Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken Thighs
These Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken Thighs looks delicious, don’t they? You KNOW you want to make this. It’s spicy, tender, juicy, and has all that Caribbean taste of jerk chicken in a slow cooker recipe.
I sit and think back, in the deep dark recesses of my sieve brain, how did I come up with this one? And voila. A story is born; the story of these Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken Thighs.
It’s a couple of weekends ago; the weekend we went camping. S tried desperately to NOT have to work during Gay Pride. Unfortunately for us, the site is right in the path of the parade. While things don’t usually get out of hand, they have had issues in the past, the site usually requests additional coverage for this particular event just in case. He tried. TRIED to not have to work that weekend. Didn’t happen. He had to go in. He had to work a weird time, 12 to 9. Ugh.
I had all these things planned for while he was working, but this was before I found out what time. The one thing I KNEW I was going to get done was the grocery shopping. That would give me almost the whole Sunday with him. I still had to get gas, go to Costco and the pet store. *sigh* Best laid plans…
Anyway. I wanted to try to play catch up with my Bloglovin and maybe a few posts. I wanted to bang out another batch of macaron, maybe do some cleaning – Yes the list is usually pretty long. What I didn’t anticipate was my spastic brain. Man can I go off on tangents!!! *OOOOOH!*
I did manage to get some ideas for my recipe list. And while I was wandering around looking for chicken recipes on Pinterest I came across something that totally inspired this dish. Something about roasted chicken in the slow cooker. Yeah, I know it’s not a WHILE chicken in this recipe, but still…
Okay…can I just say? I went to purchase a habanero. One. Just one. Not a WHOLE PACKAGE OF THEM!!! Seriously. A whole package. $4. There’s no way I could cook enough for all those habaneros. The only time I purchase them is when I make a jerk rub. No. I don’t really like super hot peppers. Ghost chilis? HelltodaNo. I tasted some ghost chili sauce once. ONCE. I couldn’t taste for the rest of the afternoon. No matter how much spicy food I eat there is no “tolerance” to be had with my taste buds. I’m pretty sure that’s why I don’t like cilantro, too.
Consequently, this is not all that spicy. It was perfect for me. I’m sure S wanted more kick to it. If you like more kick, then find a habanero or two or just double the jalapeno.
The recipe for the sauce makes enough for a double batch, so you have some to freezer for later, or make another batch of jerk chicken. There’s just the two of us, so if you double it for a family of four then it’d be perfect!
Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken Thighs
Instead of roasting these in the oven, I thought I’d try these Slow Cooker Jerk Thighs. All the flavor of a Jerk wet rub is slow cooked on top of these chicken thighs. Serve with some lime rice for a tasty meal!
Ingredients
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped red onion
- 2/3 cup coarsely chopped green onions
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger or ginger paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 14 ounces canned, diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
- Place the first 7 ingredients (jalapeno through cloves) in the bowl of a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Add the vinegar and honey and process until a smooth paste forms.
- Add the tomatoes and pulse until they are coarsely chopped and incorporated with the jalapeno mixture.
- Place the chicken thighs in the bottom of a slow cooker liner coated with cooking spray. Spoon the jerk mixture over the chicken and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or the chicken is cooked through and tender. Serve with lime rice.
