Sesame Chicken Recipe
Sticky, crispy sesame chicken at home — Sesame Chicken, Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken, honey garlic sesame chicken — for busy weeknights.
★ dinner
dinnerIngredients
- 2 lbs Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon White pepper
- 1 teaspoon Crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 teaspoon plus 1/2 cup Soy sauce, low sodium
- 2 teaspoons Sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Ground ginger
- 3 teaspoons Garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Onion powder
- 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon Corn starch
- 1/2 cup Water
- For frying Avocado, vegetable, or canola oil
- 1/4 cup Brown sugar
- 1 tabelspoon Honey
- For topping Sesame seeds
Instructions
- 1Cut chicken into 1-2 inch cubes, place in a bowl and add white pepper, red pepper, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ginger, 2 teaspoons garlic, and onion powder and mix to combine.
- 2Add corn starch and 1/4 cup water and stir to combine. Set aside for at least 15 minutes
- 3Heat enough oil in a pot, so chicken will be submerged, 2-3 cups, on medium heat. After 5 minutes or so test to see if the oil is hot enough 350F is where you want it, thermometer works best, if you stick a wooden spoon in and it bubbles then it’s hot enough, you can also check with a piece of chicken. The chicken should bubble immediately.
- 4Have a baking sheet with a rack ready next to the pot of oil. Fry chicken for 3-5 minutes until light brown, remove and put on the rack to let drain. Fry in batches until all chicken is fried. Then refry all the chicken, in batches, until golden brown. Remove and drain on wire rack.
- 5For the sauce, heat a 12 inch sauté pan on medium heat. Add 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, brown sugar, and honey. Whisk together and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl whisk 1 teaspoon corn starch and 1/4 cup water together. Add corn starch slurry into the sauce and stir. It should thicken up quickly, if not continue to simmer until it has thickened.
- 6Add chicken to sauce and stir to fully coat chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice and your favorite roasted vegetables. Enjoy!
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Open in Pepper →Sesame Chicken Worth Skipping Takeout For
Sesame chicken is the dish everybody in the house agrees on. Crispy bites, a glossy sweet-savory sauce, and rice to catch what's left in the pan.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these on the nights the takeout menu is calling but nobody wants to wait on delivery, or when there's a pack of chicken breasts to use up before the weekend.
Every recipe here is a real version of it: a peppery Sesame Chicken with thighs, a Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken you start in the morning, a Homemade orange sesame chicken, and a honey garlic sesame chicken with fresh garlic cloves.
Quick Tips
- 1
Cut chicken even sizes
Cube the chicken into 1-inch pieces so every bite finishes cooking at the same time. Uneven chunks leave you with dry edges and pink centers.
- 2
Fry in two batches
Crowding the pan drops the oil temperature and steams the coating. Keep the oil around 350°F and fry in 2 or 3 batches for a crisp crust.
- 3
Sauce at the end
Toss the fried chicken with the honey-soy sauce in the last 1 to 2 minutes, right before serving, so the coating stays crunchy.
- 4
Toast the sesame seeds
Dry-toast the seeds in a skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking often, until they smell nutty and turn golden.
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