Easy Sesame Chicken

5 from 11 votes

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!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: dinner

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: people

Calories: 367kcal

Author: Amanda Mason

Ingredients

For The Sauce

1 Tablespoon sesame oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
½ cup chicken broth, divided
⅓ cup honey
1 ⅓ Tablespoons soy sauce
1 ⅓ teaspoon rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

For The Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch pieces
⅓ cup cornstarch
2 egg whites, large
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
2 green onions, sliced

Instructions

For 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.
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.

For The Chicken

While the sauce is cooling, grab a cutting board and chop the meat in to 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 pieces of meat 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.
Once the meat 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 chicken, cooking for about 12 minutes or until done. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Using tongs, add all of the cooked pieces to a large bowl. Slowly pour on the sauce. Mix to combine, ensuring the sauce evenly coats each piece of chicken.
Sprinkle on sesame seeds and sliced green onions and serve over a bed of Basmati rice.

Notes

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.
Chicken breasts or tenderloins work really well in this dish. Boneless skinless thighs also taste great.
If using chicken tenderloins, make sure you remove the white tendon in the meat. 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.
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.
For an even more crispy dish, try coating the cubed chicken in garbanzo bean flour (aka chickpea flour).

Nutrition