Honey Orange Sesame Chicken

Inspired by Knead to Cook and Picture the Recipe

When I saw Robin at Knead to Cook‘s recipe for Honey Sesame Chicken in the crockpot, I knew immediately that I wanted to make it. My kids always order sesame chicken when we get Chinese takeout. Of course the sesame chicken we get from there is fried and not very good for them. I like that this recipe is much healthier, but still has that addictive Oriental sesame chicken taste.

I didn’t have time to wait for a crockpot version, so I made mine on the stovetop. I really sort of made up my own recipe out of the two I had in front of me.

My daughter loves it so much she’s had it for three meals now. She says she’s addicted to it and I’m going to have to teach her how to make it. Yay! Success!

Honey Orange Sesame Chicken

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 2 - 4 servings 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (juice of 1 Cara Cara orange)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• a pinch of red pepper flakes (or more, if you want more kick)
• a pinch of Chinese five-spice powder

For the chicken:

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 – 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 extra-large chicken breast, cut in half, or two “normal” size chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup water

For thickening: 1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water

For garnish: toasted sesame seeds and snipped green onion

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Instructions

1. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat till hot. Add the canola and sesame oil, then the garlic and onion. Sautee for a few minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the sauce to the saucepan and stir. Pour in about 1/4 cup water, then set the chicken breasts in the pan, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook over for about 30 minutes, turning the chicken over about halfway through.
4. When the chicken is cooked, pull the chicken out of the pan, set on a plate and cover immediately with the cover from the cooking pan.
5. Start the rice cooking.
6. If you have a picky eater in the house that doesn’t want any “chunks” in the sauce (like me), blend the sauce in a handi chopper till smooth, then pour it back into the saucepan.
7. Take two forks and shred the chicken roughly. Set aside again.
8. Heat the sauce over medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and then whisk into the sauce, just until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Remove from heat and stir in the chicken.
9. Serve over rice garnished with sesame seeds and green onion. Steamed broccoli or sliced cucumber are nice on the side.

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This recipe was shared at What’d you Do This Weekend?, Wonderful Food Wednesday, Tasty Thursday, Scrumptious Sunday, and Clever Chicks Bloghop.