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.
The egg white and corn starch immediately sticks to the pan no matter how much oil you use. I have never had something stick as bad as these did. Very disappointed. I’ve done a breading where you dredge in cornstarch first then dip in egg and that worked so much better. I doubt that would be many more calories too – I recommend that to anyone who had this stick as bad as I did.
Hey Brennan! I use a nonstick skillet and have never had these stick. What type of skillet are you using?
Literally just made this and I love it!! How many calories is one serving?
This recipe is so delicious! I made it at the weekend and my 6 year old had 3 helpings! I’ve never seen her polish off a plate of broccoli so fast :)
Oh, I forgot to add that she also asked to have it again for her birthday tea this week!
This recipe is a HOME RUN! This is the second time I’ve made it and it came out as good as the first. It absolutely satisfies the craving and tastes like take out! Thanks so much :)
How many calories is this recipe?
I don’t calculate nutritional information for my recipes, but recommend Livestrong’s Recipe Calculator Tool if you want that info! http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/create/
I tried this last night..so disappointed.The cornstarch/eggwhite mix did nothing but make the chicken stick to the pan.It was a mess.On top of it all,salt & pepper don’t season it enough.. it was bland.There wasn’t enough sauce for the chicken AND broccoli.The sauce could use much more flavor…maybe fresh ginger, sesame oil (since it IS sesame chicken), rice vinegar, etc
:(
Happened to me too. The only thing I can think of that made it do that was that I used extra virgin olive oil instead of veggie oil?
This looks awesome! I’m thinking about making this, and I was wondering if you think the honey could be replaced with maple syrup? I know they are completely different in taste, but the honey is so expensive here and maple syrup is something I have in the house.
Ooo, that’s a toughie – I’m not sure how that would taste! Let me know if you try it out. I LOVE the flavor of maple + meat, so I’m curious to know what it tastes like!
Thanks so much for this recipe! It was amazing, we had it last night at last (I saw this recipe on pinterest 3 weeks ago) and it was so much quicker and easier than I expected. And so tasty. I love your blog.
I was wondering if i could use sesame oil instead of sesame seeds. or are they vital to this recipe?
I would use maybe 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil for the flavor if you don’t want to use the seeds!
This is DELICIOUS! :) I didn’t have sesame seeds so I swapped for ground almond meal. Will make again absolutely.
Thanks for the great recipe! It was wonderful!
I made this and it definitely satisfied my Chinese takeout craving!
I only have olive oil and coconut oil, can either of those work?
Although I haven’t tried, cococnut oil has a high smoke point, so it should work!