So this is totally Type A nerdy…but I’ve totally been “practicing” for back to school time. The older boys start school on Monday, and little-middle starts preschool after Labor Day. So we’ve been trying to get back to a more normal “eat dinner time,” which has been completely erratic all summer (as it should be). I’ve also been running the boys around all over town for all the last minute summer fun…pool, pool, zoo, pool…which means we’ve been “just as busy” as when school will start again. Hence, the slow cooker meal.
Note on this meal, you will need to be around the last 30 minutes or so to drop the broccoli in…and get the rice started. (You could always use ‘instant’ rice, but it.just.isn’t.the.same.) Once the little timers go off on the slow cooker and rice cooker, it’s scoop and serve y’all. Scoop and serve.
That’s the name of the “back to school frenzy” game my friends. Enjoy!
(Also, do NOT add the broccoli when you load the slow cooker in the morning. I repeat, do NOT. Unless you want to eat a pile of green mush with your chicken.)
Slow Cooker Sesame Ginger Chicken
Adapted from Emily Bites
Yield – 4 servings
Preparation Time – 10 minutes
Cooking Time – 8 hours in slow cooker, 1 hour in rice cooker
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or water
- 2/3 cup soy or teriyaki sauce, use GF soy sauce for GF meal ($.50)
- 2 tsp ground ginger ($.10)
- 1 Tbsp minced onion ($.05)
- 2 tsp cornstarch ($.05)
- 2 tsp sesame seeds, divided ($.10)
- 1 lb. chicken thighs, cut into chunks ($1.99)
- 16 oz. frozen broccoli ($1.25)
- 1 cup brown rice ($.40)
Directions
- To the slow cooker, whick together the broth or water, soy sauce, ground ginger, minced onion, and 1 tsp of the sesame seeds and the cornstarch. Stir in the chicken pieces, the set on low and cook for 8 hours.
- When there is about an hour left, add the frozen broccoli.
- Cook the brown rice as directed. (I use a rice cooker…love how it turns out, and how convenient it is!)
- Serve Sesame Ginger Chicken and broccoli with the rest of the sesame seeds sprinkled on top, over brown rice.
Cost $4.44
Daniel says
Slow-cooked meals are perfect for back to school. I plan on firing up my crock pot soon.
I’ve overcooked broccoli before and it really was a bad experience. Substituting broccoli with okra or green beans may better satisfy picky eaters.
Jessica Bosari says
+1 on the greenbeans. Okra? If your’e a picky eater, I doubt this slimy veggie will appeal to you!
Denny says
I found this to be way too salty for us. I ended up having to triple the broth and cut in apple cider vinegar and brown sugar just to make it edible. There must be something missing in the recipe, but with the additions it would have been great with roasted cashews mixed in
Jennifer W says
Herb Ox offers sodium free chicken bouillon
Hayley says
I have to agree with Denny above. This recipe was way too salty. We really didn’t taste ginger or sesame, just salty soy sauce. I might make it again, use less soy and more of everything else and maybe add some brown sugar too.
Maribeth says
If you used soy sauce, consider using Teriyaki instead since that is a mixture of soy and sake or sherry. That will reduce the amount of total soy sauce. I also tend to use reduced-sodium soy sauce since I am definitely salt-sensitive.
Jennifer says
I wad thinking teriyaki as well, but can you recommend a substitution for the sake or sherry?