Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe

Honey Sesame Chicken is flavored crispy chicken that is covered in an sticky, savory and sweet sauce. Easy to make and taste amazing.

Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe:

Homemade Sesame Chicken is better that take out and simple to make. The chicken is fried to perfection and covered with a sweet and tangy sauce, then topped with sesame seeds.

My kids love to get Chinese Take out, but it is loaded with ingredients that we can’t even pronounce. That is why I love recreating recipes at home that taste better and the ingredients are simple.

This sauce is what brings this recipe together. It is perfectly flavored and is sweet and tangy. We love to serve over rice and topped with slice green onions.

What is Sesame Chicken?

Sesame Chicken is a favorite Chinese Take Out menu item. It is small pieces of chicken that is been coated with flour and egg and fried to perfection. Once it is crispy it is then coasted with a sweet and tangy sauce.

The sauce is light but it coats the chicken perfectly. We like to top the sesame chicken with diced green onions and sesame seeds.

What is in Sesame Chicken?

When we make Sesame Chicken we usually boneless skinless chicken breast but you can also use chicken thighs. The chicken is coated with egg, flour, cornstarch mixture to give the chicken a nice breading.

Once the chicken is fried to a crispy texture then you pour over the sweet and tangy sauce. The sauce is made with soy sauce, ketchup, honey and brown sugar. These simple ingredients combined make the perfect sauce of the chicken.

You can even keep the sauce on the side to dip your chicken in if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – cut into 1 inch pieces
• Eggs – beaten
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• All Purpose Flour
• Cornstarch
• Oil for frying
• Vegetable oil
• Minced Fresh Garlic
• Honey
• Soy Sauce (reduced sodium)
• Brown Sugar
• Rice Wine Vinegar
• Sesame Oil
• Cornstarch
• Ground Ginger
• Sesame Seeds, for topping
• Sliced Green Onions, for topping

How to Make Sesame Chicken:

• Mix Eggs with Seasoning – Place the eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine

• Combine flour and cornstarch – Place the ½ cup flour and ½ cup of cornstarch in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Stir to combine.

• Coat chicken with egg and flour mixture – Dip each piece of chicken into the egg mixture, then into the flour. Repeat the process with all of the chicken.

• Heat Oil – Heat 2 inches of olive oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees

• Fry Chicken – Add pieces of chicken to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken

• Rest Chicken – Place the chicken on paper towels to drain the excess oil

• Make the Sauce – While the chicken is cooking, combine the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl.

• Cook the Sauce – Heat the teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the honey sauce mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until just thickened.

• Coat the Chicken with the Sauce – Add the crispy chicken to the pan and toss to coat with the sauce. 

• Serve and Enjoy – Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, then serve.

Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe:

We love creating copycat recipes. We find that they are much healthier and do not contain as many ingredients as the real recipe. This Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken is one of those recipes.

Panda Express had taken it off their menu but now it is back. It is one of our favorite menu items so I knew I had to figure out how to make it. We love the sweet and tangy flavor from the sauce. It is similar to Panda Express Orange Chicken.

When we make this recipe it really is all about the honey sesame sauce. So we make sure that we don’t skip any of the ingredients and make sure that the sauce fully covers the chicken.

What to Serve with Honey Sesame Chicken?

There are many easy side that you serve with this Honey Sesame Chicken. Here are some of our suggestions:

• Rice – Rice is a budget friendly side to serve with Easy Sesame Chicken. You can use white rice, brown rice or even cauliflower rice. We like making a rice bowl with this recipe. Chicken Fried Rice is a standard Asian side to serve with this meal.
• Noodles – Make some noodles and serve Sesame Chicken along side the noodles or over the noodles.
• Soup – You can serve this when a standard Asian soup such as egg drop soup or wonton soup.
• Salad – Because this sesame chicken it a hearty meal, a nice green salad would pair perfectly with this meal.
• Steam Vegetables – Steam some broccoli or roasted carrots would be great served with this meal.

Tips for The Best Sesame Chicken:

• Bake Chicken – If you prefer not to fry your chicken, you can bake it at 420 degrees for about 15 minutes. Coat it as the recipe indicates and place in the oven.
• Change the Chicken – Instead of using chicken breast you can make this recipe with chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins.
• Mix in Vegetables – When you are mixing the chicken with the sauce, you can add in some steam vegetables for a complete meal. String beans are always a good option.
• Air Fry Chicken – For an easy way to fry the chicken, put it in your air fryer. We have loved using our air fryer as it still gets the chicken crispy on the outside.

How to Store and Reheat Leftover:

Sesame Chicken is great leftover. You can easily store in an air tight container and place in the refrigerator. It will last up to 3 days if stored properly. We love this chicken leftover as it gives the sauce time to really marinate in the chicken.

To reheat your leftovers, you can place in the microwave and heat for about 1 minute intervals. You can also place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Print Recipe here for Sesame Chicken:

More Easy Chicken Recipes:

• Asian Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
• Panera Bread Asian Sesame Chicken Salad Recipe
• Crock Pot Orange Chicken Recipe