Easy Sesame Chicken

I didn’t know sesame chicken was so easy to make. Did you know sesame chicken was so easy to make? Well, now we both know, and have no excuse not to make Easy Sesame Chicken on the regular.

I mean, seriously, this is plate lickin’ good stuff here and you can probably make this homemade Sesame Chicken in about the same amount of time that it takes for the take out guy to get to your door. Serve this up with something veggi-licious on the side, like steamed broccoli or Crunchy Asian Salad, for a well rounded meal and you will have dinner owned.

I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs here because that was the best buy at the store this week, but you could certainly use chicken breast if you’d like. I got four portions out of this Sesame Chicken recipe, but be aware that these are no take-out sized portions (because those huge, ammiright?). The portions are exactly as pictured here. One cup of cooked rice and 1/4th of the cooked sesame chicken. It’s not huge, but it will fill you up and if you’ve got a side too, you’re good to go.

Goes great with: Crunchy Asian Salad, Thai Cucumber Salad, Easy Egg Drop Soup, Savory Coconut Rice

Easy Sesame Chicken

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Easy Sesame Chicken

You never knew sesame chicken was so easy to make! In about 30 minutes, you've got a dish tastier than take out.

Total Cost $5.15 recipe / $1.29 serving

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 large egg $0.17
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch $0.08
• 1 pinch each salt and pepper $0.05
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs $2.14
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, for frying $0.04

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce $0.20
• 1 Tbsp water $0.00
• 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil $0.85
• 1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
• 1 1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar $0.17
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated $0.11
• 1 clove garlic, minced $0.08
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds $0.29
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch $0.04

For Serving

• 4 cups cooked jasmine rice $0.69
• 2 whole green onions $0.22

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs, then cut them into small 1 inch pieces. Toss the chicken in the egg and cornstarch mixture.
2. Heat a large skillet with 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot (it should look wavy on the surface), add the chicken and all of the egg mixture. Cook the chicken, stirring only occasionally, until it is golden brown and cooked through (about 7-10 minutes). Drain off the excess oil, if desired.
3. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, brown sugar, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, minced garlic, cornstarch, and sesame seeds. (You can grate the ginger with a small-holed cheese grater).
4. Once the chicken is cooked through and golden brown, pour the sauce over top. Toss the chicken to coat in the sauce. The sauce will begin to thicken as soon as it hits the hot skillet. Once the chicken is coated and the sauce thickened, turn off the heat.
5. Serve the chicken over a bed of rice and sprinkle the sliced green onions over top.

See This Sesame Chicken Recipe in Action:

Step by Step Photos for Easy Sesame Chicken Recipe

To make the faux breading, whisk together the egg, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and pepper. It may seem thick at first, but keep whisking and it will thin out a bit.

This batter will coat the chicken and kind of give it a fried texture, even though we’re only “shallow frying” instead of “deep frying.”

I used half of this pack and froze the rest. you could use chicken breasts if you’d like.

Trim off any large pieces of fat (don’t kill yourself trying to get every last bit, just the big pieces) and then cut it into small one inch or so pieces. Remember, the smaller the pieces, the more surface area there will be to get coated in sauce. Yummm.

Toss the chicken in the batter.

Add 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Wait until the oil gets very hot and then add the chicken. You can test to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping a little bit (just one drop) of the batter into the oil. It should puff up and sizzle a lot. 

Cook the chicken until the outside is golden brown. Don’t stir too often, or it won’t have a chance to brown and the “breading” may come off. Just stir every few minutes or so. At this point I drained off the extra oil (I used a lid to hold back the chicken while I poured it into a bowl).

While the chicken is cooking, you can prepare the sauce. Stir together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, brown sugar, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, and cornstarch.

Pour the sauce into the hot skillet and toss the chicken to coat in the sauce. As soon as the sauce hits the hot skillet, it will begin to thicken into this nice, glossy sauce. Once it’s all coated and thick, turn the heat off.

Oh. My. Serve this Sesame Chicken with sliced green onions sprinkled on top and over a bed of warm jasmine rice.