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This sweet & savory sesame chicken recipe is a crowd-pleaser served over rice or noodles. It’s perfect for dinner and better than takeout!!
This honey sesame chicken has a little bit of sweet, and a little bit of savory flavor to it – similar to our Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sweet and Sour Meatballs.
We Love Sweet and Savory!
One of my favorite dishes is this honey sesame chicken. It has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember (along with Teriyaki Chicken)! It has the most tender and flavorful chicken.
This dish is a favorite family dinner for the whole family, and we love it because:
- Flavor. Like many Asian-American dishes, the sauce is sweet, salty, and very flavorful and we love to serve it with cauliflower rice or fried rice.
- Simple. It tastes amazing and is simple to make.
- Feed a crowd. The entire family LOVES this recipe and loves it with: Crock Pot Rice, Chow Mein and Fried Rice.
This is one of many Asian dinner recipes we know you’ll love!
Ingredients
- chicken breasts – I cube boneless skinless chicken breasts, but chicken thighs also work. To produce clean even cubes, partially freeze it first to keep the chicken firm enough to stay in place when cutting.
- lower-sodium soy sauce
- rice vinegar – easily substitute with cider vinegar or lemon juice.
- sesame seed oil
- Sugar – use either white or brown sugar
- cornstarch
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- black pepper
- vegetable oil – canola oil or peanut oil. Check that the oil reaches 350°F or stick the end of a wooden spoon into the oil. If the oil sizzles vigorously, then it is too hot. If no bubbles appear it is too cold. If many bubbles form at the base of the spoon and float up, then the oil is just right.
- honey
- oyster sauce
- sweet chili sauce
- ketchup
- water
- garnish – sesame seeds, green onions, or red pepper flakes
How to Make Sesame Chicken
- CHICKEN. Cut your chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Put chicken, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar in a bag and marinate for 1-2 hours then drain the chicken.
- PREP. Add vegetable oil to a shallow pan on medium heat. Mix cornstarch, flour, salt, and pepper in a large Ziploc bag.
- FRY. In 3 batches, add chicken to the flour mixture, shake gently to coat (dredge), and then toss in your frying pan until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
- SAUCE. Mix honey, oyster sauce, chili sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
- COMBINE + SERVE! Pour sauce over chicken pieces and toss. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Add veggies. To add green beans and bell peppers, sauté them in a skillet with a bit of oil until crisp and tender. Set aside. Once the chicken has been fried and the sauce made, toss all 3 elements together.
- Slightly healthier version. Skip the coating and sauté chicken breast pieces in a bit of oil, then proceed with the sauce as directed.
- Extra crispy. For extra crispiness try doubling the coating.
- Mix the sauce in advance (store in the fridge for up to 2 days).
- Serving suggestions. We love to serve this take-out dish with brown rice, Fried Rice, Cauliflower Rice, Garlic Noodles, Chow Mein, zucchini noodles, or steamed white rice.
Storing Info
- Make a freezer meal. Cook chicken and honey sesame sauce according to directions. Let cool and place in separate airtight freezer containers. Freeze both for up to 4 months.
- To use, thaw chicken and sauce in the refrigerator. Reheat the chicken in a sauté pan with a little oil. Heat the sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Once they are both warm pour the sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
- STORE. Chinese takeout is one of my favorites to eat as leftovers. Place the leftover easy sesame chicken in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- REHEAT homemade sesame chicken in the microwave in 30-second increments stirring in between. For a better leftover flavor reheat in a sauté pan with a little oil.
For More Asian Chicken Recipes:
Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe
Sweet & savory honey sesame chicken is a crowd-pleaser served over rice or noodles. It's perfect for dinner and better than takeout!!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts cubed
- 2 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- vegetable oil for cooking
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 4 tablespoons ketchup
- 4 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- sesame seeds toasted
Instructions
- Cut your chicken breasts into bite-size pieces.
- Put chicken, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar in a bag and marinate for 1-2 hours then drain chicken.
- Add 1-2 inches of vegetables oil to a shallow pan on medium heat.
- Mix cornstarch, flour, salt, and pepper in a large ziploc bag.
- In 3 batches, add chicken to flour mixture, shake gently to coat, and then toss in your frying pan until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Sauce
- Mix honey, oyster sauce, chili sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and water in a medium saucepan.
- Bring to a boil then simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
- Pour sauce over chicken pieces and toss.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
Video
Notes
Make a freezer meal. Cook chicken and honey sesame sauce according to directions. Let cool and place in separate airtight freezer containers. Freeze both for up to 4 months.
- To use, thaw chicken and sauce in the refrigerator. Reheat the chicken in a sauté pan with a little oil. Heat the sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Once they are both warm pour the sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 298kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 96mg, Sodium: 1421mg, Potassium: 629mg, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 105IU, Vitamin C: 2.3mg, Calcium: 13mg, Iron: 1.3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This has the potential to be delicious and the only reason I say that is I must stress the low sodium soya sauce for this recipe – I used regular as that was all I had on hand and it was so salty it was almost inedible – drinking lots of water right now – I will try it again for sure using the low sodium – chicken was flavourful and tender after the marinade and it was super easy to put together.
Thank you so much for giving it a try 🙂
This looks great! I have a question though. In the directions it says “Put chicken, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil and sugar in a bag and marinate for 1-2 hours then drain chicken.” That sounds fine but there’s no wine in the ingredient list. It does say vinegar, but that’s not mentioned in the directions. Are the two ingredient’s interchangeable? Is one better than the other? I would love to make this but I want to do it right. Thanks so much for the post.
So sorry!! I fixed it. It should have said, rice vinegar 🙂 Thanks for catching that and letting me know. It really is great!
Thanks so much for the quick answer. I really appreciate it. Guess what we’re having for dinner tomorrow?
No problem!! I wonder if anyone else was wondering the same thing?? Enjoy!!!
This looks delicious!
It is!! Hope you’ll give it a try! Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve made this and everybody liked it so much! Thanks for the recipe.
So glad it was a hit! 😀
This smelled delicious while I was simmering the sauce but was so shocked to taste how salty it was. Like another person who commented I too thought I did something wrong. Is it just the combination of all those salty sauces. I’ve never used the oyster or sweet chili sauce before. Any ideas? I really want to make this again. I love your recipes. Thank you!
I’ll need to try this recipe again to see how salty it is, but I’d maybe lessen the amount to 1/4 tsp. salt and then I’d be sure to use the Soy Sauce that has lesser sodium. 😉
I will try this honey chicken, it looks yummm.
How is this without using the oyster sauce in the sauce??
I think it would be fine without it. Personally, I don’t usually have oyster sauce around and only get it for an upcoming recipe. I think it just gives it a little added taste but would still taste just as good without it. 😉
Hi, Made this dish for the first time today. We are in NZ & Gluten Free. We used potato flour plus all our sauces were GF. Fantastic! Loved it. Will definately be back to try some other recipes. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Lani! So fun that you are in NZ – it’s my dream country I want to visit!! And SO glad it all turned out. 😀
Aaah, thank u for posting the recipe. I’ve tried it & looking forward to make it again. It’s a keeper!
I’ve tried this recipe last night for a special occasion. It was absolutely delicious! I’ll be cooking it many more times. Thank you!