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This is the best Sesame Chicken recipe with crispy chicken in sweet and savory sesame chicken sauce. It tastes just like Chinese restaurants and takes only 20 mins to make. Serve the chicken with steamed rice for an authentic homemade Chinese meal.
Sesame Chicken Recipe
What is Sesame Chicken?
It’s one of the most popular Chinese recipes 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 crispy chicken and sauce pairs perfectly with a bowl of steamed rice.
This is the BEST recipe you will find online! It’s easy, authentic and tastes the same, if not better than Chinese restaurants!
Sesame Chicken Sauce
The sweet and savory sesame sauce is the star of the dish. It calls for the following ingredients:
- Soy sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Sugar
- Cornstarch
- Water
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make Sesame Chicken
It’s very easy to make the dish at home. First, prep the chicken, frying batter and the sauce.
Next, coat the chicken with the batter and deep fry. The final step is to make the sauce and coat the chicken with it.
This homemade recipe is very easy and fail-proof and takes less than 20 minutes to make.
Cooking Tips
For the best results that is the same as the best Chinese restaurants, please follow my cooking tips below:
- For the crispiest chicken, follow my batter recipe and coat the chicken evenly. The frying batter produces crispy, light and airy chicken. Shake off the excess batter before deep frying the chicken.
- Use chicken breast meat for the best flavor.
- Do not drown the chicken with too much sesame sauce. Too much sauce will make the chicken soggy and not crispy.
Frequently Asked Questions
General Tso’s Chicken is a completely different dish with a spicy and dark sauce. Sesame sauce is sweet and savory in taste but not spicy. Both dishes are equally delicious!
For the best results, you should deep-fry the chicken. However, you can use an air fryer to air fry the chicken.
This recipe is only 306 calories per serving.
What 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.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
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Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 oz. (230g) boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
- oil, for deep-frying
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- white sesame seeds, for garnishing
Frying Batter:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg white
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 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 corn starch
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce until well combined. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How can I make this with tofu? Press, batter and fry?
Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.
My family and I absolutely love this Sesame Chicken recipe. They devour it every time :)
Hi Illiana, thanks for your wonderful comment and 5 stars rating. I am so glad you enjoyed my recipe. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipes/
I’ve made this recipe countless times. It was one of my husband’s favorites.
I actually find that I can double the amount of chicken and still have enough batter and sauce when I use the rest of the proportions as listed in your recipe.
I also shallow fry the chicken with oil in my wok and find I can use way less oil that way and then just make the sauce using the oil that’s left after I remove the chicken.
This really is the best recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
Hi Karen, thank you for your kind comment. I’m very glad that you found a way to make the recipe your own.
LOVE this recipe. I have made it many times. Lately, I have found the chicken to get soft/no longer crispy after being fried- any suggestions to keep it super crisp before putting into the sauce? Thanks
Hi Caryn. You can do two things – put the fried chicken pieces in the oven to keep hot and crisp. Or you could try the double-frying method. After the first fry at 350F until the chicken is lightly golden, remove all the chicken from the oil and crank the heat up to 375F. Put all the chicken into the oil again and let it fry again for only 20-30 seconds and immediately remove from the oil. This should give you an even crispier coating.