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My sesame chicken features battered chicken pieces tossed in a sweet and flavorful sauce. Ready in 10 minutes; it’s even better than takeout!
Love Asian chicken recipes? Try my Hunan chicken, General Tso’s chicken, Mongolian chicken, and peanut butter chicken next.
My family LOVES Chinese takeout (and yes, that includes me), but I know it’s unhealthy to order regularly. Luckily, I love to make copycats of my absolute favorite dishes, including my famous sesame chicken.
Friends, I would never claim a homemade recipe rivals takeout, but this one does. In fact, it’s even tastier than anything from a restaurant, and it’s so easy to make.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Easy and quick. Just cut up the chicken, batter it, fry it up, and serve it tossed in a sweet honey sauce. Doing all this takes less than 10 minutes. It’s honestly faster than picking up the phone!
- Not spicy. While sesame chicken is known to be sweet and slightly spicy, the sauce of this sesame chicken recipe is sweet so that everyone can enjoy it. You can always add heat if you want.
- Perfectly crispy. My recipe uses the perfect batter to make the chicken bits extra crispy and hold into the sauce perfectly.
- Multiple cooking methods. While I prefer the classic deep-fried chicken, I know some of you prefer things a little healthier, so I’ve included an oven-tested option, too.
Ingredients needed
- Chicken breast. Boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces. Chicken tenderloins will also work.
- Soy sauce. To give the chicken umami flavor.
- Cornstarch. Adding cornstarch to the marinade helps prevent the outer layers of the meat from toughening.
- Salt and pepper. To season the chicken.
For the batter:
- Cornstarch. To dredge in the chicken pieces before coating them in the batter.
- Flour. All-purpose flour.
- Baking powder. To create a light-textured batter.
- Cold water. Using cold water for the batter is essential if you want it to be light and crispy.
- Egg. To give the batter stability and thicken it.
- Oil. Any neutral-flavored oil suitable for high-heat cooking will work. I typically use peanut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil.
For the sauce:
- Honey. Provides the sweet base of the sauce.
- Corn syrup. Light corn syrup added to the sauce gives the chicken a candy-like finish. It also helps prevent the sauce from crystallizing. You can also use maple syrup or agave. I tested this sauce with all honey but found it super overpowering. Don’t use brown sugar, as it will make the sauce thick.
- Garlic. Freshly minced.
- Soy sauce. To balance out the sauce’s sweetness, add saltiness and give the sauce a rich, umami flavor.
- Sesame oil. To give the dish its signature sesame flavor.
- Green onions and sesame seeds. To serve.
How to make sesame chicken
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1 – Prep. Add the cubed chicken breast to a bowl with the seasoning. Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the bowl and dust it with cornstarch.
Step 2 – Fry. Add oil to a wok or large pan and place it over medium heat. Once the oil gets hot, dredge the chicken in the batter and fry it in small batches until golden brown. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
Step 3 – Make the sauce. Stir together the honey, corn syrup, and soy sauce in a saucepan. Once the sauce starts to bubble, add the sesame oil and whisk well. Let the sauce simmer until it thickens.
Step 4 – Combine. Add the fried chicken to the sauce and toss well until all the chicken is covered in the honey sesame sauce. Garnish with chopped herbs.
Alternative cooking methods
As mentioned earlier, you can bake this chicken if you don’t want to fry it.
Oven-baked method: Preheat the oven to 450F degrees. Arrange the chicken pieces on the baking tray and spray them with cooking oil. Bake the chicken for 10 minutes. Then flip and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and all crispy.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Don’t overmix. All you need to do is to dredge the chicken in cornstarch, not cover it all over. Doing so will make the batter heavy versus light and crispy.
- Cut the chicken into even pieces to ensure that all chicken pieces are evenly cooked.
- Marinate the chicken. If I have time, I sometimes marinate the chicken for a few hours to ensure it is properly seasoned.
- Use chicken thighs. I tested this recipe with chicken thighs, and it worked just as well as chicken breast. Because there is so much flavor already, you sometimes lose the richness that thigh meat has.
- Don’t drain the chicken on paper towels, as it will soften the exterior. I recommend a wire rack for optimum crispiness.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, covered, for up to four days.
To reheat: You can reheat sesame chicken in a skillet or in the microwave. But if you want to restore the crispiness of the chicken bits, reheat them in the oven or in the air fryer.
To freeze: Place the cooked and cooled chicken in a shallow container and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Frequently asked questions
Sesame chicken features battered and fried chicken in a thick, glossy sauce. The sauce’s flavor may vary depending on the ingredients used to make it. In general, though, sesame chicken sauce is sweet, with a hint of nutty flavor from the sesame oil.
Unfortunately, when made as is, this recipe is not suitable for celiacs. However, this recipe will be gluten-free if you use gluten-free all-purpose flour and gluten-free soy sauce.
More Asian dinner ideas
Sesame Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the batter
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup water cold
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons oil to fry
For the sesame chicken sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 green onion thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds to decorate
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the chicken, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Let everything sit for 10 minutes.
- Add cornstarch onto a flat surface or small bowl and dust both sides of each piece of chicken with cornstarch.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cold water, and egg until a batter remains.
- Add 1-2 inches of oil to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Moving quickly, dredge the chicken in the batter. In batches, cook portions of the battered chicken until golden brown.
- Add the honey, corn syrup, and soy sauce to a small saucepan or skillet. Once it bubbles, add the sesame oil and whisk together. Let everything simmer until it has thickened.
- Add the chicken to the pan and toss together until all the chicken is covered.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and finely sliced green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published June 2023, updated and republished October 2024
The video in this recipe was great! So easy to follow, thank you for sharing!
This is the same my mum was preparing during my childhood. I like sesame a lot!!
Hi
I’m from Australia, what is corn syrup? And what can I use in place?
Cheers
Golden syrup or glucose syrup
Always better homemade. Your recipes are the best! Thank You so much!