Slow-Cooker Chicken With Orange Sauce {And Grand Marnier}
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This Slow-Cooker Chicken with Orange Sauce and Grand Marnier is an adaptation from one of my early posts from 2011, Slow Cooker Cornish Game Hens with Grand Marnier .
While the Cornish Game Hens are generally easily accessible in most grocery stores, I realized that quite a few people are not as comfortable cooking them. So I decided to adapt the recipe for chicken pieces. I’m not sure why I waited so long to do it, as it really is so easy. This past weekend I decided to make this Slow-Cooker Chicken with Orange Sauce for a dinner party.
The Game Hen recipe was perfect for 4, with each person getting half of a bird. But because there were going to be 7 of us, I wanted to have chicken pieces. We favor the juicier thighs, but I did put in a few breast for those who prefer white meat. This recipe will serve 6-8. I made a few adjustments to the marinade, reducing the amount of soy sauce, but other than that, there are very few ingredients that go into this tasty dish!
The juices are finished off with Grand Marnier and butter, making a smooth and delicious sauce. The chicken simmers in the slow-cooker on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 3, and is finished off under the broiler for a few minutes, just until the skin browns. Hands on time for this easy dish, is under 20 minutes! I used a combination of bone-in, breasts, thighs and legs, adding up to about 5 pounds.
Serve it with Golden Rice Pilaf, Crispy Roasted Potatoes, or Cranberry Wild Rice.
Elegant enough for company, and easy enough for your family, I think you’ll love Slow-Cooker Chicken with Orange Sauce and Grand Marnier!
Slow-Cooker Chicken With Orange Sauce {And Grand Marnier}
Ingredients
- 5 pounds bone-in chicken pieces breasts, thighs or drumsticks, trimmed of excess fat
- 2 oranges, zest and juice about 1/2 cup
- 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce or tamari
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 Tablespoons cold butter cut into small pieces
- 3 Tablespoons Grand Marnier
Instructions
- Place chicken pieces in large slow-cooker.
- Mix together zest and orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, honey, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken pieces.
- Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
- Pre-heat broiler to high. Place rack in upper 1/3 of oven. Remove birds from slow-cooker. Strain juices into a sauce pan.
- Over medium heat, cook juice until reduced by about half, and slightly thicker, about 10 minutes. While sauce is reducing, Place chicken pieces on a foil lined baking sheet and brown under broiler about 5 minutes, or until skin is golden brown.
- When sauce is reduced, add Grand Marnier and whisk in butter, 1 Tablespoon at a time until sauce is smooth.
- Place chicken on a platter and pour sauce over chicken or serve sauce on the side.
This is gorgeous! I wish my husband would eat chicken thighs, because I would think they would be best, but breasts would certainly be tasty as well!
Love this recipe as a twist on your original, Cynthia! I think it’s great for weeknight meals, weekend company and even picnics and potlucks! When can this go wrong!? Never!
Awesome recipe and I’m sure it’s a contest winner if you ever entered it!
Beautiful, healthy, comforting, balanced, tasty. I’m in. Thank you and have a pleasant day !
Thank you Jan!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I love oranges and I’ve tried many dishes with oranges before. And I’m glad I found this recipe online. I will be making this for my family very soon. They will surely love this. By the way, can I add some dried tangerine peel powder for this recipe?
Thank you!Sure, why not? Where do you get tangerine powder, by the way? Sounds really fab!
Can you use chicken tenderloins and without the he grand mariner?
Well, because it’s cooked in the slow cooker, the bone-in thighs take longer. I would cut the time in half. As for the Grand Mariner, you could substitute brandy or add more orange juice.
Chicken with orange sauce recipe sounds yummy and look fabulous! Thanks for sharing!!!
You’re welcome! Hope you enjoy it!
Question gal, did I read your instructions correctly? “Cook in the slow cooker on low for 3 hours or on high for 5”??
Hi Jayne…I think you might have read it backwards? Here it is from the recipe:Place chicken pieces in large slow-cooker.
Mix together zest and orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, honey, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken pieces.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
Pre-heat broiler to high. Place rack in upper 1/3 of oven. Remove birds from slow-cooker. Strain juices into a sauce pan. Over medium heat, cook juice until reduced by about half, and slightly thicker, about 10 minutes. While sauce is reducing, Place chicken pieces on a foil lined baking sheet and brown under broiler about 5 minutes, or until skin is golden brown.
When sauce is reduced, add Grand Marnier and whisk in butter, 1 Tablespoon at a time until sauce is smooth.
Place chicken on a platter and pour sauce over chicken or serve sauce on the side.
Hi Jayne…I see where you were confused…the body of the post was written backwards…the recipe card is correct.
Hi – I wan to cook this but don’t have a slow cooker. Do you have an adaptation of this for a regular oven please?
Sorry! Just seeing this!
From google:
How do I convert slow cooker times?
One to 1.5 hours on high or four to six hours on low in a slow cooker equals 15 to 30 minutes in the oven.
Two to four hours on high or six to eight hours on low equals 35 to 45 minutes in the oven.
Four to six hours on high or eight to 10 hours on low equals 50 minutes to three hours in the oven.