This 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legs recipe is flavor-packed and easy to prepare with a few simple ingredients. These chicken legs, made with soy sauce, require almost no effort – dinner is done in 10 minutes!
Easy 5 Ingredient Crockpot Chicken Legs Recipe
This meal is super simple and a major crowd pleaser, and it all comes together with 10 minutes of prep time, 5 ingredients, and a slow cooker. I’ve made this at least a million times, maybe more, and it’s a hit. Every. Single. Time. It’s basically a slow cooker version of my very favorite (and sort of internet famous) baked chicken legs recipe, but it takes jam instead of honey. (Both are delicious, by the way, and add a nice touch of sweetness to an otherwise savory dish!)
The best part about this recipe? You hardly have to do a thing. Seriously! The slow cooker does practically ALL the heavy lifting — all you do is place the chicken legs in the slow cooker, mix up the other 4 ingredients, and pour it over the top. Turn on the ol’ slow cooker, and let it go to town! The sauce that the ingredients create is pure heaven, too… I recommend serving it over some rice with steamed vegetables.
The sauce created from the juices is delicious. Feel free to serve it over rice with your meal.
What Do You Need to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Legs?
This recipe to make chicken legs in the slow cooker is a joy because you only need FIVE ingredients: 3-or-so pounds of chicken legs or drumsticks, 1 cup of jam or jelly, 1/2 cup of ketchup, 1/3 cup of soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons minced garlic.
How Long Do the Chicken Legs Last?
If you have leftover chicken legs, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can cut the leftover chicken from the bone and use it in a stir fry and a salad to remix the meal. Store leftover sauce separately in an airtight container for up to 5 days, as well.
How Can You Customize Slow Cooker Chicken Legs?
There are PLENTY of ways to make this recipe your own! You can use all kinds of jams and jellies in the recipe, but I particularly like grape, apple, apricot, and peach. They add a really nice flavor without being too fruity or seedy (I usually avoid seedy ones, like blackberry or strawberry).
You can also add a couple tablespoons of Sriracha or another favorite hot sauce to amp up the spice levels, or throw in some smoky seasonings to make it even richer. It’s super versatile, so add whatever flavors you love!
You can pair this with just about any sides that you like! It’s pretty rich and so very delicious, so even a nice and simple side salad would go well, or some steamed rice to soak up that yummy sauce with steamed veggies.
Tips and Tricks for Making Slow Cooker Chicken Legs
- You can use all kinds of jams and jellies for this recipe. My favorites are grape, apple, apricot, or peach. They have a nice flavor and sweetness without being too fruity. I normally avoid jams with seeds such as blackberry.
- You can add so many things to these chicken legs! Add a tablespoon or three of Siracha or other favorite hot sauce for some spice, add a teaspoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning for a little bit of smokiness, or throw in some favorite spices like onion powder, cumin, or ginger. It’s very flexible and very versatile.
- The sauce that the cooking chicken creates is delicious. Feel free to serve it over rice. Add a side of steamed veggies and you have yourself a complete meal.
- I normally plan on two chicken legs per person as a serving size. This is a great recipe for a crowd and scales up and down really nicely.
- If you like your chicken legs a little crispy on the outside, you can remove them from the slow cooker after they’re finished cooking and put them on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush them with additional sauce left in the slow cooker. Broil them in the oven for around 5 minutes until you reach your desired crispiness.
5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legs
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6-8 1x
Description
This 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legs recipe is flavor-packed and easy to prepare with a few simple ingredients. These chicken legs, made with soy sauce, require almost no effort – dinner is done in 10 minutes!
Ingredients
- 3 to 3.5 pound chicken legs or drumsticks
- 1 cup jam or jelly, see notes
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
Instructions
- Place the chicken legs in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- In a small bowl add the jam or jelly, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic. Mix to combine well.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken legs.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 5-6 or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Enjoy the chicken hot.
Notes
- You can use all kinds of jams and jellies for this recipe. My favorites are grape, apple, apricot, or peach. They have a nice flavor and sweetness without being too fruity. I normally avoid jams with seeds such as blackberry.
- You can add so many things to these chicken legs! Add a tablespoon or three of Siracha or other favorite hot sauce for some spice, add a teaspoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning for a little bit of smokiness, or throw in some favorite spices like onion powder, cumin, or ginger. It’s very flexible and very versatile.
- The sauce that the cooking chicken creates is delicious. Feel free to serve it over rice. Add a side of steamed veggies and you have yourself a complete meal.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chicken legs recipe, easy chicken legs recipe, slow cooker chicken recipe, slow cooker chicken legs recipe, easy chicken crockpot recipe, easy chicken dinner recipe, best chicken legs recipe
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So many great chicken and slow cooker recipes! I hope you have time to make this one because it’s a keeper. You’ll love making crock pot chicken drumsticks because they are so easy to make and your whole family will love them too.
YUMMY!!!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe! I’ve heard about your blog a couple of times and will now spend my afternoon reading 🙂
Enjoy! And if there’s something you’d like a recipe for that you don’t see, I’m always up for suggestions!
Thank You for the recipe Melissa 🙂 I was wondering if you think subbing fresh fruit such as pineapple, peaches or even apples for the jelly or jam would be acceptable. I could sprinkle a little sugar with it. I usually dont eat jelly or jams. Maybe I could freeze the leftover jelly? Thank you for any advice and even a guess or two. TIA Linda
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I think fruit JUICE would be a better option that just the fruit!
Does raspberry jam work with this? Sounds awesome
Yep, we didn’t like it quite as much if it wasn’t seedless (the seeds are fine but the crunch is just not what we prefer) so seedless is a better option than not, but it will work with either.
This looks and sounds so delicious! Whould grape jelly work as well?
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Yes! That’s one that I use very often, it’s doesn’t have much flavor when cooked, just sweet.
Thanks for the reply back! I made it lastnite and it was awesome, thanks for the recipe.
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I love to hear that! So easy isn’t it!? I’m glad you liked them too.
Yes it was very easy..
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You’re 100% correct! My family loved this! I used pineapple preserves and added a little cayenne pepper. Even my 21-year old picky eater grandson came back for seconds! Thank you, loved the ease of it too.
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Ohhhh pineapple preserves is such a great idea! That’s one I haven’t tried yet but now I can’t wait to. Thank you for the idea!
Everyone at home loves this recipe and I love cooking easy meals 🙂 The first time I made this I only had red chili spread in my pantry that is like jelly and it turned out delicious!, Thanks for the recipe! I have made this several times now and using different jellys and every time I get a yummy meal easy to make.
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Yay! I love that you use different jellys and jams too, I always seem to use something that needs to be used up and it turns out great each time. Thank you for the review.
Do you usually remove the skin?
Nope, I cook them skin on!
Our oven just broke 🙁 So my crockpot is about to get used like never before. I had already taken leg quarters out. I made Smothered chicken last night with my thighs in the crockpot. Easy. But had no Idea what to do with the legs other then BBQ sause. Currently making this Recipe. Just added a little Montreal steak seasoning and onion powder. Smells very strong of soy sauce. This is the 1st time Ive tried an online recipe EVER. Praying for the best lol I’ll give you an update later. Thanks for having this available for dinner ideas.
Welcome to the world of internet recipes! I hope you loved every bite!
Update on your first internet recipe?
Just bought my first slow cooker and this was the first thing I made. It’s really good — can I freeze the leftovers?
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Congrats on getting a slow cooker! It opens a world of possibilities!
Sorry this was a bit disappointing. Didn’t have much flavor. I probably will have to place it in a pan and put some spices or something to it so it can have a bit of flavor.
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I marinated the defrosted chicken drumsticks overnight with my mom’s homemade marinade (Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, vinegar, salt, pepper, ginger, brown sugar, minced garlic, and water) and made this recipe. It turned out wonderful! I did place the drumsticks on a “bed” of sliced onions before topping with the sauce. Thank you so much for this recipe, it is a keeper. Wonder if you could use apple butter instead of apple jelly/jam? I may try that next time.
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Yesssss that sounds amazing! I love the chicken on a bed of onions trick too! I do that often with my pork loins too. Thank you for sharing!
Just put this in the crock pot. I doubled the recipe and used apricot-pineapple preserves and about 1/2 tsp extra of minced garlic. It smells so good already. Can’t wait to try it. I also love how you put the nutrition facts on here.
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Ooohhhh apricot pineapple sounds AMAZING!! I can’t wait to here how it turns out! Thank you!