Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, aka Chinese New Year, and I have one more Chinese recipe to share with you, a super easy slow cooker honey garlic sesame chicken. This is the slow cooker version of the Chinese takeout classic sesame chicken that’s even easier to make and tastes amazing! The slow cooker sesame chicken is so simple, you just throw everything into the slow cooker in the morning and in the evening you shred the chicken and enjoy! The slow cooked shredded chicken just melts in your mouth and the tasty sauce keeps it nice an tender and moist! This chicken is great over rice, noodles, in sandwiches, quesadillas, etc. There are just so many different ways to enjoy it; you really should just give in and make a double or triple batch!
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken
A super easy and tasty slow cooker version of the classic Chinese takeout honey garlic sesame chicken.
ingredients
- 1 pound chicken
- 1 small onion, sliced or diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- chili sauce (such as sriracha or sambal oelek) to taste
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
directions
- Place everything, except the sesame oil and sesame seeds, in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-10 hours or on high for 2-5 hours, remove the chicken, shred it (discarding skin and/or bones) before mixing it back into the sauce along with the sesame oil and sesame seeds and enjoying!
Option: Simmer the sauce and juices in the slow cooker to reduce and thicken after removing the chicken and then return the shredded chicken to the reduced sauce
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Heather Christo says
OMG this looks incredible!!!
marla {Family Fresh Cooking} says
totally craving this for dinner!
rancholyn says
If you don't want chicken to shred but rather in pieces you think 6 hrs low or 3 hrs high would do the trick?
kevin says
rancholyn: Yes, that should be good for sliced or diced chicken!
Maxim says
Would not recommend putting it in for 10 hours.
Total disaster, put it in at low heat for 10 hours and it came out totally black and burnt…
6 hours on low is more than enough
kevin says
6 hours is more than enough to get the chicken to the point where it is cooked through! I often throw this into the slow cooker before heading to work and it ends up being in for closer to 10 hours, which also works.
Maria Lichty says
Looks like an easy and delicious weeknight meal!
kreativ Nut says
Is there no need for other liquid(s) like water for this recipe? I tried it as is and the entire content burnt so badly (completely charred) cooking at low for 6 hrs and my flat almost burn down! Now I am struggling to remove the charcoal stuck on my slow cooker pot ????
Maxim says
Yeah this happend to me to.
kevin says
With 3/4 cup of liquid in the sauce along with the juices for the onion and the chicken, there should be plenty of liquid in the end. It sounds like the lid of your slow cooker might have been ajar or it does not fit properly and that allowed the liquid to evaporate/escape from the slow cooker as it cooked.
Noreen Gamble says
Just made this and it's delicious!! I added some hoisin sauce in the first steps and cornstarch in the end to thicken it up. I will be making this again!! Thank you Kevin!
kevin says
Noreen Gamble: I'm glad you like it!
EK says
This turned out so good and was so easy to make. Thank you!
Lori in Maine says
Hi Kevin, I've got this AMAZING sounding and looking dish in the slow cooker as I write. Really looking forward to dinner! Question, chili sauce? I have sweet chili sauce but I don't think that's what you mean. Can you clarify please and give me an idea of what amount to start with? Thanks for sharing!
kevin says
Lori in Maine: I usually go with something like a sriracha or a sambal oelek and I start with 1 tablespoon. Sweet chili sauce would work in this recipe but cut back on the honey to avoid making it too sweet. I would replace half of the honey with 2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce to start with. Enjoy!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says
I need to make this for dinner tonight! Yum!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says
I need to make this yummy dish for dinner soon!
Anonymous says
This dish came out amazingly delicious! We did make a few modifications. I doubled the recipe (about 2 lb chicken breast) and added half a shallot, some cilantro, 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and about 3 teaspoons of cornstarch at the end to thicken it. We kept the chicken breast whole, but made some cuts in them and put butter inside, then rubbed with peanut oil, salt, pepper, and some of the garlic/ginger mix. Cooked on high for about 3.5 hours and the chicken breast shredded so easily. Will definitely make this again.
Unknown says
Would the cook time be the same if I wanted to double the recipe? Thanks!
kevin says
Unknown: The cook time us the same. Enjoy!
Unknown says
Can anyone update me if this needs an additional liquid? Per recipe, it seems kind of dry.
Maxim says
I would add liquid
kevin says
With 3/4 cup of liquid in the sauce along with the juices for the onion and the chicken, there should be plenty of liquid in the end. It sounds like the lid of your slow cooker might have been ajar or it does not fit properly and that allowed the liquid to evaporate/escape from the slow cooker as it cooked.
kevin says
Unknown: You do not need additional liquid but you can add some if you want a thinner sauce.
EK says
Followed recipe as-is. Super easy to make and a really delicious dish. Thank you.
Kim says
Froze it and put it there slow cooker frozen, then low for 10 hours. Was delish, and even hubby who’d doesn’t usually like slow cooker chicken recipes loved it. I added a bit of fresh ginger after cooking to give it an extra bright pop of flavor.
Spinster says
Can this be made with boneless skinless chicken breast? Hoping to make this for tomorrow. Hope to hear something back; thank you for your consideration.
kevin says
Yes you can! Enjoy!
Spinster says
Thank you. Putting everything in my slow cooker right now.
Spinster says
Made it. Pretty good. Will add more honey next time; might’ve been a bit too heavy-handed with my garlic and sriracha sauce 😐 …
Lacey says
Is this freezer friendly?
kevin says
This freezes well!
Roxy says
Does the nutrition information posted include the rice?
It seems like a lot of carbohydrates for what’s listed in ingredients
kevin says
The listed Nutrition Facts does not include the rice, just the listed ingredients.