Sesame Chicken Recipe
What is Chinese Sesame Chicken?
It’s a popular chicken recipe found in Chinese restaurants and takeouts in the United States.
Everyone loves this deep-fried and crispy chicken coated with a sweet and savory sesame sauce.
Garnished with white sesame seeds, the chicken and sauce pairs perfectly with a bowl of steamed rice.
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Ingredients for Sesame Sauce
The sauce is the star of the dish and it calls for the following ingredients:
- Soy sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Sugar
- Cornstarch
- Water
Easy Homemade Recipe
In this recipe, I will share the secrets of Chinese restaurants. The end result will taste exactly the same, if not better than your favorite Chinese takeout.
This is the BEST recipe you will find online. It’s easy, 100% homemade, healthy and fail proof.
Is it the same as General Tso’s Chicken?
General Tso’s Chicken is a completely different dish with a spicy and dark sauce.
Sesame sauce is sweet and savory in taste and not spicy. Both dishes are absolutely delicious!
Can I use Air Fryer for this Recipe?
For the best results, you should deep-fry the chicken. However, you can use an air fryer to air fry the chicken.
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:
How to Cook Sesame Chicken?
Please refer to the recipe card and video for detailed step-by-step method on how to make Sesame Chicken.
Sesame Chicken Recipe
Sesame Chicken - easy, healthy and homemade Chinese Sesame Chicken recipe with sesame sauce. This is the BEST recipe you'll find online and tastes just like takeout restaurants.
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
- 1
Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce until well combined. Set aside.
- 2
Mix 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.
- 3
Heat 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.
- 4
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.
- 5
As 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.
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Sid Dunn
Wonderful recipe. The batter was wonderfully light and crisp. Next time I do it I might add a bit more cornstarch to the batter to make it just a bit crispier.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Sid, sounds like a good idea. :)
Sid Dunn
The other thing that I did was to marinade the chicken pieces (dark meat from thighs and legs) with a splash of soy sauce and Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing) and very lightly dusted the meat with 5 spice powder. Those steps really added a wonderful flavor to the meat.
Rasa Malaysia
Sounds yummy thanks for trying my Sesame Chicken recipe.
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.
Theresa Picoriello
when you fry foods and then lay them on a paper towel lined plate etc. to drain off excess oil. the heat on the bottom of fried item has no where to escape to, (cause the paper towels blocks and absorbs the heat creating a steam) hence the breading gets soggy. try placing a cooling rack inside a rimmed sheet pan,(no paper towels) then place fried foods on it directly from the hot oil to drain into the sheet pan. That way the heat can escape some what. and should prevent soggy breading.
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.