Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken

4.67 from 9 votes
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Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken - amazing chicken made with San-J Tamari and sesame sauce. Gluten-free and hearty meal for the family.

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken marinade with San-J Tamari and sesame sauce serve in a plate.
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In cold winter months, I am all about making hearty meals for my family. Nothing warms me up more than a steaming hot dish prepared in my slow cooker, such as this amazing and utterly delicious Asian Sesame Chicken.

There is just something so homey about slow cooker meals. I love it that the kitchen warms up as the food gets cooked. I also love the aroma and mouthwatering smell of food wafting in the air, setting my stomach rumbling as I eagerly await for dinner.

Plus, slow cooker is so convenient as I can potter around in the house, catch up on my TV shows, or read magazines and books when it does its magic.

Gluten-free Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken.

When it comes to slow cooker recipes, you need a good quantity sauce as much of the flavors of your food will come from the sauce.

For this Asian Sesame Chicken, I used San-J Tamari, which is a premium Japanese soy sauce made with all soybeans, with a richer, smoother taste and naturally brewed. San-J Tamari is made with 100% soy, naturally brewed for up to six (6) months with no wheat.

It’s certified Gluten Free, Vegan, Kosher and Non-GMO Project verified. It’s the only tamari I have in my pantry!

San-J Tamari.

To make the Asian sesame sauce, I mixed San-J Tamari (I used reduced sodium but regular tamari would work just fine) with apple cider vinegar, sugar and sesame oil. I like my chicken pan-fried prior to slow cooking, but you can skip this step.

The recipe is so easy: place the chicken in the slow cooker, add the Asian sesame sauce and let it cook in the slow cooker for 3 hours and dinner is ready.

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken topped with dripping thick brown sauce.

Despite the simplicity of the recipe, the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender and deeply flavorful. San-J Tamari infuses the chicken with a wonderful umami flavor, each bite is bursting with flavors. Serve the chicken with rice or noodles and you will have a delicious dinner that your entire family will enjoy.

San-J Tamari can be found at most natural food stores and supermarkets, so stock it up and try out this recipe or the Salmon Teriyaki noodles recipe.

San-J Tamari sauces in bottles.

This conversation is sponsored by San-J. The opinions and text are all mine.

Create delicious dishes from Tamari with San-J’s extensive recipe collection, from appetizers to desserts like Lamb Potstickers and Cherry Chocolate Cake with Tamari.

For recipes visit: www.san-j.com/recipes and product details at www.san-j.com.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 404 calories per serving.

Healthy homemade slow cooker sesame chicken coated with delicious San-J Tamari and sesame sauce.

What To Serve With Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken

For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

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4.67 from 9 votes

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken – amazing chicken made with San-J Tamari and sesame sauce. Gluten-free and hearty meal for the family.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 3 people
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Ingredients  

  • 20 oz (580g) bone-in chicken thighs
  • white sesame, for garnishing
  • chopped scallions, for garnishing

Sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons San-J Reduced Sodium Tamari
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon white sesame

Instructions 

  • Pan-fry the chicken in a skillet, skin-side down. Cook both sides until they are nicely browned.
  • Mix all the ingredients for the Sauce in a small bowl and stir to combine well.
  • Arrange the chicken in the slow cooker and pour in the sauce. Turn the heat to high and cook for 3 hours.
  • Remove the chicken to a serving platter, garnish with sesame seeds and scallions, and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 3people, Calories: 466kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 33g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 14g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 185mg, Sodium: 1487mg, Potassium: 444mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 147IU, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Rasa Malaysia

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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24 Comments

  1. Emma says:

    Is it okay to double up on the sauce if youโ€™re using Chicken breast?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Definitely, you can!

  2. Grace says:

    Hi! Could you share what are the portions for the different sauces when you add them together? Thank you!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes, the recipe is where the red bar is, GET RECIPE.

  3. Kevin says:

    Sounds delicious! Can you use boneless chicken thighs? Or does the bone add to the flavour of the recipe?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      You can use boneless.

      1. Kevin says:

        Do you think the cooking time would have to be adjusted for boneless?

  4. Yvonne says:

    Hi, can cook in Philip pressure cooker ?

    Thanks!

  5. Natalie says:

    Hey Bee! Love your recipes, especially your garlic noodles. Already made it twice and still not sick of it!
    Quick question – is it alright to cook this in a rice cooker? Cos I don’t have a slow cooker, only an oven / ricecooker.

    Help please? :D

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Natalie, I think you can but I am not sure. You can also cook it on a pot on low heat on a stove top.

  6. Meagan @ A Zesty Bite says:

    We made this for dinner a couple nights ago and it was amazing.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Meagan, thanks for trying my slow cooker sesame chicken recipe, I know it’s awesome and so delicious. :)

  7. Tina says:

    This was wonderful! Even though I did not use the San J Tamari sauce (I used reduced sodium soy sauce), the chicken was super tender and the sauce was fabulous!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks Tina. Next time please try the tamari and it will be even better. :)

  8. Jenn says:

    This recipe sounds delicious! Two questions – what size slow cooker do you use? And I know you are featuring the tamari, but I’m not a huge fan of it (and I haven’t seen that San-J here in my area of Canada) so I was wondering what a good substitute could be? Thanks!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      I used a small slow cooker. You can use San-J Shoyu (regular soy sauce) if you can find the brand.

  9. AnnJ says:

    I made this last night, even though I didn’t have all the ingredients, and it was wonderful. I had to substitute ordinary soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Also, I used a large chicken breast with bone instead of thighs. I braised the chicken first, and then used a basic crock-pot. I just recently gave in and bought a crock-pot and I’m still learning to use it. I’ve found that I can cook beef or pork in it directly, but that – like you – I prefer to pan-fry chicken first, even though it means more pots to wash. Now I understand why people buy the more elaborate fast-slow cookers.

    I did have scallions for garnish, and I added some cilantro, which I happened to have. The chicken seemed to be done after a little more than two hours, so I turned it down to low. I let it cook for three hours anyway, since my (brown) rice wasn’t ready yet.

    The flavor could not have been better, but I did find that I was very thirsty after I ate, probably because I poured the sauce remaining in the crock-pot over my rice. I’m going to look for the SanJay reduced sodium tamari next time I go shopping.

    I have also tried your Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl and Creamy Garlic Chicken, and I appreciate that you really have a knack for presenting recipes that are extremely simple yet foolproof and extremely delicious. Thank you!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Ann, thanks for trying the recipe, I am so happy that you like my recipes. Yes, please get the San-J tamari, you can buy low sodium if you like it as salty.

  10. Ken says:

    Lovely recipes! With the right sauces in a slow cooker, the chicken must be to die for. I got to try the Tamari low sodium since I’ve been warned to lower my salt intake.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Totally, reduced sodium is the way to go for healthy reasons. I love it that it’s not overly salty and the taste is deeply flavorful, try this recipe.