Healthy Sesame Chicken is a delicious, healthy dinner! Packed with protein, low in carbs, and gluten free – it’s simple to make & better than takeout! This post is sponsored by Village Harvest and was originally shared in April of 2018.
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Who doesn’t love takeout? I mean.. it’s the best. You don’t have to cook, the food tastes aaaa-mazing, many places will deliver it… win, win, win in my book.
The only thing is…about 15 minutes after eating it.. I sit at my couch and say ‘Why did we do that.’ I know my stomach is more sensitive than others, but between the gluten, salt, and just high calories – it led me to wonder if I could re-create a lighter version at home.
That’s why I came up with this Healthy Sesame Chicken Recipe!
This is not an authentic sesame chicken recipe, but a lighter version of one of my favorites foods that has been made paleo, gluten free, dairy free and nut free for everyone to enjoy!
This Healthy Sesame Chicken recipe only takes 25 minutes start to finish.. and you know that you’d be waiting that long for delivery anyways!
Things you’ll need to make Healthy Sesame Chicken:
There are only a few ingredients in the sauce/this dish, and it only needs about 25 minutes to come together over the stove in total.
To make this recipe you’ll need:
- chicken breasts
- garlic
- ground ginger
- lime zest
- pepper
- rice wine vinegar
- honey
- toasted sesame oil
- sesame seeds
Even though the ingredients are minimal, the sauce is still that delish, thick, sticky sauce that you know and love from your favorite takeout place.. but it has super clean + delicious ingredients!
How to make Healthy Sesame Chicken:
Making healthy sesame chicken is super easy!
- Get all your ingredients out and whisk together your marinade.
- Brown the chicken and set aside.
- Add your marinade to the same pan and bring to high heat.
- Cook until sauce is thickened and pulls away from the pan.
- Add chicken back to the pan, toss in sauce + serve with green beans/rice!
What makes this Sesame Chicken Healthy?
- Cooked on a stovetop vs being fried: Sesame chicken is usually fried. We cook the chicken over the stove which helps to make this lower in fat and carbs.
- Not super high in sodium: Most sesame chicken recipes are made with a lot of salt or coated in
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe is made with simple, wholesome ingredients you can feel good about eating and find at pretty much any store.
Time saving tips for this Healthy Sesame Chicken:
- Have everything on the counter -This will make it super simple to grab everything you need while you’re cooking.
- Get Village Harvest’s Organic Jasmine Rice. It’s ready in 90 seconds! All you have to do is tear the bag open and microwave.. doesn’t get much simpler than that!
- I love their rice because it only has 3 ingredients: water, rice + rice bran oil, AND it’s organic, non-gmo, and free of allergens which makes it the perfect pantry staple!
- Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce + put everything away while the chicken cooks.
I think you’re going to love this easy meal, and I know it’s going to make you think twice about calling your favorite takeout place on Friday night when you’re tired and don’t feel like cooking! Here’s the recipe.
Substitutions for this Healthy Sesame Chicken Recipe:
These cookies are pretty versatile. Here are a few ways you can customize them!
Chicken – You can sub chicken breasts with chicken thighs.
Avocado Oil – If you don’t have avocado oil you can use olive oil or coconut oil.
Green Beans– You can sub in green beans with broccoli or any other veggies you like
Coconut Aminos – If you don’t have coconut aminos you can use low sodium soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.
Fresh Ginger – If you don’t have fresh ginger you can use 1/2 teaspoon of dried ground ginger.
Paleo – to make paleo sub rice for cauliflower rice
Storing & Serving Healthy Sesame Chicken
Storing: I keep this healthy sesame chicken in the refrigerator for up to 4 days
Reheating: You can reheat this healthy sesame chicken in a pan or in the microwave.
Freezing: We have not tried freezing this healthy sesame chicken but I think it would work!
Other delicious healthy takeout recipes:
- Healthy Chicken Pad Thai
- Healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Healthy Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
- Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Healthy Orange Chicken
- Healthy Fried Rice
- Healthy Shrimp Stir Fry
Healthy Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
- 8.5 oz Village Harvest Organic Jasmine Rice
- 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 cups green beans
For the Sauce:
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lime zest (zest of one lime)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (juice of one lime)
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- In a pan, heat toasted avocado oil. Sauté chicken until browned on all sides, approximately 10-15 minutes.
- While chicken is cooking, whisk together the sauce.
- Once chicken is cooked, remove from the pan + set aside. Pour sauce mixture into the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until it starts to bubble, stirring consistently. The will thicken quickly, but be careful to watch that it doesn’t burn.
- While sauce is thickening, steam green beans per direction on package.
- Add cooked chicken back into the pan and coat in sauce. Place Village Harvest Organic Jasmine Rice in microwave + cook per directions.
- Serve over Village Harvest Organic Jasmine Rice and green beans + enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Chicken – You can sub chicken breasts with chicken thighs.
- Avocado Oil – If you don’t have avocado oil you can use olive oil or refined coconut oil
- Green Beans– You can sub in green beans with broccoli or any other veggies you like
- Coconut Aminos – If you don’t have coconut aminos you can use low sodium soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.
- Fresh Ginger – If you don’t have fresh ginger you can use 1/2 teaspoon of dried ground ginger.
Tadej
Oh looks delicious…thanks for the recipe.
The Clean Eating Couple
Hope you give it a try!
Marci Alpert
What a wonderful recipe! I like the choice of your seasonings. We are going to do this recipe on Saturday for dinner. Chicken is great for weight loss as well. Love this post!
The Clean Eating Couple
I’m so glad you like it, Marci!
Elizabeth
I haven’t ordered takeout since we tried this recipe! So grateful. Easy, delicious, and minimal cleanup required!
The Clean Eating Couple
Yay!! That makes me so happy to hear! We honestly prefer it to take out 🙂
Holly
Really lovely and simple to make. Only downside I would add is doesnt create much sauce aside from coating the chicken so rice is very bland on it’s own. However this could easily be tweaked and the taste is delicious 😋👌
The Clean Eating Couple
Glad you like it, Holly! If you toss the sauce with the rice and veggies there should be enough – but like you said, you can always double the sauce if you wanted more!
Hattie
Another awesome recipe! The smell doesn’t quite match when you think sesame chicken but the taste is so perfect! Probably doesn’t smell the same because this is only clean ingredients, which is even better! Can’t wait to keep trying more from your website!
The Clean Eating Couple
Yay!! Love to hear this, Hattie! It definitely doesn’t smell super sesame-y but it’s so yummy!
Bia
This smells amazing but I don’t know why my sauce won’t thicken! It’s so runny!
The Clean Eating Couple
Hi- Sometimes it just depends on the exact brands of ingredient that you used – the thickness won’t impact the taste!
Alicia hawkins
How are the calories divided? Like how many ounces of chicken per serving? How much rice per serving? And veggies?
The Clean Eating Couple
I’m sorry but I don’t have that information in terms of oz. This recipe serves two people, so if you’d like the most accurate calculation, you’ll need to measure it out own your own, or use My Fitness Pal. All nutrition facts on our site are estimates and can’t be 100% accurate because numbers will vary with different brands, etc.
Andria Vidal
So good! I’ve made this twice already. I replace the avo oil with regular evoo. I fills you up but doesn’t sit heavy in your stomach.
Will be a staple from now on.
The Clean Eating Couple
So glad you like it, Andria!
Amanda
So easy and delicious. I’m a sucker for Chinese food and now I don’t feel so guilty eating it
The Clean Eating Couple
Thank you so much!!
Nicole
So easy and delicious! Tastes just as good as takeout but doesn’t leave you feeling as bad.
The Clean Eating Couple
So happy to hear this, Nicole! Thank you!
Pam G.
This recipe is delicious. I’m so impressed and happy to find a site with recipes that taste amazing. The only changes I made were to add more ginger to the recipe and use toasted sesame rice vinegar.
The Clean Eating Couple
So glad you liked it, Pam! Thank you!
Alex
10000/10 sooo good! I was a little nervous to add the lime but it gave it SO much more flavor !! New dinner staple !
The Clean Eating Couple
So happy to hear you liked it, Alex!