Sesame Chicken
Skip the take-out and try this easy dish right at home – it’s not only cheaper but it tastes so much better!
Before I get into this sesame chicken goodness, can we first talk about last night’s episode of Grey’s? I’ve been following this show for years and although the show has plummeted in the more recent years, I’ve never missed an episode (yeah, I’m that much of a loyal Grey’s fan). But last night’s episode was quite amazing. I don’t think I’ve cried like that since the finale of season 6 when the shooter came in and killed off like half the cast. I mean the minute Avery flipped over that legal pad with the new name of the hospital – wow – tears just started streaming down my face. I think I started blubbering at some point.
I’m still a bit shaken up about it so if today’s post doesn’t make too much sense, it’s because tv world has totally taken over reality.
Okay so now I’m ready to talk food.
Remember when I posted about those broiled salmon gyros to bring awareness for heart disease? Well I’ve partnered up with Mazola in honor of National Nutrition Month to encourage people to take another look before cooking to ensure that you are being kind to your heart.
The first place to start is with your cooking oil, particularly corn oil. It actually has more cholesterol-blocking plant sterols than any other cooking oil and has four times as many as olive oil and 40% more than canola oil, making it a great addition to a heart-healthy meal like this sesame chicken.
See, I love ordering Chinese take-out from time to time but you’d be surprised to see how easy it is to make right at home. Plus, you get to control the fat content, salt content and now the oil content, deep frying these babies into heart-health sesame perfection.
Just be sure have Sriracha when serving, and I guarantee you that you’ll be wanting this dish every day of the week!
Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 ½ cups cornstarch
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 large egg whites, beaten
- Mazola corn oil, for frying
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
- Sliced green onions, for garnish
For the marinade
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili paste
Instructions
- To make the marinade, whisk together chicken stock, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1/2 cup water in a large bowl.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and 6 tablespoons of the marinade; marinate for at least 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and chili paste and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in 2 cups marinade until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes; keep warm.
- In a large bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, baking soda and remaining marinade until it resembles coarse meal.
- Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the egg whites, then dredge in the cornstarch mixture, pressing to coat.
- Heat corn oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven to 350 degrees F. Add chicken and fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve chicken immediately, tossed or drizzled with the marinade, garnished with sesame seeds and green onion.
Did you make this recipe?
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Is the corn starch amount really correct?!
This Sesame Chicken was the BEST I’ve ever eaten!!! I made the recipe exactly as written, and I’m in shock! I’ve made this twice in one week due to my family request only I had to quadruple the recipe! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Family Fave!! Ben making this for many years,and it is loved by you g and old alike. Better than take out for sure!
First tried this recipe in 2015, loved it, but being me had to. Try others. Found it the other day, decided to. Retry, the BEST!!!!! I have tried others, never again, reprinting it and only using it in future . Than k you
Can i make this with just flour-(I’m allergic to corn starch)?Â
I was hesitant to make this because the marinade in with the flour just sounded confusing for some reason. I finally tried it last night and the measurements given were perfect if you used exactly 1.5 pounds of chicken and cut into 1 inch chunks. The breading took some finishing with my hands, to break up the chunks of marinade that stuck together. No biggie and it was delicious as a final product. Thank you!
Basically remade this recipe. With no time to marinate and bean sprouts to use up I got creative. Turned the marinate into an amazing sesame sauce and added cooked chicken and bean sprouts. Put this on top of rice. I love that Damn Delicious recipes are so versatile. Dinner was amazing.
I am not experienced in the kitchen and I was able
To make this recipe! It was super delicious and my family loved it and ate the leftovers the next day! Love your recipes as. How easy they are. Great for working moms because not a lot of complicated ingredients.
Thank you!
Can the chicken be marinated overnight?
Yes.
Hey,I did everything wrong you could possibly do. The flour mixture was too watery so I basically dumped the chicken in more flour. Made the marinade wrong had to improvise cause I couldn’t make over as I was out of honey. Still came out better than take out!!!!!
The sesame oil is so strong I will leave it out next time. Leaves a strong aftertaste. My family may not eat this because of that taste. They love sesame chicken but the oil I bought is overpoweringÂ
Made this tonight. Came out good but my batter did not resemble course meal, more like a batter. When you say “add remaining marinade until it resembles coarse meal” could you be so kind to specify the approx amount that remaining marinade should be? That way I hope to get the right texture next time around. Either way, came out delicious. Thanks.
Eva, an approximate amount does not have to be met here – you’re basically looking for a lumpy texture, like brown sugar or even grits.
I had trouble with the batter . Adding the marinade with the sugar and honey in it made it brown up and burn before the chicken was cooked. Next time I’ll add water instead. But it was still delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi, i was wondering what can i use instead of rice wine vinegar? Can i use rice vinegar? I cant use any alcohol or wine. So please suggest me some alternate. Thanks
Here is a great resource on possible substitutions for rice wine vinegar – hope that helps!
This looks great! Since some of my family members cannot have fried food, I was wondering if you can bake instead? If so, what temp and how long?
Thanks!
Yes, they can certainly be baked, but without further recipe testing, I cannot advise temperature and time. Please use your best judgment.
Is cornstarch same as cornflour?
Chen, they are actually not the same. Corn flour is made from yellow, white or even blue corn and is typically used to make breads. Cornstarch is most commonly used as a thickener.
My mixture never resembled coarse meal. It ended up super goopy. What did I do wrong ?
Unfortunately, this is really difficult to answer as I was not in the kitchen with you. Did you follow the recipe exactly as written?
Hi, this looks incredible! But, do you deep fry the chicken or shallow fry? How much oil do you need? Thanks!
You can deep fry or shallow fry – I have tried it both ways and did not really have a preference, although you get to save on a little bit of oil with the latter route.
Fantastic recipe! I make the marinade and marinate the chicken a day or 2 ahead, then it’s not so time consuming when actually making. Delicious! Have made it many times. Fire cracker chicken is also great too!
this was great! family loved it. served it with jasmine rice and chow mein. my family of 4 gobbled every nugget of chicken up!
I made this last night with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and jasmine rice with homemade eggrolls and i can’t believe how yummy it was! My kids gobbled it all up. Thanks for the great recipe!
Is it just me, or did you change the recipe? Can I please have a link to the old recipe? Not that there is anything wrong with this one, but my daughter and husband really preferred the recipe that you use to have up. I can almost remember it all, since we made it so often. However, just to be sure I would like to see the recipe please. Thank you!
Meredith, I’m not entirely sure what you are referring to as I did not change the recipe. Maybe you have me confused with another site?
Just got done making this, and I am pretty happy with the results. Although it was a very time consuming dish, it was worth it. I used boneless skinless thighs, but other than that followed the recipe exactly. If I were to make again, I would decrease the amount of ginger by half and make it spicier. Next time my family is craving Chinese, I will try the Orange Chicken recipe. Thank you!
Do you think you could make this in the oven like the Sweet and Sour chicken?
Yes, you can certainly give that a try! I’ve been meaning to do that myself.
Great recipe. Been meaning to try this dish for a while and finally got to it today. At first I thought the breading needed some seasoning but then tried the marinade once it was heated and was glad I didn’t add anything.
Hi !! This may be a stupid question but … what’s chilli paste? What does it look like!?
You can find chili paste at your local grocery store in the ethnics food section. If you cannot locate it, I recommend asking a store clerk for assistance. You can also google “chili paste” to see what this looks like.
Do grocery stores such as Metro, no frills, sobeys or walmart carry the chilli paste?
Oh I see! Thank you 🙂
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Recipes look awesome! I mostly cooked vegetarian Chinese as that is how I was raised. Such as vegetable chow mein or vegetable egg foo young or sweet & sour chow yuk or chow
mein. Thank you for posting your recipes. I will try them right away.
On the chili paste, can you just use chili powder with water to make a paste, or is there something special I need to buy? The orange chicken was delish and I want to try this family favorite next!
You would need to purchase sambal oelek, an Asian-style chili paste.
Made this tonight and everyone just raved about it! As they were eating they would periodically just start nodding their head. I asked why and they said, “This is sooo good!”…LOL The only thing I can say that is somewhat of a negative is that I was in the kitchen FOREVER making this. The time will probably get shorter if I cook it again since the first time always takes longer. Thanks for a great recipe.
Will Huy Fong chili garlic sauce work in place of the chili paste? I have the thicker sauce in the plastic jar.
Is it ok to use chicken thighs instead of breasts?
Of course! I actually prefer thighs over breasts.
If I were to substitute thighs for the breasts how many do I buy? Will a ten piece package be enough?
Irina, I recommend using 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (about 6 thighs).
Cool ok. Tonight I’m making it with chicken breasts. I’ve also made your orange chicken and chow mein about a month ago both were delicious and devoured within minutes. So thank you for making it simple
Hi, We’re planning to make this tomorrow. Is it really one and half cups of cornstarch?
Yes, as stated in the recipe, it really is 1 1/2 cups cornstarch. You need enough cornstarch to coat the chicken, although you may have a tiny bit leftover.
Maybe I was using the wrong pan because my chicken stuck to the bottom. But I think that maybe I added too much of the marinade to it because it was more liquidy then coarse. But for my first time it was alright
Yes, Irina, the chicken should not be sticking to the pan. As noted in the instructions, the marinade should have been completely drained before adding to the hot oil.