Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken – Super YUM!

June 9, 2014 by Laurie Nguyen 12 Comments

Do you have a “go-to” meal for busy days?  This is one of mine.  It is deliciously easy!  A tiny bit of prep, throw everything into the crockpot, turn it on, and leave it alone.  Of course, you’d never know it was so simple by tasting it.  This dish is so yummy!  Pictures don’t do it justice.  Even my husband likes it!  And he can be a bit picky when it comes to food that looks like Asian food, but isn’t.  This probably falls in the category of food that looks Asian, but isn’t.  I guess it’s kind of like Taco Bell saying they serve Mexican food.  They don’t, but you can still like Taco Bell as it’s own food genre.  This is not Asian food.  It is Asian inspired and good, but not Asian.  (Yes, I’ll stop rambling now.)

 

Want to know the secret of this not-Asian dish?  Here is the recipe.

 

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

 

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

Adapted from a recipe by Chef In Training (found here)

 

2 1/2 pounds of chicken (I usually use boneless chicken breast or tenders, but you can use whatever you have)

3/4 cup honey (I used raw honey, but I’ve used regular grocery store honey in the past)

1/2 cup soy sauce (I use La Choy)

2 tablespoons dried onion (or 1/2 onion diced)

1/2 cup ketchup (or a little more)

1  tablespoon oil (I prefer peanut oil, but I’ve used canola as well)

1 tablespoon sesame oil (you can use regular oil if you don’t have sesame oil, but the sesame oil adds a lovely flavor)

4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons cornstarch

 

Prep chicken.  If using boneless chicken, cut into small-ish pieces (1 1/2 inches – 2 1/2 inches).  If using chicken tenders, there’s no need to cut up the chicken.  If using chicken with skin, brown first in a pan for best flavor, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Browning is optional, but it makes a difference in the overall flavor. Put chicken in crockpot.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken (to taste).

 

Whisk together all ingredients except for chicken, water, and cornstarch.  Pour over chicken.  Put lid on crockpot and turn on to low heat.  Depending on the size of the chicken pieces, this is ready in 3-5 hours.  (If you have frozen chicken, you can put it in frozen and adjust the cooking time to ensure the chicken is thoroughly cooked.  This is a nice option if you’re going to be gone all day, because it takes longer to cook.)

 

When chicken is done, remove from the crockpot leaving the sauce.  Mix together water and cornstarch until smooth.  Pour cornstarch mixture into the crockpot and stir. Add the chicken back to the crockpot and let cook until the sauce begins to thicken.  Serve over rice.

 

Sounds easy, right?  It is.  Here’s my photo step-by-step, so you can see just how easy it is.

 

I started with a package of chicken breast and a package of drumsticks. I’ve always used chicken breast, so this was the first time I’d used chicken on the bone.

 

I lightly browned the drumsticks and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

 

I put the browned drumsticks into the crockpot and placed the chicken breast pieces on top. Then I sprinkled salt and pepper on top.

 

Next, I mixed together the honey, soy sauce, dried onion, ketchup, canola and sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

 

I poured it over the chicken…

 

And I made sure each piece was coated with sauce. The I put the lid on, turned on the crockpot, and went to church.

 

When I arrived home a few hours later, the chicken was cooked through.

 

I removed most of the chicken from the crockpot, mixed together the cornstarch and water, and poured the cornstarch mixture into the crockpot.

 

I stirred the sauce, so the cornstarch mixture was well incorporated, then I put the chicken back into the crockpot. After 10 minutes, the sauce was thick and delicious, and everything was ready to serve!

 

I served the Honey Sesame Chicken over Jasmine Rice and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top for fun. It was delicious!

We can all use some easy go-to meals. 

Do you have one (or more) you’d like to share?

 

Laurel Laurie Staten Nguyen Newhall, CA