Keto Low Carb Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken Thighs
Low Carb Keto Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken Thighs are a perfect meal for a busy weeknight. You can make this in your slow cooker, Instant pot or you can bake them! Just 4 carbs per serving!
LOW CARB BALSAMIC CHICKEN
This amazing slow cooker balsamic chicken recipe has been a popular post since it was first published in 2012! It is simple enough for any weeknight meal and delicious enough for company.
With a few ingredients and 2-4 hours in your slow cooker, you have the most tender, mouthwatering, flavorful, chicken the whole family will love!
Pair it with any side dishes you like. The slow cooker does all the work and you will have an amazing dinner waiting for you when you get home from a long day.
HOW TO MAKE BALSAMIC CHICKEN
Ingredients
You will need some dry spices like garlic powder, dried basil or you could also use dried parsley, sea salt, black pepper, dried minced onion. You will also need minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and of course skinless, boneless chicken thighs.
Directions
Combine the first five dry spices in a small bowl and spread over chicken on both sides. Set aside.
Place the olive oil minced garlic and half of the balsamic vinegar into the slow cooker.
Lay your chicken thighs in the slow cooker, they can overlap.
Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours if you have a newer slow cooker and 3-4 if you have an older slow cooker.
HOW TO SERVE BALSAMIC CHICKEN THIGHS
I’ve got a bunch of delicious low-carb side dishes to serve this with;
- Cheesy Cauliflower Tots
- Loaded Cauliflower
- Cauliflower Rice salad
- Oven Fried Garlic Parmesan Green Beans
- Low Carb Cheesy Bacon Hasselback Zucchini
But of course if you don’t feel like making anything too involved, a simple cauliflower rice is always good as is a mashed cauliflower.
Palmini rice is a new favorite of ours and we do still enjoy Shirataki rice too!
BONELESS VERSUS BONE-IN THIGHS
Using boneless chicken thighs is best for perfectly tender and juicy slow cooked chicken, but of course you could always use chicken breast if you’re not a fan of dark meat. You could even try this recipe using pork tenderloin if you like.
Bone-in thighs will also work just fine, you may need to cook them a bit longer, possibly an hour more. Make sure to use an internal thermometer and insert near the bone. You want a reading of 165 degrees F.
My entire family loved this chicken and each child asked for seconds of it which rarely ever happens! Don’t be worried about the balsamic flavor, it is subtle and not strong at all. The kids will only notice how moist and tasty the chicken is, I promise!
TOOLS TO MAKE BALSAMIC CHICKEN
Slow Cooker-I love using my crock pot weekly for that wonderful smell when you come home knowing you’ve got dinner ready to go for the family!
or Instant Pot– As much as I love using my crock pot, having an Instant Pot does save time when you need to get dinner ready in under an hour.
HOW TO BAKE BALSAMIC CHICKEN THIGHS
If you’d rather not use the slow cooker or instant pot. Simply follow the directions for seasoning your chicken.
Instead of placing the oil, garlic and balsamic into the slow cooker, add it to a bowl and toss and coat the chicken thighs. Place in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight is even better.
When you are ready to bake, place parchment paper on a large baking sheet pan and preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Lay thighs evenly on pan without overlapping. Bake for 25- 30 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
CAN I SWAP CHICKEN THIGHS FOR BREASTS?
Check this Post if you prefer using chicken breasts for this recipe instead. This recipe has also been adapted to use with beef!
Check out my newest recipe, Crock Pot Balsamic Roast Beef!
Other crock pot recipes you might like:
- Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken Breasts
- Crock Pot Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
- Crock Pot Beef Burgundy
- Crock Pot Shredded Mexican Style Chicken
- Crock Pot Sugar Free BBQ Pulled Chicken
KETO SLOW COOKER BALSAMIC CHICKEN THIGHS
Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons dehydrated onion
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar divided
- 8 chicken thighs boneless, skinless (about 24 ounces)
- sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Combine the first five dry spices in a small bowl and spread over chicken on both sides.
- Set aside.
- Pour olive oil and garlic on the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour in 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar.
- Place chicken on top.
- Sprinkle remaining balsamic vinegar over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 3 hours if using boneless, if using bone in thighs, high for 2-3 hours. If you have an older slow cooker you may need to cook another hour.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley on top to serve.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Combine the first five dry spices in a small bowl and spread over chicken on both sides. Set aside.
- Pour the olive oil and garlic on the bottom of the instant pot. Add all the chicken thighs to the pot. Pour the balsamic over the chicken.
- Cover the lid of the Instant pot and make sure it is set to "sealing". Press the "poultry" button and set timer for 12 minutes. Once it beeps, use a long wooden spoon to prevent steam burning your finger, switch to "venting" and the Instant Pot will quick release.
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
I made this last night and it was a huge hit with the family. I doubled the recipe since I had about 3 1/2 pounds of thighs and added an hour to the cook time. It was absolutely delicious! Will definitely be making it again.
So, so good! And ridiculously easy. Thanks for sharing!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was OUTSTANDING! I used skin on, bone in thighs, substituted @3/4 tsp onion powder for the minced and also added 1/4 chopped yellow onion placed on bottom of pot. Subbed garlic granules for powder. These subs were made because that’s what I had in the house. Delicious! Mouth watering, the chicken was moist, falling apart…outside was glazed! So easy. Thank you!
Would cutting the recipe in half and only using 4 thighs change the cooking time? My crockpot is 3-1/2 quart, on the small side. Thanks.
This looks great and I just put it on to cook . I have it just the servings because I have a larger family so I had to put 12 pieces on probably gonna cook it little bit longer on low . I’ll just watch it towards the end and see what happens .
These flavors were GREAT. However, I slow-cooked my thighs for 30 minutes on high, then two hours on low, and they were horribly overcooked. There are several possible contributing factors that are different for everyone:, Crockpot size, the cooking temp ranges it uses (my new one cooks hotter than the one that was about 10yrs old), size of the chicken thighs, and if they were brined or not. Mine would’ve withstood the cook time better if they were bigger, bone-in and brined, but I still would cook them on low next time, or maybe on high but only for 1 hour, then check with an instant-read thermometer. At any rate, I’ll try it again, but will figure out how not to ruin them by fiddling with cooking time and temp.
I am making this for dinner tonight. I am a bit worried about the comments saying the vinegar taste and smell was very strong. Has anyone tried mellowing out the balsamic vinegar by using half balsamic and half honey? Or even a bottled balsamic salad dressing in place of the vinegar? Does anyone think it would be a good idea? Initially the recipe sounded wonderful, but now I’m worried about thighs that may smell and taste too strongly of the vinegar..
Others have just used half balsamic and half chicken broth if you think it will be too strong for your family.
We had this tonight, and it was delicious. I wonder if the comments about a strong vinegar taste are from cheap balsamic. We use a quality vinegar, and it was great. Sweet and slightly charred – basically, it was perfect.
I wondered the same, I used a club pack of chicken (about 20 bone in, with skin thighs) doubled everything, cooked on high for 4 hours and they were amazing. Not vinegary at all. Making these again for sure.
Prepared as directed with boneless skinless thighs … Chicken is overcooked for my likes and balsamic way too overpowering. My four year old won’t try it just due to the vinegar smell. 🙁
I just bought an Instant Pot, and I used this recipe to christen it. I didn’t have dried onions, so I chopped a fresh onion and put it underneath the thighs, with the garlic.
What a great dish! The smell in my apartment alone was worth it, but the taste was phenomenal.
As for the people who are insisting the chicken must be grilled to look like that: NO. The combination of the spice rub and the balsamic vinegar color the flesh (they’re skinless, after all).
Also, my skinless thighs were fatty like one other customer’s. I didn’t bother to trim the fat, since I knew it would cook off. I just pulled out the thighs and skimmed off the fat from the remaining liquid.
How long did you cook it in the instant pot?
I followed the recipe exactly but there was a lot of liquid left in the crockpot. Also, the vinegar taste was strong. Do you have any suggestions? I cooked it for 4 hours on high. Thanks.
Some have said to reduce the vinegar by half and use chicken broth but I’ve not tried it.
Do you mean they used chicken broth for the other half? Also, do you know why mine came out that way? Would cooking for less time help?
There will be juice at the bottom becuase chicken thighs are fatty and you can add that juice over them when serving. Others have commented they used half chicken broth instead of the 1/2 cup of balsamic I used so 1/4 cup chicken broth and 1/4 cup balsamic.
I made this a second time with half chicken broth and half balsamic vinegar. I also only cooked it for 3 hours. It was delicious!
thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this! I searched for a thigh recipe for the crock pot and this came up and it’s amazing! I’ll definitely be trying all your crock pot recipes, we have 2 big kids and a 2 month old so I’m just too busy to actually cook anymore and the crock has been a lifesaver!
If you’re crock potting I call that real cooking so you are still working hard momma with a 2 month old!
I made this for dinner today and it was terrific. Will definitely make again
I followed the recipe exactly using thighs for 4 hours on high. Ours were overcooked and a little dry. Also, there a good bit of liquid left in crockpot…from the pics here it looks like the balsamic is supposed to carmelize a bit? Mine didn’t. It was edible, but not something I would make again.
This came out perfect ! Moist and tender and delicious. I paired it with the zucchini cheese bites. Oh my goodness healthy and delicious doesn’t get any better than this!
The balsamic slow cooker chicken thighs are FANTASTIC!!!!!! I will be doing the chicken breasts recipe very soon. My husband and I absolutely loved this recipe. Thanks!
I made this today, and it was very good. Served it with roasted garlic quinoa & Green Giant seasoned Tuscan broccolli with parmesan. I put the dry ingredients on the chicken in the crock pot the night before in the fridge, and had my hubby add the 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar when he started the crock pot at 3, and it was ready when I came home from work. I didn’t use boneless thighs, but the meat fell right off the bone. It cooked on high for about 3.5 hrs, and there was no dryness at all! It was a perfect blend of spice for a picky husband who eats very bland, and me who likes flavor. Light & healthy meal and gluten free! Will be making this again.
Love this recipe; making it tonight for the first time and it looks fabulous. Quick question: If I wanted to use bone-in chicken thighs (much cheaper than boneless where I live), how would you adjust the cooking time?
Sounds absolutely delicious. Ditched my crock pot years ago. But I think I’ll try this in my roaster oven set on the lowest temp.
I have a pressure cooker, do you know how I can make this using it? It also slow cooks but only on low, and after reading comments, not sure if I should try it! Thanks!
I have a bone in chicken thigh recipe in a pressure cooker here so you could check this link:https://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/quick-healthy-chicken-caccitorre/
I have to agree with one other poster, smelled so good but mine came out so dry .Maybe i’m doing something wrong, as i’m a slow cooker novice, but I actually cooked mine for 3 hours on “dual” which i understand is like medium , then an hour and 15 minutes on low. They smelled so good but really dry – no one liked them. But i could see how these could be delicious.
I tried this recipe today. My Crock Pot must run a bit hot. I had about 4 lbs of thawed boneless chicken thighs, and they cooked fully, on high, in two hours. Lots of liquid (not added before cooking) was in the pot afterwards as well, which tells me they cooked too fast and the liquid came out of the meat. Next time, I’ll try it again on low heat.
Thanks for the recipe!
I cooked mine on dual (medium) for 3 hours and low for an hour and 15 and mine were super dry too.
Hi I dont have a slow cooker or crock pot can I make this recipe with same ingredients but oven cook time in the oven? I would love to try this. Thank you.
I make this for my family often & it is ALWAYS a hit! I strain the juice/broth into a small sauce pan & add a slurry of corn starch & water. Heat & stir until it thickens . . . makes an excellent gravy for the chicken & the mashed potatoes I always serve as a side.
great idea, thanks for sharing!
My crock pot only does 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. It then switches over to keep warm. If I do 8 hours low it’s likely to dry out. But would it be safe to do 4 hours on hi g h and let it keep warm for 4 hours? I’m gone for 8 hours……
Yes I think the later is the best choice, high then warm.
made this w/ the spice cabbage & onions, was delicious!
Great idea!
Smelled magnificent. But extremely dry 🙁
How long did you cook it?