Baked Honey Sesame Chicken

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.