This {Slow Cooker} Sesame Chicken and Broccoli is super easy to make, requires little effort, and delivers big on flavor. And it's a lot healthier than take-out! Yes, a healthy slow cooker honey sesame chicken and broccoli 🙂
Are you on instagram? If you are, I would love it if you would consider following Shared Appetite. You probably won't see any photos of puppies or kittens on my feed (sorry, I know that cutesy stuff is kinda popular), but you will get plenty of food photos 🙂
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Tyler and I co-facilitate a photography community group at our church. About 15 of us photography-loving peeps get together a few times a month to hang out together, share our work, learn some stuff, and go out shooting. It's a great bunch of people that range from total beginners all the way through industry professionals.
Last weekend, I invited everyone over to my house for a little food photography workshop. It was a ton of fun... we talked about some tips and tricks specifically for food photography, I showed them my "studio" (which is basically the spare bedroom that I have filled with all my photography gear and food props/backdrops), and then we set up two different stations to shoot.
I made cookies similar to these ones and this Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken and Broccoli. Everyone had free reign over all the props and backdrops in the "studio" and they went about composing their shots.
Here's a behind the scenes look:
And yes, the shoot ended the way it should always end... with us eating everything 🙂
I only had time to snap a few quick photos of this sesame chicken. On a typical food shoot for the blog, I spend anywhere from 20-45 minutes photographing a dish and take about 50-100 photos.
I was thinking, should I remake this dish so I can properly give it the time to photograph, or share it with you ASAP? I needed to share it with you now because, well, it's pretty darn good and I didn't want to hold out on you guys.
Super easy to make. Perfect for weeknight meals. And a whole lot healthier than getting takeout 🙂
Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken and Broccoli
- Total Time: 4 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (more/less to taste)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- 2 heads of broccoli florets, steamed
- Cooked white or brown rice
- 1 bunch scallions, chopped, for garnish
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Remove excess fat from chicken thighs and place in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, tomato paste, rice vinegar, olive oil, sriracha (optional), onion powder, and garlic powder. Pour over chicken and stir to coat. Cook for 4-6 hours on LOW.
- Remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water, and stir into the sauce in slow cooker. Turn up slow cooker to HIGH and allow sauce to thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, shred chicken with two forks. Add shredded chicken back into slow cooker and stir to coat.
- Divide rice among four bowls. Top with broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Ashley
I love that this is made in the crockpot! I've made chicken and broccoli before but never in the slow cooker - such a great idea. And with the honey, soy sauce and sriracha I bet this is delicious! Your photo group sounds like a lot of fun!
Chris
Thanks so much Ashley! We are having a great time with the photography group... next up to learn: indoor lighting setups. Pretty much, how to set up strobes and such to have an indoor studio for portraits and such. Can't wait!
Sandra
How much fun! You even take spectacular photos of people taking photos 😉 And ahhhh...beautiful slow cooker meal..and it uses sriracha...YES!!! Always looking for ways to use my Jojo's sriracha. Awesome post Chris 🙂
Chris
Haha thanks Sandra. It was a bunch of fun! Sriracha is pretty darn awesome, isn't it? If you're a sriracha fan, I would definitely go ahead and add a bit more to this recipe. I went pretty easy on it.
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
I love that you do that with your church. How fun! This looks SO good and so easy too! Love ANYTHING with sirracha. Great pictures!
Chris
It's so much fun, Nicole! And it's great because we are totally learning from each other and what each other's strengths/passions are in photography. I went pretty easy in the sriracha in this recipe and will probably up it next time I make it, so you'll probably want a bit more of it as well 🙂
Consuelo
This is going to be my dinner so soon, I can feel it.
Holy Moly, it looks scrumptious, and I love how it's healthier than take-out too. What a winner! Pinned! : )
Chris
Thanks so much Consuelo! Yes, much healthier than takeout sesame chicken, which means you can indulge with a little dessert after, right?! 🙂
Sarah
We have the same dishes!! We just got them as a wedding gift and seriously love them. What I really came to say is that I've been looking for some yummy slow cooker recipes and I can't wait to try this one:)
Chris
Those bowls are pretty cool, aren't they? I love mine. I only have a few for photography purposes, but love using them!
Melanie
Looks scrumptious! I'm always looking for delicious new foods to put in the crock pot. That bowl is so pretty!
Chris
Thanks so much Melanie! Hope you're having a great week!
Helen
I love this post, Chris ... and lovely colourful photos! I'm working hard on trying to improve my food photography because I can see how important it is for a food blog ... the most important thing to get 'nailed' probably.
Love the recipe too! Aren't crockpots (we call them slow cookers in England!) the best? Love that it sort of makes dinner all by itself ...well, sort of ...
Chris
Thanks so much Helen! It's taken me a while to learn about food photography... and I'm still learning every day (aren't we all?!) It's a ton of fun and I love it. And yes, slow cookers are pretty awesome!
Tina
Love these behind the scened shots!! I do have an instagram account, but I have no idea how to use it. Lol. Thank goodness I can interact with you on Twitter (which I had just started in Sept...kinda late in the game with social networking). 😉
Gosh, this dish looks super delicious!
Chris
Thanks Tina! Haha, you have to get on instagram! All the cool kids are doing it, haha. 😉
Sarah & Arkadi
that's our type of comfort food! 🙂
Yead
Looking so YUM. I love this. I want this in my dinner.
Brenna
Hi, I'm planning on making this tomorrow and I was wondering if the leftovers can be frozen?
Chris
Hi Brenna, yes definitely it can be frozen! That's what my wife and I do all the time 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
Brenna
Thank you 🙂 I'll be sure to let you know tomorrow!
Kadi
Could I possibly substitute the olive oil with sesame oil for a richer result?
Chris
yes definitely... I just didn't have sesame oil on hand at the time 🙂