Brown Sugar Chicken

So...I'm a recent convert to the whole concept of slow cookers - my mother never had one while I was growing up, so as an adult, I had no idea what to do with the darn things, so I had no interest in owning one. Until I learned you could make pulled pork in one. Pulled pork is one of my favorite things to eat if we go to a barbecue joint, so when slow cookers went on sale for the back-to-school season this year, I found myself wanting one. And getting one. Pulled pork was the first thing I made in it, and it was awesome (although it took forever to pull the pork), and the next thing I tried was something called Brown Sugar Chicken, which I found on the A Year of Slow Cooking blog, which has quite the multitude of slow cooker recipes.

I first tried to make this recipe two weeks ago, without noticing that it called for a 4-qt slow cooker. Mine is 6. By the time I realized what had happened, my chicken was burnt (although not to a crisp). When I made it a second time, I doubled the liquids to make sure the chicken was well covered in liquid, although I just read that the best solution when your slow cooker is too big for a recipe is to insert a smaller baking dish inside your large slow cooker. I must make a mental note...

What was my take on this recipe? It was tasty, but it needed way more soy sauce for my liking. It was easy, it was pretty tasty, and Baby even seemed to like it, so that works pretty darn well for me.

Brown Sugar Chicken for a slow cooker
adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking
Printer-friendly recipe

6 boneless, skinless breast halves
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup lemon-lime soda
1 1/3 cup vinegar
6 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
4 T soy sauce
2 tsp ground black pepper

1. Plop the chicken into your slow cooker. Cover with brown sugar, pepper, garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar and pour in the soda. It will bubble.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.
3. Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth (and some extra soy sauce).