Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
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Dump everything in the crockpot for a family-friendly meal! Best served over rice. Sweet, savory & so easy.
Featured Comment
This crockpot honey sesame chicken has saved me so many times. Even with the busiest of days, nights, and lazy weekends, this slow cooker recipe is always coming to the rescue, and has never failed me.
reasons to make slow cooker honey sesame chicken
- Set and forget. This is one of those great slow cooker recipes that you can simply dump-and-go – there’s no searing, no cooking beforehand, no nothing. Come home from a long day to the coziest (and easiest), sauciest sesame chicken with zero hands-on cooking. The hardest part is shredding the chicken!
- Short ingredient list. Chicken, onion, soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic, ginger, s+p – most are pantry staples. And I have definitely been guilty of skipping the onions and garnishes half the time (and it still turns out oh-so-perfect).
- Flexible recipe. Use breasts or thighs and add in as little or as many vegetables as desired (perfect for those picky eaters). Serve over rice or your favorite grains with all the juices to sop up all the saucy goodness.
- Leftovers taste even better. The leftovers make for great lettuce wraps, and the leftover chicken + juices can be frozen as needed for quick meal prep for the busy weeks ahead!
tips and tricks for success
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Use dark or white meat. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs can be used interchangeably here but thighs are much fattier (and thus more flavorful).
- Add vegetables. Mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers or snow peas can be added during the last 30 minutes of cooking time for a more heartier meal.
- Serve with your favorite grains. White rice, brown rice, fried rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa or farro are all great options.
what to serve with slow cooker honey sesame chicken
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt slow cooker
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
You can serve this with white rice or our favorite no-fuss sheet pan fried rice!
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Leftovers are also great as lettuce wraps!
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop until warmed through.
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, diced
- ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine onion, soy sauce, honey, ketchup, vegetable oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper.
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken thighs into a 6-qt slow cooker. Add soy sauce mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours and 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken thighs from the slow cooker and shred the chicken before returning to the pot with the juices. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
Video
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Yummmy! Made as directed without ginger, as I forgot. Highly recommend.
Tastes like my favorite Korean restaurant. I also made the broccoli with carrots recipe. Huge Hit!
Finally found a great site! Thank you for sharing your talent with us♥️
Hello! I was wondering if this could be prepped and freezed ahead of time? So it can just be dumped into the crockpot when wanting to cook?
Was delicious! Finally got a great Korean easy recipe. Made as directed, omitted the ginger because I forgot but was so yummy! wanted to say that THANK YOU !
Yum! The kids loved this and it came together so quickly! I’d consider this as an easy pantry recipe, you likely have everything on hand but there’s also room to improvise. I added extra fresh ginger and served with rice and string beans I had on hand. I’m sure the hubby will enjoy the leftovers in a rice bowl with edamame, leafy greens, and hot sauce too.
I have this marinating from this morning and I am 100% sure it’s going to be AMAZING
I added broccoli and substituted 4 lbs chicken breasts. It was so easy to make before work and my kids loved it.
Damn delicious, and so easy to prepare. I used an Instant Pot (9 min. w/quick release), substituted toasted sesame oil for the vegetable oil, threw in a handful of pineapple chunks and lightly browned onion and garlic in a pan first. This one’s a keeper! Thanks again, Chunguh and team.
Please post nutritional value
I don’t like chicken thighs. Can I use chicken breast? If so do I have to adjust the time
This is the recipe that made me a damn delicious fan. It’s my favorite crockpot recipe because it is easy and delicious. I use the chicken to make grain bowls for a group. It’s especially helpful when I don’t know how many people are coming because I can easily stretch the recipe.
What are you supposed to do with the one small diced onion? It’s listed in the ingredients but then nothing in the instructions.
Hi Kelly! The onion is combined in the first step with the soy sauce and honey.
1. In a large bowl, combine onion, soy sauce, honey, ketchup, vegetable oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper.
I have bok choy from my CSA that I want to make with this. Should I steam it separately or can I add it in to the crock pot at some point?
This looks amazing! Can I make it in the instant pot?
Do you happen to have instant pot directions for this?
We made this after a little bit of scrolling for an easy prep meal! This was an instant hit in our house, even for the picky eaters!
Question:
I would like to add some veg. Any ideas on brocolli or peppers and would I add it in?
That sounds like a good idea. I would roast them separately and then put them in the crockpot at the very last so they would stay crisp.
Wow, was this delicious, and so easy! The only thing I did differently was that I cut the chicken unto chunks and cooked it that way so I wouldn’t have to shred it at the end. I also added broccoli during the last 30 minutes. I served it over couscous. Such a yummy meal– thanks for the recipe!
Can you cook this on high to shorten the cook time?
We enjoy this wonderful recipe cutting chicken in large chunks vs shredding.
I’m going to use my electric pressure cooker. Going to add fresh ginger and maybe a couple lemon slices. Cooking pressure 5 minutes with natural release for 10 minutes.
How did it go? I want to try it in my pressure cooker too!