Description
This Healthy Sesame Chicken recipe offers a flavorful, nutritious alternative to takeout favorites, featuring tender chicken cubes sautéed and tossed in a tangy, slightly sweet sesame sauce. It’s an easy stovetop dish ideal for a quick weeknight meal, served perfectly with green beans and white rice for a balanced plate.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken and Cooking
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 tablespoon avocado oil
Sauce
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lime zest (zest of one lime)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (juice of one lime)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds for garnish
Optional for Serving
- 2 cups cooked green beans
- 1 cup cooked white rice
Instructions
- Prep Chicken and Sides: Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cook the white rice and green beans according to package instructions to have them ready as accompaniments.
- Cook Chicken: Heat avocado oil in a pan over medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Add the cubed chicken and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Prepare Sauce: While the chicken cooks, whisk together coconut aminos, honey, toasted sesame oil, ground ginger, minced garlic, rice vinegar, black pepper, lime zest, and lime juice in a bowl to make the sauce.
- Set Chicken Aside: Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pan and set aside. Do not clean the pan as the sauce will be cooked in it.
- Cook Sauce: Pour the prepared sauce mixture into the hot pan and cook over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it begins to bubble and thickens slightly. Be careful to prevent burning.
- Combine Chicken and Sauce: Return the cooked chicken to the pan and stir to coat evenly with the sauce.
- Serve: Plate the sesame chicken over cooked white rice and green beans. Garnish with the tablespoon of sesame seeds before serving.
Notes
- You can substitute chicken breasts with chicken thighs for a juicier texture.
- If avocado oil is unavailable, olive oil or refined coconut oil work well as replacements.
- Green beans can be swapped with broccoli or other preferred vegetables.
- Coconut aminos can be replaced with low sodium soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos as alternatives.
- If you don’t have fresh ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of dried ground ginger is an effective substitute.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 450 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 38 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
