Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

Sweet and tangy tender chicken coated in a lip-smacking honey and sesame glaze that cooks low and slow in the slow cooker.

There are days when I swear there truly aren’t 24 hours in it.  Like I think there are those days when you maybe get 18 hours and somehow those other 6 hours magically disappeared.  Like maybe Mother Earth needed to borrow some time and took mine. They say the older you get the easier it gets.

The thing is I’m not sure I believe that’s entirely true. I think the older I get it *may* get easier but that’s only because at our age we’ve become the expert at doing it; whatever it is. Like, remember when you were a little kid and you first learned to tie your tennis shoes?  It took FOREVER to get it right and I’m sure you sat there, tongue sticking out of the corner of your mouth and your eyes intently staring at your little fingers all the while your parents sat there reciting the bunny rhyme to help you tie them. 

However eventually over time and practice, you became an expert at it and now I’m pretty sure you don’t even give it a second thought when you do tie them, huh?

Thus since you aced the whole shoelace tying thing you were able to add another task to your day.  Eventually, you aced that too and you added another task.  Eventually, you are at the age you are now and you have a bajillion tasks to do and while you may be an expert at them all, they still take up time. For me, I’m at that point. 

I need more time in my days. Like you know how you can buy more cell phone minutes when you run out?  Well, I want to buy more hours in my day.  Does anyone know who I can speak with about this?

So this recipe happened on one of those days when I just didn’t have enough hours in the day but I knew at some point I’d have to eat.  See Mr. Fantabulous was off being a rock god (aka band practice) and I had 797 bajillion things to get done while he was gone AND somehow include some much-needed ‘me’ time in there. Since I knew I’d be short on time I broke out my trusty crockpot and grabbed some stuff out of the fridge, whipped up a quick sauce, plopped it all in the slow cooker, turned that sucker on, and went about my day.

One thing I love about this dish (and any slow cooker recipe) is that I can dump it all in, set the time and go about my business. In 4 hours I got 5 loads of laundry done, 2 loads of dishes run (it was a heavy cooking day for the TKW site), 6 photoshoots, ran to 2 markets, Homegoods (cause it’s an addiction!), worked out, answered emails, posted a recipe, facebooked the TKW site, spoke with Mama Fantabulous and took a shower.  Yeah, I need a cape *puts hands on hips like Super Woman though I don’t have the body like hers… or the invisible jet, damn it!* LOL

I mean really, when I was a little kid I LOVED Super Woman with her perfect jet black hair, Barbie-like figure, awesome outfit, magic lasso, and her invisible plane. She was a TRUE warrior princess that was a genius, beautiful, and rocked a killer bod.  However, to know me as a child I would have driven you nuts.  See even as a kid I analyzed EVERYTHING.  I can remember having deep discussions with my family and friends about how the likelihood of the plane ever truly existing “in the future” was impossible unless they had invisible bolts, glues, welding materials, oils, gasoline, and so forth.  I did justify saying that they could build a plane out of tempered glass that could withstand the altitude and pressure but there would be no way to keep it ‘invisible’ if a bug, bird or other object hit it. Yes, I was one of those kids.

See I was never that “Why?” kid but rather I wanted a more detailed explanation.  I wanted reasoning, justification, evidence.  My poor parents and teachers… I drove them nuts!  I can remember when I learned how to read.  I didn’t go for Puss ‘n Boots.  I went for our Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedias or my brother’s trigonometry books. I wanted to know it all; hell I still do. For me, my quest to not just know things but to understand them, how they why and why they work is what I thrive on.

So once I finished all 897,876 things I had to get done I sat down and made a plate of this for me.  Okay, seriously this was so good that I actually thought about having a 2nd serving, something I never EVER do.  Trust me, my thighs are ever so grateful! Thankfully Mr. Fantabulous called me to tell me that they were staying at practice late but that he was starving and if I could have something made when came home.  Yeah, like I don’t have food in this house or something, huh?  I’m equating his call as the reason I didn’t go for a 2nd plate as my willpower was fading fast.

Serving Tips with Rice

With this dish, I served it with simple brown rice that I cook in chicken stock. 

• Toast your rice first for about a minute or two in a dry pan
• Then instead of water, use the stock for much more flavorful rice!

If you aren’t a rice fan you could easily put this over rice noodles, quinoa, or serve with pasta. I bet you this would be great with egg noodles or gnocchi too!

This dish didn’t last long, to be honest.  In fact, I had to make another batch 2 days later.  I took some for lunch and he finished the rest as a snack – i.e., post-lunch/pre-dinner or “dinner jr” as my black-hearted little sister Liz would call it. It’s filling but light. 

The addition of the Sriracha adds just enough heat to balance out the sweetness of the honey.  The ginger just rounds the flavors out beautifully.  This dish is perfect when you simply don’t have enough hours in the day or feel like standing over the stove cooking.

As for crockpots I personally recommend either of these.  I LOVE them!

Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker, 6-Quart

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

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Sweet and tangy tender chicken coated in a lip-smacking honey and sesame glaze that cooks low and slow in the slow cooker.

• Author: The Kitchen Whisperer
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 4
• Total Time: 4.5 hours
• Category: slow cooker, crock pot, chicken, easy dinner
• Method: slow cooker
• Cuisine: slow cooker, crock pot, chicken, easy dinner

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 thighs (about 2 pounds total)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 3 tablespoon grated ginger (fresh) or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 4 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1/2–1 teaspoon Sriracha
• 3 tablespoon cornstarch
• 6 tablespoon water
• 3 green onions, minced (whites and green parts)
• Sesame seeds for garnish

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Instructions

1. Spray a 6 quart crockpot with cooking spray. Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of the crockpot.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, onion powder, ginger, Sriracha, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour over chicken. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 3 1/2 – 4 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. This will vary on how large your chicken is.
3. Remove the lid and carefully remove the chicken to a carving board.
4. Make a slurry of the cornstarch and water by whisking together the two until the cornstarch is all dissolved. Add the slurry to the sauce in the crockpot, gently mix and replace the cover.
5. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
6. While the sauce is thickening up, cut chicken into bite-size pieces. When the sauce has thickened shut off the crockpot. Remove the lid and place the chicken and green onions in the sauce and gently stir.
7. Serve with rice or noodles. Garnish with sesame seeds.

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