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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.
I made this tonight and my husband loved it. He said it is closer to his idea of Chinese food than P.F. Changs!
My only question is that it tasted a little strong for me (I have taste buds similar to a child…), I think it might have been the vinegar. Could I cut down on the vinegar like to 1/4 cup? If so, is there something that I could make up for the missing 1/4 cup liquid? I don’t want it to be too thick, it was the perfect consistency. Thank you! 🙂
Hi there can I make any of the baked chicken recipes ahead and refrigerate?
Thanks!
I think you could and just reheat them in the oven. I have never tried so let me know! 🙂
How would you suggest turning this into a make-ahead recipe? I love it but can’t do it the hour before company arrives.
Thank you,
Aviva
Delicious!!
I bought white wine vinegar by mistake maybe I should try again as it smells really strong. I couldn’t find rice vinegar
I made a “cheater” version of the sauce to pour over some cubed chicken thighs for lunch today. Just mixed smaller amounts of the sauce ingredients in with the chicken while cooking it on the stove. Absolutely yummy! I shall have to try the whole recipe for dinner sometime. Delicious with medium grain rice!
So good! I am in no superstar in the kitchen, but I pulled this off (along with your fried rice recipe). My husband said this is the best meal I have made since we got married over 4 years ago! Thank you for sharing!!
Is this correct? 3/4 of a CUP of soy sauce? It seems like a lot!
Yes. It is making a 9×13 inch pan so it ends up working great!
I tried your recipe for the Baked Honey Sesame Chicken and was in awe of the flavor. I had friends over and they loved it as well. Thanks for sharing this recipe online Alyssa!
Minced garlic… Fresh? In the jar with liquid? Or dried with the spices? Thanks!!!
You can use fresh or minced in the jar with liquid. 🙂
Hi,
Great idea for somewhere next week! But a question for (international) users; can we replace canalo oil or rice wine vinegar (really hard to get over here)?
How much grams, cc’s is a cup? (With experience i can say that cups are really different al around the world :).
Greetings from rainy Holland
I wonder if we can substitute some of the sugar for honey? Sometimes it messes with the chemistry of ingredients…anyone try it?
This recipe is delicious, and easy! It turns out great every time I make it.
This recipe looks soo good. Do you think I could skip the cooking the chicken before baking and just bake it?
Thanks!
Did anyone ever answer your question? I would like to not do the frying either, trying to eat healthy with no fried foods. Let me know if you try it what happens.thanks
You don’t have to fry the outside but that is what gives it the authentic breading on the outside. You can still cook the chicken and add the sauce. Let me know how it turns out.
1 t sesame oil
1 t minced garlic
1 T cornstarch
Can you specify 1 T? Teaspoon or tablespoon?
Thanks.
Tablespoon.
Lowercase t is always teaspoon, and uppercase T is always Tablespoon
i tried making this today. the cornstarch makes the chicken pretty hard on the outside when i am cooking it in the pan. cornstarch and eggmixture are pretty messy. lol. any clean way tips?
It shouldn’t be making the chicken hard on the outside…. It should just give it a soft breading on the outside like a restaurant. :). I have found to use rubber gloves helps. But it is totally worth the mess. 🙂
I’m just guessing maybe you put the cornstarch and the eggs together in one bowl?
You dip the chicken in cornstarch first and then the egg. 🙂