Frozen Chicken Thighs Crock Pot - The Typical Mom

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Frozen Chicken Thighs Crock Pot

By Justine

5 from 2 votes

Updated Mar 31, 2025

Published May 19, 2022

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Frozen chicken thighs in Crock Pot or in a slow cooker is easy! Best way to cook frozen chicken smothered in teriyaki or bbq sauce, shredded tender and moist. If you love our plain Crockpot frozen chicken this will be a hit too.

Crockpot Frozen Chicken Thighs Recipe

I have made this slow cooker chicken thighs recipe and they’re great. Sometimes I’m forgetful though and they’re not thawed. This time I had a bunch those to use from my Imperfect Foods order. Thought about our favorite way to eat this protein and it is certainly tossed in a sweet sauce. I had some time so threw them in a Crock and bam.

To be honest that is the best way to cook frozen chicken thighs so they get super tender and soak up all the juices they are laying in. You could use barbecue if you’d rather but I am from Hawaii so teriyaki sauce is where my mind goes to first all of the time.

How to Cook Chicken Thighs Frozen

If you want to make this faster you can follow our Instant Pot frozen chicken thighs instructions. This is the old fashioned method but yes I do it often too. I love all the things because options are king.

Yours may look like this or all stuck together. I have done it both ways and there is just a 5 minute difference between the two. If they are already separated like you see here you can skip breaking them apart a few hours through the entire cook time.

If they are in a big hunk it is important to lift the lid and separate them mid way thru. That way every area can cook, get moist, soak up the sauce and be easily shredded later on. You could do this same thing with boneless skinless breasts as well. Those are typically larger and thicker though so you may need to add an extra hour or so.

Ingredients

1.5 cup of your favorite sauce, bbq or teriyaki is what we use
6-8 frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs is what I typically cook to feed 5 people with a bit of leftovers
- boneless, skinless is best but bone in skin on could be used
- if using bone in chicken thighs you’ll want to shred the meat off 30 min. before and remove the skin and bones to discard before serving

Variations

You could really use any type of sauce you like. Thicker is better so it becomes a sort of sticky sweet bite of protein that is great served as tacos or on a bed of Ninja Foodi rice. There are a few other options you could add in like a small can of pineapple tidbits for added sweetness, we did this with our Instant Pot shredded chicken.

I was born and raised for a while in Hawaii myself, so teriyaki sauce is the first thing I think of when I marinate or cook anything. There are a few varieties out there. You can find a thin almost like soy sauce type, not my favorite. To really soak in and get like restaurant quality I love Veri Veri or I make my own (linked above).

That is literally all that you need. There really isn’t any other need for liquid in order to “steam” them because when cooking frozen meat to tender it will emit a bit of water when it thaws.

How Long to Cook Slow Cooker Frozen Chicken Thighs

Of course when it comes to how to cook frozen chicken there is a bit of variation depending on whether yours are stuck together in a big chunk, and how thick they are. The difference would be about 30 minutes. Note that the longer you cook it the more fall apart tender it will get and continue to soak up the sauce. 6 hours is average though.

When I do have them stuck at hour 3 I open the top and use a fork to separate them so all sides can cook evenly and start to fall apart. You could serve them whole I suppose, but we don’t. I think it is WAY better if you shred the meat with two forks about 30 minutes before you eat. Then add a bit of extra sauce to coat.

You could add a few minced garlic cloves too if you like, salt and pepper could be added at the end if you feel you need it. Seriously the best slow cooker recipe when you have forgotten to thaw chicken the night before for dinnertime.

Directions

You’ll start out by laying your chicken in the slow cooker inner pot and pour the sauce of your choice over the top. I always recommend with frozen meat especially that low heat is used.
- If yours are in one solid chunk, break apart the pieces after hour 3 or 4 so the meat can break down easier.
20 minutes before serving you will want to use two forks to shred the meat. Then ideally you want to leave in pot, pour the last 1/2 cup of your sauce over the top and stir.
Allow to continue sitting and cooking in sauce for last 15-20 minutes. Then serve.

I never ever recommend cooking on high. Even when you make a frozen whole Crock pot chicken I do it on low too. If you want shorter hours on high you need to realize that the meat will get dried out. To get the best tender chicken you need to cook low and slow (like the name of the product). Nothing is meant to be cooked fast in this y’all.

Like I said, all the way thru it will soak up the sauce but I do feel there needs to be an additional 1/2 cup or so added at the very end. That will add more of a thickness to the outside and give it more of a kick when it comes to flavor.

What should I make with shredded chicken?

So we like to fill air fryer tortillas made fresh with this with some Hawaiian cole slaw on top for a bit of crunch. You could serve it on top of rice instead kinda’ like a copycat Panda Express teriyaki chicken bowl idea.

If you used enchilada sauce as the liquid you could then use the meat inside of enchiladas!!
Slice Hawaiian rolls in half and stuff this inside with a slice of pineapple on top and be the hero for dinner with the kiddos.
Grill up some onions and peppers and toss everything together as a sort of fajitas dish that everyone will love, and it’s low carb compared to other options.

How do you warm up leftovers?

If you do have leftovers they stay really well to warm up the next day, don’t throw it out. keep the juices and transfer what’s left into a sealed container or freezer bag. You don’t need all the sauce but enough to keep the proteins nice and coated all over. Then when you’re ready transfer to a heat safe bowl and add fresh sauce on the top.

Microwave in 30 second increments stirring in between until it is warmed. This way will maintain the moisture and not dry it out the second go around.

5 from 2 votes

Crock Pot Frozen Chicken Thighs Recipe

By Justine Frozen chicken thighs Crock Pot or in a slow cooker is easy! Best way to cook frozen chicken to shredded smothered in teriyaki or bbq sauce. Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 6 hours Servings: 4 Save RecipeSaved! Pin Recipe Comment Print Recipe

Equipment

1 slow cooker

Ingredients 1x2x3x

▢ 6-8 chicken thighs, frozen
▢ 1.5 c teriyaki sauce, or bbq sauce

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Instructions

Lay frozen thighs inside pot and pour 1 cup of your sauce of choice over the top. Close lid and cook on low for 6 hours.
If yours are in one solid chunk, break apart the pieces after hour 3 or 4 so the meat can break down easier.
Continue cooking until 20 minutes before serving. Then use two forks to shred meat. Leave in pot, pour last 1/2 cup of sauce into pot. Stir to coat meat. Allow to continue sitting and cooking in sauce for last 15-20 minutes. Then serve.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 2oz, Calories: 499kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 36g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 166mg, Sodium: 5646mg, Potassium: 671mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 20g, Vitamin A: 132IU, Calcium: 50mg, Iron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Entree, Main CourseCuisine: American, Japanese Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom! Like this recipe? Share it with friends!PinFacebookTweetYummlyEmail

About Justine

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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17 Comments

If we use your homemade teriyaki sauce, do we need to cook it beforehand and then also have it cook in the crockpot, or treat it as the marinade and only have it cook once in the crockpot?
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1. Just mix and pour into crockpot
  Reply
Delicious! I followed directions exactly as stated!
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1. so glad
  Reply
Turned out perfectly! Thank you for saving me time!!
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1. Yay!
  Reply
Stop writing your life story on recipes. We don’t need a novel, literally just put the cooking information
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1. There’s literally a button for that. It says “jump to recipe”. No need to be rude
  Reply
  1. I’m a 66 year old lady of color that totally agree with you! There is no need to be rude! I like a little back story, and when I’m in a hurry I “jump to the recipe”. Thank you for your tips. I’m old and I need to cook something easy and quick for my grand kids! Keep up the good work and God bless you and future success!! 🫂
  2. 😉
2. Wow! Rude. Just skip her recipes. She didn’t ask you to follow her.
  Reply
My husband had CKD and wondered if you had any chicken recipes that are low or sodium and potassium free. Tomatoes are also out and is limited to chicken and fish. Thank you for all of your help!
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Made these from frozen using barbecue sauce. Delicious!!
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1. Awesome
  Reply
It is impossible to read and follow this recipe because of all the annoying ads popping up!
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1. @Nana, i gave up too.
  Reply
2. @Nana, I see that you scrolled to the bottom to write this review. There is a full recipe with no ads a bit above this 🙂 Great recipe, worth trying
  Reply

Hi, I'm Justine!

Welcome to The Typical Mom blog where we share easy Instant Pot recipes, use our Ninja Foodi, Crockpot and air fryer daily, and share fun family travel destinations!

More about me Crispy broccoli florets roasted to perfection in the air fryer basket.