Easy Sesame Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

333 Comments

4.79 from 99 votes
5 servings
Prep Time 12 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
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With Easy Sesame Chicken you can skip the takeout and still enjoy your favorite, crispy Chinese restaurant entree in under 30 minutes!

This is a perfect homemade Chinese Food dinner. Serve it with Fried Rice, Egg Drop Soup, and Crab Rangoon for more takeout favorites.

Sabrina’s Crispy Sesame Chicken Recipe

There are several recipes you’ll come across for Sesame Chicken. Some are healthier versions without breading while some are stir fries. This is the classic mall food Chinese takeout version. It’s a quick and easy tempura fried chicken in bite-size pieces tossed with an easy sauce made with rice wine and soy sauce sweet and spicy mixture. It’s a wonderful blend of sweet, savory, and slightly spicy flavors that cling to each tender piece of chicken. It’s a tasty adventure you won’t want to miss!

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Easy Sesame Chicken Recipe

With Easy Sesame Chicken you can skip the takeout and still enjoy your favorite, crispy Chinese restaurant entree in under 30 minutes!
Yield 5 servings
Prep Time 12 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Fried chicken pieces on a black plate
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

Sesame Chicken Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds

Tempura Batter:

  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 cup cold seltzer water

Chicken:

  • 1 lb chicken thighs , boneless and skinless cut into 1 inch chunks
  • vegetable oil , for deep frying
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

Instructions

  • To make the sauce mix all the ingredients together.
  • Whisk the batter ingredients together in a separate bowl until just combined. Add the chicken pieces to the batter and coat.
  • Heat 3 inches of frying oil to 350 degrees. Add the chicken to the oil in batches, frying until golden brown.
  • In a large wok or skillet add the sesame oil to the frying pan, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
  • Add in the sauce and the chicken, coat quickly and serve immediately, garnished with sesame seeds.

Video

Notes

  1. Click on the “yield” amount to slide and change the number of servings and the recipe will automatically update! 
  2. To convert measurements to grams, click on the “Metric” option next to “Ingredients” in the recipe card.

Nutrition

Calories: 434kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 753mg | Potassium: 286mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 101IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg

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Table of contents

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Chef’s Note: Why skip takeout

Making Sesame Chicken in your own kitchen gives you the power to make it just the way you like. You can use better-for-you ingredients, save some cash, and take pride in creating it from scratch. Enjoy the taste of freshness and tweak things to match your preferences, all while savoring the happiness of sharing a homemade meal with your family and friends.

Kitchen Tools

  • Wok or Skillet: A wok or skillet is essential for cooking the chicken and sauce. A wok’s high sides make it ideal for stir-frying, while a skillet works well too. Ensure it’s deep enough to prevent oil splatters during frying.
  • Deep Fryer or Large Pot: You’ll need a deep fryer or large pot with enough capacity to accommodate the chicken pieces and sufficient oil for deep frying. A thermometer is handy for monitoring the oil temperature.

How-to-Make Video

Can This Be Made Ahead of Time?

You can prepare the sesame sauce and batter ahead of time and store them separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. However, it’s best to fry the chicken just before serving to maintain its crispiness. Reheat the sauce and toss it with freshly fried chicken for the best results.

How to Store

  • Store: To keep leftover Sesame Chicken fresh, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator within two hours of cooking. Proper sealing prevents moisture loss and helps maintain flavors. It can stay good for 3-4 days.
  • Reheat: Reheat leftover chicken in the oven or a skillet for crispy texture. To maintain the sauce’s consistency, add a splash of water before reheating in the microwave.
  • Freeze: Place the chicken in a freezer-safe container or airtight freezer bags. Ensure it’s well-sealed to prevent freezer burn and use within 2-3 months.

How to Serve

Serve Sesame Chicken with steamed rice, Lo Mein, steamed broccoli, and easy recipes like Crab Rangoon and Egg Rolls for appetizers.

Frequent Questions

What can I use instead of seltzer water in the batter?

If you don’t have seltzer water, sparkling water or even cold club soda can work as substitutes to maintain the batter’s lightness.

Is Sesame Chicken fried?

Yes, in its traditional form, it is dredged in batter and deep-fried.

Can I use white meat?

You can use skinless chicken breasts in this recipe in place of chicken thighs. There’s no other ingredient adjustments, you will fry for one less minute.

Variations

Because there are so many different versions, let’s go over some of the other options. Howver, this version is the best one for reliving your mall food court childhood.

  • Baked Sesame Chicken: You can dredge the chicken in flour, egg, and finally in panko. Spray the pieces of chicken with some vegetable oil spray and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Toss with sesame sauce then continue baking for an additional ten minutes.
  • Honey Sesame Chicken: Replace the brown sugar in the recipe with honey for a more pronounced, sweet, honey taste.
  • Stir Fry: Don’t bread the chicken – just cook it in the skillet with a bit of sesame oil and vegetable oil. Add fresh garlic and vegetables (bell pepper, onion, and zucchini) to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then pour the sauce in and cook until reduced (you may need to add a bit of cornstarch and water).

More Easy Sesame Recipes

Read More Easy Recipes with Sesame
Sesame chicken in a black bowl

Photo used in a previous version of this post.

Close up of crispy chicken with sesame sauce
Collage of finished Asian chicken and sesame sauce
Pan of fried Asian chicken
mixing batter
coating chicken in tempura batter
Crispy chicken served over rice
deep frying sesame chicken
Preparing chicken sauce and batter
Preparing sesame sauce for chicken

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This was very easy to make, and it was delicious!!! I’ll be making my own take out for now on! My family loved it. We made egg rolls and white rice to go with it. It tastes even better the next day after all of the flavors have soaked through the chicken. This was awesome!! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  2. I followed your exact recipe and it turned out sooo good! I’m a bit skeptical at first since I’ve never had anything like this before. The chinese food here (Indonesia) is so different than chinese food in the US. The only thing that came close to this (sweet-savory-sour combination) is Ayam Asam Manis (sweet and sour chicken), where you usually use the combination of ketchup and sugar for the sauce. But I’m glad I gave this recipe a try. Thank you!

    Reply

  4. Hi Sabrina!

    Just found this lovely website of yours! Read the thumbnail bio of yourself and I’m just plain excited about exploring more of your corner of the Internet! I’m a professional chef, pastry and kitchen and can truly say that you sure know your stuff!

    Made this super sesame chicken tonight and cannot wait to try more of your food! My daughter loves honey chicken, so I’m going to surprise her with that sometime later this week.

    So happy to “meet” you! Hope his is the beginning of a long friendship!! 🙂

    Skye

    Reply

    1. Nice to meet you too and so happy to hear you are enjoying the site! Let me know how your daughter likes this recipe 🙂

      Reply

  6. Wow! I thought this recipe was amazing, but my husband thought it was absolutely out of this world! He said it was the best Chinese food-style chicken he has had from anywhere. I’ve made it a few times now, always following the recipe exactly except adding a diced jalapeño to the sauce this most recent time because I had some fresh ones in the garden. It definitely kicked up the spiciness (which we love), so tonight I think I’m going to add 2. I always pair it with just some white Jasmine rice and veggies. I also love to top it with some sliced green onions. Thanks for the great recipe.

    Reply

    1. So glad you liked it and thank you for this review. It made my day! I love the idea of adding jalapeños! I might just have to reserve a bit of sauce and chicken separate to try that out (I’m the only real spicy fan in the house haha)

      Reply

    1. I haven’t used it personally, but I know that people do use one – feel free to try it and let me know how it goes.

      Reply

    2. How do I keep the chicken crispy? Bite sized pieces cook super fast in the hot oil. If I waited for Them to be completely browned on the outside then they would be way overdone inside.

      Reply

      1. So this is always a tricky thing. It’s all about making sure there is enough air getting to it that it doesn’t get soggy. I recommend placing it on a wire rack on a baking sheet and keeping it the oven at 250 degrees. Don’t put it on paper towels or allow it to steam by covering it. Hope this helps!

        Reply

  9. Made this for dinner tonight. Easy recipe that I will be using again and again. I substituted the garlic and chili peppers with chili garlic paste to make it easier and it turned out delicious. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be checking out your other ones as well.

    Reply

    1. So happy to hear that it came out well and you liked it! Let me know what other recipes you try and how they turn out!

      Reply

  10. This recipe is so good! Almost tastes better than the real thing. The only issue I had was the sauce didn’t feel thick enough for me, but that was an easy fix with some reducing and some dissolved cornstarch. I made a few substitutions as well, I used white meat because I personally am not a fan of chicken thighs (I know.. sue me) , I also for the life of me could not find sesame oil at any grocery store! (Kroger, Walmart or HEB) so I just used a little olive oil and It still was super tasty! Although next time I’m going to use the sesame oil because i believe it makes a world of a difference. Overall, I’ll be making this again. Happy happy happy 🙂

    Reply

    1. Glad to hear you liked it! Sesame oil will definitely kick it up a notch, but it is good to have a back up with EVOO. 🙂

      Reply

  11. For the batter, do you combine all ingredients together or is it an egg wash than dry batter steps? Currently in the process of making this!!

    Reply

    1. So sorry I’m just now seeing this. You’ll want to combine all the ingredients together. I hope you enjoyed it.

      Reply

  12. Just made this. I substituted diced Serrano’s for the crushed red pepper flakes (cause I didn’t have them , but it really didn’t make a difference) IT WAS Delicious!!!!! I served it with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. C’est magnifique!

    Reply

  14. I’m trying your Sesame Chicken tonight and just sent the hubby to get the seltzer water. Can’t wait; already the kitchen smells wonderful.

    Reply

  16. Used the recipe for the sauce. Omitted the sesame seed oil (hubby doesn’t like the taste), and the seeds. Soooo good. I had to use red wine vinegar, so cut it shy of 1/2 a cup, and used brown sugar. I used regular grilled chicken cut into bites. If I had fried the chicken I would definitely heat up the sauce, and wait for it to thicken prior to covering the fried chicken pieces. Saved. So many good recipes on this site!!!

    Reply

  17. I found that the batter did not hold up when placed in the pan. It did not brown as expected and did not have a crunch.
    The flavor of the sauce was good, however.

    Reply

  18. This recipe was okay. Not great, but okay. It’s very much a fast food/Panda Express like recipe. If that’s what you’re craving I would recommend it… otherwise I would say to pass on this one.

    Reply

    1. I haven’t tested either with this recipe but generally tonic water or lemon-lime soda are adequate substitutes. I hope you enjoy it!

      Reply

    2. This was a fantastic recipe! We paired it with a simple fried rice. The chicken texture is crispy and so flavorful. I will look for other sauces to toss this same chicken in. Huge fan!

      Reply

    1. You can try Worcestershire sauce but it will change the flavor. I’ve seen other substitutions making your own by boiling beef bouillon, balsamic vinegar, molasses, ginger, white pepper, garlic powder and water for 15 minutes. Good luck!

      Reply

      1. A substitute for soy sauce would be coconut aminos, it is very similar. It is often used by people who can not eat soy products.

        Reply

  21. It’s rare that a recipe doesn’t have garlic in it and especially so for an Asian dish. Maybe Im just drawn to those recipes, though. ?Innnnnyhooooo, next time, garlic, and adding it to the leftovers for tomorrow. I did not bread mine and added a cornstarch/ water slurry to thicken it so it clung to the chicken. I’m not sure clung is a word.

    Reply

  22. Delicious! The quantities of sauce and batter ingredients were just right.
    Seltzer water isn’t sold here so I substituted ice cold tap water and 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice.

    Reply

  24. I made the stir fry version tonight since I had a breast thawed out. It was great! Can’t wait to try the traditional version. Forget ordering out, we will have sesame chicken whenever we want it. Thanks!

    Reply

  25. This was… Eh. Can’t say I loved it. But didn’t hate it either. Won’t make it again. Maybe I’m just not a fan of sesame chicken anymore or maybe I can’t cook it right. Still worth a try and glad I did it.

    Reply

  26. This recipe was awesome! I was craving Chinese food and this hit the spot. I followed the recipe exactly except I had to use apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar because I was out. It still tasted great but I will try the rice vinegar next time and a little more brown sugar because I like mine sweet. Thank you for sharing and I will definitely make this again .

    Reply

  27. My children asked if we could rate this because it was so good! My husband, who was craving Panda tonight, said it was delicious! Thank you for a fantastic recipe!

    Reply

  28. I rarely have seltzer water on hand. Do u think Sprite would work?

    I found your blog today when looking for a homemade enchilada sauce. It was delicious. I’ve got a bunch of recipes lined up for my menu over the next couple of weeks. Thanks so much.

    Reply

    1. I haven’t tested it but I would think it would be a good substitution in a pinch. I’d love to know how it turns out if you decide to try, thanks!

      So glad you’re enjoying the recipes. 🙂

      Reply

    1. You can always tag me on instagram @dinnerthendessert or use the hashtag #dinnerthendessert

      I love to see photos!! So glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply

  31. This is the first recipe I have made from your site, but certainly not the last!
    Easy to follow and my family loved it.

    Reply

  32. This was a really nice chicken dish. I didn’t have seltzer but I used 7 Up and it was very good. I did a combination of browning the chicken in the batter and transferring to a 9×13 pan to finish off in the oven as you mentioned in the recipe notes. Thank you!

    Reply

  33. I don’t know what it was about this recipe but the chicken just wouldn’t fry right. I heated three inches of oil and tested it with a little slice of butter and it seemed ready, but the batter just would not turn golden brown and the chicken took forever to look in any way done. Maybe I did something wrong. Any advice for troubleshooting?

    Reply

    1. It just sounds like the oil wasn’t hot enough. I’m not sure using a slice of butter is giving you an accurate reading of how hot the oil is. I would suggest using a thermometer and seeing if that resolves the issue. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  34. Sesame chicken is my go to takeout order and this looks just like the stuff from my favorite place! I cant wait to make it!

    Reply

  39. Omg!! Made this tonight..exactly as written..you have a money recipe..the best I have ever made..better than at a restaurant. Thank you!!

    Reply

  40. This is our favorite recipe ever! We make it all of the time. It’s what I WISH take-out tasted like. But no need for take-out when we can make this instead 🙂 

    Reply

  41. Now I know where to use the extra egg whites next time. I love easy and simple recipes like this. Maybe i’ll add mango or orange jam to the sauce after I try your original recipe, yum!

    Reply

  44. This looks so delicious! It’s so easy to make at home too! No need for take-out when I can make this instead!

    Reply

  48. This dish looks fabulous! So crispy and coated in that sauce! Thank you for all the other recipes, too!

    Reply