This 30-minute 🍗🍯🧄 Baked Honey Sesame Chicken gives better-than-takeout vibes, minus the grease! Bite-sized pieces of chicken are baked not fried, and tossed in the best honey, garlic, and soy sauce mixture which coats every piece to juicy PERFECTION! A high protein dish that’s picky eater approved and great for busy weeknights!
Easy Baked Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe
- I love a great better-than-takeout recipe that I can make in less than 30 minutes with common fridge and pantry ingredients and this Asian-inspired chicken recipe is just that!
- The chicken is tossed in cornstarch which gives it a texture that resembles a very light breading, without the bread. And then it’s baked rather than fried, to keep it healthier.
- The simple sauce is where all the flavor comes from! A combination of honey, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes (for heat, to taste) give sweetness-savory-salty-sticky-spicy all in one easy sauce.
- This baked chicken recipe is picky eater approved and great for busy weeknights when you’re trying to get your protein in, please everyone in the family, and not break the bank on take-out. Check, check, and check.
Sesame Chicken Ingredients with Sticky Honey Sauce
- Chicken – I prefer boneless skinless chicken breasts but boneless skinless chicken thighs also work. Keep it diced in uniform, bite-sized pieces, about 1-inch each.
- Cornstarch – This helps the chicken develop a lightly “breaded” texture, without actually breading it. Cornstarch is a great trick to help achieve this texture and it’s also gluten-free.
- Sauce – Made with honey, reduced sodium soy sauce (or use liquid aminos to keep gluten-free), cloves garlic, brown sugar, ketchup, rice vinegar (sometimes called rice wine vinegar), sesame oil, ground ginger or freshly grated ginger if you have it, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste for heat.
- Garnishes – Green onions and sesame seeds can be added to taste.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Baked Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken
- Coat: Mix together chicken, cornstarch, salt, pepper, toss to coat.
- Bake: On a large baking sheet, add and bake the chicken at 400F for about 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and done. It’ll cook quickly so watch it. 165F internal temperature is what you’re looking for.
- Sauce: While the chicken bakes, combine all the sauce ingredients together in a large skillet or pan (no wok needed!) on the stove top and heat over medium high heat to combine. Stir until smooth and thickened slightly.
- Transfer and Toss: Transfer the baked chicken into the skillet with the sauce, toss to combine and coat, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Garnish: Add green onions, sesame seeds, and serve!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
what to serve with Asian Sesame Honey Chicken
Baked Honey Sesame Chicken
🍗🍯🧄 Just 30-minutes for chicken that's better-than-takeout, minus the grease! Bite-sized pieces of chicken are baked (not fried), and tossed in the best honey, garlic, and soy sauce mixture which coats every piece to juicy PERFECTION! Picky eater approved and great for busy weeknights! Always season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to your own taste preferences.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite-sized pieces, about 1-inch (boneless skinless chicken thighs may be substituted)
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup soy sauce, (I use reduced sodium or lite soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sesame oil, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger, or about 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste (add more for more heat, less for less heat)
- 1 or 2 green onions, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds, for garnishing as desired
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnishing as desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. To a large bowl, add the chicken, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 /2 teaspoon pepper, and toss well to combine with clean hands.
- To a large baking sheet, add the chicken (discard any residual cornstarch from the bowl), evenly drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes, flipping once midway through if desired for more even cooking.
- Cooking Tip – The smaller the chicken pieces, the quicker it will cook. These pieces are pretty small at 1-inch and it's quite a hot oven, so keep an eye on the chicken because you don't want to overcook it and dry it out, which is easy to do. Take the temperature, it's done at 165F.
- While the chicken bakes, to a large skillet, add the 1 reserved tablespoon of cornstarch, honey, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, rice vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, red pepper flakes, and heat over medium to medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to dissolve the brown sugar. The sauce will thicken slightly from the cornstarch as you keep stirring. Flavoring Tip – Taste the sauce and make any necessary flavor adjustments, i.e. more soy sauce, more ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes for heat, rice vinegar for tanginess, sesame oil if you love the flavor like I do, etc.
- Transfer the baked chicken into the skillet with the sauce, toss to combine and coat evenly, and cook for about 1-2 minutes over medium-low or low heat.
- Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds, to taste, and serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: Extra chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or as desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 457cal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 39g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 109mg, Sodium: 2228mg, Potassium: 776mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 34g, Vitamin A: 203IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 57mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More quick & Easy Asian Chicken Recipes
Very easy recipe. I like spice and heat but a full teaspoon of pepper on the chicken and another half in the sauce overpowered the dish.
Thanks for trying the recipe. Salt and pepper is very personal, which is why I always write “to taste” after listing them because what’s too much for one person isn’t enough for another so I try to encourage people to season to their own tastes.
Could I marinate this chicken in the sauce for 24 hours?
I personally wouldn’t. This recipe isn’t really a marination recipe. It’s a quick cook chicken with a sauce added so marinating really isn’t the method of this recipe and I think that marinating more than 8-12 hours, unless it’s a really tough cut of meat, it can actually make chicken turn out mushy.