Hey there, happy end of the week! I am super excited to share my meal simplifying idea I came up!
I believe I was looking around on Pinterest, or maybe it was Facebook… where ever it was I came across this link to a post on Chef in Training for 50 slow cooker recipes. I browsed through them. They looked tasty and crockpots always mean simple. I started to think about which one I wanted to make. But then I thought, why not all?
With 52 weeks in the year and 50 recipes, that gives me just about enough for one a week. That’s one day a week I don’t have to think about what’s going to be on the table. I’ll just go straight down the list, one at a time, no picking or choosing. Keeping it simple. I like simple. Quick and simple have become staples around here with my happy little monster here.
So for week 1 here’s what I made.
Ingredients
- 2.5 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (or thigh)
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup honey
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons diced onion
- 4 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil (recipe calls for canola)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
- Sesame seeds (I forgot this)
Directions
- Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken.
- Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 ½ – 2 ½ hours, or just until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce.
- Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.
Notes
- I cut the recipe in half since I only had about 1.5 pounds of chicken on hand – cooked on high for 1.5 hours
- Forgot the sesame seeds, so I’m glad I added the sesame oil for the flavor
- Served it over bulgar for me – sushi rice for Jacob, with a side of avocado and coleslaw mixed with a little bit of asian dressing + a dab of mayo
What I liked
- the flavor was amazing
- chicken with tender
- all ingredients I already had on hand
What I didn’t like
- not being able to start the crockpot in the morning with the short cook time – I still had to throw it together after a day of teaching/xmas shopping
- my sauce didn’t thicken up like I would have liked, and I had it on high for double the time it called to thicken up
I shared the link to the 50 slow cooker recipes on my Facebook page and already my cousin Andrea is following along with one a week as well. I think it would be so much fun if more of you followed along too! I’m planning to share a bit about each recipe, so if you end up making it too you can chime in! And if you don’t want to participate, at least you’ll get to see how a ton of crockpot recipes turn out. 🙂
Next week it’s onto slow cooker salsa verde pork.
Do you call your crockpot a slow cooker or crockpot? Do you love your crockpot as much as I do? Want to participate in the 50 crockpot recipes? One of them is eventually a cake…. 🙂
Happy Friday!
Heather
12 comments
SUCH a fun idea! I love using my crockpot- its mama heaven 🙂 I am definitely going to check out the link.
I love Crockpot recipes! Your honey sesame chicken looks amazing!!! Happy Holidays to you and your family!!
Funny, I blogged about that same recipe a short time ago on my food blog… I think I ended up thickening the sauce in a saucepan.
I’m always looking for new recipes to use the crock pot for and it is so nice to have supper ready and waiting for you. I came across a blog where the lady used the crock pot every single night for a year – that might be too much for me but I can handle one night a week.
We had the exact same problem with the sauce not thickening up. But it tasted delish, even with the slightly running sauce. I cooked mine for 6 hours due to scheduling and it still tasted great. Can you overcook things in a crockpot on low? So excited for next weeks recipe!
Thanks for the link to these recipes. I’m going to try to do them on Sundays (after I read your comments about whether it’s good or not). It’s nice to come home from church and have lunch ready. I made this chicken and poured the sauce into a small saucepan to thicken. It worked great and all tasted awesome!
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