This honey sesame chicken is an incredibly flavorful and simple stir-fry dish that tastes just as delicious as your favorite Chinese takeout! It uses juicy chicken thigh pieces that are covered in a sweet and sticky stir-fry sauce. Served over white rice, this honey sesame chicken makes for a super quick and delicious dinner at home!
If you love Chinese-American takeout dishes and are looking for recipes to cook them at home, be sure to give this honey sesame chicken recipe a try! It uses a simple yet super flavorful stir-fry sauce that turns plain chicken thigh pieces into a sweet and savory Chinese-style stir-fry dish that tastes just as delicious as the restaurant version!
The great thing is that you can reuse the condiments needed for this recipe to cook a variety of Chinese-style stir-fries such as cashew chicken, kung pao chicken, or Mongolian chicken. And if you prefer noodle stir-fries, you can use them to make my favorite chicken yaki udon or ground beef stir-fry noodles!
Honey Sesame Chicken Ingredients
To make this honey sesame chicken you'll need the following ingredients:
- Chicken thighs: Boneless skinless chicken thighs are perfect for making delicious stir-fries as they tend to stay juicy. If you prefer chicken breast, you can definitely use it. Just make sure that you don't overcook it.
- Aromatics: You'll need garlic and green onion to add flavor to the stir-fry.
- Honey: Honey is one of the key ingredients for the honey sesame stir-fry sauce.
- Chicken Broth: You'll also need chicken broth for the stir-fry sauce. If you don't have chicken broth on hand, feel free to use water. Just keep in mind that using chicken broth adds a delicious taste to the sauce.
- Light soy sauce: Light soy sauce is a Chinese-style soy sauce that tastes light and delicious. It's a must when making this honey sesame chicken.
- Dark soy sauce: Dark soy sauce has a very deep flavor and lends this stir-fry its dark color. It doesn't taste like light soy sauce and is needed to add umami to the sauce. As light soy sauce and dark soy sauce taste so different, you'll need both condiments for this recipe. But you definitely won't regret getting them as they taste amazing and can be used to make so many different stir-fry dishes at home!
- Shaoxing wine: Shaoxing wine is a Chinese cooking wine that is often used in Chinese dishes. It's available in most Asian grocery stores and online.
- Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar adds some balance and acidity to the sauce. It's not very noticeable but definitely impacts the flavor, so I'd recommend using it.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce.
- Sesame oil: You'll also need toasted sesame oil for this recipe.
- Sesame seeds: Sesame seeds taste great and are used for additional texture.
How to make honey sesame chicken
Marinate the chicken. First, add the cubed chicken thighs, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, vegetable oil, and cornstarch to a bowl. Then toss until combined.
Prepare the stir-fry sauce. In another bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, honey, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, rice vinegar, cornstarch, minced garlic, and sesame seeds. Set the honey sesame sauce aside.
Pan-fry the chicken. Now preheat some vegetable oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken thigh pieces and stir-fry until browned.
Add the sauce. Once the chicken has fully browned, pour the honey sesame stir-fry sauce into the pan. Stir and let everything simmer until the sauce has thickened. Then stir in the sesame oil.
Serve. Garnish with more sesame seeds and green onion slices. Serve the honey sesame chicken over fluffy white rice and other side dishes or vegetables of your choice. Enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- Adjust the amount of dark soy sauce to taste. The sauce has a very dark brown color and a deep flavor, so if you prefer a lighter sauce feel free to reduce the amount of dark soy sauce that you use. I love the sauce as is but it really depends on the final result that you want to achieve.
- If you decide to use chicken breast, make sure that you don't overcook it. As chicken breast can turn dry very quickly, it's best to not pan-fry it for too long as the chicken will continue cooking with the sauce.
- Prepare some white rice to serve this honey sesame chicken stir-fry. Short-grain and medium-grain white rice is perfect for serving this dish!
Variations
- Add some grated ginger to the sauce for a flavor boost. Ginger tastes great and would make a wonderful addition to this honey sesame chicken! If I have some ginger on hand, I love to add it to most of my str-fry recipes.
- Make this honey sesame chicken spicy. If you prefer mild dishes, then totally feel free to leave this stir-fry as is. But if you like a bit of spice, I recommend adding chopped fresh chili pepper or chili flakes. It's the perfect addition for anyone who loves spicy food!
- Add frozen or fresh vegetables to this honey sesame chicken. The final dish has quite a bit of sauce, so you can add vegetables to the stir-fry. Feel free to take a look at my kung pao chicken recipe or cashew chicken recipe for some inspiration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Honey sesame chicken is sweet, sticky, and very flavorful. It uses a sauce that is made of chicken broth, honey, and soy sauce which lends the stir-fry sauce its sweet and umami-rich flavor. It's also very mild, which makes it perfect for anyone who can't eat spicy stir-fries.
Yes, just make sure that you don't overcook the chicken breast pieces. Chicken thighs don't dry out the way chicken breasts do, so you don't have to be too careful when pan-frying chicken thighs. With chicken breast, I recommend using medium-high heat to make the chicken brown from the outside without cooking it fully. Add the sauce and let the chicken cook completely in the sauce.
I recommend serving this honey sesame chicken over short-grain or medium-grain white rice. You could add vegetables like bell pepper or broccoli to the stir-fry. Or you could prepare vegetable side dishes like kimchi or kongnamul muchim (Korean bean sprout side dish). It's totally up to you what veggies you want to add!
As I haven't tested this dish with noodles, I'm not sure if there will be enough sauce to cover all the noodles. But I have delicious noodle stir-fries on this blog that you could check out! You could try my chicken yaki udon recipe or ground beef noodles for a quick and delicious dinner!
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. Just reheat them in a microwave with a small amount of water to thin the sauce if necessary.
More quick and delicious stir-fry recipes
Stir-fry recipes are part of my weekly dinner rotation as they are super quick and easy to make with ingredients that you probably already have at home. Here are a few of my favorite stir-fries that I recommend trying!
- Spam Fried Rice
- Dubu Jorim (Korean Braised Tofu)
- Spicy Korean-Style Ground Turkey
- Thai Basil Fried Rice
- Cashew Chicken
Honey Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Honey Sesame Stir-Fry Sauce
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Other Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 green onions sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- First, add all chicken marinade ingredients to a bowl and toss until combined.1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce, ½ tablespoon Shaoxing wine, ½ tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- In another bowl, whisk together all honey sesame stir-fry sauce ingredients. Set the sauce aside.¼ cup chicken broth, ¼ cup honey, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Preheat some vegetable oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken thigh pieces and stir-fry until browned.1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Now add the honey sesame sauce and stir. Let the sauce simmer until it thickens and covers the chicken pieces. Then stir in the sesame oil.1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Garnish with more sesame seeds, and green onion slices, and enjoy with white rice and other side dishes of your choice!2 green onions
Notes
- Adjust the amount of dark soy sauce if you prefer a lighter and less intense stir-fry sauce. You can use half as much to make the sauce taste less intense but still flavorful and delicious.
Nina
The best honey chicken. Amazing recipe.Definitely recommend this recipe!!
Beri
Hi Nina, I'm super happy that you loved it! 😊