Make a delicious dinner with Air Fryer Sesame Chicken!
I’ll tell you this again but one of my favorite air fryer chicken recipes is this Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken. I have found though that I can easily use the same method with a variety of sauces.
I decided to adapt this Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken and use the sauce for Air Fryer Sesame Chicken.
I wasn’t disappointed, it was delicious and a wonderful switch from our honey garlic variety.
Most of the air fryer recipes that I make are also gluten-free, I opted to make this gluten-free as well; however, I will say it’s a bit more time consuming than the others if you want to make this gluten-free.
How do you make Gluten-Free Air Fryer Sesame Chicken?
Finding the gluten-free soy sauce is rather easy at the store, they actually carry it at our local Walmart. Now to find the gluten-free hoisin sauce, I found that nearly impossible. It used to be readily available and it may have just been my location; however, you do need this sauce, you can simply make it yourself.
That’s right, it’s easy to make it yourself too, so be sure to follow this Gluten-Free Hoisin Sauce and you’ll have this dish gluten-free in minutes!
What is Hoisin Sauce?
This sauce has the texture of molasses. It’s got a sweet and spicy taste and is very similar to what I would consider a barbecue sauce. It’s used on grilled meats and also in this sesame sauce.
What do you need for Air Fryer Sesame Chicken?
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Cornstarch
- Soy Sauce
- Brown Sugar
- Orange Juice
- Hoisin Sauce
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Sesame Seeds
- Green Onions
Optional items that you could add would be rice and green beans, which is our preferred foods to serve sesame chicken with.
Another great tool to have on hand is a quick test thermometer. This will allow you to check the internal temperature to be sure the chicken is fully cooked at 165 degrees or more.
Are you looking for an Air Fryer?
If you are still searching for the perfect air fryer, be sure to check out my post on how to choose the right air fryer.
Find more Air Fryer Recipes
For even more air fryer recipes, be sure to check out the Air Fryer Recipe Index.
Plus follow along on Pinterest, Facebook, and the Weekly Newsletter.
Now let’s enjoy this Air Fryer Sesame Chicken!
Air Fryer Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 1/2 Cup Cornstarch
- Olive Oil Spray
Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Orange Juice
- 5 Tsp Hoisin Sauce or Gluten-Free Sauce
- 1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 Garlic Clove Crushed
- 1 Tbsp Cold Water
- 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 Tsp Sesame Seeds
Optional
- Cooked Rice
- Green Beans
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into cubed chunks, then toss in a bowl with Cornstarch or Potato Starch. Use enough to coat the chicken evenly.
- Place in the Air Fryer and cook according to your Air Fryer Manual for chicken. (Note - I cooked ours on 390* for 24 Minutes, 12 minutes on each side.) Once the chicken is in the air fryer, coat it with olive oil cooking spray, coat it again if needed about 1/2 way through the cook time.
- While the chicken is cooking, in a small saucepan, begin to make the sauce.
- Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, hoisin sauce, ground ginger, and garlic to the saucepan on medium-high heat. Whisk this well to mix it up.
- Once the sugar has fully dissolved and a low-boil is reached, whisk in the water and the cornstarch. (The sauce will only take about 5 minutes to cook on the stove, then an additional 5 minutes to thicken.)
- Mix in the sesame seeds.
- Remove from heat and let the sauce set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Once the chicken is done, remove from the air fryer and coat with the sauce.
- Serve topped over rice and beans.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to tag #mommyhatescoooking on Instagram and follow for more @momhatescooking
Comments & Reviews
24 minutes at 390 degrees was far too long to cook the chicken. Mine turned out more like chicken jerky.
I’m sorry to hear that, we cook all our chicken at that time and it works out fine, but it’s based on the machine we are using too. Did you use chicken thighs? Be sure to check the manual for your machine to see what it recommends the chicken be cooked at, it’s going to vary for each machine unfortunately with air fryers, they all seem to put out a different amount of heat and some cook more quickly than others.
How much water?
Good catch! I just realized I didn’t put that in there. I add in 1 Tbsp of water with the cornstarch, I’ve updated it there too. Thanks again for asking.
When do you use the olive oil spray?
I spray it on the chicken when it goes in and when checking on it if needed, it helps keep it moist.
Try cut up boneless thighs! They never seen to get dry and asians prefer it (from the mouth of an Asian). Also the double fry method will make it even crisper, but it’s not necessary. I’m glad I found this as we now have an air fryer and I was excited to try my hand at aur fryer crispy asian chicken.
Great sauce recipe! We made a lot extra for our big family (and we love leftovers for lunch) We didn’t love the cloves out of preference. This is by far better for you than panda express, and gf too!
The next time we used what our asian neighbor suggested for our sauces; Oyster sauce, house sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar (we typically use honey but my asian neighbor uses white sugar), ginger, garlic, sesame oil, pepper and a squeeze if orange juice and zest. For heart we use chili pepper flakes or powder. You can use the chili oil too.
(We also made this gluten free)
That sounds so good, thanks so much for the feedback and suggestion. I’ve found that I love the cut-up boneless thighs too! I’ve started to prefer those for everything now.
Get a pair of kitchen shears, I got mine at Wal-Mart for about $5. Cuts the thighs like they are paper. Also great for cutting off the tip part of chicken wings.
What can you substitute the orange juice with?
If you don’t have it available, I’d just skip that ingredient. It will still turn out well.
Excellent tasting recipe. Cooking times were spot on. Next time I’ll make 50% more sauce. Your recipe neglects to say when to use the olive oil spray. I already had the chicken dusted with the corn starch before I discovered that I had missed a step. I sprayed the chicken at the halfway spot and it came out tasty and crunchy
Updated that! Thank you for letting me know.
This looks great! I just got a Foodi, and I’m wondering: when do you make the sauce in the pot? Do you air fry the chicken first, then use the sear/sauté function for the sauce? Or do you make the sauce at the same time somehow? Like I said, I’m a newbie! 🙂
I typically do it in the pot using the saute/sear after I cook the chicken. So I’ll take the chicken out, then make the sauce in the pot and toss the chicken back in there and mix it all together. It can also be made in a saucepan while the chicken is cooking too on the stove, totally up to which one you prefer. You can also use this same concept with any sauce, so if you purchase like a store-bought sauce you can mix it right in the pot with the cooked chicken too.
What can I substitute hoisin sauce with ???
Here are some – https://thestonesoup.com/blog/hoisin-sauce-substitutes/
My chicken is a sticky blob mess! The outside chicken is getting crispy while the middle is just goop. I have been mixing it every 5 mins or so to get it cooked thoroughly. Ugh
What type of air fryer are you using? This video is with a different sauce but same concept and shows how it should look in the air fryer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mfSJ_3DV2k