Easy Sesame Chicken

This easy sesame chicken recipe is made with extra crispy and flavorful bite-sized chicken pieces tossed in a delicious sweet and savory honey sesame sauce and tossed with toasted sesame seeds. If you're looking for a Chinese takeout dish for your takeout night, then this will be it! Try it today, and you may never want to order out again!

If you're looking for a delicious easy honey sesame chicken recipe, then I got you covered!

This sesame chicken recipe, is made with an incredibly flavorful batter made from the ginger, garlic and onion marinade and battered twice to ensure a crispy batter. I like to also double fry it using a Korean double fry method which guarantees to make them even crunchier!

The sesame sauce is the best part. It's a sweet and savory sauce made with honey, which is caramelized in butter for extra flavor and the whole dish is tossed in a lot of toasted sesame seeds to actually give you a sesame flavor. (I find most sesame chicken dishes, don't have any sesame flavor at all)

The best part is, it's a lot easier than you think, and I'm here to show you how every step of the way.

If you're familiar with my work, you'll know that anything deep fried, crispy and tossed in a sweet and sticky sauce is my thing. I can't get enough of it and I love to share it with everyone as well.

So if you're looking for something with a bit more tang, I also have a Cantonese sweet and sour chicken, Chinese lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork recipe, which is not too sweet and have a great balance of sweet and tanginess.

I also have hakka dishes like, chilli chicken and Manchurian chicken if you're looking for something sweet and spicy, which is similar to general Tso's chicken.

If you're looking for more Asian chicken deep fried takeout dishes, which are sweet and savory, I also have our popular crispy beef as well!

What is Sesame Chicken?

Sesame chicken (芝麻鸡, pronounced 'zee ma gai' in Cantonese) is a popular Chinese takeout dish most commonly served in Chinese restaurants throughout the United States and Canada.

Similar to dishes like sweet and sour chicken and lemon chicken, this dish is made by deep frying small, bite-sized pieces of boneless chicken into tender crispy morsel and then tossed in a sweet and savory sauce and garnished with sesame seeds.

Why You'll Love This Easy Sesame Chicken Recipe

• Easy and Delicious - It's a very straight forward recipe and easy to make. You marinade the chicken (the marinade is where all the batter flavor will come from), coat it in starch to make it a batter to deep fry it, then make the sauce on the side and toss it in the toss at the very end.
• Takeout at Home - You can make a bigger batch than what you normally get outside for a fraction of the price.
• Crispy Flavorful Batter - This recipe uses starch to make the batter extra crispy, but it also uses a Korean double fry method which ensures that your chicken will turn out perfectly crispy and crunchy every time. I also mix the garlic, onion and ginger marinade right into the batter so the batter is incredibly flavorful.
• Not Overly Sweet - It has a balanced sweet and savory flavor. Most times I order this outside, it just tastes sweet without much flavor. This sauce has a lot more flavor because we don't thicken the sauce with starch, instead we reduce the sugars in the sauce which caramelizes it. A little goes a long way, so you don't need a very thick coating of sauce to make this sesame chicken flavorful.
• Actually Has Sesame Flavor - I add the sesame oil at the very end after I turn off the heat to retain the sesame flavor. Cooking the sesame oil, destroys a bit of the flavor. I also toast and add a lot of extra sesame at the very end when I toss the sauce with the chicken to give it lot of extra sesame nutty flavor.
• Crispy Chicken - Since we use a very concentrated sesame sauce, we only need a light coating to get a lot of flavor. This keeps the batter crispy and crunchy the whole time!

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Chinese Sesame Chicken At Home

• Chicken - For this Chinese sesame chicken recipe, I like to use dark meat, specifically boneless chicken thighs. That being said, chicken breast also works really well for this recipe, because it's only deep fried for about 3 minutes, there will be no risk of it becoming dry.
• Oil - This is for deep frying. I like to use vegetable oil and canola oil for deep frying but you can also use peanut oil as well.
• Onion\Garlic\Ginger - I use these 3 trio aromatics to give this batter extra flavor. I highly recommend you don't skip them because a big bulk of the flavor comes from these ingredients.
• Starch - I like to use starch instead of flour to make the batter extra crispy. Although potato starch does make the batter crunchier which means the sauce won't make the chicken soggy, I highly recommend using corn starch instead because it's easier to find and work with. If you plan to use potato starch, you must deep fry in small batches and make sure the chicken does not touch each other during the initial deep frying stage (first minute or so), or else they will stick to each other and become a big ball of meat and when you try to separate it at that point, you will rip off the batter.
• Shaoxing Cooking Wine - I use Shaoxing cooking wine for a bit of flavor in the batter but if you don't have this, you can substitute it with dry sherry or you can omit it.
• Sesame Oil - The nuttiness of the sesame oil will give another dimension of flavor to this sesame chicken batter.

For the Sesame Sauce:

• Butter/Oil - I use oil to toast the sugars, which add a lovely caramelized flavor. I also like to add butter to it as well to make the sauce more full bodied, shiny and flavorful. Salted or unsalted butter will work for this recipe.
• Honey/Sugar - I use a combination of honey and sugar as the sweetener for this sesame chicken sauce. They honey has a thicker consistency, and once it has been toasted it gives the sauce a nice stickiness. The sugar is for added sweetness. You can use regular sugar, cane sugar or brown sugar for this.
• Vinegar - I have used both white and rice vinegar for this recipe. I prefer white vinegar because it's easier to find and has less flavor but both will work. The vinegar will help balance out the sweet and saltiness of the sauce.
• Soy Sauce - I use soy sauce to create the savory flavor the sauce. The soy sauce will also give that additional umami flavor. I use low sodium soy sauce for this.
• Sesame Oil - Adding sesame oil will pull all the flavors of the sauce together and really give it that sesame flavor. I mix this into the sauce at the very end after I have turned off the heat to retain the flavors of the sesame.

My Sesame Chicken Sauce

How to Make Sesame Chicken (Step-by-Step)

Marinating the Chicken

Cut the chicken into 1 inch bite sized pieces and set it in a bowl.

In a food processor, blitz the garlic, ginger, onion, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine and place the marinade into the bowl with the chicken.

Alternatively, you can also grate the ginger, garlic and onion if you don't have a food processor, and add the rest of the marinade ingredients into the bowl after.

Mix everything well and let it marinade for a minimum of 1 hour.

Toast the Sesame Seeds

In a small pan or frying pan, add sesame seeds and set the stove to medium-low heat.

Toast the seeds until they turn golden brown.

Remember to keep the pan moving, by gently swirling and shaking the seeds every 10 seconds so that the seeds don't burn.

Set the toasted sesame seeds aside for later.

Battering the Chicken

Battering the chicken is a 2 step process.

Step 1: Take the corn starch and divide it in half. Mix one half directly into the chicken with the marinade and mix well until everything is well coated. Let this sit for about 5 minutes until all the starch has absorbed the marinade. It should look moist and gummy.

Step 2: Place the second half of the cornstarch in a large plate or bowl and dip each pieces of chicken directly into the cornstarch one by one until it is well coated, and shake out any excess cornstarch. This step will create the crispy exterior batter.

Deep Frying the Chicken

If you are using a deep fryer, set the temperature to 350F (180C) and wait for the oil to reach that temperature.

If you are using a small pot to deep fry over the stovetop, set the heat to medium high heat. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of oil in the pan. To test if the oil is ready, use a wooden chopstick or the back of a wooden spoon and dunk it in the oil, once it starts bubbling the oil is hot enough to use.

Add a few chicken pieces in at a time, but do not overcrowd the pan. You may need to do this in a few batches. If the oil temperature drops too low, your chicken won't get crispy, and might turn oil logged and soggy.

Cook each pieces of chicken for about 3 minutes or until it is golden crispy and brown.

Once the chicken has finished deep frying, remove it from the oil for about 10-20 seconds and then double fry it (re-fry it) again for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. This Korean method of double frying will make your chicken extra crispy and crunchy!

Remove the crispy fried chicken and let it drain on a rack or a plate with something absorbent like newspaper of paper bag. I highly recommend a rack over a cookie sheet because the air flow will keep the chicken crispy.

Make the Sesame Sauce

In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sugar, and water and set it aside.

In a small pot, add some oil and butter into it and set the stove to medium heat.

Once the butter has melted, add in the pre-mixed sauce and mix well. Let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes to reduce it. It should start to bubble.

Once it starts to foam up, and the foam becomes a dark brown color (around 3-4 minutes mark), coat the back of a spoon with the sauce to see the texture of it, it should be syrupy like a thin maple syrup or table syrup (not thick).

You don't want to cook the sauce for too long because too much heat will eventually turn the sugar to a soft candy.

Turn off the heat and mix in the sesame oil, and let it cool for about 2-3 minutes this will thicken the sauce a bit more until it is a silky syrup like the photo above.

Don't worry if it doesn't look like a lot of sauce, this is a very concentrated sauce since we reduced it instead of thickening it with starch so a little will go a long way. You want only lightly coat the chicken.

Put It Together

Once the sesame sauce has finished cooking, add in the bite-sized crispy chicken and mix it well until each chicken has been fully coated.

It's important to turn off the heat before you do this because the direct heat will make the chicken batter soggy and the chicken will lose some of its crispiness.

At this point, you can slowly mix in 1 ½ tablespoons of sesame seeds directly into the pot and coat each piece of chicken with it (this is my favorite way to do it, and I find it gives this dish a lot more flavor), or you can plate it and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top as a garnish, but add a lot for the best flavor. You can also garnish it with finely minced green onions/scallions as well. Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

Sesame Chicken Variations

• Sweet and Spicy - Mix in sriracha chili sauce, chili flakes or a touch of cayenne pepper into the sesame chicken sauce to give it a bit of spicy heat before you mix in the chicken to give you a delicious and fiery spiciness.
• Add Chopped Onions and Peppers - Similar to my sweet and sour pork recipe, you can add in chopped peppers and onions to the sauce to make this dish more hearty. The onions also add a lot of great flavors to the sauce.
• Sesame Chicken Wings - If you're like and love chicken wings, you definitely can use this recipe for chicken wings as well for a cozy wing night at home.

How to Store and Re-Heat Sesame Chicken

More Takeout Recipes You Make Like

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Recipe Card

Easy Sesame Chicken

This easy sesame chicken recipe is made with extra crispy and flavorful bite-sized chicken pieces tossed in a delicious sweet and savory honey sesame sauce and tossed with toasted sesame seeds. If you're looking for a Chinese takeout dish for your takeout night, then this will be it! Try it today, and you may never want to order out again!

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Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

4

5 from 3 votes

Made with ♡ by Joyce

Joyce's Recipe Notes

Mix the Sesame Oil After You Turn Off the Heat - To get the best sesame flavor, you don't want to cook it. You just want to mix it into the sesame sauce after it is done, and after the heat has been turned off because cooking it will break down some of its delicate flavors.

Don't Cook the Chicken In the Sauce For Too Long - To retain the crispiness of the chicken, add the crispy battered chicken into the sesame sauce after you turn off the heat. When you cook the chicken with the sauce, it makes the batter soggy and it loses it's crispiness.

Toast the Sesame Seeds - It's a very simple and quick step that makes a huge difference in flavor. I highly recommend you lightly toasted the sesame seeds before you use it.

Don't Overcook the Sauce - When you are making the sauce and reducing it, you're essentially toasting the sugar to give the sugar a bit of caramel flavor. It adds so much more flavor and depth to the sesame chicken sauce. But be careful not to simmer and reduce the sauce for more than 4 minutes, if you cook sugars for too long, it will eventually turn the sauce into a thick candy once it has cooled.

Toss the Sesame Seeds With The Chicken and the Sauce - Instead of sprinkling the toasted sesame seeds on top, toss it right after you sauce it and coat every piece with to give each delicious bite a nutty sesame flavor.

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Ingredients

 

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• ▢ 1 lb chicken (approx. 4 boneless thighs or 1 chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes)
• ▢ 1½ tablespoons sesame seeds

Chicken Marinade

• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (approx. ¾ tablespoon)
• ▢ 1 slice ginger (approx. ½ tablespoon)
• ▢ ¼ small onion (or 1 shallot, approx. 2 tablespoons)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢ ½ tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine (or dry sherry, if you don't have this, omit it)

Batter

• ▢ 1 cup corn starch (divided in half)

Sesame Chicken Sauce

• ▢ 1 tablespoons oil
• ▢ 1½ tablepsoons butter
• ▢ 3 tablespoons honey
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon soy sauce (low sodium)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
• ▢ ¼ cup water
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sesame oil (mix in at the very end after the sauce is done)

Instructions

 

Marinate the Chicken

• Cut the chicken into 1 inch bite sized pieces and set it in a bowl.
  
• In a food processor, blitz the 2 cloves garlic, 1 slice ginger, ¼ small onion (or 1 small shallot), 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and ½ tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine, and add the blitzed marinade into the bowl with the chicken.

  Alternatively, you can also grate the ginger, garlic, and onion if you don't have a food processor and add the soy sauce and Shaoxing wine directly into the bowl with the chicken.
  
• Mix everything well and let it marinade for a minimum of 1 hour.
  

Toast the Sesame Seeds

• In a small pan or frying pan, add 1½ tablespoons sesame seeds and set the stove to medium-low heat.
• Toast the seeds until they turn golden brown.

  Remember to keep the pan moving, by gently swirling and shaking the seeds every 10 seconds so that the seeds don't burn.

  Set the toasted sesame seeds aside for later.
  

Batter the Chicken (2 Step Process)

• Once the chicken has done marinating, take the corn starch and divide it in half. Mix one half directly into the chicken with the marinade and mix well until everything is well coated. Let this sit for about 5 minutes until all the starch has absorbed the marinade. It should look moist and gummy.
  
• Place the second half of the cornstarch in a large plate or bowl and dip each pieces of chicken directly into the cornstarch one by one until it is well coated, and shake out any excess cornstarch. This step will create the crispy exterior batter.
  

Deep Fry the Chicken

• If you are using a deep fryer, set the temperature to 350F (180C) and wait for the oil to reach that temperature.

  If you are using a frying pan or a shallot pot to deep fry, set the heat to medium high heat. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of oil in the pan. To test if the oil is ready, use a wooden chopstick or the back of a wooden spoon and dunk it in the oil, once it starts bubbling the oil is hot enough to use.
• Add a few chicken pieces in at a time, but do not overcrowd the pan.

  You may need to do this in a few batches. If the oil temperature drops too low, your chicken won't get crispy, and might turn oil logged and soggy.
  
• Cook each pieces of chicken for about 3-4 minutes or until it is golden crispy and brown.

  Set the chicken pieces aside on a rack over a cookie sheet or a cookie sheet with papertowel or newspaper to absorb some of the oil.
• Once the all the chicken has finished deep frying, add them all back into the oil and deep fry it again for 1 minute.

  This Korean method of double frying will make your chicken extra crispy and crunchier!
• Remove the crispy fried chicken and let it drain on a rack or a plate with something absorbent like newspaper or paper towel. I highly recommend a rack over a cookie sheet because the air flow will keep the chicken crispy.
  

Make the Sesame Chicken Sauce

• In a small bowl, pre-mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 3 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon sugar and ¼ cup water and set it aside.
  
• In a small pot, add 1 tablespoons oil and 1½ tablepsoons butter into it and set the stove to medium heat.

  It's important to use a small pot for this because if your pot is too large, the sauce will spread out too much and the sugar will reduce quickly and will burn.
  
• Once the butter has melted, add in the pre-mixed sauce and mix well. Let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes to reduce it. It should start to bubble with large bubbles.
  
• Once it starts to foam up, mix it again with your spoon, the foam will have smaller bubbles than before. The foamy small bubbles will be a darker brown color (takes around 3-4 minutes).

  Coat the back of a spoon with the sauce to see the texture, it should be syrupy like a thin maple syrup or table syrup (not thick).

  Make sure you don't cook the sauce for more than 4 minutes because it will turn the sugar to a soft candy.
  
• Turn off the heat.
• Mix in 1 tablespoon sesame oil and stir for 2-3 minutes to cool and thicken the sauce further.

  Your sauce should be a syrupy consistency like maple syrup or table syrup. You don't want it super thick.

  Don't worry if it doesn't look like a lot of sauce. This is a very concentrated sauce, and it will be too sweet if there is too much or if it's too thick, you just want to lightly coat the chicken with the sauce.
  

Put It Together

• Once the sesame sauce has finished cooking, add in the bite-sized crispy chicken and mix it well until each chicken has been fully coated.

  Make sure you do not have the stove on for this step. Mixing the chicken into the sauce over direct heat will make the chicken batter soggy, and the chicken will lose some of its crispiness.
  
• Alternatively, if you don't have enough room in your pot to mix the chicken, you can also put your crispy chicken into another bowl and drizzle and toss the sauce over the chicken until it has coated the chicken. (This is my preferred method)
  
• At this point, you can slowly sprinkle in 1½ tablespoons sesame seeds that you previously toasted directly onto the chicken and coat each piece of chicken with toasted sesame seeds (this is my favorite way to do it, and I find it gives this dish a lot more flavor).

  Alternatively, you can plate it and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top as a garnish, but add a lot for the best flavor.

  You can also garnish it with finely minced green onions/scallions as well. Enjoy!
  

Nutrition

Calories: 412kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 623mg | Potassium: 183mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 86IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg

*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

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