How To: Slow Cooker – Sesame Chicken

I have a confession to make –

Before making this recipe and writing this post, I had never used my slow cooker before. Crazy, right? And if you too are one of those ashamed slow cooker virgins, I promise after one use, it will become one of your favourite kitchen tools too.

It may surprise you that after our delicious pulled chicken and lentil stew recipes, I had yet to break out my crockpot. What finally gave me that push to break-in this appliance? A barely two week old beautiful newborn who requires constant use of my hands and…other parts. That is the beauty of a slow cooker. With minimal prep and assembly, you have a delicious meal on the table that is basically hands-free.

This sweet and sticky chicken is reminiscent of your favourite Chinese take out sesame chicken, without all the greasy fried batter. The slow cooker creates a tender chicken breast coated in a rich and thick sauce.

Once the chicken is done, a simple shred and addition of a cornstarch slurry to thicken the remaining sauce finishes this dish off nicely. I loved this chicken over rice or another grain of your choice, but I think it would also work great as a sandwich or taco filling.

And if you happen not to be suffering from lack of sleep and baby brain, add the sesame seeds that you set aside but forgot to use for a nice crunchy finish.

I have a feeling you may be seeing many more slow cooker posts in the near future!

Dara

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken

Print recipe

Serves	4
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	5 hours, 15 minutes
Total time	5 hours, 25 minutes
Meal type	Main Dish
Website	Adapted from Family Fresh Meals

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• 1/4 Tsp salt
• 1/8 Tsp black pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 onion (chopped)
• 2 Cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/8 Tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tsp cornstarch (dissolved in 3 tbsp water)
• sesame seeds (to garnish)

Note

This slow cooker chicken is best served over rice or another grain of your choice to soak up all that sweet and sticky sauce. I also like it served with some sort of simply steamed green - broccoli, kale, spinach, or swiss chard would all be great.

Directions

1.	Place chicken breasts in slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.
2.	Combine honey, soy sauce, garlic, onion, ketchup, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Pour over chicken and cook on low for about 5 hours.
3.	Once chicken is cooked, remove from slow cooker and set aside. Add corn starch mixture to sauce and cover and cook on high for about 10 minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
4.	Shred chicken with a fork and knife and add back to sauce in slow cooker. Serve over rice or quinoa and garnish with sesame seeds (if you can remember!)