Craving the popular Panda Express honey sesame chicken? Make this delicious and easy copycat version. Crispy chicken, beans, and peppers tossed in a homemade honey sesame sauce.
If you like Asian-inspired recipes, try this easy Beef Lo Mein recipe!
HONEY SESAME CHICKEN
Enjoy the delicious Panda Express honey sesame chicken for a fraction of the price with this easy homemade version! Crispy and juicy chicken battered and fried and then tossed in a sweet and tangy homemade sauce loaded with sesame flavors. This sesame chicken recipe is so easy to make and totally better than takeout!
WHAT YOU NEED-
- Chicken– You can use either chicken breast or chicken thighs for this recipe. I like to use chicken breast.
- Veggies– When you order honey sesame chicken from Panda Express, the chicken comes with green beans and bell peppers. You want to use fresh green beans and a yellow bell pepper for this dish.
- Wet Batter– The wet batter for the chicken is made up of whisked eggs, salt and pepper. This gives the chicken extra flavor and acts as a glue for the dry batter.
- Dry Batter– Once the chicken is dredged in the wet batter, toss it in the dry batter. For the dry batter you want to use all-purpose flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Oil– To fry the chicken, either canola oil, vegetable oil, or even olive oil can be used.
- Green Onion– Top the dish with freshly chopped green onion for added flavors.
Honey Sesame Sauce:
- Sweet Chili Sauce– For the homemade honey sesame sauce, a key ingredient is sweet chili sauce. This gives the sauce a hint of sweetness!
- Soy Sauce– Classic or low sodium soy sauce will work for this sauce. The soy sauce is another key ingredient that balances the sweetness from the sweet chili sauce.
- Honey– You can’t have honey sesame sauce without honey! Use your favorite honey for this sauce.
- Water– Adding water to the sauce gives you more sauce.
- Sesame Oil– The key flavor in this dish is the sesame flavor, which comes from sesame oil! You can use regular sesame oil or toasted sesame oil.
- Cornstarch– To thicken this sauce you want to use cornstarch.
- Sesame Seeds– For added sesame flavors, add fresh sesame seeds to the sauce.
HOW TO MAKE SESAME CHICKEN
This dish comes together in no time, making it the perfect dinner recipe!
- In a bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the honey sesame sauce. Set aside.
- Trim and cut the green beans in half and cut the yellow pepper into cubes.
- Cut the chicken breast into bite sized pieces, about 1-inch sized cubes.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the wet batter in a bowl. Add the chicken cubes and mix to fully coat the chicken in the marinade.
- In a large plastic bag, add all the ingredients to the dry batter. Transfer the chicken from the wet batter into the bag, removing any excess wet batter.
- Once all the chicken is in the bag, close the bag and shake, to coat all the chicken in the flour batter.
- Heat a large skillet or pot with oil, covering the bottom with oil. Once the oil is hot, add the coated chicken and fry until golden brown on all sides.
- Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with all the chicken.
- In a wok or large deep skillet, sauté the veggies for 10 minutes with sesame oil. (Sauté the veggies as the chicken is frying.)
- Add the sauce mixture to a small saucepan and cook on medium high heat, bring to a simmer, allowing the sauce to thicken. Remove from the heat.
- Once the veggies are tender, add the fried chicken and honey sesame sauce to the wok and toss until well combined. Top with freshly chopped greens and sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately with desired sides.
SERVING IDEAS
This honey sesame chicken makes for the perfect dinner! Here are some great sides this dish goes great with:
- Steamed Rice
- Fried Rice
- Chow Mein
- Noodles
MAKING AHEAD-
This dish is great to make ahead of time and is the perfect meal prep dish! Once the dish is cooked you can prepare your meal preps and store to enjoy later!
- Fridge– Once the honey sesame chicken is cooked and cooled, transfer to an airtight container or cover and store in the fridge for 3 days.
- To Serve– When ready to enjoy, reheat the dish in the microwave or stove top until warmed and enjoy.
- Freezer– This dish can be frozen! Once cooled add to a freezer safe container and freeze for 3-4 months.
- To Serve– Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat and enjoy!
LIGHTER VERSION– If you are making this for meal prep or want a light version of this dish, skip frying the chicken!
- Season the cubed chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Heat the wok or large skillet on medium high heat. Add sesame oil and sauté the chicken until cooked through. Remove from the skillet and cover to keep warm.
- Sauté the veggies until tender then add the chicken back to the wok and pour in the sauce mixture and bring the sauce to a simmer, allowing it to thicken.
- Remove from heat and top with freshly chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately with desired sides.
QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE:
No, you can totally just make this dish with just chicken. You can also make it crunchy and add cashews, peanuts or any other nuts you like. You can also swap out the veggies for different vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus, etc.
Yes! Add sriracha or chili red pepper flakes to the sauce for a spice!
Although a wok is not necessary, I do highly recommend investing in one if you make a lot of Asian-inspired dishes!
No, you do not need to blanch the green beans. You want the green beans to have a slight crunch still, so just sautéing will be enough. If you prefer softer green beans, sauté them for longer.
If you like extra sauce, you can totally make 1.5 recipes of the sauce or just double it and pour over when serving!
OTHER DINNER IDEAS-
Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast cubes
- 1/2 lb green beans
- 1 yellow bell pepper cubed
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- sesame seeds for garnish
- freshly chopped green onions for garnish
- oil for frying
Wet Batter-
- 2 large egg
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Dry Batter-
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
Honey Sesame Sauce-
- 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp cup honey
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 ½ Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Trim and cut the green beans in half and cut the yellow pepper into cubes.
- Cut the chicken breast into bite sized pieces, about 1-inch sized cubes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, honey, water, sesame oil, cornstarch, and sesame seeds until combined. Set aside.
- Whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken cubes and wet batter and mix to fully coat the chicken in the marinade.
- In a large Ziploc bag, add the flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder and mix to combine.
- Transfer the chicken from the wet batter into the bag with the flour mixture, removing any excess wet batter from the chicken before adding to the bag.
- Once all the chicken is in the bag, close the bag and shake, to coat all the chicken in the flour batter. (You can do this in a bowl if you prefer, but I find using the bag method is easier, faster, and less messy.)
Frying the Chicken-
- Add oil to a large skillet or pot with oil, covering the bottom and heat. (The oil should be at 350°F.)
- Once the oil is hot, add the chicken to the pan, piece by piece and fry until all the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes total.
- Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with all the chicken.
Honey Sesame Chicken-
- In a wok or large deep skillet, heat sesame oil on medium high heat. Add the green beans and cubed bell peppers to the skillet and sauté for 6-7 minutes. (Sauté the vegetables while you are frying the chicken for fast cooking time.)
- Add the sauce mixture to a small saucepan and cook on medium high heat, bring to a simmer, allowing the sauce to thicken. Remove from the heat.
- Once the veggies are tender, turn off the heat and add the fried chicken and honey sesame sauce to the wok and toss until well combined. Top with freshly chopped greens and sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately with desired sides.
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