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!
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
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
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
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
Tried it with thighs n white meat (chicken breast ), it’s waaaay better with thighs… more moist. Not sure if it’s cheaper though since boneless, skinless thighs are so expensive with us! Breast too dry…
We loved this recipe!! I double the recipe and cooked the chicken in three separate parts and it was moist and delicious. I also added some stir-fried asparagus and extra water.
The only issue I had was the sauce was too thick, I found it was a bit to pasty thick. I would recommend less cornstarch. It tasted great and will make again.
This was amazing! Added a little more garlic and hot chili oil for extra spice! Will definitely add to our routine! Thank you.
Excellent recipe! Quick and easy is what I’ve been looking for lately, and this is just that. My partner and I both enjoyed it and will be preparing this again in the near future! My only recommendation would be to watch the ginger – thickness of root definitely matters, we could have added less.
Just made this last night, and it came out delicious!! Would definitely make it again.
Nah didnt work. Like at all. Its scrambled chicken eggs….
Okay so i have flour no cornstarch i have sesame seed oil not toasted and i have white vinegar and apple cidar no rice vinegar can i still make this recipe?
It definitely will not turn out the same with so many substitutions, unfortunately.
Maybe I did something wrong with the sauce, but it didn’t hold that red color – it was more of a honey color than anything (maybe because I fried it in evoo?). It was still delightful and tasted much more clean than our usual takeout. It was not the same taste I’m use to for sesame chicken – not bad, but different. Either way, my family gobbled it up, even our 5 year old went for a second helping! Next time I plan on adding some broccoli to make it a more rounded meal. Also, I’m super excited about the easy cleanup! 2 bowls, a few spoons, and wok…that was probably my favorite thing!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit! The chicken was,delicious. It tasted so authentic. We eat a lot of chicken and the question of the day isn’t what would you like for dinner it’s how do you want the chicken? Thanks to your website I’ve found many tasty chicken dishes so dinner isn’t boring — even when we have chicken 5 days a week!! Thank you, Beth. You’re my hero!
I really appreciate the layout of the recipe. So easy and clear to read and make. Thanks for posting! Maybe I made it wrong, but I think I did the exact measurements. It came out very very spicy and not so much like sesame chicken, more like a very spicy chinese chicken. The sauce also didn’t cover the 1 lb. of chicken like in the picture. Wondering if I did something wrong or any ideas??
If the sauce gets too much heat that can evaporate too much moisture and reduce it’s volume, so perhaps try using a slightly lower heat or letting the skillet cool a second before adding the sauce. But many people have commented that they prefer to double the sauce anyway. :) I’m not sure what could be causing your chicken to be spicy, as there aren’t any spicy ingredients. Sometimes garlic or ginger can be considered spicy, so perhaps that’s what you are tasting?
I’ve made this a few times now, using both chicken thighs and chicken breasts. Both ways came out wonderfully! The only change I made was using powdered ginger instead of fresh, since I never have that on hand. It worked just fine!
HI SUSAN. HOW MUCH POWDER GINGER DID YOU USE? THE EQUIVALENT TO THE 1 INCH FRESH GINGER?
I just can’t seem to get this one right…
3 tries now and 0 successes.
I’ve followed everything exactly the only thing different is I used breast instead of thigh.
I’ve tried changing just about everything, more batter, less batter, more sauce, different temps, different pans, more oil, different oil. Just about everything and it never seems to come out right. The egg batter consistently comes off and it becomes chicken and scrambled eggs. I’ve tried stirring less and stirring more and it never seems to change it.
I really want to like the recipe I just can’t nail it. If anyone can tell me what to do please tell me.
Don’t change your oils, keep them the same. Maybe it’s the egg you’re using — are you using jumbo eggs? It sounds like you’re getting too much egg with your chicken.
Quentin,
Try taking a look at Beth’s Orange Chicken Recipe, she gives some hints there as to how to prevent the chicken and scrambled eggs problem. The main thing to remember is you want the pan and oil HOT before the chicken ever goes into the pan. Make sure the pan is hot first, and then add the chicken. Don’t stir for at least 45 seconds, and then flip the chicken gently and let it sit for another 45 seconds. I know the temptation is to stir constantly, but don’t worry the oil is there to prevent the chicken from burning to the pan.
Good luck!
You can’t say “I followed exactly” and then list the many things you did differently. That’s why it didn’t turn out.
OH MY GOD. This was amazing. You weren’t kidding about the plate licking good. I use my rice cooker at least three times a week and Im always on the look out for yummy dishes with rice. Well this one blew my mind. I never write reviews but this truly deserved it. Thank you!
Have you tried this with tofu? Just curious about a vegetarian version….
This recipe for Pan Fried Sesame Tofu with Broccoli is basically a tofu version of this. :)