Easy Takeout Sesame Chicken with Scallions & Broccoli. This year I am writing a love letter to Scallions/Green Onions. They may be my most favorite herb or vegetable and they are packed into this sesame chicken dish. It’s takeout at home: sticky sauce, still crisp chicken, broccoli & rice with a whole fistful of scallions for a really fresh flavor to cut through the sweet, soy combo. It’s a fun, easy weeknight dinner that I love. But most importantly it is so much easier than you think (& it is delicious).
The Chicken
Chop & marinate the chicken first. It is there for some extra flavor & we want it to sit as long as possible. I like to get all of the sauce ingredients together & mince garlic while the chicken sits. Drain the chicken marinade, but I don’t mind if a little soy sauce sticks around. Add the egg whites and try to coat all of the pieces. My favorite part of this dish is the classic, Chinese takeout “batter”. Egg whites & cornstarch: so simple! You want to try to get as little yolk in there as possible. I find that the yolk adds a different flavor that I don’t love – and the egg whites are key.
Drain the egg whites and add cornstarch and coat the chicken. It will get sticky and soak up all the liquid. Now you can preheat your Air Fryer or your oil in a large skillet. When heating oil, you want to make sure that it’s hot before you put the first piece in. Drop a small piece of chicken or batter, if it sizzles right away, it’s perfect.
Fry each piece of chicken up until it is golden brown.
The Sauce
The sauce. Ugh! So delicious. Sauces are really special because you kind of build them in layers. Step one is crucial for the best flavor. We are going to cook the garlic in sesame oil. The sesame oil is not something I would substitute. It has a very specific flavor compared to other mild, flavorless oils. And this is sesame chicken after all.
Cook until garlic is fragrant and getting golden. It will smell like a lot of sesame oil. Next, add in the juicy bits: soy, vinegar, sugar, honey, ground ginger. I like to let that simmer the whole time I am frying up the chicken. This gives it time to thicken up on its own before we add in the cornstarch at the end. When all your chicken is fried up and ready, add a ton of scallions and the cornstarch. It will thicken as it simmers for the last min or so.
If you make this Easy Takeout Sesame Chicken, let me know here in the comments. And please follow me on Instagram @quartersoulcrisis where I show step by step videos and reels for each recipe.
Easy Takeout Sesame Chicken with Scallions & Broccoli
Equipment
- Large Skillet for shallow frying
- Air Fryer Directions in Notes
Ingredients
Sesame Chicken
- 1.5 lb chicken breast cut into varying bite sized pieces
- 1-1.5 lb broccoli about 2 heads
- 2/3 cup cornstarch
- 2 egg whites beaten
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs rice vinegar
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup avocado oil if pan frying
Sesame Scallion Sauce
- 1 tbs sesame seeds + more for serving
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 oz scalllions/green onions + more for serving, sliced thin
- 2 tbs honey
- 3 tsp cornstarch
- serve with: white rice, green onions & sesame seed
Instructions
- Prep Chicken & Sauce: Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and add to a large bowl. Toss with salt, pepper & ginger, soy sauce & rice vinegar. Toss to coat while you prepare everything else. Beat 2 egg whites in a small bowl and set aside. Mince garlic for sauce and set aside. Cut broccoli & begin to make rice if you are. Slice scallions thin.
- Make Sesame Sauce: In a small sauce pan, heat 1tbs sesame oil. When oil is hot, add minced garlic & cook until garlic is fragrant and beginning to get golden. Turn heat to very low. Add all other sauce ingredients (excluding cornstarch). Scrape to make sure sugars are out of bowl. Stir in sauce pan until sugar dissolves and simmer 15 minutes on low while cooking chicken. In a small dish mix cornstarch with a splash of water. Add to sauce when chicken is almost ready. Bring to medium & look for slow, fat bubbles after about 1 minute. Add 1tbs sesame seeds & half of the thin sliced scallions. Stir & set aside.
- Coat Chicken: Heat large skillet with avocado oil. Drain chicken of marinade the best you can. Next, add egg whites to chicken and toss to coat really well. Drain again. I like to leave a little in there for the corn starch to stick & extra crispy bits. Add 1/3 cup of cornstarch and toss chicken to coat. It's going to be a little sticky. Toss again in another 1/3 cup cornstarch. Add a splash of water if it seems too dry or there is a lot of unmixed cornstarch.
- Make Broccoli: In a large microwave safe bowl, add chopped broccoli, salt & pepper. Microwave to steam for 3-5 minutes. Toss in sauce with chicken.
- Make Chicken: When oil is hot enough (chicken sizzles as soon as it hits the oil), add chicken pieces in one layer not touching. Cook 2-3 minutes on one side until nice and golden brown. Flip and cook another 2 minutes. Drain on double lined paper towels. In a large bowl, add all chicken pieces & broccoli and toss to coat. Serve over rice with more sesame seeds and green onion.
Home Cook’s Notes
- Air Fryer Directions: Preheat air fryer to 425° on step 3. Lay each piece of chicken in air fryer basket, do not stack on top and make sure to lay in one layer without them touching. Air Fry 3-5 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on other side or until golden and cooked through. You may need to work in 2 batches.
- Rice: When it comes to the rice, you can make whatever you prefer. I love a sticky, longer grain rice like jasmine. You can cook from scratch, or use a minute rice (I love a 90 second microwave white rice for time)
- There are sauce lovers out there (I am one). I tried to make this as saucy as possible without you wanting more. But if you could always use more, you can just double the sauce recipe.
Danielle says
Love this recipe! It tastes so much better than takeout.
One note for the recipe: on the sauce instructions, it says to add all other sauce ingredients, but really you’re supposed to save the cornstarch and green onions until the end of the simmer cycle. Just FYI!
Quarter Soul Crisis says
Danielle, thank you so much! I fixed it. I appreciate your notes a ton.