Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken

I finally made something with my new smaller crock pot, and the verdict? It cooks smaller volumes much better than in my larger crock pot. Not really surprising but still exciting to be able to actually slow cook something for over 2 hours without it overcooking and drying out. With all the dissertation writing in my future that little guy will be put to hard work. Although it may be a bit distracting to smell the deliciousness as it cooks while trying to focus on writing about yeast and genes.

Speaking of writing, I am still waiting to hear back from the last committee member about scheduling my dissertation defense. Boo hiss.

One year ago: Dark Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter

SLOW COOKER GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup water

3 Tbsp hoisin sauce

2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp ketchup

1/4 tsp dry ginger

1 tsp crushed red pepper (more or less to liking)

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Spray crockpot with cooking spray and add chicken.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together water, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Pour sauce over chicken.
3. Cook for 4-6 hours on low. Remove chicken and cut into chunks.
4. Turn crockpot up to high and whisk cornstarch into the sauce to thicken it up; cook on high for 15 minutes. If it isn’t quite to desired thickness, slowly add more cornstarch teaspoon by teaspoon.
5. Add chicken back to the crockpot and allow to heat through for a couple minutes.
6. Serve over hot rice with steamed broccoli and garnish with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Source: Adapted slightly from The Recipe Critic