Slow Cooker Spicy Korean drumsticks are a delicious, saucy treat! This dump-and-go recipe marries juicy, tender chicken drumsticks with a spicy, sweet, amazing sauce. The perfect weeknight meal!
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📝Shopping list
To make this incredible crock pot recipe you will need these ingredients. All were readily available in my local grocery store:
- Chicken drumsticks - about 12 pieces
- Gochujang Sauce
- Soy sauce
- Honey
- Garlic - minced
- Rice wine or Mirin
- Sesame oil
- Chili oil
- Sesame seeds - optional garnish
💜Why You Will Love This Recipe
If you are a fan of spicy drumsticks, this easy recipe is for you. The quick sauce comes together right in your crock pot. Slow cooking the chicken allows it to marinate and cook simultaneously creating juicy and fall-off-the-bone tender drum sticks.
This is one of those delicious recipes the whole family will love. Perfect for everything from an easy weeknight dinner to game day!
🔪Instructions
This great recipe just involves a few simple steps:
Preparing Your Slow Cooker
Prepare your slow cooker by coating it with a non-stick agent. Any nonstick cooking spray or oil will work. Olive oil and avocado oil are my go-to coatings.
NOTE: some slow cooker inserts come with a nonstick surface. Use of a non-stick agent is still suggested. However, oil is sometimes recommended rather than spray to protect the longevity of the non-stick surface. Check your slow cooker's manual if you have any concerns.
Alternatively, you can choose to use a slow cooker liner.
Cooking
- 🍗 Add all sauce ingredients to slow cooker, (everything but chicken and garnish). Stir to fully combing
- 🍗 Place raw chicken pieces into the sauce in your slow cooker, one at a time. Fully cover each piece with sauce.
- 🍗 Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Chicken is ready to serve when it reaches an internal temperature of 165℉.
- 🍗 If your schedule allows, switch up the chicken half way through the cooking time. Move the pieces from the bottom of the slow cooker to the top and vice versa. This will allow each piece to spend time in the sauce at the bottom.
- 🍗 When ready to serve, sprinkle slow cooker chicken drumsticks with sesame seeds and green onions.
🍽Serving suggestions
- Crispen the skin: Toss your finished drumsticks into an air fryer set to 375℉ for about 4 minutes.
- Add warm side dishes: Drop a handful of baby potatoes right into your slow cooker for an easy side dish that can cook right with your chicken. Alternatively, white or brown rice, maple vanilla carrots, and corn all make great sides for this Korean chicken recipe.
- Serve with: kimchi, seaweed salad, or a crisp side salad all make for a perfect combination.
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🔁Substitutions
- For a heartier meal, try subbing whole chicken legs or bone in chicken thighs for drumsticks.
- This sauce would be delicious on chicken wings as well. For timing on how to make it, check out my slow cooker hot honey wings or garlic parmesan wings.
- To dial down the heat in this slow cooker chicken recipe, skip the chili oil. To dial it up, add gochujang paste or chili powder to your personal preference.
- Swap fresh garlic with a teaspoon of garlic powder if that is what you have on hand.
If you love this recipe...
Please let me know in the comment section below!
Storing
Store leftovers of this amazing chicken crockpot recipe in an airtight container or bag. They will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator or 3-4 months if frozen.
Top Tip
Defrost frozen chicken overnight in the fridge before gently reheating. I have had reheating success by wrapping drumsticks in foil and gently reheating in the oven or toaster oven.
😉Hints & hacks
- All slow cookers are different and may have slightly different cook times. The first time you make this use a meat thermometer to see how long the chicken takes to reach 165℉. This will make your timing easier to gauge the next time you make it.
- This family dinner is perfect for advanced meal prep. Add all the marinade ingredients to a zipper-top plastic bag. Add in chicken pieces and smoosh it around a bit to make sure the chicken is fully coated. Refrigerate anywhere from to a few hours to overnight. When you are ready, add the entire contents of the bag to your slow cooker. The perfect busy weeknight dinner!
- Store leftovers of your Korean spicy chicken in individual serving-sized containers for easy grab-and-go future meals.
- This is one of the best slow cooker recipes to use with a slow cooker liner. If you use a liner, you can skip spraying your slow cooker with non-stick spray.
- In the market for a slow cooker? I love mine!
- The most important step is to make sure your slow cooker is plugged in and turned on!! 🙄
Note: None of my recipes can be truly considered "authentic". They are all just interpretations that have been altered to make them slow cooker friendly and "lazy"!
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📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Spicy Korean Drumsticks
(Click on the stars to leave a rating)
Print Pin Rate SaveAll nutrition information shown here is automatically generated and should be considered an estimate. If you follow a specific diet, please calculate your own values to ensure accuracy.
Equipment
- garlic press optional
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken drumsticks about 12 pieces
- ⅓ cup Gochujang
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 5 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 3 tbsp rice wine or Mirin
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon chili oil
- sesame seeds optional garnish
Instructions
- To a greased slow cooker, add ⅓ cup Gochujang , 3 tablespoon soy sauce, ¼ cup honey, 5 cloves garlic, 3 tablespoon rice wine or Mirin, 2 tablespoon sesame oil, and 2 tablespoon chili oil
- Stir to fully combine
- Add 4 lbs chicken drumsticks to sauce mixture. Add the drumsticks one at a time and roll them around in the sauce a bit to fully coat with sauce on all sides.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for about 3-4 hours.
- If possible, rotate your drumsticks halfway through cooking so that each one has the opportunity to be covered in as much sauce as possible.
- Sprinkle finish chicken with sesame seeds (optional) and enjoy!
Final Step
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Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information shown here is automatically generated and should be considered an estimate. If you follow a specific diet, please calculate your own values to ensure accuracy.
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Kathy Williamso says
Would love the recipe for the Korean drum sticks my printer is down please send thus
The Lazy Slow Cooker says
Hi Kathy, The full recipe is at the bottom of the page. Just click on the big "jump to recipe" button at the top and it will take you straight to all the details (or you can just scroll all the way to the bottom).