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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.

Honey baked chicken in a bed of rice.

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.

  1. Cut: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Mix: In a medium bowl mix all of the sauce ingredients till thoroughly combined. Pour over the chicken.
  5. Bake: Bake the chicken for 45 min stirring every 15 min to evenly coat the chicken.
Cut up chicken, breading it and dipping it in egg mixture.

Trust Me on these Pro Tips!

This is the same method as my Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken so it shares my same tips.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
Flash frying chicken in a pan then pour sauce over it in a 9x13 pan.

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.
Baked honey sesame chicken in a white dish.

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.

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Baked Honey Sesame Chicken

4.60 from 30 votes
By: Alyssa Rivers
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!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients 

Sauce:

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

Updated on April 2, 2021
Originally Posted on September 16, 2013

Nutrition

Calories: 622kcalCarbohydrates: 81gProtein: 38gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 178mgSodium: 2017mgPotassium: 759mgFiber: 1gSugar: 58gVitamin A: 267IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

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About Alyssa Rivers

Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more.

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Recipe Rating




296 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    The first time I made this my husband said it was too much vinegar. We didn’t change a thing and have made it many times since then. It is a family favorite now and he always puts dibs on leftovers when I make it. I usually halve the recipe for just the two of us. I put cornstarch in a container with a lid to shake or a ziplock bag and it makes a cleaner work area but we personally love this recipe! we love good food at home from scratch and this is a keeper!

  2. 5 stars
    My family really liked this. Iโ€™ve made it a couple of times. Itโ€™s labor intensive and I had cornstarch everywhere, but the end result was worth it!

  3. 1 star
    Was so excited to try this recipe but ended up pretty disappointed. The sauce was way to sweet and didnโ€™t even taste like sesame chicken. Tossed the recipe as no one in my family wanted it again. Even tossed the leftovers.

  4. Absolutely beautiful. I used my Air fryer Oven instead of a conventional oven Same temp. Same time. Thanks for the recipe

  5. 5 stars
    Just tried this recipe a couple of days ago. It was wonderful!
    The coating on the chicken was very good and I absolutely love the sauce!
    (I will make extra sauce next time.)
    In my opinion, itโ€™s perfect! Yes it is restaurant quality! Definitely a keeper!
    Thank you so much for this recipe!

  6. 5 stars
    This was delicious. I had no issues with preparation time – easy! I added a pinch of chilli flakes and pretty much double dipped my chicken during prep. Would make this again!

  7. 5 stars
    I cut recipe in half as I’m a single diner.
    Results..wow!! Restaurant-worthy. Would serve this to company and sure to get accolades. Caveat: a bit on the sweet side, but still awesomely yum!

  8. Took a little bit of time, but weโ€™ll worth the effort! so yummy! (I used champagne vinegar) Better than some local takeout weโ€™ve had lately!!

  9. 3 stars
    It was yummy but definitely not a week night dinner. This took a long time to prep and then trying to coat the chicken and fry it was a 2 person job. Keepinโ€™ it real.

  10. 3 stars
    Tastes great, could have used less of the red wine vinegar. Also, it is time consuming. The prep time is more like 45 mins to an hour. Fry time is about 15-20 mins. And then another 45 mins for baking ! A long process.

  11. 5 stars
    Great dinner recipe or anytime of the day!
    My family loved this! Sooooooooooo yummy and easy to make! Thanks!

  12. 5 stars
    Holy cow. Made this for my in-laws without trying it first. It was a HUGE hit.

    Takes a bit of labor prepping and coating chicken but itโ€™s absolutely worth it. Wow!

  13. Baking bite size chicken for 45 min after its already been browned seems like a long time. Is that really correct?

    1. I cooked mine all the way through and only left it in there about 20ish mins just to soak up the flavor but yea, 45 mins for the chicken thatโ€™s already done is too long.