I’m never going to convince my family to love sweet potatoes like I do. But this dish did convince the to eat them. My oldest daughter even said the sweet potatoes were pretty good. She didn’t think she liked them at all, but decided to give them a try when I served this.
This is a basic, quick recipe. The prep is easy – just 4 ingredients too! Chicken and sweet potatoes are a great combination. Add a little butter and brown sugar and they’re even better.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Feel free to alter this recipe as you see fit. Add more butter and brown sugar. Or less. Or add apples too. Or use carrots instead of sweet potatoes. I don’t think you can mess this one up. Adapt away!
Slow Cooked Brown Sugar Chicken and Sweet Potatoes – 4 ingredients!
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless chicken breast
- 3 sweet potatoes peeled and cut in chunks
- 5 Tbs. butter melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put the chicken and sweet potatoes in the crockpot. (I added the chicken still frozen.)
- Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter. Add salt and pepper.
- Pour over chicken and sweet potatoes.
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.
Oh YUUUM! This sounds so good…we try to limit eating white taters, but sweet taters are on our menu often. Love the ease and simplicity of this one – will be making it soon. I just printed your pork chop/apple recipe this week and plan to make that soon too. Thanks –
Did anyone add apples?
I did and it was awesome! I added one small yellow onion across the top of the sweet potatoes and then a couple of quartered apples on top. I even sprinkled some cinnamon on top of the apples. We all had seconds!
I serve sweet potatoes about once every two months, and my kids always complained or pushed them around or just flat out refused to eat them. Then about a year ago I made them some way that my oldest loved – it was some kind of super sweet casserole. But since then, he’s eaten them every time I’ve served them even though I’ve never made that same recipe again. He even talks his brother into trying a bite each time. Don’t give up on those frequently refused foods.
This recipe definitely looks like a keeper.
I love Brussels sprouts, but my kids never ate them the way I usually made them- boiled or steamed. So this week I tried pan-searing them. My sons didn’t jump on board, but my daughter raved about them. Sometimes it’s just about changing up the presentation. 🙂
I can’t WAIT to try this…YUM! and easy. YEAH!
I’m cooking this for dinner tonight. Yum!
YUM! That sounds so tasty…and easy and fast too. Love this kind of recipe you often share!
Is there anyway i could make this in the oven, i never owned a crockpot 🙁
Amilea, yes you can make it in an oven. Use a large oven proof pot (like a dutch oven). Bake it for about 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.
Wow thanks for fast reply, so I’m not sure what a Dutch oven is. Can I place in a casserole dish or a pot into the oven?
A Dutch oven is basically a large casserole dish with a lid. If you don’t have one with a lid, just cover with foil.
I’m wondering if adding carrots and onion would be good. Think I may try it!
Carrots and onion sound like great additions to this!
My Grandfather used to make beef stew using onion and sweet potatoes and that was great. I like using sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and much healthier.
this looks delicious! do you frozen or thawed chicken?
Nicole, you can do it with either thawed or frozen. I’m lazy, so I often skip the thawing step. Just make sure you give your slow cooker plenty of cooking time if you use frozen.
you can use frozen
Would the time be altered if using chicken thighes? This is my first time using my crockpot. It is a 5 quart nd I’m using a liner, does this make any difference?
Thanks Veronica
Veronica, the time will be about the same for any cut of chicken. If you have chicken with bones or chicken that is frozen you may need to give it the full time listed. The size of the crock won’t matter either or the liner. But if the crock isn’t very full at all, it will tend to cook much faster.
This looked sooooo good but my chicken ended up dry and the potatoes were all mashed. 🙁 it still tasted good… Just not sure how to make the chicken moist? My chicken was semi frozen so I only cooked it on low for about 5 hours… Maybe that was too long?
That shouldn’t have been much too long. It is hard to keep boneless chicken breasts moist in the crockpot. And sometimes I have more trouble with that than others. Sorry it didn’t turn out like you’d hoped.
Try adding a cup of chicken broth to the crock. It will help keep the chicken moist while it cooks. You can also use water but I think the chicken broth adds more flavor.
sounds a little sweet for my taste buds, but do you think it might be good if I added 1/3 cup soy sauce and some sriracha to give it a sweet and spicy flavor?
I think that sounds worth a try. Maybe a little less soy sauce, but you may like it with more. Let me know how it goes!
i made this tonight and loved both the simplicity and the flavor! I added an onion, cut butter back to 4 T., and used artisan garlic salt. It was sooo good! My chicken breasts were not frozen and i cooked for 4 hrs. It seems 5 hrs. is way to long if not using frozen chicken. If i had gotten home sooner i would have turned it off at 3 or 3 1/2 hrs.
PRINTED! Making this tonight! I was wondering what to do with the chicken breasts I have.. and since we just moved realized that I have at least 3 bags of opened BROWN SUGAR! haha!
Going to use some white potatoes (since that is what I have) and some baby carrots!!!
Thanks for the dinner help! Going to run home at lunch time to get the crock pot ready!
Do you think using sucanat instead of brown sugar will give it a similar taste?
Karen, I’ve never used sucanat so I don’t know. I’m sure you can substitute other sweeteners though, so if you’ve used sucanat and like it, I bet it would work.
I use SWERVE or equivalent instead of Brown sugar if you are keto or paleo
This looks delicious and is exactly the type of recipe I was looking for! I am cooking for myself though, will this work in the crock pot with only 2 frozen chicken breasts and one large potato? Should I change the cook time? Thanks 🙂
As long as you use a smaller crockpot, the cooking time should be the same.
Hi… I’m new to slow cooking so I have a question. Do I need to add water to this recipe to cover the chicken? It doesn’t seem to me that there is any liquid for it to cook in. Also I was considering using coconut oil in place of the butter… do you think that would work? Great recipe and thank you!
Allison, no need to add water or any liquid. I’ve never cooked with coconut oil, but I think that would work fine.
Grea simple recipe. Making this again for the second time because it was a hit for me and my husband. This time I am doing both sweet potatoes and carrots because it’s what I have. Very tasty!
just made this it was really good
Made tis today and it turned out moist very tasty, i will make this again!
Do you think this is one that would be ok to prep ahead and throw in the crockpot before work one day later in the week? I’ve never tried that with sweet potatoes – will they get weird if I chop them up and freeze them for a few days? Sweet potatoes are such a chore to cut up, I really hope this works so I can do it ahead of time.
I’ve never done that with sweet potatoes either. You could probably cut them and then keep them in a bowl of water in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. The drain and add them to the crock.
I freeze sweet potoes but I blanch them first.
This was a good dinner. I added onions and carrots as some previous writers had written. Hearty and wholesome. Thank you. The kids didn’t seem to mind the preparation of the sweet potatoes.
I’m making it now, but I’m doing butternut squash in place of the sweat potatoes.. we shall see.. sounds delish though..
Does the butter and brown sugar mix need to come cover the potatos and chicken? ?
No, it doesn’t need to cover it.
Could I make this dairy free? Maybe coconut oil instead of butter? Or earth balance?
Yes, that should work.
could you substitute coconut oil for butter? thank you!
Yes, I think so.
If your thinking about making this but hesitate because it sounds like a odd combo try it! My whole family loved it and it was so easy!
I made this tonight and it is so good! After reading the previous comment about the veggies becoming mushy, I cut the sweet potatoes into larger chunks. I also used a mix of sweet potatoes and yams since that’s what I had on hand. Amazingly delicious. Thank you!!
I made this tonight. I added onion, carrots and two cups of chicken broth. I cooked the chicken on low for 4.5 hours and it was o dry! Next time I will only cook it on low for 3.5 hours.
Can you add all the ingredients to a ziploc bag and freeze for later use?
Yes, you can do that.
would the potatoes taste wierd
Can I use regular potatoes instead of sweet potatoes.??
Yes, but I’d leave out the brown sugar and go savory with the seasonings.
I am going to try this with boneless pork chops because it is what I have on hand. Thanks for a great idea for my supper tomorrow.
Came across this recipe and figured I’d give it a shot. My Dominican husband, who only seems to wants rice, loved this dish and asked me to make it again! (I was shocked he ate it without rice and asked for more!) I admit I modified it just a bit to use ingredients that I had on hand. My crock pot cooks fast so I used 4lbs of chicken legs (skinned removed), one can of chicken broth, peeled sweet potatoes, one sweet yellow onion, and a couple of cored quartered red apples. I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter. I used plenty of salt and pepper. And to top it all off, I sprinkled some cinnamon on top of each slice of apple. Talk about deliciousness! So, I’m trying it again tonight with chicken thighs but no butter cause they seemed fatty enough. Hopefully it will turn out just as good!
It was just as delicious with chicken thighs and no butter!
can I use it for a freezer meal or will the potatoes turn wierd on me. it would be great to have in the freezer
I’ve used this as a freezer meal before. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can before freezing.
would pork chops work instead of chicken
Pork Chops should work for this too – you may need to adjust the cooking time if the chops are very thin, but otherwise it sounds like a great idea!
Could this be converted for the Instant Pot? If so, what would I do about a liquid? Side note: I’m currently going through your Instant Pot course, and so I was thrilled to recognize you on this recipe! 🙂
I think this could work in an Instant Pot! I would add 1½ cups of chicken broth and place everything on a rack to keep is from being mushy or soggy. And then set it for 20-25 minutes. If you set it for less time and it isn’t done, then you can always just set it again for a few minutes and it will come to pressure rather quickly. And I’m so glad to hear you’re going thru the Instant Pot School.
Could you do this with a whole chicken and, if so, how long would it need to cook in the crockpot for?
Yes, I think this would work with a whole chicken. I’d say 5-6 hours on high or 7-8 on low.
My whole family loves this recipe and I love that it’s quick and easy and even my kids can make it. We like to throw it in the crock pot on our busy weeknights.
Adding broccoli?? Is that weird?
Can I add carrots to this recipe ?
Sure!