Quick & Easy Sesame Chicken

This sesame chicken is crispy popcorn chicken pieces tossed in a sweet and savory sauce. 
One of my favorite things to get is Chinese take out. The first time I ever tried Sesame Chicken was at a Chinese buffet, I was instantly hooked. All that crispy battered chicken basted in a sweet and savory sauce so yummy. 

While browsing through one of my favorite blogs, I came across this simplified version of my favorite recipe. It looked really good and easy to makes. I love trying to recreating some of my favorite dishes at home, especially when they turn out really good in the end. 

I pan fried my the popcorn chicken until crispy, but since publishing this post the chicken can also be baked in an air fryer. If  your kiddos do not like the sauce just remove some before adding the sauce. I also was unable to find sesame seeds, but the recipe was still delicious. 

Next time I may add a splash of sesame oil for flavor. All in all I thought this was a pretty good recreation of a great take out dish. I will definitely make this dish again. Let's get started on the recipe. 

Deep fry or bake the chicken until crispy. If deep frying drain chicken on a plate lined with a paper towel.

In a wok or large sauce pan, combine the remaining ingredients and warm over medium heat.
Bring the mixture to a light boil (while stirring) until sauce slightly thickens.

Add the chicken and stir to cover the chicken with the sauce.

Serve over cooked rice and garnish with diced green onions and sesame seeds. 



Recipe source: Real Mom Kitchen

23 comments

Shawna said…
OH MY GOSH....I love the idea to use popcorn chicken, Tina! This looks fabulous!
Debbie said…
Chinese food is my absolute favorite thing to go out for. Now I can just make it at home? I'll have to give it a try. It looks great.
Meg said…
I love Chinese food and this looks just perfect!
Krystal said…
I would go out for chinese everyday if I could. After I had my little girl, I requested someone bring me chinese food at the hospital. I can't wait to try these!
Donna-FFW said…
Oh this sounds terrific. I so enjoy Chinese food that can be made at home and this sounds easy peasy.
Tina Butler said…
Well it sounds like we are all chinese food lovers. Krystal I to had a friend ask me what I wanted after I had my oldest son and I said chinese to LOL I couldnt wait to eat it. I could eat asian everyday. I need to try out some more copy cat versions at home, so I will be on a hunt for some more recipes. If anyone has any please lmk.
Michelle said…
These look delicious. It's one of my favorite Chinese dishes!
Sherri Murphy said…
Well, how easy is that? And it looks just like the restaurant version! Yum!
Heidi said…
What a great idea using the popcorn chicken in the chinese dish. That would work with a lot of chinese dishes! What a great time saver. You can also feed it to the kids who turn their noses up at the chinese food sauce. What a perfect idea. You are one smart cookie Tina :)
Tiffany said…
That looks so good. I love ordering it in a restaurant. i wonder if you could fix the chicken some other way than deep frying it? What about baking? Would it be crispy enough?
Julie said…
What a great idea! Looks so delicious.
Oh my goodness...so tasty and EASY! I doubled the recipe and used a chicken fried rice pkt...wow...felt like I was eating @ the mall! I made it for a family movie night--YUM!! Thanks for sharing!!!!
Lynn said…
This looks so good. I am going to have to try it. Thanks for sharing.
Laura said…
Tina, yours turned out great, great pic. So glad you enjoyed it. It's one of my favorites.
The Manintvelds said…
That .. looks .. awesome!
Heidi said…
This sounds easy enough... I think I can do it! I've not had much experience with cooking chinese-ish food. I think I'll leave the sesame seeds out and try the oil in it. Thanks for sharing Tina :)
Melissa said…
I never would have thought to deep fry the chicken. I made something similar to this, but it wasn't the same as that in a Chinese restaurant. Thanks again!
Unknown said…
Wholly Toledo this look AMAZING !!! I MUST make this soon : ) Thanks Tina ~
Heide Mc.™ said…
Can't wait to try this. My mouth is watering.
Anonymous said…
I hate to say this; I tried making this and it tastes pretty bad. It tastes like really sweet ketchup. On the bright side it was pretty easy, so I didn't waste much time. However, I do not recommend it.
Tina Butler said…
You could try reducing the ketchup by half and see if that works.
Unknown said…
First of all I think the chicken should be thawed before frying, otherwise its too crispy by the time the insides are done. Second the sauce is too sweet, due to the costs of the ingredients, I am not likely to try this again. For now all I can think to do is rinse off the chicken and hope it takes away some of the sweetness.
I was disappointed but no babies died because I didn't have perfect sesame chicken.
Unknown said…
How do you make the sweet and sour sauce?
Dor H.