The end of the school year is nearing and it’s about to get crazy in many households. For this crazy season you need meals that won’t take a lot of time to make. Try this super simple Sesame Chicken recipe that is a quick and easy weeknight skillet meal that you will love.
Sesame chicken comes together fast and tastes as good as your favorite Asian take-out restaurant. This skillet meal uses chopped chicken and a simple sauce that is served over rice. This is the perfect recipe for those busy school nights or when you are being a taxi service for your kids.
Sesame Chicken
Sesame chicken is a very popular dish that is served in most Asian restaurants. It traditionally uses small pieces of tender chicken and has a sweet, tangy taste that is accompanied with toasted sesame seeds. This homemade version of a classic dish is so tasty and incredibly easy to throw together.
This recipe uses only a few ingredients and can be done in 25 minutes. Clean up is a piece of cake as well because this all comes together in a skillet. Once you make sesame chicken, it will be one of your family’s favorites.
What cut of chicken should I use for sesame chicken?
You can either use chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Chicken thighs give the dish a little more flavor in my opinion but either will turn out terrific.
Is sesame chicken spicy?
This recipe for sesame chicken has a sweeter more tangy taste than spicy. It's actually not spicy at all so if you'd like to add a little heat try adding a tablespoon or 2 or Sriracha hot sauce to the sauce.
What should I serve with sesame chicken?
The most popular way to serve sesame chicken is over rice. It would also be good served over zucchini noodles. I like to add a steamed vegetable as a side too. Steamed broccoli with sesame chicken is a really yummy combination.
Can I make the sauce ahead of time?
Yes! Making the sauce ahead of time would make this meal go even quicker-if that’s possible! I suggest only making the sauce only 2-3 days in advance of the day you plan on serving it.
More easy chicken dinner recipes:
- Chicken Parmesan
- Tuscan Chicken
- General Tso's Chicken Recipe
- Orange Chicken with Stir-Fry Veggies
- Quick and Easy Stir Fry
If you’ve tried this easy homemade sesame chicken recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories AND add your photo to your comment so that other can see your creation.
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Easy Sesame Chicken
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
Description
This quick and easy sesame chicken recipe is chicken pieces cooked in cornstarch and a simple sauce made out of ketchup, honey, and a few other simple ingredients over the chicken. My whole family loves this meal.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons oil (such as avocado or canola)
- ½ cup honey
- 4 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3-4 cups cooked white rice, for serving
- 1 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces and place in a large bowl
- Sprinkle the salt over the chicken and then add the cornstarch to the bowl.
- Use a spoon to stir the chicken into the cornstarch and stir until the chicken is completely coated.
- Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
- Add the oil to the skillet and let it heat a few minutes.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and adjust it so that it's in an even layer.
- Let the chicken cook well on one side before turning the pieces over or by lightly stirring it. It's ok to let it brown up though before stirring, so don't mess with it too much.
- While the chicken is cooking add the honey, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and garlic powder to a small bowl, stir with a fork to combine well.
- When the chicken if fully cooked and browned on all side, pout the sauce into the pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium and allow the mixture to cook and bubble for 1 full minute, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat.
- Serve the chicken over the white rice and garnish with the sesame seeds and the green onion. Serve right away.
Notes
- We totally love this recipe! You can serve it over brown rice if you prefer.
- You can use a soy sauce substitute if you'd like to make this gluten free, no issue there (though you might need to add a little more salt, to taste, to accommodate).
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Category: main dish
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: sesame chicken, how to make sesame chicken, sesame chicken recipe, easy sesame chicken, gluten free sesame chicken recipe
Sesame chicken will rival your favorite Asian restaurant but this homemade version will be less expensive and without a delivery fee. I know you will enjoy this quick and easy weeknight meal that is full of flavor.
Heather
This sounds delicious! Can it be baked instead of cooking in oil?
Melissa
You can try it!
Madison
Delicious!! Made a couple times and it has turned out well every time!
★★★★★
Dondi
Great tasty recipe! But what I see missing are VEGETABLES! Yes, scallions are vegtables, great for flavor. We need to find ways to fit more vegetables into our day and when our dinner excludes them, we're missing the big boat on the chance to get them in. I find this missing piece with many of my cook books. I'd green it up by putting bok choy, broccoli or asparagus in this dish.
★★★
Melissa
Yep, I always serve it with veggies too, I just figured that folks could cook up what they liked or had on hand to go with it!