Crispy Sesame Chicken
Chinese Sesame Chicken is the golden child of takeout restaurants as patrons and diners just can’t get enough of it paired with a bowl of steamed rice.
Everyone loves this recipe; it is deep-fried and crispy chicken coated with a sweet, savory sauce, and speckled with lots of sesame seeds.
Is it the same as Honey Chicken?
The only difference between this chicken and Honey Chicken is in the sauce. This sauce calls for soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, and water.
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The Best Recipe
Lucky for us, I have decoded the secrets to making restaurant-style Sesame Chicken, with taste that rivals, if not better than, your favorite Chinese takeout.
My readers give this recipe two thumbs way up. The best thing about this recipe is that it’s fail-proof, so easy and anyone can make it at home.
How Many Calories Per Serving?
This recipe is only 304 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with this Recipe?
This meal is best served with steamed rice or noodles. For a wholesome Chinese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
Pairs well with:
Check out the cooking video above on how to make this recipe.
Sesame Chicken Recipe
Sesame Chicken - Crispy chicken with a sweet, savory sauce with lots of sesame seeds. The best and easiest recipe that is better than Chinese takeout.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 8 oz boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into strips (250 g)
- oil, for deep-frying
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- white sesame seeds, for garnishing
Fying Batter:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (65 g)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg white
- 1/3 cup cold water (80 ml)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pinch salt
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/3 cup water (80 ml)
Directions
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1Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce until well combined. Set aside.
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2Mix all the ingredients in Frying Batter in a bowl until well combined, stir a few times to make sure there are no lumps and the batter is smooth. Add the chicken into the batter, stir to evenly coat with the batter.
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3Heat 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) of the oil in a wok or a stockpot to 350°F (175°C) for deep-frying. Gently drop the chicken into the oil and loosen them up immediately with a spatula to prevent the chicken from clumping together. Deep-fry the chicken to golden brown. Remove the chicken from the oil with a strainer or slotted spoon, draining the excess oil by laying the chicken on a dish lined with paper towels. Discard the oil.
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4Heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic before adding the Sauce.
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5As soon as the Sauce thickens, add the fried chicken into the wok or skillet. Stir continuously until all the ingredients are well coated with the sauce. Dish out, garnish with the white sesame, and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Recipe Notes
My batter is very thick because it will make the chicken extra crispy, even after adding the sauce. If it's too thick to work with, add 1-2 tablespoons water to loosen it up.
Jennifer B.
I made this recipe the other night and it was really good. The chicken had little flavor but the sauce was perfect and I wish I had doubled it. I added broccoli to it and it was yummy. I am making it again tonight. This time I doubled the sauce and I am using some of it to marinate the chicken for an hour before I fry it just to give the chicken itself more flavor. I think it would have been fine if I cut the pieces smaller, but I like them a bit bigger and with that they need a bit more flavor. The batter for frying was perfect. Nice and crunchy. I just know it will be glorious and I am super excited for dinner. Thank you for the recipe.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Jennifer, thanks for trying my recipe.
Regina
Lovely recipe! I made this last night. The chicken came out crunchy, however, after draining the excess oil on a paper towel, the chicken was soggy. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Nevertheless, it came out delicious with the sauce and my family loved it.
Nadine
OMG Bee, absolutely superb. This was seriously amazing. I have pretty much stopped using my old methods of cooking and live on your recipes. Living in China, my daughter and I, we love Chinese way more than western food now and I am so happy to be cooking amazing meals everyday. thank you a million times!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Nadine, thanks so much for trying my Sesame Chicken recipe. I am so glad that you love my recipes. They are all delicious, please try more: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Samantha Flattery
Delicious beyond words!! Much better than a takeaway
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Samantha, thanks so much for trying my sesame chicken. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Janet
My first encounter with sesame chicken was in a Hunan restaurant in the late 1980s, and it was significantly different than today’s versions. It was less sweet and had some heat. There was also toasted sesame oil in the sauce. Your recipe is pretty good and easily adapted to our desire for a little more spice and a little more sesame. I toasted the sesame seeds to bring out their flavor–this can be a nuisance, but I always do enough to have plenty on hand, probably 1/2 c at a time, and they will keep several months, I added 3 dried chilis added to the pan with the garlic, cut the sugar in half, added about 1/2 tsp sesame oil to the sauce at the end. OMG–how good! Thanks for this wonderful “backbone” recipe.
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks for your comment Janet.
Lea
Do you have the recipe to feed a family of 6
Rasa Malaysia
You can just double or triple.
Dr. Zakir Ali Rajnish
I tried this last night and all we can say is wooow it was absolutely lovely and delicious. Thank you so much.
Dr. Zakir Ali Rajnish
This is the best sesame chicken recipe. Thank you so much.
Jennifer
This recipe is amazing. However, the sauce itself is too sweet for my preference. I tried to cut down half of the sugar from 4tbsp to 2tbsp. I also added more soy sauce, and it was perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
UPUOnline
I love to eat this..especially when come to chew those tiny sesame seeds..hehe..omo, i am craving for this..
Rasa Malaysia
That’s awesome! My sesame chicken recipe is very good. :)
Mahjabeen
I tried this last night and all we can say is wooow it was absolutely lovely and delicious. Thank you so much sharing for recipe.
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks for trying my Sesame chicken recipe.
mae
I love this recipe but I needed to add at least sesame oil to really make it into sesame chicken not just sesame seeds as garnish. Without the sesame oil you its just soy sauce chicken with a sesame seed garnish
DeEtta
Do you put oil in the batter?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, please check the recipe part.
Nedra
This is delicious!
Rasa Malaysia
That’s awesome thanks so much!
Katlyn
Y’all. This is amazing. I did tweak it some. I used boneless chicken thighs, left out the oil in the sauce and added about half a teaspoon of sesame oil and about a half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper. It was delicious but next time I may use half the sugar. This is the best sesame chicken I’ve ever put in my mouth
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Katlyn, aww, thanks for trying my sesame chicken recipe, yes, it’s very good!
Chanel
I’m short on time or I would make this from scratch, but I made popcorn chicken last night and I have so much left over, would it taste horrible to use that as my base and coat it in your sauce?
Rasa Malaysia
I think you can try. This sesame chicken sauce is good.
Rose
Do you have a fried rice recipe?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, you can find my recipe by searching for the name of the recipe on the top right corner of my website. https://rasamalaysia.com/fried-rice-recipe/
Rose
Oh my goodness. This is the best sesame chicken recipe!!! Thank you. Made it for my 5uear old grandson and he loves it.
Yvonne Loong Brandt
Can someone tell me how many tablespoon of ketchup?
I can’t see it as I’ve punch a hole at that part of the printed recipe. When I tried to go to the Get Recipe link, it doesn’t work.
Rasa Malaysia
There is no ketchup:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup (80 ml) tablespoons water
Sylvia Ruiz
I made this a few weeks ago and to my surprise my family loved it, even my picky little ones!! I’m making it again tonight & hope it comes out as great as the first time.Thanks so much for sharing :)
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Sylvia, thanks for trying my Sesame chicken recipe. I am so glad that you little ones loved it. :)
Alycia Anderson
Wow!!!!!
We are surprised and stuffed. This was a HUGE hit in my house tonight. Even my Philippine neighbor loved it. It was perfect. I highly reccomend a meat thermometer to verify chicken is done ( @170°) but we cooked until golden brown and it was pretty close to the correct temp.
HINT: We really were worried the sause was not going to thicken. However just when it started to boil it almost immediately started to thicken.
Also we used boneless skinless chicken breast and it was so moist….lol. I hate that word but its a true descriptive word for this.
It took us almost 2 hours start to Finnish because we had to 5x the ingredients. Math= extra time but in the end totally worth it. We paired with the copycat for panda express chow mien. Yummy too just read all the comments and make sure you get the correct noodles( not the dry hard usually noodles you think)
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Alycia, so happy that you love my Sesame Chicken recipe. Yes, as long as you follow my recipes, you will get amazing and delicious results. :)
Rena Nasworthy
Wow This is the very first time I have ever left a comment on a recipe . I made this tonight followed recipe exactly including the tip to add more water if needed . It’s was so better then going to the Chinese restraunt.
Hats of to the chef …Thank you for sharing !
Jelena
Bee, please help me! I made one of your Asian chicken dishes a month ago, and it was AMAZING. Now I can’t find the recipe anywhere! I thought it was the honey sesame, sesame, or thai sweet chili chicken, but none of these recipes call for separation of the batter ingredients like the one I used did. The recipe’s methods called for separating cornstarch, egg, and flour in 3 separate bowls, and then dipping the chicken into them separately. Do you have any idea which one this could be?! I’m grateful in advance!
Rasa Malaysia
Well, are you sure it’s Asian chicken recipe? You can check out https://rasamalaysia.com/tag/chicken/
Samantha T
Hello, um I was reading this and it looks good. Can’t wait to make it. But when you said heat up the stir-fry with the garlic in a wok or skillet. I am like where in the world did that come from? Because its not in the ingredients. Do you mean like stir-fry sauce or vegetables? Because I don’t see any vegetables in the photos. I just want to make sure! Thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
Samantha, you must not have read the recipe properly. It stated clearly that you will need 1 clove of garlic, minced. And the instructions said it clearly that “Heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic before adding the Sauce.”
robin sandler
My son challenged me to make sesame chicken as well as his favorite Chinese spot. I think mine (yours) was better!! I had the same issue with organic flour, but added more water and it was perfect! wondering if honey might be better than sugar. what are your thoughts? I used peanut oil, is that what you use? thanks for a great recipe!!
Vicki
Love cooking and trying new recipes
Allison
After mixing chicken in sauce, and turning the heat off, the sauce turned sort of gelatinous…. what did i do wrong?
Rasa Malaysia
The sauce thickens. Yes, did you use corn starch?
Tresa
I had been on a search for a simple and delicious Sesame Chicken recipe. None of them came close until THIS recipe. My mouth and belly went straight to happy land! I think it is better than any sesame chicken I have ate at Chinese restaurants. How good is this recipe? I’ve made it four times over the last two weeks. There is usually no leftovers, but the one time there were leftovers it heated up wonderfully the next day. Simple, easy to follow instructions. And that sauce–YUMMY! Thanks for a great recipe
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Tresa, thanks for loving my sesame chicken recipe. You won’t find better recipes on the internet. All my recipes are super easy and perfect balance of flavors: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Selz
Made this for lunch today and it was a hit! Simple to follow and delicious! The kids loved it and my husband said its his new fav dish! Thank you all the way from New Zealand!
Denise M.
The best recipe, sooo delicious, thank you! Made 2lbs of it this evening, we loved it, and always make enough for leftovers. I use peanut oil for frying, and added red chili oil and a little sesame oil to the perfect sauce you designed.
I only had organic whole wheat flour on hand, and it worked fine, adding a bit extra water to thin. The battered chicken puffed up beautifully, and so crispy. I want to try it for shrimp and vegetables next. As well as many other
of your recipes- keeping the wok ready. It truly was better than 3 of the restaurants we frequent for Asian food
(sesame chicken in particular). Very happy to have found your website, it’s wonderful.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Denise, thanks so much for trying this recipe. I am so happy that you found my site too. Please check out more recipes: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Mary Ann
This was really good but I did forget the garlic and realized at the end that I didn’t have sesame seeds after all. The way it came out was really just perfect for all the members of the household and they wished I had made more.
Dan
No sesame oil? I find that it gives it so much more flavor
Rasa Malaysia
Yes you can add sesame oil!
Nicole
Only make this recipe if you want to be disappointed when you go out to eat at you favorite restaurant. The flavor is amazing.I have used the batter alone for the vegetarian in the house and that alone is awesome. We now refuse Togo out eat and make this once or twice a week!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Nicole, thanks so much for your sweet comment, the batter recipe is amazing, I love it. :)
janet
This recipe is adaptable for lots of foods–instead of just fried batter for the vegetarians in your family, you could use zucchini or sweet potato slices, just like tempura. Fish or shrimp, too. i don’t see why tofu wouldn’t work just as well.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes good idea!
k
Just made this recipe for dinner. OMG. It was so tasty. I really thought it was better than any Chinese restaurant that I have ever been to. My Boyfriend would like me to make this again tomorrow! The sauce was on point and the directions were easy to follow. Thank you for the video as well.
Paired this dish with blanched broccoli florets and cabbage pancakes.
Alexandra
Made this for dinner tonight. OMG it was sooooo good!! I didn’t make any changes to the recipe and it was just perfect. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes :) Thanks for sharing!
Anna
Thank you so much for the recipe ! It’s one of the BEST chicken !
priscah
hey, can i replace soy sauce with Worcestershire sauce? want to make it tonight.
Rasa Malaysia
No. Soy sauce will give the salty taste but Worcestershire won’t.
Amanda
This was so good! Not a drop of anything was left. We practically licked the pan clean. Next time I’m going to use orange juice instead of water in the sauce mix for an orange chicken variation. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! The coating on the chicken is just perfect!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Amanda, awesome. So glad that you liked my sesame chicken. Orange chicken recipe is slightly different. You can check it out here: https://rasamalaysia.com/orange-chicken-recipe/
abedabun dawn
This recipe turned out great!
Rasa Malaysia
Awesome.
Chota Bheem
I made it and it was so delicious
Rasa Malaysia
So happy to know that you loved my sesame chicken recipe.
Diana C
I made this tonight and it was fabulous! We could really taste the soy sauce, but maybe ours is a little too strong. This time around I used Kikomans. What do you suggest to fix that? More sugar? Another brand of soy sauce?
Either way, my husband loved it and said he would eat it again. I could see trying the chicken with different sauces too…lemon, orange…the posibilities are endless Win!
Rasa Malaysia
Yes different soy sauce has different sodium level, if it’s too strong, add a little water or sugar. :)
Katherine Gonzalez
Just discovered your recipes. I am going to pick up a few of the ingredients I need tomorrow.. I am MSG allergic so if I can make my own delicious Orange Chicken or Broccoli with Beef I will be in heaven.
Tonya Krinn
Hello,
Would I be able to substitute honey for the and if so would measure be the same?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes you can. Just taste it, I am not sure how sweet your honey is.
Tonya Krinn
Thank you! It turned out great! I added some cayenne pepper for a little kick and some sesame oil to the sauce and batter ;) This is the first Asian dish I have made with success at home ? My husband said it’s better than our favorite takeout!
abedabun dawn
Fantastic recipe!! Thank you!
Jodie
Hi, looking forward to making this. I noticed you must have left out a word for the sesame. You wrote “1 Sesame, white”. For us non-asian people, it may be helpful to write “white sesame seeds”. But anyway, how much sesame seed? 1 tsp? 1 Tbsp?
Rasa Malaysia
I wrote white sesame, for garnishing. So it doesn’t really matter. Up to you.
Kobe
Wasn’t sure what to cook tonight for dinner..And as always I turn the Pinterest for new ideas, not just cooking, everything is the Pinterest. Anyway found this recipe, and even though I didn’t have sesame seeds I decided this looked good. And boy was it..Used apple cider vinegar, as I wasn’t prepared for Asian cooking. A1 recipe..Even the 21 yr old twins that never like anything that doesn’t come through a drive through window loved it. Definitely another go-to from Pinterest for me..Thank you….
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks Kobe, so happy that your family loved my sesame chicken recipe. :)
Dominique
Love this recipe! The first time I made it, my chicken was nice and crispy. The last couple of times it came out, the batter was soggy. What do you think may be causing this? I thought I may be adding the chicken into the sauce too soon and it’s not thick enough? Thoughts?
Rasa Malaysia
Your chicken is probably wet. Pat dry the chicken and they should work.
Dominique
Pat dry the chicken before it goes in the batter or after I fry it before it goes in the sauce?
Rasa Malaysia
Did I say anything about pat dry the chicken in the recipe?
Shannon
My batter had a dough-like consistency as well. Should the water volume be 2/3 cup? I measured my flour and cornstarch by volume – not weight (though I used scant 1/2 cup of sifted flour and scant 1/4 c. sifted cornstarch). That may have been the problem. The sauce wasn’t very good. It tastes like watered down soy sauce, and if you look at the ingredients, that’s all it is. The flavor of this dish comes from the browning technique used on the chicken. I have LOVED every recipe I have made from this website, but this one was a miss.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Shannon, I think somewhere along your cooking, there must be a misstep or wrong measurement. This recipe was tested twice and the batter recipe always works for me and should NEVER be doughy. The egg white and water and when you add chicken into the batter, they dilute the batter. If anything the batter would become runny and not doughy. The sauce is soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar. It’s not watered down soy sauce. The recipe came out exactly like the photos, and the recipe had been tested twice. Many people have tried with great success and I personally love this Sesame Chicken recipe. It’s very tasty.
Leora
Hi, can I bake the chicken instead of deep frying I? I.e. With decent amount of oil
Rasa Malaysia
You can try but they won’t taste as good.
Leora
Fair enough. Is there a way to make them in advance for the same day?
Rasa Malaysia
If you make them in advance, they won’t be crispy.
Julia Goodacre
Made this tonight and we LOVE it! Definitely better than take out! Can’t wait to make it again! I wonder if it would also work with shrimp instead of chicken??
Rasa Malaysia
Of course, sesame shrimp sounds like a great idea! :)
Kerry
Thankyou for such a delicious recipe. The whole family absolutely loved it and I wish I made more as we woofed it all down and there was not a leftover in sight.
I made this with Gok Wan’s special fried on the side. Tastes exactly like a takeout but even nicer.
Samantha
My husband said this is the best chicken I’ve made in a while <3 and I make some good chicken dishes! He doesn't like any spicy so this was perfect. Even the tots loved it! I've been looking for the perfect Sesame chicken recipe, this is it, thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Samantha, thanks for trying my sesame chicken recipe. I am so glad that your family enjoyed it. Do try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Martha
Rasa! Best ever sesame chicken is right! Your recipes never fail me girl! A hit with entire family. Thank you for sharing.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Martha, thanks so much, I am so happy to hear that you love my sesame chicken recipe.
Mike Shea
Just tried this recipe yesterday – so much better than most of the takeout places around here!
I wanted a little more flavor to my sauce, so I added some rice wine and sesame oil. Very savory.
I’d like to experiment some more with the flavor – can you suggest any other ingredients to try? Maybe something to make it a little more tangy?
Thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
Add some orange juice to the sesame chicken sauce! :)
Merlinius
Why did you use regular sugar instead of brown sugar?
Rasa Malaysia
We use regular sugar to cook in Asian food. We never use brown sugar.
Sid Kelly
What ingredient do Chinese restaurants use to add a spicy kick to this? My home town place added something to spice it up but it wasn’t overwhelming and I can’t figure it out. They wouldn’t tell me when I asked, telling me if they told me people could make it for themselves and they would be out of business. I disagreed and said, no, it just allows me to know how they do it. Do you have any ideas what it could be. By the way, it was NOT sriracha. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Rasa Malaysia
Well, it depends on what dishes you are talking about. It could be anything, red spicy oil, dried red chilies. No Sriracha, it’s not a Chinese ingredient.
evil5teve
Dried Red Chillies is what our favorite restaurant uses.
Lia
O added dried chilies and green onoion… This was outstanding!
Jonathan
For the sauce – how much water is there supposed to be? 1/3 Cup? Or 1/3 Tablespoon? It seems like you copied and pasted and something got mixed up…
Rasa Malaysia
1/3 cup. It was a typo.
Shan
My Frying Batter is more like a dough than a batter. Is this right?!
Rasa Malaysia
No it shouldn’t be, it should be liquidy.
Rasa Malaysia
Add a little bit water.
permohonan upu
i love to eat this..especially when come to chew those tiny sesame seeds..hehe..omo, i am craving for this..
JN
HI would this be suitable if I replace fish for the chicken?
Kay
Try cauliflower it holds better
Tom ~ Raise Your Garden
Nutrish and delish. Can’t wait to make these. Even have the sesame seeds ready to go. Great inspiration. And we have the Superbowl coming ya know. As a gym teacher, I’d better watch!