Use your slow cooker to make a delicious, easy, sweet and sour chicken bowl with rice and coleslaw that the entire family is sure to love!
Jump to RecipeSweet-and-Sour sauce is a wonderful way to give your weeknight chicken meal a unique flavor that (most) kids will love! And when it’s a homemade sauce with a meal done in the slow cooker, everyone wins. Add some healthy coleslaw and rice and you have a delicious sweet and sour chicken bowl for the entire family.
I love using the slow cooker to throw a bunch of food together in the morning and let it cook all day. It usually doesn’t take much effort or time. And dinner is ready when you want to eat. Not to mention how tender the chicken is when it’s cooked this way.
When I first saw the recipe that I used as inspiration, I wasn’t so sure. Justin insisted that he wanted to try it, so we did. Much to my surprise, it was delicious! I don’t usually like coleslaw which is part of this recipe. We made some homemade coleslaw just for this recipe. It was delicious and worked well in the dish. Of course, you can buy premade coleslaw. But when we went to the store they were completely out, so we didn’t have that option. The leftover coleslaw went well with our burgers that weekend.
We made this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts, but the original recipe called for chicken thighs. You could use either, but the boys and I prefer white meat. If you use the thighs, you’ll need to pull the meat off the bones before serving.

Step by Step
Place the thawed chicken in your slow cooker.

Thinly slice the green part of a few green onions and put those on top of the chicken (kitchen shears make this easy!).

In a small bowl, whisk the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, salt, and 1/2 cup of vinegar. This is your basic sweet and sour sauce and could be used for other recipes.

Pour the sweet and sour sauce over the chicken and green onions. Move the chicken around a bit to make sure some of the sauce gets underneath as well to keep it from sticking.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 7 hours. The chicken will be tender and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and let it cool while you cook the rice according to directions. I use my rice steamer any time I need to make rice, so I started it a few minutes before the chicken would be done since it takes about 20 minutes.
Prepare your bowls by placing the rice in the bottom and top it with your coleslaw and sliced chicken. Then drizzle a bit of the sauce from the slow cooker over everything and garnish with sliced green onions or sesame seeds.


Recipe
Originally Published On: May 16, 2018
Last Updated On: February 6, 2020

Sweet and Sour Chicken Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
- 2 green onions
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 2 cups brown rice (cooked)
- 1 cup coleslaw
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Place chicken in a slow cooker
- Slice green onions and add to the slow cooker
- In a small bowl, whisk ketchup, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, salt, and vinegar
- Pour the sauce over the chicken
- Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 7 hours, making sure chicken is cooked through
- Meanwhile, cook rice according to package
- Remove chicken and slice into strips
- Prepare bowls by adding the cooked rice, then top with chicken slices, coleslaw, and drizzle with the sauce
- Garnish with sliced green onions or sesame seeds
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Hey, this looks mouth-watering.
Thanks, Wendy! It’s delicious!
I couldn’t have stumbled upon this at a better time. I love slow cooker meals especially when I know we have a busy day, Dinner like you said is ready when you need it. I will definitely be trying this one out. My oldest loves chicken dishes in the crockpot and I’m always looking for new ideas. This one looks delicious – Thanks
Slow cooker meals are the best for busy nights! We make them a lot during the week so dinner is ready when we are.
We looove sweet and sour anything. I don’t think we’ve ever cooked it at home though, so this is a great time to try! It looks delicious. PS: slow cookers are magic aren’t they?
Sounds like a perfect recipe for you if you enjoy the taste and using the slow cooker!
I do appreciate my slow cooker. This is just the type of meals I love to fix and my family loves to eat. So good and so easy.
The slow cooker has made those busy school nights so much easier!
This looks so good. My kids love sweet and sour chicken and I love anything in a slow cooker.
It’s the perfect combination!
This looks so good! I love meals in the slow cooker because it makes my life so easy! This is great because you can put it all in one bowl, I love meals like this!
Our weeknights are getting busier all the time, so the slow cooker is the best during the week!
Sweet and sour chicken is one of my faves. This recipe looks easy enough for a great weeknight meal!
We’ve had this for a quick weeknight meal a few times now. The slow cooker makes having dinner ready so easy.
I haven’t had sweet and sour chicken in ages! Never would have thought to make it into a bowl. Sounds amazing
It actually works surprisingly well! I wasn’t sure about the coleslaw, but Justin insisted I tried it and I loved it!
Sweet and sour is one of my favorite dishes. This recipe looks so delicious. I’m definitely going to haft to try it.
It’s so easy to put together and then you have a delicious dinner ready when you are!
Is it weird that I have never had the SWEET & SOUR combo before?!?!?! 😮
I’ve only had it a few times. I get it sometimes when we go out to Asian restaurants since it’s not too spicy.
I love all your recipes. Seriously going to try this week, Yummy looks delish
Thanks, Tonya! It’s a delicious meal and so easy to put together. I hope you enjoy it!
I love anything I can put in the slow cooker. So this recipe is going to be made a lot at my house!
Me, too. I use the slow cooker a lot here, no matter what season it is.
I wouldn’t have used a slowcooker but this is cool that you can make this in it. I love good sweet and sour chicken. And this looks delicious.
I use the slow cooker a lot here. It makes weeknight meals so easy since most of the work is done by the time we are ready to eat dinner.
I love using the slow cooker and this recipe looks awesome! It’s a much healthier version than I currently make and it’s also so much easier to prepare. My family would really enjoy this meal after a long day of school and after school practices.
My boys have been joining more and more things after school, so it definitely makes those crazy nights easier.
This looks so amazing. The slow-cooker is my favorite gizmo in the kitchen. Love this idea
It’s definitely one of my favorites, too!
So slow cooker meals are honestly my favorite thing ever. If something can be put in my crockpot…chances are much higher I’ll make it!! This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it!
I am with you on that! I also just got an instant pot so I can’t wait to try quick meals in there, too!
I have a slow cooker at home, and I really it. My family loves what I prepare from my slow cooker. I will try this recipe I think they will love it.
I use my slow cooker a lot. There are so many great meals to make in it, and it’s usually pretty easy, too!
It looks like the perfect meal for a winter evening by the fireplace. I love sweet and savory or sour dishes.
Oh man, that sounds like a lovely evening! We use our fire pit outside, but I don’t tend to take dinner out there. Maybe we should some day!
Not only does this sound delicious, but the presentation is gorgeous! My husband would LOVE this recipe.
We all enjoy this one. My boys won’t eat much of the coleslaw, but they love the chicken when we cook it this way.
This looks so yummy and healthy! I will definitely try this recipe soon. I know my hubby will love this chicken bowl for sure 😍
Overall, it’s a pretty healthy dish I think. Especially adding the coleslaw in there to get some veggies in, too.
I love sweet and sour chicken!! This one in the slow cooker sounds great
Anything in the slow cooker is always good to me. The sauce is so yummy on the chicken.
Oh my! This looks so delicious. My husband would love this for sure! Love this ♥
It’s such a great recipe. My husband was very excited when we first made this and loves when I make it for dinner.