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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.
Other Recipes You Might Like
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 cornstarch
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce until well combined. Set aside.
- Mix all the ingredients for the Frying Batter in a bowl until well combined. Stir a few times to ensure there are no lumps and the batter is smooth. Add the chicken to the batter and stir to coat it evenly.
- Heat 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) of oil in a wok or stockpot to 350°F (175°C) for deep-frying. Gently drop the chicken into the hot oil and immediately loosen them with a spatula to prevent the pieces from clumping together.
- Deep-fry the chicken until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the oil using a strainer or slotted spoon, allowing the excess oil to drain by placing the chicken on a dish lined with paper towels. Discard the oil.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then pour in the sauce.
- As soon as the sauce thickens, add the fried chicken to the wok or skillet. Stir continuously until the chicken is evenly coated with the sauce. Dish out, garnish with white sesame, and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
No sesame oil? I find that it gives it so much more flavor
Yes you can add sesame oil!
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!
Hi Nicole, thanks so much for your sweet comment, the batter recipe is amazing, I love it. :)
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.
Yes good idea!
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.
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!
Thank you so much for the recipe ! It’s one of the BEST chicken !
hey, can i replace soy sauce with Worcestershire sauce? want to make it tonight.
No. Soy sauce will give the salty taste but Worcestershire won’t.
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!
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/
This recipe turned out great!
Awesome.
I made it and it was so delicious
So happy to know that you loved my sesame chicken recipe.
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!
Yes different soy sauce has different sodium level, if it’s too strong, add a little water or sugar. :)