Sesame chicken is a fairly common dish found in most Chinese restaurant menus, and it’s likely you’ve ordered it at some point. More likely is that you’ve had it at a Chinese buffet. Every Chinese buffet restaurant has this dish on their steam table, to the point that it’s become as expected as having an order of fries at McDonalds.
Orange Chicken is also a common chicken dish and I you like it you really have to try our Orange Chicken version cooked with proper aromatic spices – simply delicious.
I have to admit that my parents did not have sesame chicken on their takeout restaurant menu, which of course could mean that they missed the boat when they were menu planning, or maybe that sesame chicken became popular just in the last 20 years, as Chinese buffets came into vogue. I remember when we first moved to New Jersey from upstate New York to open the restaurant, there were no such Chinese buffets anywhere.
Iremember this because a dear family friend we called Uncle Freddy drove all the way down to New Jersey to sample one of the first Chinese buffet restaurants in the area. It was a big deal – all you can eat, over twenty dishes to choose from, free soda, and dessert was included with the meal! Now that was progressive.
During the evolution of the Chinese buffet, some smart guy decided that sesame chicken was going to be one of those twenty core buffet dishes; but what is Sesame chicken really? You’re probably thinking, isn’t it like that General Tso’s chicken? No, not really, because the General likes broccoli with his fried chicken, and he likes it spicier, more tangy, and with a darker sauce.
Sesame chicken is generally sweeter than General Tso’s chicken, although it still has a taste of vinegar to balance the sweetness of the dish. It also has lots more sesame seeds in it, because well…it is sesame chicken right?
So I present to you our version of sesame chicken, which at Sarah and Kaitlin’s urging, uses the oven fried method for a healthy touch to the dish. Can we call it skinny sesame chicken? Seems like a bit of an overstatement, but we’ll let you decide!
Baked Sesame Chicken: Recipe Instructions
Mix the chicken with the cornstarch, sesame paste, salt, and Shaoxing wine and set aside for 20 minutes. Then mix the flour, sesame seeds, and white pepper in a separate bowl. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
Use your hands to mix the chicken and marinade until there is no standing liquid. Dredge the chicken pieces in the dry mixture, and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
Bake at 475 degrees for 8 minutes on the top rack. Flip the chicken pieces and broil on low for 3 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven.
Heat your wok to medium heat and add oil and garlic.
Stir for 5 seconds, and then add the Shaoxing wine. After another 5 seconds, immediately add the chicken stock, rice wine vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil until everything’s at a simmer.
Gradually add the cornstarch slurry to the sauce while stirring constantly. Let simmer for 20 seconds. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Add the chicken and scallions, and toss until coated with sauce.
Garnish your sesame chicken with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
Sesame Chicken (Baked, Not Fried!)
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 pound boneless chicken thighs (450g, cut into chunks)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon sesame paste
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour (32g)
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
For the sauce:
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 3/4 cup chicken stock (180 ml)
- 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
- 1 scallion (sliced into 1/2 inch pieces)
Instructions
- Mix the chicken with the cornstarch, sesame paste, salt, and Shaoxing wine and set aside for 20 minutes. Then mix the flour, sesame seeds, and white pepper in a separate bowl. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
- Use your hands to mix the chicken and marinade until there is no standing liquid. Dredge the chicken pieces in the dry mixture, and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or nonstick foil. Bake at 475 degrees for 8 minutes on the top rack. Flip the chicken pieces and broil on low for 3 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven.
- Heat your wok to medium heat and add oil and garlic. Stir for 5 seconds, and then add the Shaoxing wine. After another 5 seconds, immediately add the chicken stock, rice wine vinegar, sugar, soy sauces, and sesame oil until everything’s at a simmer.
- Gradually add the cornstarch slurry to the sauce while stirring constantly. Let simmer for 20 seconds. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Add the chicken and scallions and toss until coated with sauce. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
nutrition facts
Loving your website I would love to really learn to cook like you do….totally delicious recipe but how do you get yours looking so much more crispy or browned mine looks too pale.
Hi AmandaJ, make sure you preheat your oven. Oven temperatures do vary so you could also try cooking at a higher temperature. Spraying the chicken with a little bit of vegetable oil will also help.
It was so good! Thank you so much for the recipe <3
You’re welcome Emily – Enjoy!
I had decent results with a no sugar added sunflower butter as a substitute for the sesame paste.
I scooped some solids from the bottom of the jar, and reconstituted it with sesame oil to get the right consistency.
Hi Josh, thanks for sharing your tips!
Really excellent recipe! Paired it with the pea shoot stirfry recipe on this site and it was a match made in heaven! Thank you!
Hi Sydney, sesame chicken and pea shoots sound delicious together!
Thank you very very much!! Ingredient list is so helpful and the recipes are really fun! I made this today and it was wonderful. And I hope to make it many many more times and try many of your other delicious recipes!
Hi Holly, you’re very welcome and glad to hear you’ll try more of our other recipes!
I found the instructions of the first and second steps really confusing as the ingredients aren’t seprated out in that manner for the ingredients list
Hi Sarai, the first step directs you to prepare the chicken to marinate for 20 minutes and prepare the flour for dredging. Step two then says to mix the marinated chicken again to recombine everything and then dredge the chicken with the flour mixture.
Can I use Tapioca starch instead of cornstarch? Thanks. (This looks great! Going to make soon)
Hi Terri, tapioca starch will work if you don’t have cornstarch but it may not be as crispy!
Yummy! ! I used tahini because I already had some but kept everything else the same. I think there’s slightly too much cornstarch in this, mine turned out a little ‘gloopier’ than your picture. But great flavour! As always, thank you for sharing your beautiful recipes and all your knowledge.
Hi Viva, always adjust the amount of cornstarch you use in our recipes. Drizzle half of it in while stirring, and check the consistency before adding more. You don’t have to use it all ;-) For more details and tips, see our article on How to use Cornstarch in Chinese cooking.
Really happy to see you mention adjusting the amount of cornstarch. Your recipes are great and I never alter them because they don’t need it, the cornstarch slurry does need to be used as needed though. Great to hear you give that advice.
You’re welcome Pj. Thanks for highlighting this point again of using just enough based on how you like the thickness of the sauce and that definitely goes for all recipes using cornstarch slurry :)
I followed the link in your Mongolian Chicken recipe as I was intrigued by the idea of baking instead of frying. Do you think I could use an Air Fryer instead of the regular oven? The Mongolian Chicken was absolutely gorgeous by the way!! I will rate 5 stars there! :)
Hi Dani, I don’t use the air fryer much, but I know they are amazing, so I would bet you could cook the chicken in the air fryer with success.
I have made this recipe so many times, it’s SUCH a hit in my house. I cook the chicken for a lot longer than in the recipe, because it was still not cooked when I followed it the first time. I eyeball it, and cook it until it’s browned and crisp.
This recipe has become a regular, and I often get asked to make it again! Delicious 👌🏻
Hi Amy, oven temperatures and how they preheat and heat vary greatly, so good to hear you are prudently judging when the chicken is done and crispy ;-)