Recently my friend Holly cooked Banh Mi for us, and then all of a sudden I was seeing this dish everywhere from restaurant menus to food magazines (isn’t it funny how that happens?). Or, clearly, I just wasn’t paying enough attention before. :) So, after some experimenting, I’m excited to share my own super easy version of this Asian-inspired dish made in one of my all-time favorite kitchen appliances, my slow cooker!
Once the meat is done, there are many ways to eat it, but it’s typically served on a sandwich (using a baguette or banh mi bread, but regular sandwich bread works as well). And it’s often topped with pickled veggies and a mayo sauce as well. Since my kids aren’t very fond of pickled veggies (they aren’t quite into the vinegar flavor just yet!), I served ours with shaved fresh veggies instead. I found this helpful article that explains all the different ways to build your Banh Mi sandwich. No matter what – have fun with it and enjoy this tasty dish!
I had the chance to share this recipe on the Charlotte Today show as well … here’s the clip!
Slow Cooker Chicken Banh Mi
Ingredients
- 1 half onion, sliced
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon ginger, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, red
Instructions
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Place the sliced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker and put the chicken thighs on top.
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Whisk together the sesame oil, lime juice, garlic, honey, and spices and pour over top. Cook on high for 4 hours.
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Shred chicken with two forks and mix into the sauce with the onions. Serve on a sandwich with pickled or fresh veggies. More serving ideas here.
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
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Any recommendations for pickling veggies? Particularly pickling them to have Asian inspired flavors that would go well on the banh mi.
I have several Bahn Mi recipes. One of them gives directions as follows for the pickled vegetables:
In a small pot, bring 1 cup white vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 cup water to a boil; pour over vegetables (1 small, thinly sliced cucumber; 1 small, peeled & ribbon-sliced carrot; 3 thinly sliced radishes) and refrigerate until pickled (1 hour). These are added to the sandwich along with bean sprouts, cilantro, & sliced jalapenos. Could use daikon radish & cut it & the carrot into matchsticks instead for a more authentic Asian flavor/look.
Thank you for sharing!
For the ginger, is it powdered ginger (that you would find on your spice rack), or grated fresh ginger?
Thanks!
It says ground ginger so that would be the powdered form.
Can you post nutritional information?
Thanks!
Hi. We do not provide information on nutrition details. This post helps explains why: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/healthy-eating-defined/.
could you do 8 hours on Low?
Yes, I believe 8 hours on LOW would also work.
At http://fitslowcookerqueen.com, you can find a cool little graphic that clearly converts cooking times between stovetop and slow cookers, and HIGH and LOW times on slow cookers.
Bon appètit!
Yes! Maybe even 6 or 7 hours though … I would check it if you can.
Can you use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs?
Never mind. I watched the video.
Has anyone tried to make this in an Instant Pot? If so, how dod you change the recipe/cooking time?
I want to know if I can use a pressure cooker, too! I think you’d need to add a touch more liquid. I’d saute the onion first. I bet it would take less than 12 minutes at pressure to cook.
Someone who knows more about pressure cooking – please let us know what you think!
How long would I cook this if I doubled the recipe? (Family of five here) Love your cookbooks!
I think that there wouldn’t be that much of a time difference since the pieces of meat are so small so I would just go for the time in the recipe and check if the meat is cooked properly at the given time. Or, at about half time, stir the pot to make sure there are no lumps of meat clinging together and increasing the cooking time.
This is delicious!!!
Could you eat this with brown rice instead of a bun? Can’t wait to try it!
Sure.
We had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! We ate it on your homemade whole wheat tortillas, yum! My husband and I had our wraps topped with this recipe for pickled carrots (with honey instead of the sugar) and it was fantastic!
https://letthebakingbeginblog.com/2017/05/spicy-korean-carrots/
I know nothing about Banh Mi but this looked yummy so I tried it. It turned out great. I don’t actually have a slow cooker but I used my instant pot, with frozen thighs I cooked on high pressure for 22 minutes. It was fall apart tender and juicy. I had to add a cup of chicken broth (necessary for a pressure cooker), so at the end I removed the chicken and reduced the sauce. Thank you for such an easy and inexpensive idea.
I added fish sauce because it’s normally used in VN cuisine. Waiting on results!