice, assembling dinner, and taking care of the minimal cleanup required. Then it’s time to smash…this food into my mouth. Because it tastes so dang good.
Some people upgrade their wedding rings when they’ve been married for a while, but my husband and I just upgraded our slow cooker. I’ll never part with that first one he got me though, but now I can slow cook two things at once if I want. And, believe you me, I do want.
More like this slow cooker pineapple chicken:
If you like this one, you’ll definitely want to check out my slow cooker recipe collection. And if you don’t mind switching it up with a Dutch oven once in a while, I think you’ll enjoy this collection of cozy soups and stews.
Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken
Ingredients
- ¼ packed cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup sake
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- 1 tbsp white miso paste or sub 1 tsp MSG
- 1 2-inch knob ginger peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 serrano peppers stems removed and sliced, plus more for garnish (optional)
- 1 small yellow onion roughly chopped
- 8 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 medium pineapple peeled, cored, and cut into chunks (or sub a 20 oz can of pineapple chunks, drained)
- 4 chicken thighs bone-in skin-on
- 2 cups basil leaves (include some Thai basil, if I have it)
- Steamed rice for serving
Instructions
- Combine brown sugar, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, and miso (or MSG) in a slow cooker. Whisk to combined.
- Mix in ginger, serranos, onion, garlic, and pineapple. Nestle chicken thighs into the mixture.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
- Transfer chicken thighs to a cutting board with tongs. Remove bones and skin from thighs and discard them. Lightly shred chicken into bite-sized chunks. Return to the slow cooker. Stir in basil, replace lid, and allow to cook until wilted. Serve over rice. Top with more serranos if desired.
