This Honey Sesame Chicken is easy and so flavorful! A combination of broth, honey, ginger, and fish sauce come together to make a perfect takeout meal.
I got a super fun book recently and I'm so glad I get to share a recipe from it with you guys! Paleo Takeout: Restaurant Favorites Without The Junk is packed full of delicious recipes that are made-over to be gluten and grain free. The author of this book, Russ from The Domestic Man, spent years traveling through Asia so he really knows the authentic style. He did his research and even consulted with restaurants to make sure his techniques were correct- how cool is that?!
The book is so well written and photographed. There is a whole picture index at the back so you can search recipes that way. There is a handy little description of each recipe and there are tips on variations that can be made or helpful hints to make the recipe easier. It is divided into chapter by cuisine- Chinese Kitchen, Japanese and Korean Favorites, Southeast Asia and Beyond, American Classics, then a whole chapter on sauces, condiments, and sides. It even shows you when to cook what, to get dinner on the table in an hour. I just love all the details of this book- it is so helpful!
I must admit- I was an extremely picky eater growing up and the only takeout food I ate was pizza (which is in this book). This book covers everything from the americanized dishes we are all familiar with, to the more authentic dishes that I need to try! Also, don't let a name scare you! I'm not familiar with some of the dishes and the names sound a little intimidating, but he does a great job explaining them in the caption at the top of the page. A couple examples are Gyudon- a rice bowl with thinly sliced beef that is cooked with garlic, ginger, and honey (Yum!!) and Bakso- a soup with beef meatballs, carrots, and cabbage. Not so intimidating now!
Now to these delicious meatballs!! I had a hard time choosing what to make, but settled on Honey Sesame Chicken because it sounded amazing and easy- two things I love. It totally delivered too! I feel like meatballs are viewed as hard and time consuming and that is totally not the case for these. They came together super quick and nothing was hard about it. I used a small cookie scoop to evenly portion the meatballs and pan fried them in a cast iron skillet which browned them nicely.
The consistency of this meatball is unlike an american meatball. It is more spongey and is very juicy. The sauce is super easy to make and has just the right amount of sweetness added that compliments the savoriness of the meatballs. I love how quick everything came together and how delicious it was. So full of flavor and completely satisfying.
I truly believe this cookbook is one you need to have in your collection. Whether you're Paleo or not, these recipes are fantastic! This is such a unique book with recipes I've never seen in other Paleo cookbooks. I love having it as a resource and I plan to do lots more cooking from it.
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Honey Sesame Chicken (Paleo)
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
- 1 teaspoon tamari I used coconut aminos
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- dash of black pepper
Chicken Meatballs
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon tamari I used coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds divided
Slurry
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
- 1 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine broth, honey, wine, tamari, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently allowing the flavors to marry while you prepare the chicken.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken, tapioca starch, fish sauce, tamari, palm sugar, pepper, salt, baking soda, and ginger. Mix with hands and then transfer to a food processor and pulse until mixture is a tacky paste. With wet hand, form into 40 balls. (I found the easiest way to do that is with a small cookie scoop.)
- You can either pan-fry the meatballs in batches over medium heat or grill them over direct medium-high heat. If pan frying, put the cooked chicken in a warm (200°) oven while you make the other batches.
- Once the chicken meatballs are cooked, stir together the arrowroot starch and cold water to create a slurry, then stir half of the slurry into the sauce. Increase the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, adding more slurry if needed. Taste and add salt if needed, then stir in half of the sesame seeds.
- In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken meatballs with the sauce and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the chicken and serve.
Notes:
Nutrition Information
Kara says
Linda, honey, listen! ?? THESE! They are awesome. Seriously like legit take-out flavor which is SO hard to come by with homemade Chinese. The sauce is amazing. The meatballs actually had that kind of "deep fried" Chinese chicken feel we all know so well- albeit, it's unhealthy when it's from take-out, but THIS! A million yes'es. I fried mine in avocado oil, which is pure healthy fats, and I threw in some sliced green onions at the very end when everything came together as one big happy family. This is til' death do they part, no joke. Delicious. Will be a popular recipe in our home! (Kid asking for seconds!)
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks for the great feedback, Kara! I'm so glad you and your kids enjoyed them! 🙂 Thank you for trying them!!
Janeen says
These look delicious... I only have 1lb of chicken.. Would I need to 1/2 all the other ingredients? Thanks
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Janeen- yes, half all the other ingredients as well. I hope you enjoy them!
Sincerely says
How is the chicken done with egg battered chicken breast? Is it to be mixed with the sauce that makes the meatballs? Or just cooked and then cooked in the sauce?
Jessica DeMay says
You could fry the chicken pieces then coat it in the sauce. I hope that answers your question.
Melissa says
Do you think red wine vinegar would be an acceptable substitute for the Chinese cooking wine? Or would an actual white or red wine be better? I don't have access to the Chinese cooking wine.
Jessica DeMay says
Hi Melissa! I actually left that out when I made it and it still came out delicious! It's only 1 tablespoon. I don't regularly cook with wine so I didn't want to buy it just for this recipe. I hope that helps and I hope you try it!
Charity says
This looks outstanding!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks, Charity!
Lindsey says
This recipe is making my mouth water. It looks so FANTASTIC! So much healthier than the version I'm used to.
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks, Lindsey! It is so good and doesn't taste healthy!! Which is a good thing 🙂
Kelly says
Wow! That looks SO good! What an awesome cookbook idea! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe and new book with us! Blessings, Kelly
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks, Kelly! It's a great cookbook and I'm so glad I was able to share a recipe from it!
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
OMG, this looks sooo good! Wishin' that bowl was right in front of me right about now!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks Mary Ann! I would totally share with you if I could! 🙂
Felesha says
Drooling Jay! Can't wait to try this!!
Jessica DeMay says
Thanks Felesha! You will love it!