Sesame Chicken with Apricot Sauce

Chicken breasts breaded in sesame seeds and bread crumbs, fried until golden, then baked at 350°F under a sweet apricot, soy and garlic sauce.

Vegetarian with swapsDairy-free

Contains: egg, wheat, soy, sesame. Based on the ingredients as written; check package labels, which can change.

From the recipe book of Sandra Mills, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained cook in our family.

Sesame-crusted chicken breasts under an apricot sauce on a platter
  • Prep 25 min
  • Cook 40 min
  • Total 1 hr 5 min

Updated

Jump to: Ingredients | Instructions | Tips | Print recipe

Sandra Mills's Sesame Chicken is a crowd-pleaser. Boneless breasts go through a classic three-step breading: seasoned flour, eggs beaten with soy sauce, then a mix of bread crumbs and sesame seeds. They are fried until brown.

A quick sauce of apricot preserves, apricot halves, soy sauce, garlic and water goes over the top, and everything bakes together for half an hour.

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 4 boned and skinned chicken breasts
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 cup plain bread crumbs
  • 2/3 cup sesame seeds
  • Oil, for frying

Sauce

  • 1 (12 ounce) jar of apricot preserves
  • 1 can apricot halves (use half of the liquid)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 garlic clove, minced

To make it vegetarian

  • For the chicken, use extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut the same way, or plant-based chicken-style pieces.

Meat substitutes change the flavor, texture and cooking time: cook plant-based meats to the package directions, and tofu and mushrooms only need to brown and heat through. See all our vegetarian recipes.

Flour for this recipeKing Arthur Baking Company makes all-purpose, bread, whole wheat and gluten-free flours.

Shop King Arthur flour

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Instructions

  1. Egg wash. Beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons soy sauce.
  2. Seasoned flour. In a bag, mix the flour, salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic powder.
  3. Sesame crumbs. On waxed paper, mix the bread crumbs and sesame seeds.
  4. Bread. Dip the chicken in the flour, then in the eggs, and finally in the bread crumbs.
  5. Fry. Fry in oil until brown. Drain on paper towels.
  6. Sauce and bake. Combine the sauce ingredients. Place the chicken in a cook-and-serve pan, pour the sauce mixture over the chicken and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Dairy-freeBudget-friendlyVegetarian with swaps

Tips

  • Sandra's list has 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder but her method uses 1/2 teaspoon in the flour; the rest can go into the bread crumbs.
  • Chicken is done when the thickest part reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Having trouble? See why chicken turns out dry in our kitchen troubleshooting guide.

Printable: safe cooking temperatures chart (PDF).

Serve it with

Build the whole dinner: sides, sauce and dessert ›

Pairs with: Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Wine pairing guide

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