If your family loves takeout sesame chicken but you don’t love the mystery oils, soy, MSG or sugary sauces that come with it, this clean homemade version is about to become a staple.
This gluten free sesame chicken gives you everything you want — crispy golden chicken, a sticky sweet-savory sesame glaze, and that comforting restaurant-style flavor — made entirely from scratch with simple, family-friendly ingredients. It’s the kind of weeknight dinner that feels like a treat, satisfies picky eaters, and lets you recreate a nostalgic favorite while keeping your kitchen gluten free, soy free, and focused on real ingredients.
Serve over a bed of rice or just eat the entire bowl with zero regrets.
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“Sesame Chicken is amazing. All of your cookbooks are so great!”
Ingredients
Please see recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe details.
1. Chicken Breasts
When sourcing quality meat, it helps to connect with local farmers. Farmer’s markets have become a popular way to build community with food producers in the area. For an even more elevated health experience, choose a chicken that is corn and soy free.
2. Arrowroot Powder
Arrowroot powder is a light, grain-free starch that works as a natural thickener for sauces, gravies, puddings, and baked goods. It creates a silky, glossy finish without the heaviness of cornstarch and is easier on sensitive stomachs, making it a great clean-ingredient swap for gluten-free and allergen-friendly cooking. If you’d like to sub it out, this can easily be replaced at a 1:1 ratio with Tapioca Flour or Cornstarch.
3. Coconut Aminos
Coconut aminos replace traditional soy sauce in this recipe, providing the salty, umami backbone of the sesame chicken sauce while keeping it gluten-free and soy-free. It brings a slightly milder, naturally sweeter flavor than soy sauce, which helps round out the sauce without needing excessive sugar. Coconut aminos also help deepen the sauce color and create that glossy, takeout-style finish once simmered.
4. Salt
A small amount of salt balances the sweetness and enhances the chocolate flavor. Don’t skip it—it makes a noticeable difference.
5. Tallow
Tallow is used to pan-fry the chicken, creating that classic lightly crisp, golden exterior you expect from sesame chicken — without relying on inflammatory seed oils. Because tallow has a high smoke point, it allows the chicken to cook hot and fast, sealing in moisture while helping the coating develop texture instead of turning soggy. It also adds a subtle savory depth that balances the sweetness of the sauce and gives the finished dish a richer, restaurant-style flavor. If you don’t have tallow on hand, use avocado oil or olive oil.
6. Maple Syrup
Maple syrup provides natural sweetness while adding moisture and depth to the sauce. It also helps create a smooth, cohesive texture without refined syrups.
7. Honey
Honey sweetens the sesame chicken sauce while also helping create its signature sticky texture. As the sauce heats, the honey thickens slightly and binds with the other ingredients, helping the sauce cling beautifully to each piece of chicken. Using honey instead of refined sugar adds a smoother sweetness and supports that classic balance of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors found in traditional sesame chicken.
8. Ketchup
Ketchup adds both gentle acidity and body to the sesame chicken sauce. The tomato base provides a subtle tang that balances the sweetness from the honey and the saltiness of the coconut aminos, while the natural thickness of ketchup helps the sauce achieve that familiar glossy, slightly thick takeout consistency. It’s a simple shortcut that builds flavor depth without needing multiple separate ingredients. It’s also important to use a ketchup that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients.
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Making the Sesame Chicken
Coat chunks of chicken breasts in arrowroot powder and fry in tallow. Set the crispy chicken to the side and prep the sauce next. Once prepped, pour over the chicken and serve on a bed of rice.
1. Coat the Chicken
2. Fry in Tallow
3. Prepare the Sauce
4. Pour Sauce on Chicken
Recipe Tips
Cut the chicken into evenly sized chunks to allow for even frying.
If you don’t have tallow on hand, use avocado oil to fry the chicken pieces in.
Wait to add the sauce to the fried chicken until you’re ready to serve. This will keep the chicken fresh and crispy as you enjoy it!
Additional Allergens/Suggested Modifications
This recipe is naturally free of: eggs, nuts, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, seed oils and sesame.
Gluten-Free Sesame Chicken (Crispy & Better Than Takeout)
Ingredients
Prepping the Chicken:
- 2 lbs Chicken Breast chunks
- 2-4 cups Arrowroot Powder
- 36 oz Tallow duck fat or avocado oil works too!
Sesame Chicken Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Coconut Aminos
- 2 tbsp Arrowroot Powder
- 4 tbsp Maple Syrup
- 4 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 4 tbsp Ketchup no added sugar
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- Melt tallow in a cast iron skillet on medium heat and coat the chicken chunks in arrowroot powder until well covered.
- Once tallow is heated up, place the coated chicken pieces in and cook until browned on all sides. While the chicken is frying, combine all of the sauce ingredients together in a mason jar and set aside until all of the chicken is finished. The sauce can even be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.
- Drain the leftover tallow from the skillet and pour the sauce directly into the skillet without cleaning. The residual tallow will become part of the sauce.
- Stir the sauce on medium-low heat until the sauce thickens. Once thick, pour the sauce over the fried chicken chunks. Mix until evenly coated and serve over a bed of rice!
Prep/Storage Options:
- Prep: The sauce can be pre-prepped and stored in a sealed mason jar for up to one week prior to baking with it. The chicken breasts can be pre-cut into chunks and stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer in an air tight bag for up to 6 months.
- Storage: Once cooked, store the leftover chicken in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, reheat in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes (25 minutes if frozen).
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