Air Fryer Honey Sesame Chicken

4.79 from 37 votes
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You will love this air fryer honey sesame chicken recipe. It’s made with lean chicken breast and a yummy honey sesame sauce and then air-fried to make the chicken super crispy without deep frying.

Air Fryer Honey Sesame Chicken in bowl
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Best Honey Sesame Chicken!

It’s true, I am a takeout snob. We order Chinese food at least once a week at my house and we often get a combination of stir-fried meals such as beef and broccoli or chicken stir fry and fried meals like sesame chicken.

What I LOVE about this honey sesame chicken is that the sauce is made from scratch using a combination of soy sauce, honey, fish sauce, and white vinegar. And, that it’s air fried instead of deep-fried.

You still get that deep-fried texture with air frying, but without the mess of oil. This is truly the most delicious air fryer chicken you’ll ever eat. Enjoy!

Why you’ll love it!

30-Minute Meal

No Deep-Frying

Takeout at Home

Kid-Friendly

chicken in cornstarch

The Chicken

  • Chicken breast: this sesame chicken recipe calls for chicken bresat. However, you’re more than welcome to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead.
  • Seasonings: you need salt, garlic powder, ground ginger, and sesame seeds.
  • Cornstarch: cornstarch helps make the chicken nice and crunchy– just like when it’s deep-fried.
  • Eggs: egg is used to help the cornstarch and seasonings stick to the chicken.

The Sauce

I am a sucker for a yummy sauce and you’re going to swoon over this honey sesame sauce! Here’s what you need:

  • Sesame oil
  • Garlic
  • Soy sauce
  • Fish sauce
  • White vinegar
  • Grated white onion
  • Gochujang
  • Green onion

What is Gochujang? Gochujang is a thick paste that is sweet, sour, and spicy. It’s a fermented Korean chili paste. Here are some great options for substitutions.

chicken in air fryer

How to Make Honey Sesame Chicken in Air Fryer

  1. Prep chicken: slice chicken into 1.5-inch pieces.
  2. Dip chicken: whisk eggs in a large bowl and add cornstarch and spices another bowl an whisk. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg mixture and then into the cornstarch mixture. Repeat.
  3. Air Fry chicken: spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray and place the chicken pieces on the pan. Make sure not to overcrowd the chicken. You’ll likely cook this in batches. Drizzle chicken with sesame seeds and air fry at 400ºF for 10 minutes. Flip and air fry for 6 more minutes.
  4. Make sauce: Cook garlic in sesame oil. Then, add soy sauce, water, honey, fish sauce, vinegar, grated onion, and Gochuchang and whisk.
  5. Thicken sauce: remove some sauce and whisk it with cornstarch. Add the cornstarch slurry back into the sauce and whisk over low heat until thick.
  6. Toss chicken: toss the air fried chicken in the honey sesame sauce.
  7. Serve: serve with sesame seeds and green onion over your favorite grain.
air fryer chicken tossed in sauce

Serving Suggestions

While this sesame chicken recipe is delicious on its own, you can complete the meal by serving it with any of the following:

White Sticky Rice: Sticky rice is a very versatile recipe to pair with many Asian-inspired dishes. Make sticky rice in your own kitchen with our step-by-step instructions. Enjoy!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps: These homemade PF Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps are the perfect way to start a meal or, because why not, to be the main meal.

Chicken Fried Rice: This easy chicken fried rice recipe makes takeout a breeze in your own kitchen. In this post, we’ll teach you how to make chicken fried rice and share some alternate variations as well.

Brown Rice: Making Instant Pot Brown Rice is as easy as 1-2-3. All you need is and Instant Pot, water, and your favorite brown rice and you’re ready to make a big batch of rice. It turns out perfect and fluffy every time.

honey sesame chicken in dish with sesame seeds

Storage

While we suggest eating this Air Fryer Honey Sesame Chicken as fresh as possible, you can definitely store the leftovers for later.

Transfer leftovers into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat: reheat in the microwave for 90 seconds or on the stovetop over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until hot.

sesame chicken in bowl with veggies
4.79 from 37 votes

Air Fryer Honey Sesame Chicken

This saucy, delicious air fryer honey sesame chicken is ready in 30 minute and tastes deep-fried, but it's actually made in the air fryer!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Servings: 4
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Ingredients 

Chicken

  • 3/4 cup cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, separated
  • 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 large eggs

Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil, separated
  • 7 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup water
  • cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon grated white onion
  • 1 tablespoon Gochujang, red chili paste works too
  • 2 green onions, minced

Instructions 

  • Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF.
  • Begin by adding the cornstarch to a large bowl and remove 1.5 teaspoons of the cornstarch from the bowl and set it aside for later.
  • Add the garlic powder, salt, ginger, and 1 tablespoon sesame seeds to the cornstarch mixture and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Add the eggs to a separate large bowl and whisk until combined.
  • Cut the chicken breast into 1-1.5-inch chunks and add the chicken to the bowl with the eggs. Toss the chicken with the egg mixture until the chicken is coated.
  • Remove the chicken pieces from the egg mixture and allow any excess egg to drip from the chicken.
  • Add the chicken pieces to the bowl with the cornstarch. Toss the chicken with the cornstarch mixture until the chicken is coated.
    chicken in cornstarch
  • Spray the air fryer with cooking spray and then add the coated chicken pieces to the air fryer in one single layer (a few overlaps are ok). Drizzle the chicken with 2 teaspoons of sesame oil.
    chicken in air fryer
  • Air fry the chicken for 10 minutes at 400ºF. When the chicken has cooked for 10 minutes, flip the chicken over and cook it for an additional 6 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
  • Meanwhile, make the garlic sesame sauce. Add the remaining sesame oil to a small saucepan. When the sesame oil is fragrant add the garlic to the pan.
  • Sauté the garlic for 2-3 minutes and then add the soy sauce, water, honey, fish sauce, white vinegar, grated onion, and Gochuchang to the pan. Whisk the ingredients together.
  • Bring the sauce to a boil over medium/high heat and then turn the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Remove ¼ cup of the sauce from the pan and add the remaining 1.5 teaspoons of cornstarch to the ¼ cup of sauce. Whisk the 2 ingredients together. It will thicken. Add it back into the saucepan and whisk the sauce together. Allow the sauce to thicken.
  • When the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, add the chicken to a large bowl and add then add the sauce. Gently toss the chicken in the sauce until coated.
    adding sauce to chicken
  • Garnish the honey sesame chicken with diced green onion and sesame seeds. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Tips & Notes

  • We used a 7-qt air fryer for this recipe. We suggest using a larger air fryer.
  • You can use chicken thighs or chicken breasts for this recipe.
  • If you don’t have sriracha or Gochujang you can use garlic chili sauce.

Watch It

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”5vtlnGdM” upload-date=”2022-03-28T09:00:00.000Z” name=”Air Fryer Honey Sesame Chicken” description=”You will love this air fryer honey sesame chicken recipe. It’s made with lean chicken breast and a yummy honey sesame sauce and then air-fried to make the chicken super crispy without deep frying.”]

Nutrition

Calories: 524 kcal, Carbohydrates: 56 g, Protein: 46 g, Fat: 13 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 26 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.

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About Lee Funke

Lee is the founder of Fit Foodie Finds and based in Minneapolis, MN. She started this website in 2010 as a way to share her love for real food and wellness. The internet has changed so much since then and so has Fit Foodie Finds. Today we're a female-run recipe website publishing hundreds of tried and true recipes developed and tested by our team.

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Chantel
Chantel
January 25, 2024 11:52 am

5 stars
This was an absolute hit in my house for yesterdayโ€™s dinner. I didnโ€™t have the sesame seeds but thatโ€™s okay the sauce alone was so good and chicken was tender!! Thank you for sharing this recipe! So yummy!

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Last edited 8 months ago by Chantel
Laurie
Laurie
January 19, 2024 11:10 am

I don’t have an air fryer but I do have a convection oven. What time and temperature would you recommend?

Debbie
Debbie
March 14, 2023 11:44 am

5 stars
Hi, I haven’t ried the recipe yet, the 5 stars are for ease of recipe and pics and in anticipation ๐Ÿ™‚ My question is the nutritional value – is that per portion or per 100g?

Emily Richter
March 14, 2023 5:39 pm
Reply to  Debbie

Let us know how you like it! And the nutrition is per serving ๐Ÿ™‚

Lauren
Lauren
July 11, 2022 8:53 pm

5 stars
This was amazing! Came out just like cheese takeout. The chicken was perfectly crispy and the sauce was delicious. Would definitely make again!

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Anna
Anna
April 13, 2022 5:55 pm

5 stars
This turned out absolutely perfect! Perfect flavor and perfect amount of crunch to the chicken!

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Emily Richter
April 15, 2022 8:10 am
Reply to  Anna

Yay! Looks so delish, Anna ๐Ÿ˜€

stefanie
stefanie
April 6, 2022 7:22 am

5 stars
This was so easy to make and SOOOO yummy. The air fryer is a fantastic way to make this quick and crispy. The sauce… wow.

Emily Richter
April 6, 2022 10:47 am
Reply to  stefanie

Isn’t the sauce amazing?! It’s a Linley original ๐Ÿ˜€

Lynn Bryant
Lynn Bryant
April 1, 2022 7:34 pm

5 stars
Fantastic! A new family fav! I used Aminos instead of Soy Sauce and I didn’t have any Red Chili Paste so I put in a Tbsp of Chili Garlic Sauce. I have a feeling my boys are going to ask for this often!!

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Emily Richter
April 6, 2022 10:59 am
Reply to  Lynn Bryant

So glad to hear this is a new fam fave! It is at our house, too ๐Ÿ˜€