Sesame Chicken is a favorite take-out choice and you can make it at home in less than 30 minutes! Serve over rice or noodles.
When dining out one of our favorite meals to order is sesame chicken with fried rice and cream cheese wontons. So today I’m sharing my sesame chicken recipe that you can make at home for your family.
In This Post: Everything You Need To Make Sesame Chicken
- Sesame Sauce
- Ingredients Needed To Make Sesame Chicken
- How To Make This Sesame Chicken Recipe
- Variations
- Storage
- Frequently Asked Questions
Sesame Sauce
Start by making sesame sauce. The sauce is what makes the dish! You can use an additional sauce from the skillet to drizzle over your rice.
- Sugar: We sweetened the sauce with brown sugar for the extra flavor it provides. You can also use granulated sugar if you prefer.
- Soy Sauce: Low-sodium soy sauce adds lots of flavor without making the sauce too salty.
- Hoisin Sauce: We added hoisin sauce which is a thick, sweet, and salty sauce that added flavor. If you can’t find it, try using a little sweet barbecue sauce instead.
- Oil: Just a little sesame oil adds a lot of flavor.
- Spice: We like adding some crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Ingredients Needed To Make Sesame Chicken
- Chicken: This recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts but you could also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Pepper: We added some coarse ground black pepper for seasoning. You don’t need to add salt since the sesame sauce is salty.
- Flour: The flour on the chicken pieces helps seal in the moisture and helps give the chicken a brown crispy coating.
- Oil: The chicken cubes are cooked in olive oil. You can also use vegetable oil or canola oil.
- Sesame Sauce: You’ll also need the sesame sauce that you prepared.
- Garnish: Top the plated chicken with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
How To Make This Sesame Chicken Recipe
This easy chicken dinner comes together in minutes. You can serve it over rice or noodles.
- Coat: Coat the cubed chicken with flour and black pepper.
- Fry: Brown the chicken pieces on all sides.
- Sauce: Add the sesame chicken sauce and continue cooking the chicken while allowing the sauce to thicken.
- Serve: Garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions.
Variations
One of our favorite variations is to make this a stir fry with veggies. After frying the chicken, remove it from the skillet and set it aside. Heat one tablespoon of oil in the pan and 3-4 cups of bite-sized vegetables for 3-4 minutes. Then, add the chicken and the sesame sauce. Stir fry until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is fully cooked.
Storage
Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to two months.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can add sliced carrots, diced bell peppers, diced onions, snap peas, broccoli, and cauliflower florets. Keep in mind that you may need to pre-cook the vegetables before adding them.
Serve the sesame chicken on plain white rice, coconut rice, fried rice, cauliflower rice, or noodles. For side dishes try roasted vegetables, a fresh salad, cream cheese wontons.
If you prefer a milder sauce, you can skip the red pepper flakes. Or if you don’t have hoisin sauce try using sweet barbecue sauce instead. Additional ingredients you could try adding include garlic, ginger, chili paste, oyster sauce, or honey.
Want more chicken recipes? Try these next:
- This Chicken Stir Fry recipe quick, easy family dinner recipe is great for busy nights. You can substitute beef for chicken and rice for the noodles.
- Sweet and spicy General Tso Chicken is delicious with carrots and peppers! Serve over rice or noodles for a family dinner.
- This 30-minute skillet recipe for Orange Chicken is easy to make and so delicious! It’s an easy dinner recipe that your whole family will love.
- This Honey Garlic Chicken recipe is so easy to prepare and will be a family favorite! Made with chicken breasts and a four-ingredient honey garlic sauce.
Sesame Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
Sesame Chicken
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- ¼ cup flour
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sliced green onions
- ½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Sesame Sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes if desired
Instructions
Sesame Sauce
- Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Set aside.
Sesame Chicken
- Put the cubed chicken in a large zip-top bag and sprinkle it with coarse ground black pepper and flour. Close the top of the bag and shake the chicken to coat it evenly with flour.
- Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the flour-coated chicken. Cook for 3-4 minutes, flip the pieces over and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Add the sesame sauce. Stir and cook for 4-6 minutes, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked through. Garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions.
Heather S. says
Made this for dinner last night and it was easy and so so yummy. I have a 8, 6, and 2 year old and they all loved it too! I served it with Tonia’s cream cheese wontons and trader joes fried rice.10/10 would recommend!
Amy K says
This will be something I make for my family from now on! Very good flavor!
Tom says
Sometimes when I try a new recipe we have an okay to pretty good meal. Other times we end up ordering carry out…
I decided to give this Sesame Chicken recipe a try. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great. I have to say that this is the only dish I have ever made, Chinese or otherwise, that tasted like it came from a really good restaurant!
Thanks so much