Slow Cooker Lemongrass and Coconut Chicken Drumsticks

Since I had leftover lemongrass from making Bo Kho and I always have coconut milk in the pantry, I decided to make a slow cooker chicken drumstick dish with these ingredients.

After scouring my Asian cookbooks and the interwebs, I came across this recipe for Roasted Lemongrass Chicken. I Paleo-ized the recipe, added some five-spice powder, and threw the ingredients in the slow cooker instead of the oven. Super easy and delicious!

How do you prepare lemongrass?

Here’s my step-by-step tutorial on how to prepare it!

Time to make Slow Cooker Lemongrass and Coconut Chicken Drumsticks!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 10 drumsticks, skin removed
• 1 thick stalk fresh lemongrass, papery outer skins and rough bottom removed, trimmed to the bottom 5 inches
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, microplaned
• 1 cup coconut milk (+¼ cup optional at the end)
• 2 tablespoons Red Boat fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 1 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup fresh scallions, chopped
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Equipment:

• All of my recommended kitchen tools are listed here.

Method:

I placed the drumsticks in a large bowl and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

(I always rip the skin off drumsticks with the aid of a paper towel because it makes the slippery skin easier to grab.)

I placed the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, fish sauce, coconut aminos, and five spice powder into the Vitamix blender and blitzed until a smooth sauce formed.

I poured the marinade onto the chicken and mixed it well.

I dumped the onion into the bottom of the slow cooker and put the drumsticks and marinade on top. I set the slow cooker on low and cooked it for about 4-5 hours.

When it was done cooking, I transferred it to a storage container to chill in the fridge for a couple days.

When I reheated the drumsticks, I placed it in a pot and brought it up to a simmer. Then, I tasted for seasoning and plated it.

Update: If you don’t mind dirtying your blender again, my pal Ben, gave me a great tip on how to get an extra creamy sauce at the end. When the stew is done cooking, remove the chicken and put the sauce and onions into a blender. Puree the sauce, and add ¼ cup more of coconut milk into the blender at the final moment. Put the sauce and chicken back into the cooker and keep warm.

As a final touch, I sprinkled on some chopped fresh scallions.

Remember – don’t cook it on HIGH and don’t go over 5 hours or you’ll end up with a big pot of BLECH.

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Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).

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