Honey Sesame Chicken
Woohoo! It looks like I still have it in me! I can still make awesome paleo food, people!
The proof is in this amazing Honey Sesame Chicken, right here. No word of a lie, this dish falls under the “omg-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me-how-can-healthy-food-possibly-taste-so-freakingly-delicious” category.
Seriously, this stuff is so good, it totally rivals the [earnestly lip-smacking but equally unhealthy] food that I get served at my ultimate all-time favorite Thaï/Szechuan restaurant. And trust me, that place is amazing! And hey, it’s not just me saying it, you know. My daughter expressed the exact same opinion when she tasted it. She even went as far as to say that MY dish was BETTER than their food. Whoa! Now that is one MAJOR compliment, for that restaurant truly is the finest in its class and has quite the reputation to back up these allegations.
I do feel I need to add a tiny little disclaimer, though. This dish IS called Honey Sesame Chicken and it truly lives up to its name: the taste of the honey truly is omnipresent, resulting in a dish that’s rather on the sweet side. However, I find that this sweetness is well balanced out by the pungent nuttiness of the toasted sesame seeds and oil, the sourness of the rice vinegar, the saltiness of the fish sauce, and the little hint of spiciness that the red pepper flakes contribute. If you think it might be too sweet for your taste, you may want to cut down on the honey a little.
But if like me you’re a huge fan of all those sweet and sour or sweet and salty dishes, then you’re in for a serious treat. Don’t leave out even a single teaspoon!
Oh, just one more thing… if you’re gonna make this for dinner tonight, can I please come over?
Just like the Pork and Broccoli Noodles that I recently made, this is the kind of dish that greatly benefits from a proper mise-en-place. Take the time to prep all your ingredients, and then the rest will come together in no time at all.
To get things started, whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce in a large glass measuring cup. When that’s done, make a slurry by mixing the tapioca starch and water together, and then measure out your sesame seeds. Next, cut the chicken into bite size pieces.
Oh, and if you are planning on serving this dish with a side of rice, now would be a good time to cook that, too!
Alright, now that your mise-en-place is completed, add one or two tablespoons of healthy cooking oil in a large, skillet set over high heat.
Once that pan is hot enough, add about half the pieces of chicken and let the meat cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes, until the chicken turns opaque about half way up and gets nice and golden at the bottom. Flip the pieces of chicken and continue cooking for another minute or two, until browned on the other side.
Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Once all the meat is cooked, return it to the skillet and pour in the sauce.
Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes to finish cooking the chicken. You might want to stir from time to time, to help all the tasty bits detach from the bottom of the pan.
Give your slurry a good stir (chances are, the starch will have settled at the bottom) and then whisk it into the simmering sauce. If you need to, make a little room for your whisk by moving a few pieces of chicken to the side.
Once the slurry has been completely incorporated, keep stirring for about a minute, until the sauce is nicely thickened,
Finally, add the toasted sesame seeds and stir until they are fully incorporated.
Serve piping hot with a side of rice and garnished with a little bit of chopped green onions, if desired, and prepare to have your mind totally blown!
Honey Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 12 boneless skinless chicken thighs , (about 950g | 2lbs total)
For the sauce
- 1 cup light chicken stock
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1/8 tsp ground white pepper
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- 1½ tbsp tapioca starch
- 1½ tbsp water
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- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- Chopped green onions to garnish, (optional)
Instructions
- In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce, up to the ground white pepper. Make a slurry by mixing the tapioca starch and water together, and then measure out your sesame seeds. Next, cut the chicken into bite size pieces. If you are planning on serving this dish with a side of rice, now would be a good time to cook the rice, too!
- Now that your mise-en-place is completed, pour 1 or 2 tablespoons of healthy cooking oil in a large, skillet set over high heat. When the pan is hot enough, add about half the pieces of chicken and let the meat cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes, until the chicken turns opaque about half way up and gets nice and golden at the bottom. Flip the pieces of chicken and continue cooking for another minute or two, until browned on the other side. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.
- Once all the meat is cooked, return it to the skillet and add sauce. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, to finish cooking the chicken. Give your slurry a good stir and then whisk it into the simmering sauce. Stir constantly for about a minute, until the sauce is thickened, then add the toasted sesame seeds and stir until well incorporated.
- Serve immediately with a side of rice and garnished with a little bit of chopped green onions, if desired.
Nutrition
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17 Comments on “Honey Sesame Chicken”
Absolutely, you can come for dinner! What time can you be here? Ha…you are really funny although you are welcome anytime! You must have been reading my mind or something cause I’ve been craving sweet and sour Chinese stuff. This will do nicely, thank you very much.
Hahaha! You’re so sweet, Beth, thank you very much! I’m pretty sure that this will hit the spot alright. Make sure you let me know how you liked it! 🙂
And I will, have added the needed ingredients to my shopping list
WOW! I made it last night and it was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. Plus, I try to add and up my vegetable consumption at every meal so it felt quite decadent to have this nearly vege free entree. Loved it! (I’ll be making the tuna wrap for lunch) 😀 Having my usual vegetable pancake for breakfast as I write
YES! Real happy to hear, Beth! Hope you like the tuna wrap just as much! 🙂
Could this be made in a cockpit?
Not sure… I think you’d need to ask a pilot! 😉
Sonia, so funny!
i knew you’d laugh! darn auto correct! let’s go with slow cooker instead. would it work?
Hahaha! You gotta admit it was just too good to pass! I figured it was an auto-correct thing…
To answer your question, the way I see it, slow cookers are best used to make dishes that normally take a long time to make. This dish comes together in mere minutes, so I don’t think it would be a good contender for the “cockpit” (I think I just officially renamed my crockpot!).
Plus, slow cookers naturally produce their own moisture, I’m not sure what good that would do to the sauce. I think the entire recipe would need to be adapted…
Omg this is right up my alley. living in Germany makes me crave spicy food and this is an amazing dish. For sure on my weekend cooking list. BTW am so excited about your twin. as a passive paleo this side of you really appeals to my life and clients. Providing cooking classes for all walks of nutrition this side is perfect for my clients. Will definitely give a HUGE shot out to my next cooking class to check your site.
OH YAY! Thank you Melinda, I am so relieved to hear you say that. I thought for sure that this announcement would be such a huge disappointment for you. Wow! I seriously did not expect that. I’m really, really happy. Thank you so much for all your kind love and support and for being such a loyal reader, Melinda. And thank you for spreading the word about me and now, my evil twin!
That said, I really can’t wait to hear what you think of this dish. Make sure you tell me all about it! I get the feeling it’ll make one of your classes… 🙂
Thank you Sonia. This is exactly the type of dish that I’m trying to learn/add to my repertoire. I’m going to try making it and report back.
Cheers
I was a little nervous when I was making this to put 2 full tbsp of sesame oil, but wow! This dish is absolutely incredible!! You are spot on with the “omg-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me-how-can-healthy-food-possibly-taste-so-freakingly-delicious” description. Definitely adding this one to my rotation 🙂
Thank you for the great feedback, Bethanie. Glad the dish was to your liking! 🙂
This was AMAZING!!! It is rare in my house for all of us to like a recipe. I will be saving this for sure and making it again. I had Asian vegetabltes so I threw those in too. Thank you so much for sharing!
Wow, thank you so much, Jane! I’m really happy to hear that you enjoyed the dish that much. Thank YOU so much for the amazing feedback. You totally rock! 🙂