Lighter Sesame Chicken satisfies a craving for Chinese take-out, without all the calories, sugar, and gluten. Easy and satisfying!
I’ve got another Take-Out Fake-Out recipe for you today — Lighter Sesame Chicken.
Sesame Chicken is my all-time favorite Chinese dish. Fried, savory, sweet…along with all the calories that comes with eating something fried…savory…and sweet!
That is to say, while candied chicken tastes good on the tongue, it doesn’t look so good on the hips, which is why I am ecstatic about this lightened up version.
Lighter Sesame Chicken is just sweet enough, and you’ll flip over the faux-batter technique that gives each piece of chicken a delicate and satisfying crunch without the need for deep-fat frying.
Furthermore, you can make this recipe in under 30 minutes, and I bet you have most, if not all, of the ingredients already on hand.
Start by making the lightly-sweetened sesame chicken sauce.
Combine 2-1/2 Tablespoons gluten-free Tamari (or soy sauce if not GF) and 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds in a bowl.
Next add 1/4 cup honey which naturally sweetens the Sesame Chicken sauce.
Finally, add 1 minced garlic clove then stir everything up and set aside.
Next, prep the chicken. Slice 2 small chicken breasts into 2″ pieces then season with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken pieces to 1 egg white whisked with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch in a large bowl, then toss to coat.
This is the faux-batter I was talking about! It’s amazing how the egg white and cornstarch combine to mimic a tempura-like batter, minus the gluten.
Time to cook! Heat 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet, then add the battered chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes a side, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
Turn off the heat, remove the skillet from the burner, then add the pre-made sauce and 2 chopped green onions. Toss everything to combine.
Finally add 2 cups steamed broccoli into the skillet then toss again to combine.
Serve the Lighter Sesame Chicken over cooked brown rice for a super-satisfying, quick and easy, take-out fake-out dinner!
This dish comes with all the flavor of sesame chicken, just without the ridiculous amounts of calories and fat.
Plus, like I said, each bite is blissfully gluten free. Enjoy every last drop!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
- 2 Tablespoons gluten free reduced-sodium Tamari, or soy sauce if not GF
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 egg white
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 chicken breasts, 1lb, cut into 2" pieces
- salt and pepper
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 cups broccoli florets
Directions
- Prepare rice according to package directions.
- In a small saucepan, steam broccoli until crisp tender then set aside.
- Combine honey, sesame seeds, Tamari, and garlic together in a small bowl then set aside.
- In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together egg white and cornstarch until smooth. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper then add to egg white mixture and toss to evenly coat.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then carefully add chicken in one layer. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Turn off heat then remove skillet from burner. Add prepared sauce and green onions then toss to coat. Stir in broccoli then scoop mixture into bowls over cooked rice.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Wonderful and fast. At the last minute, I discovered that I was out of sesame seeds. Substituted Everything But the Bagel seasoning. Left out the fresh garlic. Worked great! Another winning IGE recipe.
Trying Weight Watchers -again! I cannot figure out how to calculate points on the Freestyle program. Any chance you have that ability? This is a favorite recipe and sure helps when having cravings for Chinese food! Sure enjoy your recipes!
Shoot, I’m sorry I don’t, Sheri! I’m so, so glad you enjoy the recipe though!
Thank you for this awesome recipe! This is a regular in my house and my two young boys always ask for seconds! If anyone thinks they’d like to swap out the egg white for egg substitute like egg beaters, don’t do it! It doesn’t work. Excited to try some other recipes. I’ve shared this one with several friends!
This was so good! The best home made Sesame Chicken by far! I used soy sauce because I already had it :)
Recipe was great! Sesame chicken was better than the restaurants and healthier! Tweaked it a little.
So glad you liked it, Shelley!
It turned out great. But the recipe says 1/4 of a cup. What is the volume of this cup? I ended up adding more honey than required and it turned out to be a bit too sweet…
Hi there, I’m just curious, I was so excited to make this meal and everything was going smoothly. But then when I added the chicken (coated in egg white and corn starch mixture) to the olive oil pan, the chicken and mixture just stuck to the pan so hard I couldn’t even believe it. I had to scrape off the chicken and it left a very thick layer of the mixture onto the pan. I don’t think there is even any more eggwhite mixture on the chicken. Did I do something wrong? I really want the crispier eggwhite shell to work, and I’m disappointed that it didn’t. Is there anything else I could have done? Thanks! Samantha
Mmmm this was delicious! Hubby and I both loved it. We prepared white jasmine rice to serve with it. I chopped up the leftovers and made egg rolls the next day. Can’t wait to have it again!
How many calories?
I absolutely LOVE this recipe. Usually I only cook things that can simply be put in an oven and this is the first recipe that I have actually done where I have to do some actual cooking and it turned out great. My fiance is finally convinced that my cooking wont poison him and I have a new favorite recipe!
Hello! Crazy question but is there a good substitute for sesame seeds? My daughter has a sesame allergy but I love the sweet and salty flavor of sesame chicken. I like that this recipe doesn’t use sesame elsewhere. I could omit of course but if anyone has any fun suggestions for a substitute I’m all ears!