This Easy Sesame Chicken recipe is seriously so easy that you’ll be tempted to toss those take-out menus. The deliciously sweet and savory sauce takes only a few ingredients, all of which you can keep on hand indefinitely (keep your ginger in the freezer). You know, just in case you need some sesame chicken like, now. Oh, and this take-out fake-out sesame chicken works great for your weekly meal prep, too!
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What is Sesame Chicken?
If you’re unfamiliar with this Chinese-American fast food classic, sesame chicken is small pieces of tender chicken that have been coated in an egg and cornstarch, deep-fried until crispy, and then coated in a deliciously sweet, salty, and tangy sauce. The sauce also has a light but toasty flavor thanks to sesame seeds. You’ll find this dish at most Chinese-inspired takeout restaurants across America.
Ingredients for Sesame Chicken
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy sesame chicken recipe:
- Chicken Thighs: We use chicken thighs for this recipe because they stay juicy and super tender without fear of drying out, and they’re very budget-friendly. You can use chicken breast, if preferred, just be careful to not overcook the chicken.
- Cornstarch and Egg: The combination of cornstarch and egg coats the chicken, keeping it tender and providing something for the sauce to grab onto. This technique of coating meat in a cornstarch mixture is called “velveting.”
- Soy Sauce: The base for the sauce is soy sauce, which provides plenty of salt and umami flavor.
- Toasted Sesame Oil: Toasted sesame oil gives the sauce a deliciously nutty flavor. Make sure to get toasted oil, which has a deep amber color and a much more pronounced flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar provides sweetness to balance the salt of the soy sauce and the acidity of the vinegar. Brown sugar has a deep flavor, compared to the more one-dimensional flavor of white sugar. You can also use honey in place of the brown sugar.
- Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar gives the sauce a nice tangy flavor. Rice vinegar is milder than other vinegar types, which keeps the sauce in balance and not too harsh.
- Fresh Ginger: Ginger gives the sauce zing! Be sure to use fresh ginger, not dried ginger, as it has a much more peppery flavor. Keep fresh ginger in your freezer to always have it on hand without it going bad.
- Garlic: Garlic provides a nice savory base flavor for the sauce.
- Sesame Seeds: Sesame seeds add even more sesame flavor to the sauce and a delicious visual appeal.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch thickens the sauce into a nice glaze with a translucent, glossy finish.
- Rice and Green Onions: Serve your sesame chicken over a bed of rice with sliced green onions on top for a well rounded meal.
No Deep Frying Required
I specifically wrote this recipe for those of you out there who hate deep frying as much as I do. This recipe uses a very small amount of oil to cook the chicken and because of that, you don’t get super crispy edges as you would with a deep fry, but the trade-off is well worth it in my opinion. No leftover oil to deal with, no cooking oil smell filling your house, and no splattering oil trying to kill you. So worth sacrificing crispy edges.
What to Serve with Sesame Chicken
I like to pair my Easy Sesame Chicken with jasmine rice and a little steamed broccoli. It’s a super simple meal that is very satisfying, and stores well for meal prep! It also goes great with Crunchy Cabbage Salad, Sesame Cucumber Salad, Easy Egg Drop Soup, Savory Coconut Rice.
Easy Sesame Chicken
Servings 4Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 large egg ($0.23)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.06)
- 1 pinch each salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs ($3.23)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
Sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp water ($0.00)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.33)
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.12)
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar ($0.12)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds ($0.8)
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.02)
For Serving
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice ($0.70)
- 2 whole green onions ($0.22)
Instructions
- First, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, brown sugar, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, minced garlic, cornstarch, and sesame seeds. (Grate the ginger with a small-holed cheese grater). Set the sauce aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs, then cut them into small 1 inch pieces. Toss the chicken in the egg and cornstarch mixture.
- Add the cooking oil to a large skillet and heat it over medium flame. Wait until the skillet is very hot, then swirl the skillet to make sure the oil coats the entire surface. Add the batter coated chicken and spread it out into a single layer over the surface of the skillet.
- Allow the chicken pieces to cook, undisturbed, until golden brown on the bottom. Then, carefully flip the chicken, breaking up the pieces into smaller clumps as you flip. Continue to cook the chicken until golden brown on the other side. Stir the chicken as little as possible to avoid breaking the egg coating from the surface of the chicken.
- Once the chicken is cooked through and golden brown on all sides, pour the sauce over top. Toss the chicken to coat in the sauce. As the sauce comes up to a simmer, it will begin to thicken. Continue to gently stir the chicken in the sauce until it has thickened, then turn off the heat.
- Serve the chicken over a bed of rice and sprinkle the sliced green onions over top.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Non Stick Cookware
- Grater
- Color Cutting Boards
Nutrition
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How to Make Sesame Chicken
Make the sauce first, so it’s ready to go when you need it. In a bowl, stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 3 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, 2 minced cloves of garlic, ½ Tbsp cornstarch, and 1 Tbsp sesame seeds.
Let’s just talk about this toasted sesame oil for a second. You must get the kind that is toasted to get the super vibrant nutty flavor that you want in your sesame chicken. Not all brands actually say “toasted” on the bottle, but you can recognize the toasted variety by its deep brown color. Regular sesame oil will be the color of straw, like vegetable oil. You want the brown stuff. ;) It’s usually in the international foods aisle, instead of the baking aisle with the other oils.
Next, trim any extra fat off of one pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, then cut them into small one inch cubes. One pound for me was about three chicken thighs.
Add 1 large egg, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a medium bowl.
Whisk the egg and cornstarch together until it is light and frothy. It may seem thick at first, but as the cornstarch dissolves in the egg, it will thin out and get nice and frothy.
Add the cubed chicken thighs and stir them to coat in the egg mixture.
Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil to a large skillet and heat it over medium. Wait until it is very hot. This is VERY important. The skillet must be very hot! Once very hot, swirl the skillet to make sure the oil coats the entire surface, add the chicken, and make sure it’s spread out into a single layer. Let the chicken cook, undisturbed, until golden brown on the bottom. It will kind of cook into a single round pancake, but don’t worry, we’ll break up the pieces next.
Then carefully flip the chicken pieces, breaking up them up slightly into smaller pieces as you flip. Cook on the other side until browned and cooked through. Make sure to not stir them too much, or you can cause the egg to come off the chicken. You can see that some of the chicken pieces are still kind of stuck together at this point. That’s okay. Just do not over stir.
Finally, add the prepared sauce and stir to coat. Continue to carefully stir the chicken as the sauce beings to simmer and thicken. Once it’s thickened, turn off the heat.
Sprinkle some sliced green onions over top and serve with warm rice. :) Doesn’t get better than this.
Easy Sesame Chicken – done in about 30 minutes, and NO DELIVERY FEE! :D
I LOVE this recipe. It’s easy, it’s quick, and it’s nommy!
I use a lil less garlic- add a spoonful of honey, and chop my ginger as finely as I can- every time I’ve tried grating it comes out as a tiny bit of pulp, and ginger juice staining my fingers. Oh, and a full tbsp of sesame oil. Love sesame!
Really my only complaint is after a bite of this chicken, nothing else tastes good!
Oh my! Your website has changed! I have to admit I’ll miss that Sriracha chicken shirt picture of you from back when I first found you through this very recipe atleast three years back. Time sure flies. Anyhow, I absolutely love your cooking and spunky spirit, and this recipe will always be my favorite. But my brother isn’t one for sweet food, and we both love it savory ((lineage, man)), and we’d love it if you could help with an adaptation, maybe garlicky chicken perhaps? I always loved this, and the flavor, but since I’m usually cooking for him aswell it hasn’t been made in a while. Thank you for when you get the chance to read this, especially if you respond! A huge fan now and forever. <3
You could probably just mince up a few cloves of garlic and mix it into the sauce and reduce the sugar a touch. I wouldn’t eliminate the sugar all the way, though, because it helps balance the acid. :)
Ah thank you. :) I am super excited to even have a response. I’m a goof. XD I shall try that. He’s really not into sweets though, not sure if the garlic would change that but then again… garlic chicken…! Maybe hopefully I can come back with more information later. :D Have a great day!~
Oh, and this was perfect for my ex fiance and I. He was a diabetic and had Celiacs Disease so with gluten free soy sauce/tamari it was perfect. ;) I’m sure it’ll work great for my lovely best friend and I for dinners at home, when we start living together and hopefully getting closer. :D Much love, from one of your many fans! <3
Delicious! I made a quadruple batch of this because I was taking meals to a couple of families. They loved it and have been asking for the recipe. My four year old ate a lot! She didn’t even care that it got cold. She kept coming back for more. Thank you!
Oops! I got excited about making a comment and forgot to rate the recipe. Five stars from me!
Mine turned out looking more like thick beef stew.
This is super easy to make and great taste. Mine had a good amount of sauce so if you like yours drentched i would make a second batch of sauce. 5 stars hands down
This was so easy to make and delicious! I threw in a tablespoon of Sriracha and a pinch of red pepper flakes to give it a bit of a punch.
This was a big hit with my husband, better than take-out and much healthier. Except for the chicken I usually have all ingredients in my pantry, cutting the chicken takes the longest so if you are in a hurry tenders are much quicker to cut up. I prefer thighs and I buy them in bulk and freeze in one lb packages. If you cut them before they have fully defrosted it cuts the prep time by half.
SO easy! SO delicious! I love the fauxbreading. A huge time saver fr busy momas! My whole family loves this! The recipe doubles very nicely, but I reccomend cooking it in a large electric skillet if you double it r else the chicken doesn’t brown as nicely. DONT keep poking at the chicken or the breading won’t stick. Yummy thank you!!! Id live to see your recipe for honey ckn
Thanks for the great recipe! I just started getting into cooking and I totally blew away my boyfriend and my roommate with this one! Can’t wait to make it again.
Over the last couple of weeks or so, I’ve tried few of Beth’s recipes and they all have been a hit with the family. I have most of the bottled/boxed/packaged goods on the shelf, so am only adding the fresh ingredients for the chosen recipe of the day. Best of all, many of the recipes are very easy to prepare in a short time – perfect for busy families. I’ll keep trying more recipes and am encouraging my adult son to start preparing simple dishes for himself from this blog, ex: easy baked fajitas…..Thank you, Beth!
WOW, this was so fantastic and easy! Definitely adding it to the roster. I will make this as an appetizer with toothpicks next time my friends come over without rice
Made this with chicken breast tonight and my husband and 2 young kids loved it. It will become a regular around here, and only change will be to reduce the cornstarch as ours got a bit gloopy and needed thinning with water. Thanks for some delicious at home takeout! PS. Tried to give it 5 stars but only 4 would appear?
oh nooo lol.
Wayyy too much work. I don’t know why you call it “simple sesame chicken”. the title is very misleading and I for one, don’t have that much time on my hands. It looks delicious but I think I’ll stick to ordering in.
The hardest part about this recipe is probably cutting the chicken. Cooking can seem intimidating but giving it a chance and trying it anyway can be very rewarding. Start off with a small batch and give it your best!
This is so silly. You literally just put chicken in eggs and then put them in a pan, mix some condiments together and pour it over the top. It is called cooking for a reason. Because you cook.
This is not called “simple sesame chicken” for one, but it is EASY. If you can’t spare an extra 30 minutes to cook a hot meal for yourself or your family, go ahead and keep feeding them that fast food garbage. For more money.
P.S. It IS simple.
this is the easiest one I have found and I was on internet looking all morning. thanks for the recipe, I will let you know how it tastes after I make it tonight
It took me 20 minutes in all to prepare this…. I left my child for swim practice, returned home and whipped the recipe in a pinch, and went back to collect my swimmer with hot meal waiting for her upon arrival. One of the best qualities of this blog is the fact that the recipes are easy and quick to prepare.
This was FAB! I have made it several times. I change it up almost every time by adding different veggie combos, but the sauce (a perfect balance of sweet, salty and tangy) is the bomb and it’s always a hit. Thanks!