This easy recipe for Crock-Pot Honey Sesame Chicken is a family favorite! Cut up chicken is sauced up with a delicious Asian inspired sauce and slow cooked.
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
If you are looking for an amazing slow cooker chicken recipe this one is it! My family gave rave reviews on this one and it is totally on our to-make again list. The flavor is amazing and it is pretty easy to put together. The hardest part of this meal is just cutting up the chicken before tossing everything else in the slow cooker!
We served this recipe with some steamed jasmine rice which is my personal favorite rice to serve with Asian inspired dishes and we also steamed up some broccoli and snow peas on the side. I drizzled some of the sauce from the chicken over my rice and veggies and it was good!
As we have mentioned before, chicken can be a tricky beast, especially chicken breasts as there is less fat and connective tissue in boneless skinless chicken breasts than there is in say dark meat like thighs or legs. Often times the chicken comes out dry and blah unless you add in moistness. And this honey sesame sauce does exactly that, the chicken comes out moist and tender and not dried out at all.
Special Diets
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Crock-Pot Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- 6 Quart Crock-Pot or larger
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 1 Cup Honey
- ½ Cup Soy Sauce (low-sodium preferred, may use a gluten-free soy sauce if on a GF diet)
- ¼ Cup Hoisin Sauce (may use a gluten-free hoisin sauce if on a GF diet)
- 1 Teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
- 6 Tablespoons Cold Water
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
Optional Garnishes
- Green Onions (sliced,)
- Sesame Seeds
Instructions
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and place in the bottom of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.1 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- In a small bowl mix honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and garlic with a fork. Then pour over chicken in the slow cooker.1 Cup Honey –½ Cup Soy Sauce –¼ Cup Hoisin Sauce –1 Teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil –2 Cloves Garlic
- Cover and cook on LOW 3 – 4 hours until chicken is cooked.
- Pour liquid from chicken into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer on the stove top.
- Mix cold water and corn starch in a small bowl with a fork and pour into simmering sauce.6 Tablespoons Cold Water –2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- Cook for 3 – 4 minutes while stirring over medium heat until sauce is thickened.
- Pour sauce over chicken and serve chicken over rice garnishing with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.Green Onions –Sesame Seeds
Notes
Nutrition
Quick question!! It says “1/4 Hoisin sauce” do you mean 1/4 “cup” Hoisin. ? It looks really good. Looking forward to making it 🙂
Ah yes Teresa, that should read 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce. Off to edit the recipe now, thanks for catching that!
If you do not have hoisin sauce what else could you use? Or can I omit and add grated ginger? Thanks, I love cooking in my Slow cooker/ Crockpot.
If you do not have hoisin sauce you can use a bit of BBQ sauce or Teriyaki sauce. You can add grated ginger for sure (I love ginger!) but I would not use it as a complete swap out with the hoisin sauce.
I’m sorry this may seem like a stupid question but what do you mean by pouring liquid from chicken? Thank you!
When the chicken is done cooking in the crockpot there will be a nice amount of liquid. Just pour the liquid off and thicken it up according to the instructions. You can either strain the chicken in a colander set over a bowl to collect the liquid, use a large spoon or ladle to ladle out the liquid or I just cock the lid a bit to allow the liquid to pour off without pouring out the chicken.
Looks great. I’ve always heard that any raw meat must be slightly brown on the stove top before adding to the crock pot? I noticed you put in the chicken raw. Thanks
Raw meat cooks just fine in the crock-pot.
hi- just wondering do you use frozen chicken or already baked chicken? Probably a dumb question but I’m not sure
Hi Amber, this recipe uses raw boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks. Then it is all cooked in the slow cooker according to the directions in the recipe.
I would like a recepie for old fashioned chicken or beef curryIf you can please. Ann Mc Gloin
When you say 4 boneless chicken breasts, are you saying 4 whole boneless or breasts or halves?
4 boneless breast halves.
This looks great! I’m excited I found your site on the Nifty Thrifty link party. I’m a new food blogger and love meeting others. I’ve followed your social sites and hope we can connect on those. I can’t wait to read more of your blog! Becky
Hi Becky,
Thanks for dropping by from the Nifty Thrifty link party. I am heading over to check out your blog now!
Heidi
I made this tonight – HUGE HIT!!! Delicious! All I did differently was use 1/2 Teriyaki and 1/2 Oyster sauce. i removed the chicken from the crock pot; added the cornstarch / water slurry to the liquid & turned it on high while I cooked the rice. When the rice was complete I put the chicken back in the crock. I put sesame seeds on the table for those who wanted it. SO GOOD!!!
I am so happy your family enjoyed this recipe Pam. Totally makes my day to hear that!
I left a message yesterday but it disappeared. I was just inquiring about the amount of boneless chicken breast. Can you tell approximately how many pounds you use?
Thanks,
Margie
Hi Margie,
I am sorry, I must have accidentally deleted your comment. This recipe uses 4 chicken breast halves. Or approximately 2-3 lbs.
I hope that helps!
Heidi
I made this last night and everyone loved it. I actually just stirred the slurry into the crock pot with the chicken and cranked it to high, then I added broccoli. It was great!!
So glad you liked it Seana!
Just had this for dinner; it turned out very dry even though I had it on for just over 3 hours. It might work as a stir fry but for a crockpot / slow cooker chicken thigh fillets would be better.
Oh no Kay, I am sorry it came out dry for you. I had just the opposite experience when I made it and felt that the chicken came out rather moist. They key really is not to overcook it because chicken breast meat does tend to dry out. With all the sauce that the chicken is simmering in and cooking for a rather short time (relative of course for a slow cooker recipe) the chicken should come out rather tender and not dry. But using chicken thighs is an option of course. Thighs have more fat and connective tissue and will come out moister for sure.
The recipe sounds delicious! Would like to try it tonite. One cup of honey seems like a lot… Or do the other ingredients cut the sweetness? Thanks!
Hi Carol,
The other ingredients do cut the sweetness a little bit. But you can reduce the honey to 3/4 of a cup if you are worried about it being too sweet.
If you use thighs, do you need to increase the cooking time or no? Thanks! 🙂
It would be the same cooking time if you use chicken thighs Debra.
The recipe is called Honey Sesame chicken… but I do not see any honey in the recipe. Is it a part of the Hoisin sauce?
Hey Helena…the second ingredient in the list is 1 cup of honey 🙂
Oh my goodness I totally missed it thank you ?
It’s OK Helena, it happens! 🙂
Thought I would let you know that I cooked this yesterday and it was a hit with. Thus and and 2.5 year old. Thanks for the recipe, I am sure it will be used again! 🙂
So glad your family enjoyed this recipe Helena!
Hit with my husband that was meant to read. 🙂
Made for dinner tonight. I made according to directions using chicken breasts and the chicken was very dry. I ended up adding some pineapple juice to the sauce just to sweeten a bit. I’m thinking maybe dark meat would have been better. :/
Hi Kay, I am sorry this dish turned out dry for you. Chicken can be a fickle beast to cook in the slow cooker and because each crock-pot can cook just a little bit differently it can sometimes be hard to find out why this recipe did not work for you. Dark meat chicken (thighs) do tend to not dry out as much as white meat because there is just a little bit more fat and connective tissue that makes for moist meat in the slow cooker.
Hi Ladies, I am trying this for tonight. I couldn’t find any sesame oil, what could I use as a substitute?
Hi Petra,
I am so sorry that I did not see your comment on this recipe sooner. Due to time constraints I am only able to check and reply to comments 1 or 2 times a day and today was just a crazy busy day. However, in case you decide to make this recipe again in the future (or if another reader finds this information pertinent) if you cannot find sesame oil in your grocery store (it is usually found in the Asian foods section of the stores I shop at) you can just omit it from the recipe. Toasted sesame oil is not really a cooking oil per se but more of an oil added for flavor. It offers a nice toasted nutty flavor that I just love. You might be able to use another nut oil such as walnut but if it were me I would just skip it because walnut oil is not something most people have on hand and it is expensive to buy for just one recipe. This dish will come out just lovely without the sesame oil. A slight change in flavor profile but still delicious!
Any substitute for cornstarch? Would flour work as a thickener? Thanks!
Hi Jp, this recipe has not been tested using flour but I think flour would work in place of cornstarch. If you give it a try be sure to come on back and let us know how it turns out for you!
It was an easy recipe, but I personally found the sauce way too sweet for our family.
Thanks for your honest review Syl. I appreciate the feedback.
Hoisin sauce has gluten in it. A note on the recipe might be wise, or perhaps a suggested alternative.
Thank you Elizabeth for pointing out that hoisin sauce has gluten and suggesting we add a note on the recipe. I have gone ahead and edited the recipe card to suggest using gluten-free hoisin sauce if you are on a gluten-free diet as well as including a link to purchase a brand that is gluten-free. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a suggestion!