Crockpot Sweet and Sour Chicken

October in one week and I am ready for it the way I am always ready for October: completely. Apple butter season. The first frost prediction. The slow braises coming back into rotation. The specific pleasure of an oven on in the evening warming the apartment in a way that a thermostat does not replicate.

I made a big pork shoulder braise this week — the same one I have been doing for years, cider and onion and sage, eight hours in the oven, falling-apart tender. It fills the apartment with the smell of fall in a way nothing else does. Ryan came home from a shift to it and said from the hallway I can smell that from the elevator, which is either an exaggeration or a testament to the pork shoulder, and I choose to believe the pork shoulder.

Steve called this week, which is unusual — it is usually Patty who calls, and Steve who can be heard in the background occasionally. He called to tell me about a project he is doing in the garage. He is building something for us, for the future house we do not have yet, but he has been planning ahead the way Steve plans ahead: quietly, practically, without announcing it until it is done. He said he would tell me when it was ready. I said okay Steve. He said he was just giving me advance notice. I said I appreciated it. He said good. He hung up. This is Steve calling to say he loves us. I will take every version of it.

Blog post this week: cider braised pork shoulder, a full recipe with the note that this is the smell of October in our apartment and has been for five Octobers now and I hope for many more. That line got commented on more than the recipe itself. People do not just want the recipe. They want the thing the recipe means. I know. I am always writing about that thing.

I included the pork shoulder recipe below in its simplest form — the one I’ve been making for five Octobers, the one that filled the hallway and apparently the elevator. If you don’t have eight hours and a pork shoulder, the crockpot sweet and sour chicken is my other long-day answer: set it before a shift, come home to something ready, let the slow cooker do the October work for you. Both recipes exist for the same reason: sometimes you need the apartment to smell like something good is coming.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 6–7 hours | Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh or canned in juice, drained)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
3/4 cup sweet and sour sauce (store-bought or homemade)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (optional, for thickening)
Cooked white or brown rice, for serving
Sliced green onions, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Layer the crockpot. Place chicken pieces in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add the diced onion and minced garlic on top of the chicken.
Mix the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the sweet and sour sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and ginger until combined. Pour evenly over the chicken.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–7 hours or on HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the chicken is fully cooked and tender.
Add the vegetables and pineapple. In the last 30 to 45 minutes of cooking, stir in the bell peppers and pineapple chunks. Replace the lid and continue cooking until peppers are just tender but still have a little bite.
Thicken the sauce (optional). If you prefer a thicker sauce, stir in the cornstarch slurry during the last 20 minutes of cooking and turn the heat to HIGH. Stir gently and let cook uncovered until the sauce thickens slightly.
Serve. Spoon over cooked rice and garnish with sliced green onions if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Crockpot Sweet and Sour Chicken — The Slow Cooker on a Long October Day