Baked Sesame Chicken is a healthier alternative to the take-out dish. Made with a breadcrumb coating and tossed in sweet and spicy sauce.
Asian-inspired dishes are favorites around my house. So if you love this Baked Sesame Chicken recipe, you’ve also got to try Skinny Orange Chinese Shrimp, Skinny Moo Shu Pork, and Chicken and Green Bean Stir Fry. With these delicious Main Dishes you can enjoy all your Chinese Restaurant favorites, but made much healthier!
BAKED SESAME CHICKEN
Chinese food favorites such as sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and orange chicken are easy takeout dinner options when you’re having a busy weeknight, but if you’re trying to eat healthier they probably won’t fit into your diet. They’re usually fried or made with too much sugar. By making it at home and giving the chicken recipe a few easy swaps, you have more control of what goes into the dish, making it easier to lower the amount of fat and calories.
To make this healthy dinner, we’ve used lean chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. Baking instead of deep-frying also makes the chicken much lighter than any from a restaurant.
Now, you may already know my Skinny Sesame Chicken Recipe that was posted a while back. This Crispy Baked Sesame Chicken has all the same yummy flavor, but it’s made in the oven. You have a go-to sesame chicken recipe even when you don’t want to be standing over a skillet.
If this is your first time making Asian food at home, you’re probably going to need to run to the grocery store for a few items on the ingredient list. You’ll probably already have brown sugar, cornstarch, garlic, and breadcrumbs in your kitchen. Ingredients like sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame seeds might not be regular items you keep stocked in your pantry. Don’t worry though, one taste of this chicken dish and you’ll be hooked, using these ingredients for many other flavorful dishes in the future.
It’s sure to become a new family favorite. Once they’re done baking you can serve the pieces of chicken over brown rice or Cauliflower Rice for an easy meal!
MORE HEALTHY CHINESE FOODS
Baked Bang Bang Chicken
Baked Chinese Lemon Chicken
Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
Chinese Black Bean Chicken
TIPS FOR MAKING BAKED SESAME CHICKEN
- Prep time: Slice the boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Sauce: In a small saucepan add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, water, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper together and place them over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil cooking until you see the sauce thicken. This will take about 5-6 minutes. Once it’s done, remove the sauce from the medium heat and set it to the side during the rest of the cooking process.
- Coating: You’ll need three shallow bowls for this recipe. In the first bowl whisk together the eggs, salt, and pepper. In the second bowl, add the flour. In the last bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, onion powder, and garlic powder. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour, then the eggs, and lastly the panko mixture.
- Bake: Add the coated chicken to your baking dish. Spray the chicken with vegetable oil for 2 seconds. This will help them have a nice crispy texture, similar to if they had been fried. Then pop the baking dish in the oven for 22-25 minutes until chicken is baked through and golden brown.
- Serve: While the chicken is still hot, toss it with the sauce you prepared earlier. Garnish it with sesame seeds and serve over rice.
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VARIATIONS ON BAKED SESAME CHICKEN
- Vegetables: For some extra flavor, color, and texture in the recipe chop up some broccoli, red peppers, bok choy, carrots, and green onions. You can roast the veggies along with the chicken, or steam them separately and then toss it all together in the sauce.
- Spices: You can also experiment with the flavoring by adding your favorite spices. Some red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, ginger, cloves, cardamom, or coriander would all make big differences in the flavor without changing any other ingredients.
- Honey Sesame Chicken: If you want some sticky, sweet honey flavor in the sauce replace the brown sugar in the ingredients with honey.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BAKED SESAME CHICKEN
Carrot Rice
Skinny Chinese Green Beans
Cashew Kale Salad
Parmesan Roasted Vegetables
HOW TO STORE BAKED SESAME CHICKEN
- Serve: Once this chicken recipe has been taken out of the oven to serve, don’t leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Store: If you have any leftovers, you can put them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge and reheat later in the week. Make sure they’re sealed in an airtight container and they should last up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Freeze: You can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months. To make sure it’s still crispy when you serve it, let the dish thaw in the fridge and then reheat it for 10-15 minutes in a 250-degree oven.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 4 chicken breasts , boneless skinless
- 1 cup flour
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, water, sesame oil and crushed red pepper to a small saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat, cooking until thickened, about5-6 minutes.
- Whisk the eggs, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Cut the chicken breasts into 1” chunks.
- Place the flour into a shallow bowl.
- Mix the breadcrumbs, onion powder and garlic powder together in a shallow bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Coat the chicken with the flour, then dredge in the egg mixture, then into the panko mixture and add to a large baking sheet.
- Spray with vegetable oil spray for 2 seconds.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- While still hot, toss with the sauce and garnish with sesame seeds.
Nutrition
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