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Easy Sesame Chicken Recipe

Published: Mar 28, 2020 by Anna 56 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links.

Easy Sesame Chicken is a battered chicken fried in a pan and coated with sesame sauce. Popular Asian takeout dish, made easily at home.

If you like to cook takeout at home, you may also like my recipe for Korean Beef Tacos or Orange Chicken. I serve them all with my Instant Pot Rice.

Overhead shot of sesame chicken served on white rice in white bowl.

Thursdays in our house are for Asian dinners. If I am not making my Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls, I am whipping up this Easy Sesame Chicken. There is an additional step of dipping the chicken in the batter, comparing to the other recipes, but it's totally worth it and very quick. As always, my goal is to make the recipe as easy as possible.

This Easy Sesame Chicken is so flavorful and delicious, you will add it to your weekly menu. It's so easy to make, and since the sauce can be made ahead of time and the recipe calls for chicken thighs, this recipe is a budget-friendly time-saver. Perfect for busy weeknights!

Ingredients:

boneless chicken thighs
egg
cornstarch
salt and pepper
olive oil
sesame oil
soy sauce
rice vinegar
brown sugar
garlic and ginger
water or chicken stock
sesame seeds

Instructions:

Cut chicken thighs into bite-size pieces.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, cornstarch, salt and pepper.
Add cut chicken to the egg mixture and stir to coat.
Heat up olive oil in a pan and drop coated chicken pieces to cook. It's easier to do that in two batches to make sure each piece is cooked.
Next, pour the sauce mixture over chicken and simmer on medium-low heat until the sauce thickens.

Side shot of battered chicken in sesame sauce in white pan.

Chicken breast vs. thighs

One difference you can see in this recipe compared to my other Asian dishes, is that it calls for chicken thighs. You can, of course, use boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces. However, most Sesame Chicken recipes use chicken thighs. They have more flavor because it's dark meat. It also makes this dish very budget friendly.

The sauce:

Sesame chicken sauce is very similar to Teriyaki Sauce, but with more sesame flavor and more vinegar. It's less sweet and more sour with a delicious nutty flavor. All thanks to the sesame oil. A very potent and popular ingredients in Asian cooking. You only need 1 teaspoon of it to add a rich nutty flavor to the sauce. You can adjust the sauce to your taste and add more brown sugar or honey. Don't forget to add the sesame seeds. I prefer toasted.

The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you are ready to use it OR you can make a larger batch, simmer in saucepan until thickened and store in jar with lid. Use in any Asian dishes.

Side shot of chicken on white rice in a serving bowl.

Variations:

spicy: add 2 teaspoons of sweet chili sauce to the sauce ingredients before adding to chicken. Add crushed red peppers if you like even more heat.
baked: instead of frying the chicken in a pan, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange coated chicken on sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in 375 degrees F.
skinny: to cut down on calories, skip the cornstarch coating for chicken and brown chicken pieces in olive oil in pan. Add sauce and simmer until thickened.
honey: add 3 tablespoons of honey in place of brown sugar, to sauce mixture. Whisk and add to chicken.
stir fry: add Asian vegetable mix (available in the frozen section in grocery stores) and noodles or cooked rice to the chicken mixture in the pan. Heat everything up and serve!

Overhead shot of Asian chicken on white rice with chopped green onions.

More easy Asian dinners:

You can find all of our Asian dishes in our recipe round up.

If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀

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