Air Fryer Sesame Chicken

If you’re like me, you crave Chinese food pretty regularly. It’s one of my ultimate comfort foods – especially Sesame Chicken. It’s sweet, a little spicy, and pairs so well with some white rice and cozy sweatpants. However, a typical cup of sesame chicken runs you about 11 points on WW – which can be half of your daily budget, eek! Enter this air fryer sesame chicken!

Making Air Fryer Sesame Chicken

While this chicken may look restaurant quality, it really is simple to make in your own home.

First, we need crispy chicken. The secret? Corn starch. When you coat the chicken with a little bit of corn starch, spray with cooking spray, and air fry, you end up with crispy, juicy chicken. The best part is it’s not greasy at all, since its air fried. Quick plug for oven style air fryers: I have a GoWise oven-style air fryer and it’s my favorite appliance. It fits a ton at once, and clean up is a breeze.

Next, we need a killer sauce. The sauce is a combo of soy sauce, rice vinegar, ketchup (yes, really), sugar, hoisin sauce, and some garlic and ginger. A little bit more corn starch thickens the sauce up to a perfect sesame glaze. I then top my chicken with some sesame seeds and scallions and it is the perfect take out fake out.

Serving

My favorite way to serve this chicken is with rice and broccoli, which is exactly how I get it when I order from my favorite Chinese restaurant. I do half a cup of white jasmine rice (3 SP) with a cup of broccoli and a cup of chicken, for an 8 point meal that’s both satisfying and wholesome.

I’ve also tossed this chicken over a salad and it is SO good. Start with a base of lettuce, top with some sliced mandarin oranges, crispy wonton strips, shredded carrots, scallions, and chicken. It’s filling, low carb, and full of flavor.

Air Fryer Sesame Chicken

Jacklin Altman

Takeout fake out, here you come! This air fryer sesame chicken is WW friendly, with all of the texture and flavor of your favorite take out dish.

4.63 from 8 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Calories 381 kcal

Equipment

• Mixing Bowls
• Small Saucepan
• Air Fryer

Ingredients

  

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Chicken

• 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 tbsp corn starch

Sauce

• 6 tsp brown sugar unpacked
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp ginger minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce low sodium
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp corn starch mixed with 2 tsp water
• sesame seeds for topping

Instructions

 

• Cut chicken into small cubes and toss in 2 tbsp corn starch. Spray air fryer tray, spread chicken in an even layer so there's no overlap, and spray with cooking spray.
• Air fryer chicken at 380 for 14 minutes, flipping half way through. Chicken should be golden brown and crispy.
• While chicken is frying, mix 2 tsp corn starch with 2 tsp water to create a slurry and set aside. Add all sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and stir to combine.
• Cook sauce over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add corn starch slurry to thicken. Bring sauce to a boil and stir consistently until sauce is thick, roughly 3 more minutes.
• Once sauce has thickened, add cooked chicken to a mixing bowl and coat with sauce. Toss to coat chicken. Top with sesame seeds and serve!

Notes

Click here to track in the WW app.

Nutrition

Calories: 381kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 51gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 1490mgPotassium: 962mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 146IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 2mg

Keyword WW, air fryer, dairy free, chicken, dinner, entree, healthy, weight watchers

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