Slow-Cooker Mango Sriracha Pulled Chicken is a simple pulled chicken made with sweet and spicy flavors from mango and sriracha in the slow-cooker.
Thanks to traffic, Bangkok seems to function about 15 minutes late. This is appropriate because my friends and husband will tell you that I run eternally 10 minutes late. Do the math on that one. It means that, on Bangkok time, I’m always 5 minutes early. Trafficky Bangkok for the win!
Last week, I was in a cab on the way to a 7am dentist appointment and, thanks to my cab driver’s “better route” through back alleys, it looked like I was going to make it by 7:02. I was feeling so timely until we reached a narrow intersection just as a double-decker bus rounded the bend. Back alleys in Bangkok are barely wide enough for a car and a motorbike, so forget about a double-decker bus loaded with tourists. Thus ensued a round of shouting in various languages, hands slapping out windows, and too many drivers who left their vehicles and stood around debating the best way to get the bus through. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, the bus finally inched its way around the corner and was headed off to some temple or another.
The taxi driver got back in the car, we both shrugged and laughed, and I made it to my appointment at 7:15.
15 minutes late – it’s unavoidable I tell ya.
For someone who is always running late, a slow-cooker is a dream come true.
Did I tell you I inherited a slow-cooker? My friend Anne gifted it to me when she moved home to the U.S. (Miss you Anne!!) This was a thrilling development because a) in hot Bangkok, a tiny slow-cooker is far preferable to a full-size noisy oven that heats up the whole house and b) I had big plans in mind for anything of the “pulled” variety – pulled chicken and pork immediately came to mind.
Being still new to the slow-cooking world, I went with two well-loved ingredients here - mango and Sriracha. The sweetness of the mango is so nice paired with the spicy red sauce and a hint of sour from rice vinegar. After the chicken cooked, I blended the remaining sauce and tender mango cubes and poured it over the chicken until it became a juicy, drippy, delightful mess.
Even Bangkok traffic can't get the better of me when there's a crockpot of pulled chicken waiting at home.
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
- Slow Cooker Green Salsa Chicken
- Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Carnitas
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Biscuits
- BBQ Pulled Chicken
- Sweet Chili Chicken
Favorite Tools
Slow-Cooker Mango Sriracha Pulled Chicken
Equipment
- 6-quart Slow Cooker
- Cutting Board
- Standing Blender or Immersion Blender
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs (with the bone in or out)
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 1 ½ cups roughly chopped mango (fresh or frozen will work)
- ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Sriracha (spicy chili sauce – with the rooster on the front)
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
For serving and topping:
- Sandwich buns
- Sliced avocados
- Cilantro
- Asian Slaw (thinly sliced red and green cabbage tossed in rice vinegar, a bit of honey, and salt)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the chicken in a crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours, until the chicken is tender and falls apart easily. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with two forks (discarding the bones if you used bone-in chicken thighs). Blend the sauce that remains in the crockpot in a blender or with a hand-blender. Taste and add salt, if needed. Toss the shredded chicken in the sauce until well-coated. (You may not need all of the sauce.)
- Serve on sandwich buns with any of the desired toppings above.
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Mary Ann
I'm not a mango lover, but this actually sounds VERY good and I'm going to try it!
kristine
SOUNDS AMAZING! I love sweet mango and chicken paired together. Must try this asap.
Erin @ The Emerging Foodie
Wow. Mango + siracha?! What an awesome combination. This recipe and these photos are totally drool worthy! Love it. And such a funny story--Bangkok seems like a constant adventure! 🙂
Anne ~ Uni Homemaker
I love pulled pork or pulled chicken. Love the flavor combination you have here Jess. And you certainly can't go wrong with Sriracha! 🙂 Delicious and pinning!
Beth
This sounds so good! And I loved the description of the traffic in Bangkok.
Tracy | Peanut Butter and Onion
Love my slow cooker. Looking forward to trying your recipie out
Monica
What a great recipe and a reminder that I need to pull out my slow-cooker! We got one years ago but it is Big so I rarely used it. That changed a bit last winter and I need to get it out and make something good like this with it! I love chicken thighs and love how easy your recipe is! Perfectly toasted buns, btw. : )
Ashley
Oh Jess, this is going to be happening soon at our house! I love using my crockpot and this sounds truly awesome! With the mango and sriracha?? Makes pulled chicken even better than normal!
Veronica
This was great! Just spicy and sweet enough! I used chicken breasts. I have tried many of your recipes and they are always so good. I now trust anything you post.
Norma O.
Can this be made with chicken breasts on the bone?
Jess
Hi Norma - yes, this can definitely be made using chicken breast on the bone.
norma O.
Thank you for replying so quickly. Since I haven't yet used my slow cooker, how long do you recommend cooking 2 lbs of chicken breasts on the bone? Also did you leave the skin on the chicken when you made it? Your recipe doesn't specify skinless or not.
Jess
Hi Norma - of course - I'm so happy to answer questions. I usually find that 4 hours on the high setting is about right for even very large pieces of chicken in my slow cooker, so give that a shot. I list skinless chicken thighs in the recipe, and I do highly recommend using skinless chicken breast in this recipe as well (you can even use boneless, skinless chicken breast and it should work well). I find that cooking chicken in the slow cooker with skin-on produces a lot of extra fat and liquid in the finished dish. Hope that helps!
Karen
Just get a meat thermometer and check internal temp to be sure, especially if using bone in. Poultry should be done to 165° - 170°, then allowed to rest wrapped up in aluminum foil for 15 min., give or take (so that juices get reabsorbed and temp continues to rise to 180°). Shred, return to pot (that's still on) and then mix w/sauce.
Great story Jess! Vivid imagery and cleverly written, funny. ;-). Unfortunately, I'm a "can't get anywhere on time" person too.
norma O.
Hi, what are the measurements for the Asian Slaw? I typed it in, but I couldn't find an actual recipe for it.
Thank you.
Jess
Hi Norma - unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for the Asian Slaw. I tend to just toss finely shredded cabbage and rice wine vinegar (sometimes a little honey and salt and pepper) until it tastes "right". Next time I make it, I'll measure everything out and post it though!
norma O.
Thank you.
Becca
My husband & I enjoyed this for dinner and loved it! We served it over a bed of basmati rice and it was delicious.
Jess
Thanks so much for letting me know, Becca - glad to hear you liked it!
samtee
If you live in Bangkok, you may try the "Original Srirach", its sell by SrirachaPanit. It has mid, hot and very hot.
Melissa Schmidt
I made this today and my family LOVED it! They even asked me to start making it more often.. Like once a week! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Jess
That's awesome - thanks so much for the note Melissa - it's definitely one of my favorite flavor combinations!
Kristen
Oh my gosh! This is delicious. I had already made my shredded chicken and was looking for a way to use it. So glad I came across this. I only had dried (unsweetened) mangos so I doubled the chicken broth to compensate for the lack of juice from the mangos. It came out amazing. I served it over lettuce with diced avocado.
Jess
Oh yum, Kristen! Thanks so much for letting me know. I've never tried it with dried mangos, but will have to give this a try. What a great idea and makes it super pantry-friendly.