Easy Sesame Chicken

This Sesame Chicken is full of sweet and savory flavors and is the perfect dinner for any day of the week. Sauteed in fresh garlic and ginger, this crispy sesame chicken recipe is tossed in a honey garlic sauce and served over rice. Skip the takeout and make this easy dinner recipe tonight!

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• ℹ️ Why This Recipe Works
• 🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
• 📋 Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
• 💭 Expert Tips
• 📖 More Asian Recipes
• Easy Sesame Chicken

If you're a fan of honey sesame chicken from Panda Express and P.F. Chang's, then you're going to love this recipe. It's never been so easy to make sesame chicken at home. These crispy chunks of sauteed chicken in a sweet honey garlic sauce are packed with sesame flavor. Just like this Pan Fried Tofu in Peanut Sauce, this is a restaurant quality dinner you can make in your own kitchen in no time flat!

Sesame chicken is a popular Chinese dish that can be found in most American based Chinese restaurants. It can be made with either boneless thighs or breasts. It's typically deep fried and then tossed in a honey based sauce and then topped with sesame seeds. But with this recipe, I'm making it healthier by sauteing the meat in olive oil.

Sesame chicken is often confused with orange chicken because the sauces are similar. The difference is that orange chicken is coated in a sweet orange-flavored chili sauce while sesame chicken is coated in more of a honey and vinegar based sauce. Both are a variation derived from General Tso's chicken, which has a spicier sauce with just a hint of sweetness.

🛒 Ingredients You'll Need

This sauce is full of sweet and savory flavors and couldn't be easier to make. The key is to start by heating sesame oil in a saucepan and then sauteing fresh minced ginger and garlic. Not only is that flavor combination phenomenal but the aroma will bring people to the kitchen asking you when dinner is ready.

The sweetness comes from the honey and savory comes from the soy sauce and chicken broth. The cornstarch is used to thicken up the sauce after all the ingredients have been combined and have simmered a bit.

The chicken is lightly breaded in an egg white and cornstarch base. From there it's seasoned with salt and pepper and the sauteed in olive oil until it's completely cooked through. The sesame seeds and green onions will be used to top the dish when it's done and ready to enjoy.

📋 Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions

Making The Sauce

We'll start by making the sauce. Heat the sesame oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the fresh minced garlic and ginger to the saucepan and sauté for 1 minute. Expert Tip For How To Mince Ginger: To mince ginger, start by removing the peel by using a vegetable grater. Use either a garlic press or a vegetable chopper to finely mince the fresh ginger.

Slowly whisk in ¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons of the broth, the honey, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Bring the mixture to a soft rolling boil.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tablespoons of broth and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch until well combined.

Pour the cornstarch mixture into the sauce and allow to boil for 1 minute, ensure that you stir constantly. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside.

Making The Chicken

While the sauce is cooling, grab a cutting board and chop the meat into 1-inch cubes. Place them on a plate.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together cornstarch, egg whites, salt, and pepper until well blended. Add the cubed chicken into the mixing bowl and toss until well coated.

Heat 2 Tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When heated, add half of the meat to the oil and cook until each piece is no longer pink in the middle. This took me about 12 minutes. Expert Tip: Use a digital meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of a couple of pieces of meat. Chicken is considered done and safe to eat once it has reached and internal temperature of 165°F.

Once the chicken is done, set aside in bowl. Add an additional Tablespoon of oil to the skillet and repeat the same steps with the rest of the meat, cooking for about 12 minutes or until done. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Using tongs, add all of the cooked meat to a large bowl. Slowly pour on the sauce. Mix to combine, ensuring the sauce evenly coats each piece.

Sprinkle on sesame seeds and sliced green onions and serve over a bed of Basmati rice. Easy to make and full of flavor, everyone will enjoy this honey sesame chicken down to the last bite!

💭 Expert Tips

• Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work really well in this dish. Boneless skinless chicken thighs also taste great.
• If using chicken tenderloins, make sure you remove the white tendon in the meat. There is nothing worse than biting into a piece of chicken and chewing on a tendon. The tendon can be difficult to remove. For a quick and easy way to remove the tendon from the chicken, check out this video here on YouTube. You simply place the end of the tendon in the prongs of the fork, grip the tendon with a paper towel and pull. This method easily removes the tendon without you cutting away a lot of meat.
• For an even more crispy sesame chicken, try coating the cubed chicken in garbanzo bean flour (aka chickpea flour).

📖 More Asian Recipes

If you love Asian food, check out my Asian Chicken Noodle Soup. Marinated in a Chinese Five Spice and sauteed with fresh ginger and garlic, this chicken is so tender that it will melt in your mouth! And if you like P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps, make sure you check out my copycat version. A 30 minute recipe from start to finish, these healthy lettuce wraps are easy to make, healthy and low carb, and are perfect for an appetizer, lunch, or snack.