Sweet Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken Recipe

Jump to Recipe
ByCorey Created Updated

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken served on a white plate over brown rice, with a side of vegetables

I’ve ordered sesame chicken many times from our local Chinese restaurant,  but I never dreamed it would be THIS EASY to create myself. I love that I have control of what goes into my favorite take-out treat, so I don’t feel bad going back for seconds.

Not only is this version healthier and cheaper than take-out, the kids LOVED it too! Does a recipe get much better? I think not! Hope you enjoy this Sweet Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken recipe!

Sweet Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken Recipe

  1. Start by seasoning chicken lightly with salt and pepper and place into crock pot.
  2. In a bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes.
  3. Pour over chicken.
  4. Cook on LOW for 4  hours or on HIGH 2  hours, or just until chicken is cooked through.
  5. Remove chicken from crock pot with a slotted spoon, leaving sauce behind.
  6. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot.
  7. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on HIGH for ten more minutes until the sauce has thickened.
  8. Shred chicken with two forks and then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving.
  9. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice, quinoa, noodles or MY favorite, spinach!

Have a picky eat at home? Give this trick a try!

  • I let the girls sprinkle the sesame seeds on their own servings. I called them sprinkles…..which they thought was the coolest and made them want to try the new food even MORE!
4 images showing a child shaking sesame seeds over sesame chicken
4.57 from 71 votes
click the stars to rate!

Sweet Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken Recipe

A healthier version of your favorite take-out dish that the kids will LOVE. This Sweet Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken Recipe will be an instant family favorite!
6
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients
 

  • 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tablespoons water
  • Sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Start by seasoning chicken lightly with salt and pepper and place into crock pot.
  • In a bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes.
  • Pour over chicken.
  • Cook on LOW for 4 hours or on HIGH 2 hours,
  • or just until chicken is cooked through.
  • Remove chicken from crock pot with a slotted spoon, leaving sauce behind.
  • Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot.
  • Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on HIGH for ten more minutes until the sauce has thickened.
  • Shred chicken with two forks and then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving.
  • Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice, quinoa, noodles or MY favorite, spinach!

Nutrition

Calories: 307kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 1240mg | Potassium: 330mg | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 95IU | Vitamin C: 2.6mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying of full recipe to any social media is prohibited.

Did You Make This Recipe?

Make sure to share it with me below!

@FamilyFreshMeals Leave A Comment @familyfresh
4.57 from 71 votes (21 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Did you make this recipe? Rate it:




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

175 Comments

  1. 1 star
    SO dry. Not sure why it should cook so long. The chicken developed on one side a thick armadillo type skin and even the thick sauce tasted burned. Sorry! Really was looking forward to an authentic unburned meal as the maiden recipe on my new crockpot.

    Reply

    1. Sorry about that Susan. Some crockpots do run hotter than others. That might have been the case here.

  2. Best thing to EVER come out of my crockpot! Any idea of the calorie count?

    Reply

  3. 5 stars
    This is so easy to make and tastes so delish! It takes me forever to cook so this was a breeze. My lil helper and I had a miscommunication about how much soy sauce so I had to add a little bit more starch lol but it was still delish! Thank you!

    Reply

  4. 4 stars
    I have a 15 lb bottle of honey my grandmother gave me, I was so excited to be able to put some of it to good use!

    We like dark meat so I used thighs instead of breasts. I also had some sesame oil so I used that instead of the olive oil. I let the chicken marinade in the sauce all night before turning the crock pot on and then added some frozen broccoli to it while cooking and served it over sticky rice.

    Turned out lovely! I will make it again for sure.

    Reply
  5. Kathy Fabanich says:

    Hi, these look delicious but for a working mom who leaves the house at 7:30am, how do I ony cook on low for 4 hrs? Can I leave the cockpot sit out on a timer? Is this safe for the chicen?

    Reply

    1. I know! I have the same problem with Crock Pots – I’m usually gone from the house for about 8 hours and the cooking times are always shorter than that :(. I know some have timers, but it’s never safe to leave uncooked meat sitting out at room temperature for a few hours, so I’m not sure what to do!

    2. I was just thinking about this last night! My crockpot has a timer in the sense that you can set it to start cooking and turn itself off in 4 hours (or 5 hours, or whatever), but it does NOT have a setting that it will start cooking in 2 hours, so that the food is just finishing when I get home.

      So, what I considered is that I could start the cooking when I leave and set the timer to turn off after 4-5 hours (whatever the time is). At least then it would just be a matter of heating the food up when I get home. It seems preferable to having uncooked meat sitting at room temperature for hours, anyways. It might not work with all recipes, but then again I feel like most crock pot foods reheat really well.

      Corey – can you weigh in on this? Thanks!

    3. How long will it be sitting out after cooking?

    4. Use frozen chicken and mix sauce the night before in ice cubes…throw the frozen chicken with the cubes in before leaving for work, and set it to start cooking in 2 or 3 hours. It will stay cold enough for that time, and will be done when you get home.

    5. What I do (as I’m gone from the house almost 10 hours on workdays) is I cook everything on the weekend, and then just set it in the crockpot to warm up and keep warm. It has worked really well with almost every recipe I’ve done. I’m new to your site and I can’t wait to try some of these recipes 🙂

    6. My crockpot only has four settings – 4-6 HIGH or 8 – 10 LOW. I don’t have one with a timer to shut of automatically after a certain time. What setting do you suggest that won’t dry it out? I work from home so I can turn it off? Should I put it on 4 HIGH but turn it off after 2 hours?

    7. Go out and buy one of the timers that you would use on your lights when you are on vacation…. Mine cost $5 from home depot.