Baked Honey Sesame Chicken
Skip the take-out and try this easy homemade version instead – it’s unbelievably crisp-tender and packed with so much flavor!
Forgive me if I have been making too many chicken thigh recipes lately. It’s clearly become an obsession of mine, and this Asian twist has quickly become my favorite one of all.
The chicken turns out to be wonderfully crisp and tender, packed with a sweet-savory goodness to it all – the absolute perfect flavor combination.
And it goes beautifully over a bowl of rice, especially when you mix in that leftover sauce. But you should be warned that with this sauce, you’ll just skip over the chicken and make a meal out of the rice!
Baked Honey Sesame Chicken
Skip the take-out and try this easy homemade version instead - it's unbelievably crisp-tender and packed with so much flavor!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
For the sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- To make the sauce, whisk together honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, ginger, Sriracha, sesame oil, cornstarch and pepper in a small bowl; set aside.
- Melt butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Stir in honey mixture.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until caramelized and slightly charred.
- Serve immediately, garnished with sesame seeds and green onions, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made this last night along with the Pork Potstickers and both were amazing! The sauce in the chicken dish tasted restaurant quality! Another great recipe! I’ve been making suppers exclusively from your site for about 2 weeks now and I haven’t been disappointed yet! Thank you!!
This is one of the best recipes ever! The chicken thighs are fantastic! Been sharing with everyone!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Soooooo good! Thank you for all the amazing recipes.
Is there a vegetable option that would work well in place of the chicken?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This was amazing. So delicious. Better than our favorite Asian restaurant. I served this on top of a bed of your pineapple fried rice, minus the ham.
Your recipes always taste great. And they turn out just like your photos. I have gained all sorts of cooking confidence. My major foodie boyfriend was impressed. Again.
I’ve made this recipe many times! My family loves it!!!! Never do we have leftovers and that’s even doubling the recipe!! Friends have had it as well when they’ve been over for dinner…and…they too loved it and took your recipe home with them. They enjoy it as well with there family’.
I believe I have commented before on this great recipe, however..I felt the need to comment again to thank you for sharing this yummy, yummy recipe with all of us!!
God Bless ♥️
Hi, I am curious as to why you sear your chicken before you bake it?
I prefer to sear for a few reasons: color, flavor, and “sauce foundation”.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.thekitchn.com/does-searing-meat-really-seal-in-the-juices-food-science-218211. Hope that helps!
This sounds amazing!! Can’t wait to make it tonight! I do have a question though. My little guy is allergic to sesame. I know I can omit the seeds but the sesame oil. If I don’t use it will it change the flavor greatly? Thanks!
Not at all!
I found a crock pot recipe for honey sesame chicken, and did not prepare it for the crockpot before I left for work. I stumbled upon this recipe when searching for an alternative to crockpot cooking. I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS RECIPE!! It was Delicious!! It was a hit and my whole family loved it! The only complaint was they wanted more sauce for the rice I served with it. I doubled the sauce recipe because I had double the chicken as well. It turned out beautifully. I did alter it a bit, just by coating my chicken thighs in egg whites and then cornstarch. I then browned them on both sides in a thin layer of vegetable oil before placing in a dish for the oven. It just adds that crispy coating to the chicken. But the SAUCE is what makes this recipe!! It is a MUST try if you are browsing for a new recipe!
I’ve made this dish as is more times then I can remember and like everyone has already said, it is Damn Delicious! How do you think leg quarters would work in this dish? I don’t see how a little more dark meat could hurt ☺
Not at all!
Used ur sauce ingredients and baked then broiled. Was great!
This recipe is damn delicious! We usually double and tripe this recipe for food prepping and they taste great even after nuking them at work. Im making thwm again tonight and gonna try agave necter for a twist.
Hi is it possible for me to make this in a pan instead of baking in the oven? Thank for the help
Yes, absolutely.
Would this recipe freeze well? We rarely have time to cook on weeknights, so a few frozen meals are always handy. Your recipe is beautiful, I’ve made it twice now and both times turned out perfectly, thank you!
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Thanks for replying – will try it out and see!
Thank you! I made this tonight and this is a “keeper” recipe for my family now. We left out the Siracha because of the kids, but my husband and I added a few dashes to our plates. We also used boneless, skinless thighs. I also doubled the sauce because we LOVE saucy chicken, sauce on our rice, sauce on our broccoli, etc… but I probably didn’t really need to do that. There’s probably plenty in the original recipe.
I made this using boneless thighs which was what I had. It was simply amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t think I’ll ever have to do take-out as long as I have this recipe. Thanks a million!
Didn’t work for me sadly 🙁 the sauce split and just turned to goop 🙁 I must of gone wrong somewhere among the lines
O my gosh I made this and it was delicious.
Hi looks amazing! What can I do if I don’t have a broiler?
You can try turning the oven up as high as it can go.
I made this reciepe last week, my husband and children asked could I make it once a week!!!! It really is damn delicious! Thanks for sharing!!! Murrays from Philadelphia