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/weekends – this slow cooker recipe is always coming to the rescue, and has never failed me.
The ingredient list is short too – reduced sodium soy sauce (highly recommend using reduced sodium as the dish will be substantially less salty), honey, ketchup, garlic, ginger, s+p. All pantry staples. And I have definitely been guilty of skipping the onions half the time.
Chicken breasts and thighs can be used interchangeably here but thighs are much fattier (and thus more flavorful). The hardest part though is shredding the chicken! When ready to serve, serve over rice with all the juices. You’ll want that rice to soak up alllllll the goodness here.
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!
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.
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wowww I can’t believe how good this looks. Definitely trying this weekend.
Hi! This looks delish! I don’t have any vegetable oil. I was thinking one tbsp sesame oil (love the flavor) and 1 tbsp of sunflower or avocado oil. Your thoughts?
This one is a hit in our house! Easy peasy and the hubby + 3yr & 7yr old ate it right up. Only modifications I made were instead of 2tbsp of veg oil I did 1tbsp of veg oil and 1tbsp of sesame oil (because I love the flavour). I also added a bit of cornstarch in the last 15mins just to thicken the sauce up a bit. Turned out great. Served w/ rice and steamed green beans.
Literally just found this recepe online and ran to the market to grab the ingredients. Hope it comes out good
We loved this! We ate it in 3 servings rather than 6! Served over cauliflower rice. Also steamed frozen broccoli in the microwave and stirred it in with 10 min left. I also did the last 30 min on low rather than warm to make sure the chicken cooked.
Great! A little spicy for our taste–we are wimps and should have used less red pepper. Still great flavor though! Will make again!
This recipe is a favorite in our family. Have you ever tried making it in an Instapot? I was hoping you could share instructions on cook time, etc.
I did this in my Instant Pot tonight. I added about a 1/2 cup of chicken broth as I was worried there wouldn’t be enough liquid to pressurize. I also cut the thicken thighs up before putting them in. Then cooked on high pressure for 9 minutes with quick pressure release. Turned out great.
I have made this in a regular sized but crockpot and it’s delicious! I just got a new crockpot that is 2 quarts and I am trying to figure out the best way to make it in a smaller scale!
I love this recipe so much! My whole family, even the picky two year old, agrees! I have company coming and would like to make it for them, was wondering if I could prepare the night before and keep in the fridge. Would I need to adjust cooking time?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Made this at work for me and my co-workers. Delicious!!!! And so easy. The only thing I may change when I make it again is to cut back a little on the soy sauce and add a touch more honey. The chicken tasted great, but just a little salty for my personal taste.
This is my family’s favorite slow cooker dinner. I usually put it together in the morning when I’m making lunches. I put the crock in the fridge and have my husband take it out and start it on low around 1:00. (He always eats lunch at home.) When I get home I make the rice and steam whatever vegetable is in season (usually asparagus or broccoli). I have four kids and they all love this meal!
I’ve made this recipe a few times. I follow it exactly as instructed and its a hit! I serve it over jasmine rice. We usually have steam broccoli or roasted carrots as a side. Found on Pinterest and forever grateful.
That’s awesome!
Very good 5 starts as usual! My 2 year old just devoured it and my hubby said it’s a keeper! All of your recipes are nothing short of amazing!!!
Aw that’s so great to hear, Alicia! Thank you!
Hi. Is 3 hours really long enough on a low setting to cook 2 pounds of chicken? I’m a total novice when it comes to this stuff, but that doesn’t sound nearly long enough to me?
Hi Ryan, that’s how we cooked it and it turned out great.
Thanks Jana. I just cut some open after the 3hr 3o mark…still a little pink for me so I’m gonna give it another hour or so to be safe.
Lol I now realized the other recipe was from this website. I love that honey sesame chicken! Good to have this option with veggies too!
I realized this was my comment which doesn’t make a lot of sense I must have meant to put it on the other recipe. The other recipe is the honey garlic chicken recipe. I like this one the most though.
You can use boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe if you prefer them. My husband is a strange man and doesn’t like the texture of chicken thighs.
Hello my family loves all your recipes. I have a tomato intolerance – so many yummy recipes that require tomatoes sigh. Was wondering if you have a suggestion for a replacement to the ketchup for this recipe? Or in general really if a recipe calls for ketchup or tomato paste – of welcome suggestions.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This was absolutely delicious! I made it today on the @livestrong_com insta story and credited you 🙂
Chicken cooked in the crock pot shreds easily in a stand mixer. This recipe doesn’t have to have ANY tedious parts. (My kids love it and now that I can fast forward through chicken shredding so do I.)
I try to avoid using ketchup in recipes because it adds extra sugar and I prefer not to used processed goods. Do you think I can substitute tomato paste or pureed tomatoes for the ketchup? thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Jennifer,
Primal Kitchen makes ketchup without sugar. Here are the ingredients (from their website:) Organic Tomato Concentrate, Organic Balsamic Vinegar, Less than 2% of Salt, Organic Onion Powder, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Spices If that is still too processed, tomato paste sounds like a good substitute.
I’m making this tonight, so can’t comment yet on how it will taste with this brand of unsweetened ketchup, but I have a feeling it will be great! I’ll let you know!
I have everything but honey :(. Would molasses be ok to substitute?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.