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Honey Sesame Chicken is sweet, savory, and perfect for any night of the week. This is so good, it is even better than take out!
Serve this restaurant worthy meal on a bed of rice and with sides such as Wontons, Egg Rolls or Fried Rice for the complete take out from home.
Homemade Honey Sesame Chicken
There are recipes that I make that I hope that everyone tries. This is one of those recipes. It all began with my sweet and sour chicken that changed my life. It is actually possible to make the same quality Chinese food as P.F. Chang’s at home. Then came a spicy version of this delicious chicken, my firecracker chicken. I had died and gone to Chinese food heaven with these recipes. I didn’t think that it could get any better than this. Since I love Chinese food so much my life was complete. But then I created honey sesame chicken. Let me tell you this. This is the best of them all!
It first starts with the breading. The cornstarch and egg combo makes it taste straight from a restaurant. Then there is something about baking this chicken that makes the sauce thicken, the chicken brown and absolutely blow your mind. Seriously I could hardly believe how amazing this was while I was eating it. The sauce has a sweet honey flavor to it and is absolute honey sesame perfection. If you love Chinese and make one thing from my blog, make this!
Sesame Chicken Ingredients
These simple ingredients are probably sitting in your pantry right now. I love that this comes together so easily. You are going to love the luscious sauce.
- Chicken Breasts: About 4 chicken breasts
- Cornstarch: Needed for the breading
- Eggs: The binder
- Salt and Pepper: To taste
- Canola: Just enough to fry in
Honey Sesame Sauce
- Honey: The queen of the sauce
- Soy Sauce: Adds a bit of salty and flavor to the sweet
- Ketchup: Adds a good balance to the sweet
- Brown Sugar: Helps bring out the sweetness of the honey
- Rice Wine Vinegar: The zing to the sweet, you’ll want the tang to balance it
- Sesame Oil: Adds perfect sesame flavor
- Garlic: A necessity in asian food
- Cornstarch: This is the thickener for the sauce
How to Make Easy Honey Sesame Chicken
This could not be any easier. Remember you are just flash frying the chicken, it will finish cooking in the oven.
- Cut: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper
- Bowls: In one bowl place the cornstarch. In the other bowl place the eggs and beat them slightly. Dip the chicken into the cornstarch first, then into the egg mixture.
- Flash Fry: In a skillet heat the oil over medium high heat. Cook the chicken till just golden brown on all sides. Place in a greased 9×13 pan.
- Mix: In a medium bowl mix all of the sauce ingredients till thoroughly combined. Pour over the chicken.
- Bake: Bake the chicken for 45 min stirring every 15 min to evenly coat the chicken.
Trust Me on these Pro Tips!
This is the same method as my Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken so it shares my same tips.
- Method to the Madness: Make sure you first coat your chicken in the cornstarch and then the egg. This method makes the perfect breading for the chicken. You can also use a large gallon ziplock bag to coat the chicken in the cornstarch.
- Fast: Do not cook the chicken all the way through before baking. You just want to get the chicken lightly brown on the outside, and then it bakes to perfection.
- Low and Slow: Baking the chicken at a low temperature will not over cook the chicken. This helps to cook the chicken all the way through and thicken up the sauce.
Tips for the Best Honey Sesame Chicken
Besides taking time to cook in the oven this baked honey chicken comes together really quickly. Cut your chicken when it is still partially frozen to make it easier to cut. But wait to bread and cook them till thawed.
- Chicken: You can use chicken thighs if you like. Just make sure your pieces of chicken are cut evenly so they cook at the same rate.
- Vinegar: If you don’t have rice wine vinegar you can easily substitute apple cider vinegar without ruining the taste.
- Vegetables: You can add in broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini or other vegetables to round out the meal a bit more.
- Serve: This is definitely delicious on its own but we love to serve it over rice. You can also try quinoa, brown rice or ramen noodles.
- Side Dishes: Serve this luscious dish alongside Air Fryer Egg Rolls, Grilled Pineapple, and Vegetable Stir Fry.
- Sauce: If you want more sauce, make a double batch of the sauce. Pour half over the chicken to bake and heat the other half in a small saucepan over medium heat till thickened. Pour the extra sauce over the chicken once done, or over individual portions. This will help it not get soggy while it cooks, but gives you extra sauce.
Storing Leftovers
Leftovers are some of the best. The sauce really melds into the chicken. The breaded chicken will lose a bit of its crispy tender outside, but the taste is still amazing.
- Fridge: Place leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- Freezer: This can be frozen too. Just place in a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: Sweet and Sour Chicken is best reheated on the stove. Reheating it in the microwave can make the chicken rubbery and overcooked. Place leftovers in pan on the stove top and heat on medium heat, stirring often, till heated through.
More Asian Inspiration for Dinner
Asian food is a staple around here at our house. We love to make our favorites at home, instead of getting take out. It always tastes ten times better and when making it at home you can customize it to your tastes. Cooking these take out favorites is actually easier than you think too. I have plenty of tried and true favorites here on the blog, but these favorites are a good place to start.
- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
- Skillet Sesame Chicken and Broccoli
- Sesame Orange Chicken
- Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken
- Slow Cooker Honey Teriyaki Chicken
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Baked Honey Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 3 large eggs
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup canola oil
Sauce:
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoons cornstarch
- additional sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- In separate bowls, place cornstarch and slightly beaten eggs. Dip chicken into cornstarch then coat in egg mixture then back into the cornstarch. I have also found that you can put the chicken pieces in a gallon size bag and shake to coat.
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned. Place the chicken in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and 1 T cornstarch. Pour over chicken and bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- I stirred the chicken every 15 minutes so that it coated them in the sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you skip the frying of the chicken and just bake from raw. Trying to save time.
Hi Audrey, thank you for your question. Yes but the chicken won’t have that fried exterior (obviously) and you might need to bake them longer to make sure they are cooked all the way through. Let me know how it turns out!
Time-consuming prep? Yes. Messy prep? Yes. Delicious? Yes! I substituted soy sauce with amino acids. I used all my cornstarch on prep, so used tapioca flour for the sauce. The baggie method worked well for the first coating in cornstarch but was very messy for the second coating after the egg dip. After reading entries saying it was too sweet, I downsized the honey to 1/2 cup (1/4 cup regular honey; 1/4 cup hot honey) and the brown sugar down to 1/4 cup. I probably should have also cut back a bit on the vinegar, but it was still delicious. I cleaned the prep dishes while the chicken baked in the oven. The sauce thickened just as expected. I served it over rice with a side of zucchini. Despite the prep time and mess, this chicken dish has great flavor and is worth making.
Corrections: I used coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. Also, I forgot to mention I mixed in a small can of chunk pineapple before baking. Yum!
Is it possible to do this recipe up to the point of baking, then wait and bake at a later time in the day? (like a few hours later). I have 4 kids always in sports so I try to get a lot of dinner prep work done during the day so all I have to do in the evening is finish the recipe off and serve.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for the question, I totally relate to busy nights. This recipe is tricky to have things ready ahead of time. I worry that the fried chicken will get soggy sitting, and won’t bake up crispy. You could try it for sure, just be warned the chicken might get soggy. I have a bunch of 30 minute meals that are great for those busy nights. We got this mama!
Does this freeze well once cooked?
Thanks,
Joyce
Yes! Just store it in an airtight container and it will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to reheat it, I recommend doing it on the stove (and not the microwave) so that you can get a nice crisp on the chicken.
This was a bit time consuming to prep but the flavors were good – wish my sauce had thickened up more before baking – the chicken was swimming in the sauce. Next time I think I’d thicken the sauce on the stovetop before adding to the chicken and baking. Taste was very good!
I was so bored with the same regular meal everyday and then came across the dish last week. The recipe was so simple and yet so juicy that I am left speechless. The sweet honey chicken with sesame is super rich in flavors.
My wife and I loved it. I felt that it needed a little pop, so, I added some cayenne pepper to my cornstarch. Some sriracha sauce in the sauce mixture would have also provided some desired heat.
Tried this recipe for the first time. Love it 😋😋😋 Will definitely try it again😊
Was really excited to try this. Honestly it is waaaaay too sweet. My family didn’t like it. I thought it is okay, but during second serving comes the point where you realize… too sweet and too much honey.
This recipe is EXCELLENT! It is easy to make and tastes so good. I want to make it my primary food. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
I love your recipes! And you have a ton that are GF! Keep it up!!!!!
Made this recipe… my husband said… sure he’ll try it (he prides himself as a Asian foodie)! He looked at me and said if I didn’t see you make this I would think you got the best take out! LOL. Thanks for a great recipe!
My family loves this recipe. When I don’t have a lot of time I have made it with frozen breaded chicken breast bites. JUST BARE is my go to brand. So yummy!
I have cooked almost every night for the past 45 years (except my birthday and Mother’s Day). I have to say not only is this too rich but time consuming and messy! I’m worn out! I love your sweet and sour chicken but don’t think I’ll try this again.
If you use the bag-shaking method, do you still double-dip the chicken into the egg mixture?
Yes!
Double dip with the bag method was not good. Digging the bite size pieces out was very difficult and pieces tended to stick together.