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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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.
Hi, 3hrs and 30 mins is not a convenient cooking for me. Unfortunately I did not ask for advice in advance and I’m about to experiment the menu right now using the same ingredients but I will use this Instant Pot instead of slow cooker. I’m hoping it will turn out right. But I don’t really know exactly how long I will for cook it with this pot. 🙁 please help.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
How did it go in the Instant Pot? I want to try the same thing because my crock pot is too small.
Can you leave it in the crockpot for longer than 30 mins after shredding the chicken?
Yes, preferably on the WARM setting, if applicable.
I can’t get the video to play. It says it is private, but the recipe looks yummy.
I made this as a freezer meal. So all ingredients in freezer bag, pulled out another day to make. I learned something through this recipe. I don’t care for a lot of soy sauce, nor do I like ketchup and soy together. I generally never use ketchup in a recipe so that one had me wondering.
Overall I didn’t care for this, it was overly salty and just didn’t taste good. May have been the freezer to crock pot, I don’t know. Will not make again.
If I want to double the recipe, would you recommend cooking on low for six hours instead of three, or should I go somewhere in the middle?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
If I wanted to put this in a freezer bag would I just put it all in there lay flat then freeze? Or do I not need to put anything together? Sorry new to crockpot dump meals.
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Very tasty and very easy! I swapped the thighs for breasts since they were on sale. 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight. Swapped thighs for b/s chicken breasts. SO DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious Looking!
I’m going to try this with bone-in thighs.
It is all I have on hand.
I’ll skin them first, before putting them in the slow-cooker, the just take off the bone.
Can’t wait to try them!
Would this be good with Black Sesame seeds?
Yes, absolutely!
Ok, thanks for getting back to me. I will try it and see how it goes.
Hi
. Just wondering how well this recipe freezes after cooking?
Thanks
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Hi! This is in the slow cooker right now. 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast, whole. The liquid isn’t covering all the breasts-is that an issue? Also, any suggestions on when to addFROZEN broccoli? I know you said 30 mins prior to the end of cooking time, it I’m not sure if that was for frozen or thawed broccoli. I’m a new cook so I’m just trying to get my head around the sciences of cooking! Thanks!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Hi Sara!
If it was me I would double the sauce. I like sauce.
IMO I think that fresh broccoli would have more taste than the frozen.
Frozen tends to have a watery taste to it.
I made this tonight and it was soooooo delicious! Our picky eater scarfed it down and loved it! So glad I found your blog! I have tried several of your recipes and every one has been a huge hit! Thank you!
Do you think you could make this with chicken wings? I’m searching for possible Super Bowl recipes
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Would it be OK to add sliced green and red peppers? Should I put them in with the chicken in the beginning or add them partway through ? Thanks!
Yes, those sound like great additions! You can try adding them in halfway as needed so that they are not overcooked. But as always, please use your best judgment.
You can easily shred chicken with a mixer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utn4rqfogIE
What if I wanted to add a veggie like broccoli? Could I just use less chicken and throw in a veggie? Or should I use the same amount of chicken and more sauce?
Yes, you can add less chicken.
Help!! I am making this right now but there is not enough liquid to cover the chicken in the slow cooker. What liquid should I add to it so it doesn’t get too dried out? Thanks!
Diana, you can try to double the sauce as needed.
Made this tonight. It turned out wonderful! My husband loved it. I’m definitely keeping this recipe for later.